Tongfang PMC-M880 MP4 player kicks out the PAL jams

Tsinghua Tongfang has managed to produce at least one mildly interesting MP4 PMP in the past, so we're not too surprised at the company's new PMC-M880, which features semi-high-def nice-looking PAL video out at 720 X 576 resolution in addition to the usual array of MP4 features. On the go, you'll be looking at a 400 X 240 3-inch screen, which is decent, and we're sort of digging on that funky red / black industrial design. Too bad we'll never see this one leave China, eh? A shot of the video output after the break.

[Via MP4 Nation, thanks Yuipsj]

[brandon_r87 @ Apr 30th 2008 1:01AM]

PMC = Private Military Company
Metal Gear doesn't lie.

This is an impressive looking player though. Sometimes those Chinese companies come up with something really good, and we never get to see it. Like that Meizu phone that started out as an iPhone rip-off... and then changed a little. Still a rip-off, but it looked better.

[akar @ Apr 30th 2008 1:09AM]

牛逼！隐约看到诺基亚的影子……
你们看不懂的说，哇哈哈。

[Morteza @ Apr 30th 2008 1:10AM]

"Semi-high def"??

720 x 576 is just PAL, sweetheart. That's good ol' standard def. Pretty impressive for a technology/ gadget site...

[HalfJoey @ Apr 30th 2008 1:20AM]

What is the "sweetheart" comment suppose to mean?

[Nilay Patel @ Apr 30th 2008 1:22AM]

You're totally right -- for some reason I'm still stuck in analog and think of PAL as being 625. Of course, the last time I watched a PAL tape was in like 1987 and it was being dubbed into NTSC VHS in the back of some shady Indian video shop, so there's that. Good catch, though.

[Elevator @ Apr 30th 2008 1:33AM]

wow congrats Engadget for messing that up. semi high-def would be like 900x720... thats sorta high-def...

576 = PAL

[nxtiak @ Apr 30th 2008 1:11AM]

The Matrix, wow that's so retro.

[DarkLightConnection Unbanned @ Apr 30th 2008 1:51AM]

But I still like Trinity... And the 3D Matrix screensaver still looks cool....

[Steffen Jobbs @ Apr 30th 2008 1:19AM]

ゴミを捨ててくれよ。

[Kaminix @ Apr 30th 2008 1:42AM]

Translation: If it's Chinese it's trash, throw it away! All hail Japan!

[Sean @ Apr 30th 2008 3:02AM]

@Kaminix
he only said throw away the trash.
which makes you a chinese hater. however I hope you're not, coz it makes the rest of your life even worse.

[jessie @ Apr 30th 2008 1:25AM]

It looks so great. I love it.btw, THE MAN ON THE PIC LOOKS VERY FAMILIAR.seems I saw him before on the homepage of
celebrities and millionaires dating site 'Searching Millionaire
DOTCom' .not sure if advertised for that site.

[Reader @ Apr 30th 2008 1:33AM]

Ahh damn, was hoping he was Asian so I could make a joke...

[gabe @ Apr 30th 2008 1:26AM]

"I know Kung Fu"

[Oufdu75 @ Apr 30th 2008 1:35AM]

Design is a rip-off from the nokia xpressmusic !

[doozy @ May 3rd 2008 1:56PM]

damn straight!

[randompass @ Apr 30th 2008 1:54AM]

Why DO we never,ever see these neat things that china makes? I mean I could see this doing decently depending on the price

[Vit @ Apr 30th 2008 2:47AM]

What kind of player would have a tong and a fang in it's name? Sounds perverted

[neur @ Apr 30th 2008 3:05AM]

Well, it sounds weird in English, yes.

And do you know what "facebook" sounds like in Chinese? Destined to doom.

[Gregor @ Apr 30th 2008 3:20AM]

haha, well the "funky red/black industrial design" is of course great, bc it's a nokia knock off:
http://www.nokiausa.com/link?cid=PLAIN_TEXT_952070

;-)

[Dylan @ Apr 30th 2008 4:14AM]

Sexy.... :3

[keppo @ Apr 30th 2008 4:30AM]

Anything that has even a bit silverish strip around it is a iPhone RIP-OFF!!!! When some one rips off Nokia, it's "funky red / black industrial design".

[Mille @ May 20th 2008 3:18PM]

haha, your so right.. its still the same old story

[chengdude @ Apr 30th 2008 5:47AM]

Why do we never get to see this cool stuff outside China? Because people inside China rarely see this cool stuff. Tsinghua Tongfang?? They make PCs and laptops. MP4? Bit player, pardon the pun. Many of these companies that Engadget -and PMPToday, for example- report on Chinese consumers wouldn't even consider if buying an MP4.

[Melay @ Apr 30th 2008 6:52AM]

i like the design too, but the black/red design with the 3 buttons on the edge is from finnland
(nokia 5310)

[xSwamp @ Apr 30th 2008 10:48AM]

Anyone else notice the tv out looks just a tad better than pal?

[SSJ4MONKEY @ May 1st 2008 5:25PM]

the design is taken directly from the nokia phone. lol...

[Hanbo @ May 5th 2008 10:40PM]

是看着有点象Nokia，年轻的设计师去哪里了？