Two reviews of Sony's new Clie Digital Video Recorder

Grok Headline matches for Two reviews of Sony's new Clie Digital Video Recorder

PCMag Reviews Archos AV420 Pocket Video
Recorder

PCMag Reviews Archos AV420 Pocket Video
Recorder 08/05/2004 02:02 PM

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]

Digital Video Recorder

Digital Video Recorder 01/03/2004 02:12 PM
DVR 3.2 released !

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

"Sony’s 1TB digital video recorder with
seven TV tuners" 05/13/2004 03:37 AM

A Digital Video Recorder Leader Lags

A Digital Video Recorder Leader Lags 04/26/2004 02:00 AM
TiVo, the company that popularized DVR's, isn't taking part in their new popularity. Also: the most popular movies, TV shows, books and software.

EyeTV 200 FireWire digital video
recorder announced

EyeTV 200 FireWire digital video
recorder announced 01/07/2004 06:45 PM
Also announced by Elgato Systems today announced its EyeTV 200 FireWire digital video recorder, which makes it possible to watch, record, edit and archive high-quality, MPEG-2 encoded television on the Mac...

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

Elgato introduces DVB-T digital video
recorder, with Common Interface 09/02/2004 11:16 PM
Elgato Systems today announced the release of the EyeTV 410 digital video recorder for DVB-T with Common Interface (CI). Based on the award-winning technology of EyeTV 400 (for free-to-air digital terrestrial television), this product is designed for countries where PayTV via DVB-T is available. The new EyeTV 410 will find its users particularly in countries, where the TV channels are broadcast via DVB-T in encrypted format only. The new product also works in countries with free-to-air DVB-T broadcasting. With EyeTV 410, users can watch, record, timeshift, edit and archive digital terrestrial TV in stunning picture and sound quality.

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

" TiVo Series2 140-Hour Digital Video
Recorder Buy at Amazon" 04/14/2004 10:32 PM

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

I hate this digital video recorder:
Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8000 08/16/2004 04:02 PM
I can't begin to say how much I despise the Explorer 8000 digital video recorder made by Scientific-Atlanta. That's the system Time-Warner gave us when my wife signed us up for cable service a few weeks ago. I was out of town on the day they were scheduled to install it, so I told my wife to make sure the DVR was real TiVo, because I'd played with a TiVo belonging to my friend, and thought it was just about perfect. The service tech came and told her it was real TiVo. When I got back and saw that the ugly box didn't have a happy bipedal TV set logo on it, I was disappointed, but willing to give it a try. The first thing I noticed was the crappy user interface. Unlike TiVo, there's no audible signal when you press a button. And because it takes a couple of seconds after pressing a button for anything to happen on the screen, I often press the button twice, thinking the first press didn't go through. What happens when you press a button twice is that you see the result on the screen for a split second before it disappears, because the second press cancels the first press. That means I have to press the button a third time, and wait another mini-eternity for something to happen. So many other things suck about the user interface that I can't list them all. But the main UI problems include lack of keyword scheduling, way-too-slow fast-forwarding, no alpha character entry, and the inability to see how many hours of programming are available on the hard drive.

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?

Sony's new TJ27 Clie

Sony's new TJ27 Clie 01/26/2004 12:41 PM
Bargain PDA takes a first look at Sony's new mid-range Clie handheld, the TJ27, which comes with a built-in digital camera, 32MB of RAM,...

Sony's Multimedia and Wi-Fi Clie:
PEG-VZ90

Sony's Multimedia and Wi-Fi Clie:
PEG-VZ90 09/14/2004 11:18 AM

Ooh la la! This is a nice looking Clie right here, yes sir. The PEG-VZ90 is sort of cross between a Palm PDA and a portable media player, as it's designed mainly to play back video on its 3.8-inch OLED screen. And although it doesn't have a built-in hard drive, it does have a CompactFlash bay (No MemoryStick?!) and an in-built Wi-Fi module, so you could stream data from a PC or DVR, presumably.

The best part of the VZ90 is probably it's screen, though, with a 1000:1 contrast ratio and a design that keeps pixels off when the color is black, making a power-efficient unit that can playback MPEG4 and MPEG1 for up to 12 hours at a time.

It's Japan-only, of course. Sony doesn't sell the Clie here anymore.

