Brando offers up feature-packed MP4 Watch II

Though we've definitely seen a few "MP4 watches" in our day, none of them do it up quite like Brando's MP4 Watch II. This (admittedly unattractive) timepiece plays nice with MP3 / WMA / MP4 formats and includes an FM tuner, voice recorder, photo viewer, "eBook reader," a 1.8-inch 160 x 128 resolution display, five preset equalizer modes, USB 2.0 connectivity, and yes, even a built-in speaker if you're not down with headphones. Of course, we aren't responsible for your social life grinding to a halt if caught wearing this whilst out on the town, but those who aren't concerned with image can snag the 2GB flavor for $92 or double their capacity for $26 more.

[Mystic Alpaca @ Aug 16th 2007 5:34PM]

I think for working out it might prove usefull, they should add some workout features like a pulse monitor and such.

[Zarniwoop @ Aug 16th 2007 5:48PM]

It's hard enough to do workouts with a armband but on the wrist it's just going to get in the way more. Now if it had wireless A2DP Stereo Bluetooth and wasn't fugly big...

[tekdroid @ Aug 16th 2007 9:12PM]

Zarniwoop @ Aug 16th 2007 5:48PM sez:

It's hard enough to do workouts with a armband but on the wrist it's just going to get in the way more.
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My thoughts exactly. Your wrist is always moving about (generally speaking) and you've got this wired thing stuck to it.

Talk about impractical.

Unless the cable is secured along the arm or whatever, I don't see it as a very practical daily option, let alone workout option.

[tekdroid @ Aug 16th 2007 9:12PM]

Zarniwoop @ Aug 16th 2007 5:48PM sez:

It's hard enough to do workouts with a armband but on the wrist it's just going to get in the way more.
------------
My thoughts exactly. Your wrist is always moving about (generally speaking) and you've got this wired thing stuck to it.

Talk about impractical.

Unless the cable is secured along the arm or whatever, I don't see it as a very practical daily option, let alone workout option.

[kuzu-b @ Aug 16th 2007 6:00PM]

"Of course, we aren't responsible for your social life grinding to a halt if caught wearing this whilst out on the town,"

Sigh.... people just will never get it, image is not about what you wear or how you look, it's all about how you pull it off. I'm sure if you saw Mark Walhberg or Brad Pitt walking around or clubbing with one of these things on, you would say it was cool that they did that. If you saw Bill Gates wearing one or some 21 year old art student, you would make fun of him for wearing it. So who is really being made fun of, the watch or the person?

In other words, being cool is not about dressing a certain way, acting a certain way, talking a certain way, being cool is about being cool, it is just that simple. As soon as you try to break it down more than that, you lose the thing that makes cool, cool.

[PK @ Aug 17th 2007 1:17AM]

As soon as you try to explain what it means to be cool, you stop being cool.

[Toby @ Aug 16th 2007 6:54PM]

I'm sorry, but I don't think even Brad Pitt could pull this one off. Not to mention, there's a reason you will never actually see him wearing one...

[kuzu-b @ Aug 16th 2007 7:55PM]

Toby, I disagree, people start all kinds of stupid trends, look at the huge sunglasses and trucker hats, they both look about as stupid on people as this would. The technology factor ups the nerdiness a little bit, but in the age of iPods and cellphones, gadgets are no longer a distinguishing point between the cool and the not.

To put it simply, if you look at this watch and decide to buy it or not based on whether you want to or not, you are a lot further to being "cool" than the person that bases every purchasing decision on what they think other peopl are going to think about it.

[dj-kenpo @ Aug 16th 2007 8:05PM]

Kuzu-b is right.
panasonic had a watch/mp3 player a few years back and it looked very similar. in the wired mag ads the guy looked 'cool' as he was slightly olied, not muscle man, but not skinny, and had one hell of a hot chick over his shoulder as he looked all "whatever I'm so cool" while he displayed the watch.

it all comes down to how you display it and if you look at the panasonic ads you'll see that proven.
personally this one looks better than the panasonic one in my oppinion.


aside from the etc this watch is good for embedding videos into small electronics/display projects due to it's size, so I like it.

[Rick wilson @ Aug 16th 2007 6:08PM]

looks like they're still forcing users 24hr format

[Toby @ Aug 16th 2007 6:58PM]

I may just be an idiot, but I can't even find the clock on this "watch"...

[MrRong @ Aug 16th 2007 6:22PM]

Finally, a neat watch where the shipping isn't 50% of the price.

[nih @ Aug 16th 2007 6:24PM]

I think it looks cool. I also like the idea of running the earphone cables up my jacket arm and out the neck.

In fact, I wonder if you can get wristbands for ipod nanos that would do the same job? They need to hurry up and crack that 2nd gen encryption so we can put a large clock readout on the thing.

[ihavetinyballs @ Aug 16th 2007 7:46PM]

$hit$ yeah. I am going to glue my ipod shuffle clipn'go to my Casio calculator watch tonight. Then we will see who is cool up in here.

[ark_v2 @ Aug 16th 2007 10:52PM]

It's doesn't look as ugly as it could have...

[Ratchet the Lombax @ Aug 16th 2007 11:19PM]

The only real feature besides the "watch" part of the thing I would be interested in would be the MP3 part. But as others have said with the wire running from your wrist to your ear even that would be a pain. As for the MP4 feature I don't see myself using that because watching video on a 1.8" screen would be useless, I mean you couldn't even tell what was going on. Also a e-book reader come on now who is going to try and read a book in a screen that small. They should have just put a small little LCD readout with say the track number and song title have it so you can switch between that and the time. It would increase the battery life and most likely cost alot less, and people would probably get just as much enjoyment out of it.

[djgrind45 @ Aug 16th 2007 11:42PM]

nice very smart very geeky but itl make an inpression on others that dont have it

[Grey Acumen @ Aug 17th 2007 12:20AM]

I'll be honest. I like it. It's a little thicker than I usually prefer my watches to be, but the built in speaker is a nice touch for if I don't have the headphones with me, but still want a bit of music while I work. I realize MP3 players are getting cheaper all over, but $118 for that seems pretty reasonable to me.

My only issue would be with charging it up every night so I don't have my watch go dead on me.

[not4no1 @ Aug 17th 2007 10:16AM]

I bought a 4GB watch similar (less expensive) to this one (cough*chinavasion*cough) It's my portable hard drive & portable media center. It works great & is really light...you barely notice it on.

Works with USB 2.0 & definitely gets attention. The videos are crisp & clear. I wouldn't recommend movie watching on it, but 30minute shows without commercials are very handy when the time permits.

Just one tap on the play button shows the time. Tap any other button after 3 seconds & the media center loads.

Oh! For all you wondering...the cord never gets in the way. I use it everyday to walk to work (9 blocks) & never had a problem with snagging the cord even when running or using an umbrella.

[Someone @ Aug 18th 2007 8:15PM]

Watching porn translates to - When someone asks, "What time is it?", you say "Busy time."
I know, really bad jokes.

[gadjitfreek @ Aug 21st 2007 11:59AM]

Cool? I bet if I bought this watch, folks would be all over me asking questions about it, and not making fun. It's cool BECAUSE it's different. And it would be about the same size as the monster Pathfinder watch I am wearing these days. The only thing that might queer the deal would be poor battery life.

[Andrew Hartwig @ Aug 25th 2007 10:43AM]

As soon as I came across this in google reader, I bought it!

[Uzumaki Naruto @ Feb 17th 2008 12:36PM]

I don't really understand what Radio FM(optional) means.Is it some of the watches have radio or some don't, or else you have to add or download extra software in your MP4 WATCH II ?