New: Archos Pocket Video Recorder AV400

Archos Pocket Video Recorder: TV To Go

Matco's Chubby PDV-040 Pocket Video
Recorder

Like many 6th through 8th graders, the Matco PDV-040 is hefty and awkward, but has a lot to offer if you'd just give it a chance. The portable pocket digital video recorder encoders to MPEG-4 and MP3 to its internal 20 or 40GB hard drive and can play back videos on either its 408 x 234 3.5-inch screen or its NTSC/PAL output (likely composite). Its capturing is limited to 25-28 fps at 320 x 240, though, so it's not exactly going out for the Mathletes, either, if you get my meaning. And like a 6th through 8th grader, I have decided to unexpectedly turn a cold shoulder to the PDV-040 after discovering its retail price of $749, alienating it instead to hang out with the much cooler kids from iRiver and Creative (they're skinny and wear black).
Read [Matco via eHomeUpgrade]

Archos introduces new pocket video
recorder

Pocket Video Recorder: multimedia
storage, playback

PCMag Reviews Archos AV420 Pocket Video
Recorder

PCMag checks in with a mostly positive review of the Archos AV420 Pocket Video Recorder, marred only by the public acknowledgement that the only DVD they could find in John Dvorak's office was a well-worn copy of Top Gun. I mean, they don't say that, exactly, but I think we can all safely infer from the picture that most of his columns are written with the Ride Into The Danger Zone scene playing over and over in the background.

It explains so much, really.

Read - Archos AV420 Pocket Video Recorder [PCMag]

Related
Archos AV420 Reviewed [Gizmodo]

Turn any PC into a High End TV and
Personal Video Recorder With ATI's
Revolutionary Video Processor

Sony's HMP-A1 VAIO Video Pocket Video
Review

Portable Media World (a spanking new sister site to our favorite French gadget site, Akihabara News) has a review of the HMP-A1, the second-generation video player from Sony. They're impressed by its fit-and-finish, but it's clear from the review that Sony has crippled the device, forcing the user to go through two different programs to copy audio and video to the unit (and no ATRAC, hilariously), as well as reencode most video before transferring it over (it supports MPEG 1/2/4 but not MPEG4 derivatives like DivX or XviD, apparently). Battery life varies wildly depending on how much decoding the HMP-A1 must do, but even when gnawing on the relatively dense MPEG2 files it manages around a 4 hour playback -- couple of movies worth, which is decent. Left-handed users get an unfulfilled tease, as the HMP-A1 supports a screen pivot for lefty use, but doesn't switch the directions of the controls, meaning scrolling down, for instance, will cause the HMP-A1 to scroll up.

It looks nice, but considering the major market for these units -- we geeks who rip our own DVDs, record TV, and download video (illegally) -- it's probably better to wait for one of the iRiver or Archos players that don't do annoying things like hide the directories on the hard drive.
Read [PMW.SorobanGeeks]

Related
Sony's HMP-A1 VAIO Video Pocket [Gizmodo]

Digital Video Recorder

ETV Personal Video Recorder Beta 6

Arex MobiDV-H10 SD/MMC Video Recorder

TiVo to Launch Cable Video Recorder

"Sony’s 1TB digital video recorder with
seven TV tuners"

TiVo to Offer Video Recorder Without
Set-Top Box (Reuters)

Sharp DV-HRW30: Once, Twice ... Three
Times A Video Recorder

For those with more far-ranging video needs, Sharp is releasing the DV-HRW30, a hard disk video recorder which also has a DVD burner and VHS deck. It even bundles in a satellite decoder, although it can only tape that direct to hard drive or DVD -- probably not a big problem, especially since you can freely move video around from format to format without restriction (according to Sharp, at least). The hard drive is only 80GB, which is sort of puny these days, but could probably be upgraded without too much worry. The DV-HRW30 is set to hit Nipponese stores July 1st for around ¥95,000.
Read [Dottocomu]

Archos Recorder + Rockbox Plays Video

A Digital Video Recorder Leader Lags

TiVo to Launch Integrated Video Recorder
(AP)

TiVo to Launch Cable Video Recorder (AP)

Cogeco offers high-definition video
recorder

Archos ships 'TiVo to go' handheld video
recorder

First DVD recorder that can play Windows
Media Video files

TiVo to launch video recorder that
integrates cable box

Two reviews of Sony's new Clie Digital
Video Recorder

EyeTV 200 FireWire digital video
recorder announced

Archos ships 'DVR to go' handheld video
recorder

" TiVo Series2 140-Hour Digital Video
Recorder Buy at Amazon"

Elgato introduces DVB-T digital video
recorder, with Common Interface

Sony Releases Internet-Enabled,
Hard-Disk Video Recorder

I hate this digital video recorder:
Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8000

This last flaw hit home when the machine suddenly stopped recording shows. I tried everything I could to get it to work, including rebooting the system and calling Time Warner Cable customer service. They told me that they'd have to replace the unit, which would take five days.

Five days later a service technician came with a new box. I asked him if this problem was common, because Google returns a lot of pages from people who think the Explorer 8000 is a piece of junk. He said the system is fine as long as you didn't store too many shows on it. If you fill up the hard drive, the system freezes up, and there's no way a user can undo it. But how do you know when the disk is close to being full if there's no gage to tell you? The service tech's answer: "don't keep very many shows on the hard drive." That pretty much defeats the purpose of a DVR, doesn't it?

He also warned me not to put anything on top of it, as it was notorious for overheating and seizing up. I told him I was considering TiVo, but he insisted the Explorer 8000 was better than TiVo. How so, I asked? "We will give you a new one if it breaks," he said.

Our second Explorer 8000 is also a piece of junk. Like the first one, it regularly fails to record requested shows. But this one goes even further in its attempt to aggravate me by freezing up while playing back a show, and pixelating and jittering like a lost episode of Max Headroom.

Yesterday I was at Best Buy, and I noticed that 40-hour TiVos were on sale for $50 after rebate. I bought one and set it up. What a difference! If TiVo were a beverage, it'd be a tall glass of Jamaican ginger beer with chipped ice and a lime wedge, while the Explorer 800 would be a paper cup of warm fake lemonade stirred with the finger of a nose-picking six-year-old.

I can't wait to get the Explorer 8000 out of my house. Why did Time Warner make a deal with this company?

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