Nextar's MA809 PMP is seductively thin, still too pricey

We'll hand it to Nextar here, the MA809 is sexy enough to roll with the hottest PMPs on the market today, but the pricing strategy needs a serious revision. Said player sports a 2.8-inch display (400 x 240 resolution), an integrated voice recorder, support for MP3 and WMA files, an FM tuner / recorder, built-in speaker and a stopwatch to boot. Furthermore, it includes 2GB, 4GB or 8GB of storage space, while the microSD card slot leaves open the possibility for expansion beyond that. Nextar claims that you'll get up to eight hours of continuous music play or up to three hours of video viewing with a fully charged Li-ion, but we still don't see it really breaking through by being hosted up at Sears for $99.99 (2GB), $119.99 (4GB) and $149.99 (8GB). Maybe we just need a little hope, though. The full release is after the break.

Nextar Portable Media Player Serves as Personal Home Theater

Sleek Unit Features 16:9 - 2.8" Display, Audio and Video Capability, and Is Only .25" Thick

La Verne, CA – March 16, 2009 – Nextar™, a designer and marketer of bold and new consumer electronic products with mass appeal, announces the addition of a slim, sleek portable media player that is only .25" thick to its lineup. The versatile unit, model MA809, includes features such as a TFT display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, MP3 capability, and an FM tuner that make it ideal for use as a personal home theater. It will come in 2GB, 4GB or 8GB capacities as well as additional support for a 2GB Micro SD card.

"The new Nextar portable media player comes with everything users need to enjoy their own play-anywhere personal home theater," remarked Eddy Zheng, Nextar founder. "Crisp, clear audio with MP3 and WMA file support; 400x240 image resolution shown in 16:9 wide-screen format, FM tuner with FM recording, integrated voice recorder, and built-in speaker are all included. It even has stopwatch and calendar capabilities. Anyone who enjoys the latest in personal AV products will love this player."

For clean, crisp video and photo viewing, the Nextar MA809 portable media player offers a 2.8" TFT display with wide-screen format and 400x240 resolution. It supports converted AVI video format (Video Converter Software is included in the package) as well as JPEG, BMP, and GIF photo formats. Audiophiles will enjoy listening to their personal MP3 or WMA music or their favorite FM radio station on either the built-in speaker or provided earphones. An integrated voice recorder is also included.

Other features include an eight-mode equalizer with normal, MSEQ, rock, pop, classic, bass, jazz, and user EQ; support for 20 languages including English, Spanish, German, French, Russian, and Japanese; and a high-speed USB 2.0 interface.

Power is provided by a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery, which is supplied. A fully charged battery provides up to eight hours of continuous music play or up to three hours of video viewing. The unit is DRM9 compatible. It is fully upgradeable to any future formats and features.

Pricing and Availability
The Nextar MA809 portable player will be available in Q2 2009 at Sears and other leading retailers across the U.S. It has a SRP of $99.99 for 2GB capacity, $119.99 for 4GB capacity, and $149.99 for the 8GB capacity model.

About Nextar
Nextar, headquartered in Southern California, is a global designer and marketer of consumer electronics. From the categories it enters to the products it develops and the manner in which it goes to market, Nextar's decisions are based on its unique 'bold and new' philosophy. It currently offers products in the following categories: portable personal audio and video; digital photo frames; portable navigation devices; and Bluetooth®. In addition to tried-and-true consumer electronic retail outlets, Nextar products also are boldly marketed through non-traditional avenues such as department stores, automotive, mass merchants, food and drug, and do-it-yourself.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:01PM]

JUNK!

Conversion software.... stay away from crap like this.

[Leo Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:20PM]

Agree. Nextar also makes crappy external hard disk enclosures.

[Ignatius Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:24PM]

Isn't iTunes conversion software for pretty much everything that isn't mp3, mp4 or AAC? Only Archos and Cowon really have the huge built-in support of pretty much every format on the planet.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:08PM]

I'd take a touch any day over that...$100 for something that only lasts 3 hours watching movies? I mean, come on. Thats like half of what the touch can do, and I thought the battery in the touch wasn't good...

[Ignatius Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:19PM]

Doesn't the Touch cost twice as much?

Balances out...

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:26PM]

@Ignatius
Doesn't the Touch cost twice as much?

Balances out...
_____________________________________________
well the touch does have wifi, a bigger/better screen and a nice apple logo ;) jk

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:14PM]

"Nextar, headquartered in Southern California, is a global designer and marketer of consumer electronics"

AHAHAH!!!

I bought 2 Nextar Mp3 players from Canadian Tire (Hardware store, for $14.99 and $9.99) The box says Nextar but when you open it up the thing is branded Sylvania, and when you go to the web site for the manual it tells you to go to Curtis.com...

Yea, the really "Design" these things... if by design you mean use royalty free pictures to print the packaging, then yes!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:23PM]

Frist!

[Ignatius Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:26PM]

...

no.

[Leo Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:27PM]

Problems with math?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:31PM]

Crikey, it took you 22 minutes to type out "First" and press the enter button?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 16th 2009 5:32PM]

And on second glance you types FRIST not first!, so you FAIL after 22 minutes!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 16th 2009 6:30PM]

no touchkiller here,. Next fail, add this to guaranteed to fail products!GTFP

[bluemajik Posted Mar 16th 2009 6:38PM]

I don't understand how this is getting knocked on by the pricing. It's similar, if not identical to every other PMP (Apple included) in it's GB range.