Lest you think that RCA (or Thomson,
or whoever off in Taipei or Guangzhou designs these) only makes uninspired
carabiner-sporting DAPs,
we're now able to report that the company's
Lyra X3000
PMP that we first caught at CES is now available to buy, and is getting some decent reviews. PC Mag took a look at
the $399 unit, and found the X3000 -- which sports a 3.6-inch 320x240 LCD and supports WMA, PlaysForSure, and the
ability to record from any analog video source -- offers "solid multimedia performance" and "excellent
video file format support." That support, as pointed out by the reviewer, also includes easy recording of even
copy-protected DVDs, which can then be played back via a TV or PC, as well as on the X3000. The downside (and there's
always a downside)? Lower video quality than some competing products, such as the
Archos AV 500, and a relatively skimpy 20GB drive.
But those sound like minor quibbles. And we're sure you can rip it open and stuff in a bigger drive if all those ripped
DVDs start to take up too much space.
[Thanks,
Dave]
posted Mar 28th 2006 6:15PM
Wow, this is a much better shift from those products a few posts below. I see someone is actually thinking.
Oh no.. I'd like the this http://www.buy.com/prod/Mac_Vision_MC3007_7_TFT_LCD_40GB_Multimedia_Machine_with_DivX_Playback/q/loc/56322/202011333.html
instead of Lyra, the nextar one ahs a 7" and does all the stuff that you need it to do and still costs less than the Lyra.. $ 388
Woo! Another great product from the guys at RCA! Only problem I have with them is they're not as durable as an iPod...MUCH better features for the price, but they don't last near as long....
sorry man, but iPod =! durable. period.
I had the precursor to this, a player called the RCA RD2780. I still use it sometimes, but RCA makes SHODDY products. On mine, the headphone jack is too loose to use it in a pocket, and the soldering was crappy enough that it can't record video anymore. That happened to ALL of them.
But it's easily modified, and the remote for this looks sweet. Got tons of features, and a different look... 20 gigs isn't enough for me to buy it, but I'd probably recommend it.
It looks like satellite radio!
doesn't look too bad...but perhaps not enough to compete with other existing products out there.
Minor quibbles?
I dunno, I don't have THAT many movies on my Zen Vision 30GB and even just adding them at a snails pace I would be down to 5GB on that device. And 320x240? Thats crap!
At least the screen is a good size, but, honestly, what's so special about this thing? Still glad I bought my Zen Vision.
So what physical size is the hard disk? single platter 1.8, dual platter 1.8 or 2.5?
Can't compare this with the AV 500 which is unbeatable.
Archos...on the go!
iPod, durable? There are many things that the iPod is, attractive, easy to use, integrated, but it isnt durable!
These things last a year to 18 months at best.
#3 makes an interesting point about features, I had the RCA Lyra 2840 and it was, barring physical size, a good deal when I bought it and had several features such as self-indexing, which allowed you to place audio files wherever you wanted without needing a proprietary database builder. I miss tha tone the most with the Nano, since I often would move the Lyra to systems lacking the indexing software.
Also, the comment about popping a new hdd in it reminded me of what people did with the 2780, swapping the 20gb for double or triple the capacity.
I'm not sure if I'm buying or not. I bought a Zen Vision about 6 months ago and love it but then read about this just after and almost regretted my choice. One thing is I have DirecTV and I've heard this will record directly from their boxes for the DirecTVtogo service and as well records from DVD's, etc, all things the Zen can't do. I wish it had 30 gigs instead of 20 and if I'm right it seems the resolution is lower. I know I can put DVD's onto the Zen through my computer and even DirectTV if I record to DVD first but that's two extra steps. Will they come out with DirecTVtogo for any of these other players?
I'm not sure if I'm buying or not. I bought a Zen Vision about 6 months ago and love it but then read about this just after and almost regretted my choice. One thing is I have DirecTV and I've heard this will record directly from their boxes for the DirecTVtogo service and as well records from DVD's, etc, all things the Zen can't do. I wish it had 30 gigs instead of 20 and if I'm right it seems the resolution is lower. I know I can put DVD's onto the Zen through my computer and even DirectTV if I record to DVD first but that's two extra steps. Will they come out with DirecTVtogo for any of these other players?
With the exception of DRM audio and ability to directly record DVDs I don't see how this is a great step up from the 2780 (which is for all intensive purposes a generation behind compared to other devices like an AV500 or Cowon A2).
I just got one of these and it is horrible. This is the third replacement one that I've tried and they all have the same problem. Any time I put 1,312 songs or more on the device, start playing, and try to turn shuffle on or off, the device crashes and reboots. I've tested everything and I can't get it to work (neither can RCA support). I didn't get a chance to test much else but I also know that it doesn't support all MP3 file types. How difficult is it to get codecs to play all MP3s out there. These files aren't even security protected. Does anyone else have one that they could test?