The Minigigi AV-11 "boom box" goes thud

Won't somebody please think of the children and put an end to these new minigigi players spilling out of Korea? It's bad enough that they have to rip (unsuccessfully) the design from Philip's PSS110 for their new AV-11 "boom box," but now they've gone and added some dubious "MP4" video playback capability into the mix. While they claim support for WAV, ASF, and AVI video at 24fps on the 2-inch, 26k color LCD, that's likely only after conversion into some oddball format first. The player packs an FM tuner, support for MP3 and WMA audio, and USB and line-in jacks presumably for recording content direct to SD cards. The unit can be powered off the mains or run for up to 10 hours off Li-Ion battery. Hopefully, it includes an alarm clock function too, cause you're not going to fill a room with sound off those 4W speakers. No word on pricing or availability... as if you care.

[Joel @ Mar 6th 2007 11:18AM]

How about adding WiFi and a Windows mobile OS? Then I can stream Sirius (read: Howard Stern) to my alarm clock and wake up to Howard once again ...

[MikeN @ Mar 6th 2007 11:53AM]

So, did you finish off a nice cool glass of Hatorade before you wrote this article? Or maybe your editor has a gun to your head forcing you to come up with witty quips about the ineptitude of the products you review. Just giving you a hard time. But why say this? "that's likely only after conversion into some oddball format first." Any basis in fact, or are you just prejudiced against this manufacturer?

[Larry X @ Mar 6th 2007 2:09PM]

I don't see the rip either for that matter unless we are talking about the article.

If we were writing posts the other day about our favorite engadget articles of the last three years this would go down as least.

[cuby @ Mar 6th 2007 1:49PM]

my question is, if you don't think we'll care about it, why tell us about it then ;)

[What the... @ Mar 6th 2007 3:53PM]

Looks like some hack "journalist" woke up on the wrong side of the bed today...

It's not Apple, iRiver, Microsoft, SanDisk, or any other big name mp3 manufacturer... so it automatically sucks? I have not personally used a minigigi player... and i'd bet the guy who wrote this article hasn't either.

I happen to appreciate the fact that some of these Korean companies are rolling out similar products with more functionality than those currently offered by the above listed underacheivers. Oh, the irony that the only people that truly understand what American consumers want in their consumer electronics are from China and Korea, and can't manage to break into the market because they are immediately ripped to shreds by sites like this.

Speaking of ripping... I like how you said it "unsuccessfully" ripped the design from the Philips PSS110. Have you actually seen the PSS10? Although nearly identical in design (screen in the middle, buttons on top, speakers on the side, etc.), it's absolutely hideous compared to this minigigi player.

[John @ Mar 7th 2007 6:09AM]

"While they claim support for WAV, ASF, and AVI video at 24fps on the 2-inch, 26k color LCD, that's likely only after conversion into some oddball format first."

pure speculation, this is probably the worst article i've ever seen on engadget. several of this authors other articles speculate negatively as well.

[Thomas Ricker @ Mar 7th 2007 7:52AM]

What the...

No I have not used it, it's not released yet. Yes I have seen and used the PSS110 and the PSS120.

MikeN and John,

True, it is speculation about *this* device. But it's not wild by any means. MP4, especially when the device is OEM'd in China, usually requires conversion software.

I also speculated the same here:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/16/thanko-brings-mp4-watch-to-market/

Which turned out to be spot on:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/23/shenzhen-adragon-digiteks-mp4-watch-gets-reviewed/

more information here if you trust wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACT_(audio_format)

Thomas

[David Lane @ Jun 11th 2009 5:24AM]

These units are the best thing I have found by far for value. I have 2 of the older units with music function only and plain LCD screen. Myself and others use them with a home made bracket hanging on the overhead guard on the forklifts we operate to listen, quite loud for at least 8 hours per day. In Australia, there is nothing like these anywhere for under $100. They are way better than the Phillips units as the older sttke has 512mb AND an SD card slot for up to 2 gig extra music. The Phillips has 256mb memory. Perhaps buy one and you will see how good they are.