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RCA's Lyra X3030 portable media player reviewed
Just a few months back we saw RCA's Lyra X3000 get some well-deserved praise, and now the folks over at CNET are putting its successor through its respective paces. The X3030 sports most of the same specs and attributes as its aging sibling, but touts 30GB of internal storage (up from 20GB) and "adds protected Windows Media Video support and DivX certification." Reviewers found a good bit to love on the PVP, as they extolled its broad range of supported formats and "Apple-esque" scroll wheel, as well as admiring the "healthy set of accessories" that made scheduling recordings a breeze. The main digs came from the "tricky interface," the lack of a widescreen display (like that found on the lower-priced, albeit less accesorized, Archos 604), and the "decent" video quality that fell short of "some competitors." It was also noted that while the 4.5-hours of realized battery life while watching video was commendable, the 8.5-hours achieved while listening solely to audio was indeed lackluster. Nevertheless, the crew found enough niceties to slap a "7 out of 10" rating on the X3030, and closed by dubbing the X3030 "a solid video playback and recording device, despite its poorly designed menu interface."
Thomson announces three DAPs and a PMP for Europe
RCA-parent Thomson announced three new MP3 players for the European market today, along with a 30GB PMP called the X3030E, which should look quite familiar because it's just a re-badge of the Lyra X3030 that we covered a few months back. First up is the 6GB EH306, also known as the Black Diamond, which is a nano-like device sporting a 1.5-inch color OLED display, MP3, WMA, WMV, and MPEG-4 file support, fifteen hours of battery life, and that old standby, the FM tuner -- all for around $320 when it hits stores in October. Next we have the Lyra EM2600 (pictured), a 512MB or 1GB flash-based model which is basically a color version of the RD2312 we spotted at CES 2005, and which will cost $100 or $126 depending on capacity. Bringing up the rear is arguably the hottest model of all, a little waif of a DAP known as the EM2802. With this one you're getting the same color screen and codecs as the EH306, but in a much smaller package and in capacities of either 1GB or 2GB -- which will go for $165 and $216, respectively, upon their November launch. You've already seen the EM2600; now keep reading to check out all the other upcoming devices...
RCA Lyra X3030 media player gets bump to 30GB
It may be only a couple of weeks since we first started seeing reviews of Thomson/RCA's Lyra X3000 portable media player, but that hasn't stopped the company from announcing a successor, the X3030. Like the X3000, the X3030, due out in May, can handle WMA, PlaysforSure, Audible and DivX files, and has a 3.6-inch LCD display. In fact, the main difference between the two models appears to be a bump in hard disk size, from 20 to 30GB (gee, that must be why this is the X3030). RCA has kept the suggested retail price at the same $399 level as the X3000, so if you like the Lyra's specs and 20GB will do it for you, now might be a good time for you to grab an X3000 from a clearance bin.
