Brica's Viewart 1000 is the new jack of all trades

We should preface this one by pointing out the impossibly low $265 pricetag as a dead giveaway that the Brica Viewart 1000 can't possibly be as good as it sounds, but we'll humor you anyway. This palm-sized conglomerate purportedly acts as a DVR, media player, video camera, still camera (shown after the jump), a PC webcam, image viewer, MP3 player, radio tuner, audio recorder, text file viewer, and a handheld gaming system, and just in case this wasn't good enough, there's also support for a bevy of languages, a built-in calendar, seven EQ presets, PAL and NTSC compatibility, and a horde of cables are thrown in to get you connected. Oddly enough, you won't be doing a whole lot of video capturing on the meager 2.5GB (512MB of internal space plus a 2GB SD card) of included capacity, and the 2.5-inch backlit monitor could probably induce squinting, but when you're getting close to a dozen devices in a 3.5-ounce device, you should certainly expect a fair amount of shortcomings.

[Via Gadgets-Weblog]

[Rob Bye @ May 7th 2007 6:05AM]

First comment. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees

[3rdsun @ May 7th 2007 6:09AM]

jack of all trades, master of none. looks too cheap to be useful

[Rohit Kapur @ May 7th 2007 6:40AM]

Wow. What is up with you guys, Engadget?

Even though it might be the best in the features it promises, it doesn't look shabby at all. I think it's great that they're utilizing every piece of hardware they put in for all purposes possible. If it really is a 4MP camera as it says on the front, I wouldn't mind using it as a webcam or for impromptu video recordings. It couldn't be worse than most cellphones, could it?

Meager 2.5GB? 2.5 inch squinting-inducing screen? Do you want a 10 inch screen on it? Most low-range cameras have around a 3 inch screen too, last I checked.

I think it's not a shabby device at all. It might not be the master of its trades, but it's no pauper either.

[Hemisphere @ May 7th 2007 6:42AM]

What an disgustingly blatent ripoff of the Archos Gmini 402 Camcorder.

(http://reviews.cnet.com/Archos_Gmini_402_Camcorder_20GB/4505-6499_7-31595017.html)

The Gmini is still favourable imo, having a 20 gig hard drive, and a "Gameboy" style button layout, which makes it perfect for playing games with (and it even has a small homebrew community, which includes a fully working Genesis and NES emulator, and Doom, among other things.) Not to mention you can pick one up on eBay for half the price of this thing.

Why it even bothers to include games, with it's stupid button layout is beyond me.

[Hemisphere @ May 7th 2007 6:48AM]

Oh, not to mention it only records 320x240@30fps - the Gmini records 640x480@30fps. For my uses at least, 320x240 is useless - you can get that sort of recording level on most new phones right?

[iptydafu @ May 7th 2007 7:39AM]

Great for what it promises to do, but the back-end of it looks like an old Battlestar Galactica prop. -Maybe with a couple of Cylons waving their arms around yelling about colonial forces.

[Mike @ May 7th 2007 7:54AM]

The Address Book icon is lifted directly from Mac OS X. They just doctored it a little so it's not 100% identical.

[Abbu @ May 7th 2007 8:52AM]

I actually own a Brica, which i bought 2 years ago on my honeymoon to phuket and it's not as bad as it sounds. Obviously i do have another camera but the 4 mega pixel Brica that i have is really useful when on going picnics or to take random candid shots. it's really tiny and it does the job. The picture quality is good and correct me if i'm wrong not all camera's are made for National Geographic photographers.

[Aaron @ May 7th 2007 9:08AM]

Sounds cool, but the low storage makes a handful of those features questionable. I guess you could buy a couple hefty memory cards and bring them along if you really needed the space...

[Seda Ozmen @ May 7th 2007 4:42PM]

It has same body and menu with PRAKTICA DMMC4; http://tinyurl.com/yvvjrf

[insom @ May 9th 2007 6:47AM]

its 215 USD equiv in singapore. identical unit and features to featured system here.

[David @ May 16th 2007 1:21PM]

Hi

I have a camera BRICA View art 1000 and now is broken,
where can I send it to repair ???

[jon sang @ Jun 19th 2007 12:39AM]

Well I use it all the time its a great addition to my Raon vega. (www.raondigital.com). Very useful when I dont want to carry something as bulky as a normal sized PMP but want all the functionality. two major gripes though 1) no flash or light for low light conditions 2) No removable battery (However I have made a solar charger 4 it hehee ;) ) not amazing quailty but for the size and price its good. Also if you go for the black model it looks more like an MP3 player than anything else because you cant see the camera lens very well. Great for taking covert video!!!!