Shenzhen Adragon Digitek's MP4 watch gets reviewed

Shenzhen Adragon Digitek's MP4 watch was met with quite a bit of fanfare from folks who fell suddenly in love with the idea of having movies on their wrist to pass the time during class or on subways trips, and considering that Thanko brought this intriguing piece of kit to market, it's only right that we show you a hands-on review to help you with your potential purchasing decision. The folks at GearDiary landed a black rendition of the video-playing timepiece, and noted that although video files have to be converted from their current format to .NVX, software (in English, too) was included to "remove the guesswork" and make the process painless. Judging by the photos, it looks like the rubberized band provided for a comfortable fit, and although the 1.5- x 1.5-inch face doesn't look nearly as gaudy as some watch faces we've seen, it still screams geek whilst resting on your arm. Sadly, a proprietary USB cable coupled with an always-discouraging 2.5-millimeter headphone jack do warrant a few understandable digs, but the "all day" battery life, intuitive menu system, and respectable display all go in the watch's favor. On the musical front, it was said that playback was "on par" with other DAPs they tested, and while watching a movie back on such a diminutive screen wasn't apt to replace his PVP anytime soon, it was deemed a nifty feature that will "definitely garner geek points among those that are impressed by such things." So if you're interested in seeing just how long your retinas can stand to watch (ahem) a major motion picture on a 128 x 128 display, be sure and hit the read link for up close snapshots before coughing up the required dough.

[ZRX @ Feb 23rd 2007 9:57PM]

Wristwatch ? No.
Put a little cover on the screen and hang it on a key chain ? I'd buy that.............

[Brennan @ Feb 23rd 2007 10:08PM]

now all we need is a 720p resolution picture on this little screen n everything will be better.

considering that if it was 1080p, u would notice no difference between the two in that small screen.

[lolec @ Feb 23rd 2007 10:24PM]

brennan, you wouldnt notice even if its vga...

[SteveMB @ Feb 23rd 2007 10:25PM]

I've known about these things for awhile now, I can get a 2GB version for $63 a piece.

[Brennan @ Feb 23rd 2007 10:37PM]

ahh hum buck, that is what widescreen watches r for ^_^.

well who wants to buy one of these things? Because now the only good thing i can think about using this, is for 'visual voice messages on-the-go'.

[JinKazama @ Feb 24th 2007 9:11AM]

Hey steveMB

You got a link for this baby for 63 bucks?

[leroy @ Feb 23rd 2007 10:58PM]

i dunno, to mee it just seems like it would be to gawdy on your wrist, i mean it would be pretty dope to have a tv on your hand but it seems like you would screw it up and smack it on to many things, just my opinion..

http://locaswt.com

[Michal G @ Feb 23rd 2007 11:15PM]

Oh school would be so much fun watching "things" during Math :)

[Michal G @ Feb 23rd 2007 11:15PM]

Oh school would be so much fun watching "things" during Math :)

[riggs @ Feb 24th 2007 12:19AM]

can anyone answer this question?

how would u plug in the earphones? and if theyre wireless earphones, wouldnt the dongle be at least the size of the watch?

[ashleydstates @ Feb 24th 2007 12:41AM]

As if I needed something else to give me an RSI.

[Rudy @ Feb 24th 2007 1:28AM]

I bought one of these dudes, and it's not bad. Lots of compliments on the time display. Very sharp and bright OLED display. And it was cheap (1GB) The disadvantages: (1) Military time only, (2) NVX video format is very large (about 3 times bigger than a AVI), (3) MP3 playback is very good, but every 4 minutes or so, you'll hear a slight hiccup, (4) I charge this overnight, starts at 5:00AM but the battery is drained by 5:00PM - where time display is always on, (5) Finally, instructions were generated from a translator program, (6) Menu buttons are slightly awkward. Here's my YouTube of the watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am-0WEumYsM

[Markarian @ Feb 24th 2007 7:15AM]

I had a little keychain "MP4" OLED player, and it was kind of neat, but.

The reason NXV is large is because these Chinese "MP4" players can't decode video at all. It converts your video into uncompressed RGB bitmaps, interleaved with MP3 Audio frames. That's why the videos are so huge, even on such a tiny screen. NXV, MPV, MTV, DMV, all of these are throw-around names for the same kind of uncompressed videos that have to go on these tiny players. It's clever, but a 512MB player will only hold an HOUR of video. The conversion software that came with mine was corrupted and my friend had to write a Linux script to convert videos for me, after reverse-engineering their so-called format.

[SOCOMRAIDER @ Feb 24th 2007 8:25AM]

Dick Tracy

[gonzaguedambricourt @ Feb 24th 2007 8:58AM]

Oh this makes me think that I reviewed it quickly in December 2006 on Journaldugeek.com

French readers, it's here : http://www.journaldugeek.com/index.php?2006/12/03/5070-test-montre-mp4

[SteveMB @ Feb 24th 2007 11:51AM]

Yes, but it's $67 if you buy 1 at a time, but it's $63 if you buy 5-10 at a time. http://dhgate.com/productdetail_402880480ef631c2010ef8a2522a56cd_kd2F0Y2ggbXA0.html

[Rudy @ Feb 24th 2007 10:03PM]

I don't know where steveMB got his, but you can go here for a lot of these gadgets (select sample). eBay is a very good source too.

http://www.chinavasion.com/

[SteveMB @ Feb 24th 2007 10:38PM]

I was using ChinaVasion too, until I found DHGate, which is cheaper.

[vaylen @ Feb 25th 2007 4:28AM]

I have this watch too. I really don't like the military time. I also wish it could run in a half-bright mode so the time could display for more than 10 hours before the battery is dead. Also I think a voice recording feature is useless since the watch has no speaker since you're not going to carry around ear buds wherever you go. Also the screen is pretty much impossible to read in direct sunlight (which I thought OLED would not suffer from, but I guess it does). Finally, there is no known manufacturer of this watch in China so it's impossible to find upgrade software for it. The manual mentions "our website" for firmware upgrades but no website is ever given. If a firmware upgrade for this watch ever came out I'd be very happy. Even if the homebrew scene got into this watch and let people design their own watch face. That would make this the coolest watch ever.

[Rick wilson @ Feb 28th 2007 1:10PM]

I think this might be the manufacture page:

http://www.andalong.com/English/index1.htm

[lsteakley @ May 29th 2007 9:08PM]

Hi Vaylen:

I have some questions about the MP4 watch can you contact me at [e-mail] to discuss it further?

[o0adam0o @ Feb 25th 2007 10:38AM]

I might scoop up one of these watches..(how trusted are the links fiven by SteveMB and Rudy?)...ive found the ladies like my nerdy gadgets...great conversation starters ;)

It would be nice to get homebrew going on these things with different watch faces...the military time does suck. Now what really would be awesome would be to dumb the voice recorder and add bluetooth...that way you watch displays incoming calls...but then it would need a 2nd or bigger battery.

[MC @ Mar 1st 2007 6:46PM]

i just got my watch in the mail a couple days ago. i love it! it works great, all but one thing. the NxvConverter software doesn't seem to work. It installs, and opens, but when i try to add a file to it, my computer hangs up. any suggestions?

[lsteakley @ May 29th 2007 9:10PM]

Hi:

I have some questions about the MP4 watch can you contact
me at [e-mail] to discuss it further?

[Brendan @ Mar 9th 2007 9:54PM]

Does anyone know where I can download the software? My CD arrived damaged and can't be read.

[CyberP @ May 23rd 2007 1:58PM]

Yes, get the software from thinkgeek.com

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/8e18/