Read - Sony Japan unveils Wi-Fi multimedia Clié PEG-VZ90 [MobileMag]

Sony’s 1TB digital video recorder
with seven TV tuners - Engadget -
www.engadget.com

Sony’s 1TB digital video recorder
with seven TV tuners - Engadget -
www.engadget.com 05/11/2004 12:38 AM
1 terrabyte tivo (type thing) with 7 tv tuners, so you can tape up to 7 simultaneous programs .. Sony’s 1TB digital video recorder with seven TV tuners .. new DVR from Sony

engadget.com/entry/5697251958315683
track this site | 3 links

EFF reviews Elgato's EyeTV 500 HDTV
tuner/recorder for the Mac.

EFF reviews Elgato's EyeTV 500 HDTV
tuner/recorder for the Mac. 01/05/2005 10:29 PM
EFF reviews Elgato's EyeTV 500 HDTV tuner/recorder for the Mac.

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

Turn any PC into a High End TV and
Personal Video Recorder With ATI's
Revolutionary Video Processor 09/14/2004 05:29 AM
Stockhouse Canada Sep 14 2004 9:35AM GMT

Sony's HMP-A1 VAIO Video Pocket Video
Review

Sony's HMP-A1 VAIO Video Pocket Video
Review 06/16/2004 07:12 AM

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]

Reviews: Portable MP3 player with FM and
voice recorder; wireless headset; cell
phone info syncing

Reviews: Portable MP3 player with FM and
voice recorder; wireless headset; cell
phone info syncing 12/11/2003 06:07 PM
San Jose Mercury News Dec 11 2003 5:46PM ET

ViMS, PVR - Digital TV Recorder

ViMS, PVR - Digital TV Recorder 04/10/2004 11:32 AM
ViMS - CVS now back online

Archos Pocket Video Recorder: TV To Go

Archos Pocket Video Recorder: TV To Go 08/18/2004 01:11 PM
Review: Has Archos trumped Microsoft again with a fully functional video recorder you can put in your shirt pocket? The AV400 is the player Microsoft doesn't want you to know about.

ETV Personal Video Recorder Beta 6

ETV Personal Video Recorder Beta 6 07/05/2004 08:08 AM
A personal video recorder (PVR) especially suited for European use.

Arex MobiDV-H10 SD/MMC Video Recorder

Arex MobiDV-H10 SD/MMC Video Recorder 05/21/2004 02:31 PM
A new device profiled on AkibaLive will record and display MPEG-4 files, and although it is only recording to SD cards, they claim 45 minutes of video can be shot on a single 512MB card. The Arex MobiDV-H10 can also...

NTT DoCoMo OnQ Digital Broadcast
Recorder

NTT DoCoMo OnQ Digital Broadcast
Recorder 05/18/2004 10:38 PM
MobileMag May 19 2004 2:03AM GMT

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

Sharp DV-HRW30: Once, Twice ... Three
Times A Video Recorder 06/23/2004 01:56 PM

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]

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

TiVo to Offer Video Recorder Without
Set-Top Box (Reuters) 01/06/2005 07:29 AM
Reuters - TiVo Inc. plans to introduce a high-resolution digital video recorder and deliver programming over Internet lines, in an effort to differentiate itself from recording services offered by cable and satellite providers, it said on Thursday.

Archos introduces new pocket video
recorder

Archos introduces new pocket video
recorder 06/30/2004 09:30 AM
Archos today introduced a new pocket-sized digital video recorder and player, the Pocket Video Recorder AV400, which has TV recording and scheduling capabilities, and audio, photo and data storage...

Matco's Chubby PDV-040 Pocket Video
Recorder

Matco's Chubby PDV-040 Pocket Video
Recorder 06/01/2004 10:29 AM

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]

TiVo to Launch Integrated Video Recorder
(AP)

TiVo to Launch Integrated Video Recorder
(AP) 01/06/2005 10:15 PM
AP - TiVo Inc. wants to declutter living rooms and simplify changing channels with its television recorders as it announced plans Thursday to launch models that integrate the converter boxes required by many cable TV companies.

