Acer's upcoming 20GB PMP, the MP-340

So Acer's upcoming MP-340 PMP doesn't really hold a candle to the last media player we saw from the company -- it's pretty sparse in the video codec department and has a smaller, lower-resolution screen -- but on the plus side, it's infinitely more pocketable and probably a whole lot cheaper. Unlike the MP-500 which preceded it, this model's got just a 1.8-inch, 160 x 128 TFT display (a little too small for extended viewing sessions, in our opinion) and only supports H.264-formatted video; however, you're still getting a 20GB hard drive, MP3, WMA, and WMA DRM compatibility, along with voice recording and the obligatory JPEG photo playback. Also on board are an SD slot for a little expansion action, two headphone jacks for sharing that tiny screen with a friend, a 10-hour rechargeable battery (with the screen off, of course) and a number of preloaded games, including everyone's new favorite, Sudoku. Since this model is officially debuting at IFA in Germany next month, pricing and availability are still a closely guarded secret, but if you happen to be in Berlin from the 1st through the 6th, try to stop by the Acer booth and smooth talk that info out of the booth babes company reps for us.

[Via MobileWhack]

[scott @ Aug 25th 2006 8:27PM]

welcome to 2002 Asus...

[Mike @ Aug 25th 2006 8:56PM]

Why oh why do Asian crap/dap mfr's have to put stupid graphics on the menus? It's such a waste of space. I'd rather have something called Legible Fonts!

If the display was larger, my complaint wouldn't be nearly as valid... but I digress...

[Edwin @ Aug 25th 2006 9:07PM]

Asus, where was it mentioned in the article?

[Jenn @ Aug 25th 2006 9:32PM]

From Anything But iPod: the player is available now in Germany for between $280 and $318.

[mastershake916 @ Aug 25th 2006 9:56PM]

Usually I'm easy on PMPs other than the ipod, but this looks like garbage, screen is was too bad for a large HDD based MP3 player, and controls are outdated, looks like something on the rio PMP300.

[scott @ Aug 26th 2006 3:36PM]

damn, i always confuse them....

[aaron @ Aug 26th 2006 7:01PM]

Interesting... the OS on there seems to be the same one that is on my Cowon iAudio M5

[IPOD Blog @ Aug 27th 2006 12:50PM]

I was just wondering what you thought of my new IPOD blog located at http://myfreeipod.wordpress.com/. Please give me some feedback!

[Armie @ Aug 27th 2006 7:42PM]

Damn that thing is ugly...

[IPOD blog @ Aug 28th 2006 10:03PM]

Alright I changed it a little. How about this one?

[Slyn4ice @ Sep 14th 2006 7:18PM]

Just a note - don't know if, when those things hit the market, the gui will be the same as the one shown on the picture but it strikes an uncanny resemblance with the iAudio X5 gui...