Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Return Of The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide: Page 6 of 25

Archos 604 WiFi
If you're serious about watching a portable player, the Archos 604 WiFi ($450) is one serious portable player. It not only plays back video on a 4.3-inch diagonal 480 x 272-pixel touch screen, it records video onto its 30-Gbyte hard disk. Built-in Wi-Fi connects to the Web for downloading videos from YouTube or checking your e-mail (an Opera browser and PDF reader are built in), as well as retrieving media files from your network.

The 604 plays audio and video in just about any file format you can think of, and displays photos in JPEG, BMP, and PNG formats. It also handles a variety of audio, video, and photo formats; and and a variety of accessories make the 604 a set-top DVR or even a helmetcam.


Honorable Mention: Cowon A2 Portable Media Player
The Cowon A2 portable multimedia player doesn't offer the Wi-Fi and Web browsing functions of the Archos unit, but the $350 player does have an FM tuner and line-in MP3 recording. Its four-inch, 480 x 272-pixel widescreen LCD display is a plus, and even better is its built-in stereo speakers that do what few portable players can -- they produce decent sound.

ezVision Video iWear
One way to get right up to the screen is to wear it: These ezVision Video iWear goggles ($400) fit like a pair of glasses and give you the experience of watching a 50-inch virtual screen with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. At just four ounces, the goggles include built-in earphones and a rechargeable lithium ion battery; they come with iPod and DVD adapters, and an AC charger.



Click image for image gallery.

Neuros OSD

Having a portable video player is one thing -- loading it up with video is another. If you've got a do-it-yourself bent, the Neuros OSD ($230) gives you a video workbench. Use the OSD to record video from a variety of sources and load it into your iPod, PSP, smartphones, laptops -- it even records to SD and Compact Flash cards. It works in the other direction, too, to display downloaded and recorded video on your big-screen TV.

Stocking Stuffers
Video Vault software ($120) runs on a PC to convert unencrypted DVD's, S/VCD's, tapes, and downloaded videos to file formats for devices including media servers and DVD recorders, mobile phones, PDAs, and video players. Meanwhile, handheld video players have to be -- well, handheld -- in order to get the right viewing angle on the screen. The Original EZL ($15) lets you prop up your player for best screen viewing while you use your hands for better things. It's just the size of an iPod or Zen Vision:M (although it works perfectly well with larger players like the Archos) and it folds up flat for storage.

--David DeJeanVideo To Stay