Archos Recorder + Rockbox Plays Video

Archos Recorder + Rockbox Plays Video 12/13/2003 08:43 PM

TiVo to Launch Cable Video Recorder (AP)

TiVo to Launch Cable Video Recorder (AP) 01/06/2005 03:04 PM
AP - TiVo Inc. wants to declutter living rooms and simplify changing channels with its television recorders as it announced plans Thursday to launch models that integrate the converter boxes required by many cable TV companies.

TiVo to Launch Cable Video Recorder

TiVo to Launch Cable Video Recorder 01/06/2005 04:59 PM
San Jose Mercury News Jan 6 2005 8:05PM GMT

New: Archos Pocket Video Recorder AV400

New: Archos Pocket Video Recorder AV400 07/02/2004 10:04 AM
Archos introduced a pocket-sized digital video recorder and player, with a color LCD screen, a TV cradle, video playback and recording, scheduled recording, music playback and recording, and more.

Sony's HMP-A1 VAIO Video Pocket

Sony's HMP-A1 VAIO Video Pocket 05/27/2004 09:28 AM
More details have emerged about Sony's next VAIO Pocket player, and I can say in no uncertain terms that this is the one to wait for. Check out the specs for the 20GB HMP-A1: Native MP3 support with bundled Musicmatch...

Griffin's digital voice recorder for the
iPod

Griffin's digital voice recorder for the
iPod 01/06/2004 02:07 AM
Today's the big day we find out whether the rumors about those miniPods are true (we'll post up the news as soon as we get...

DirecTV launches non-TiVo digital
recorder

DirecTV launches non-TiVo digital
recorder 01/07/2005 02:02 AM
ZDNet Jan 7 2005 5:48AM GMT

First review of Sony's DSC-T1 digital
camera

First review of Sony's DSC-T1 digital
camera 12/02/2003 01:29 PM
I4U has the first review yet of the DSC-T1 from Sony, which at just eight-tenths of an inch thick and 2.4 inches tall, is the world's smallest five megapixel digital camera. Read...

Even more from CES: Pics of Sony's new
DSC-T1 digital camera

Even more from CES: Pics of Sony's new
DSC-T1 digital camera 01/22/2004 02:10 AM
Also from CES, Rick Urtel has some shots of our next camera, Sony's superthin DSC-T1, which comes out here soon: Sony's new DSC-T1 digital camera...

Pocket Video Recorder: multimedia
storage, playback

Pocket Video Recorder: multimedia
storage, playback 06/30/2004 04:27 PM
Archos Inc. announced on Wednesday the debut of its AV420 and AV480 Pocket Video Recorders, 4.9- by 3.1-inch devices that are one inch thick and feature the ability to store and display movies and pictures, record video, transfer images from a digital camera, play music and double as an external hard drive. They can connect to your TV through an included cradle and record video directly from the set, accept digital photos through a built-in Compact Flash card reader and hook up to your Mac through a USB 2.0 port for file downloads and uploads. They come in 20GB and 80GB capacities and feature 3.5- or 3.8-inch color LCD screens, respectively.

Cogeco offers high-definition video
recorder

Cogeco offers high-definition video
recorder 04/19/2004 07:07 PM
globetechnology.com Apr 19 2004 10:20PM GMT

TiVo to launch video recorder that
integrates cable box

TiVo to launch video recorder that
integrates cable box 01/06/2005 04:59 PM
SiliconValley.com Jan 6 2005 7:57PM GMT

Archos ships 'DVR to go' handheld video
recorder

Archos ships 'DVR to go' handheld video
recorder 07/16/2004 04:55 AM
The Register Jul 16 2004 9:09AM GMT

First DVD recorder that can play Windows
Media Video files

First DVD recorder that can play Windows
Media Video files 10/30/2003 09:14 AM
Arriving even earlier than we had originally predicted, the first DVD recorder that will support the playback and recording of Windows Media 9 video files is here. Using Windows Media 9 means that over six hours of DVD quality video can be squeezed onto one disc, and the DiVA 489, which is being built by Malata/Wanlida (yeah, we'd never heard of them either) but will be sold under the Polaroid brand name in the US, can also play Windows Media content that's streamed or downloaded over the Internet. Read...
Grok Description matches for Two reviews of Sony's new Clie Digital Video Recorder
GrokA matches for Two reviews of Sony's new Clie Digital Video Recorder

Two reviews of Sony's new Clie Digital Video Recorder

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