SmartQ TAO sports a swanky screen
By Stephanie Patterson 
posted Sep 27th 2008 5:25AM
posted Sep 27th 2008 5:25AM
[Thanks, Nick]
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Oh shit. 4GB and RMVB support for 102 bucks? If that huge screen is also a touch screen, then im double sold.
Don't forget to add the cost of a ticket to Shenzen and to brush up your mandarin to be able to use the UI
@kilgoretrout, yeah because China never imports anything to the United States... I don't see any mandarin in the above photo...
@KilgoreTrout
ebay if your friend and almost all of these things have english menus, at least the PMPs I saw in year ago in China for the Chinese only market did.
kuade
First of all, you'd have a hard time FINDING this in China. The majority of Chinese made PMP's that are shipped to America are shipped by import shops that ship whatever new stuff comes out that they feel they can turn a profit on.
Second, if thing even works after a year, I'd be suprised. Chinese firmware/GUI's are terrible. I can't tell you how many of them I've seen suffer unrepairable critical errors.
these things don't even have corporate websites for customer support. Its not as if you can download updates for em.
That's one of the reasons Zune and iPod have done so well worlwide. Alot of Asians refuse to buy Chinese made PMP's. They want SONY, TOSHIBA, or anything they know they can have fixed if something goes wrong.
I wouldn't even worry about the unit's language, Chinese devices from PMP's to digi cams always support Traditional /Simplified and English.
It has a 3d screen!
You dont need a PMP if you have a 7" netbook or an iPhone !
Yeah because a netbook is just so pocketable, and the iphone doesn't cost 10x more at all!
The PMP is here to stay, a decent one will give you 8 hours + of video for $200, try getting that battery life from a netbook or getting an iPhone for that cost.
He said "IF you had" not "when you could have".
Probably true of the iPhone, but not the netbook.
he can say whatever he wants, a dedicated PMP has longer battery life than an iphone and you don't have to sign up for a contract to use it. but of course only an idiot wouldn't see those differences, and therefore are low ranked.
Anybody else think its a copy of the Sony play screen, as i know mine has album artist genre at the bottom and it looks mighty similar
I think it looks like an iPhone except uglier and thicker.
So many nice new players, so few with a decent amount of storage :/
You do realize you can buy 3 of these for the price of one crappy-codec'd iPhone, and 4+ for the price of one over-sized, underpowered 7" monstrosity of a netbook, right?
Are you serious? I have a Sony too. The only thing similar is that they both have the title/artist/album listed in the bottom half of the screen - that's it.
That was in response to GL.
" weigh in at a staunchly 3.3-inches 480x320 HVGA with 262,000 colors"
Those aren't incriments of weight.... XP
I just saw some other pictures of this PMP. And, it's look like it has a memory card slot of some sort.
Here's more info. And, yes, it does accept a memory card.
http://www.playsmartsg.biz/1822/22401.html
Not sure if it has a touch screen, for there are six hard buttons on the top and bottom of the player. Still a lot of bang for the buck regardless.
SmartQ is known for having far and away the best firmware among Chinese PMPs and it actually does what people who complain about crappy Chinese firmware say crappy Chinese firmware doesn't do, e.g. support album art and proper ID3 tagging/browsing. They also offer firmware upgrades regularly via their website. In addition to the ADI chip, there will likely be a Wolfson 8987 audio codec as they use with their other player and, yes, support for up to 16GB SDHC via card slot. As for any maintenance you might care to do, check out the backplate: 4 screws.
And yes, you can find SmartQ -as well as Meizu, Teclast, Oppo, Onda, RAmos, et al.- at any electronics mall here (China).
Considering a 3rd gen Nano 4GB is about 50 bucks more than this thing, I know what my next player is going to be.
Can you point me to their website. I have a previous-gen ipod knockoff from there guys. I'd love to get newer firmware for it.
but does it phone?
The price on this thing is unbeatable I mean it has a decent sized screen, it's pretty light, and has that oh so trendy Iphone look to it./ As for the firmware being crap, chances are people will find a way around that and put there own on it in a matter of weeks. If I was in need of a portable media player i would defiantley consider this but seeing as how i have my Ipod and all I'm not.
First of all, "staunchly" is an adverb. You're using it as an adjective. Second, it means "loyally" or "in a committed fashion". Did you mean "hefty"? They sort of sound similar.
Only not really.
SmartQ TAO also sports some not-so-swanky earphones as well!