Typical price: £230
What is it: A portable playback device for TV, movies, photos and MP3s
What we think: When it works, the Goodmans provides a much clearer picture than some other handheld media players. But we found the device’s performance temperamental and the playback format very restricting
What you need to know
Reviewed on: 14 May 2005
Tags: Goodmans, Windows Media Player, Goodmans X-Pro GPDR40, budget, handheld
We like:
Bright screen; solid chassis; video recorder functionality
We don't like:
Sporadic dimming of backlight; having to encode media using the bundled software
You might also need:
A headphone to phono-plug connector would let you rig this into your HiFi; a Freeview box or similar will make it easy to record live TV onto the Goodmans
CNET UK judgement:
It’s not the prettiest handheld media centre, but the Goodmans' screen is brighter than the Samsung YH-999s and it can record from a live source. Unfortunately our experience of the GPRD40 was sullied by a schizophrenic dimming of the LCD backlight at times, and two crashes. You also need to encode all your video externally because the Goodmans only plays its native MPEG-4 codec. This can potentially take many hours
Full review:
Handheld media players are still in the uncomfortable stages of teenage angst. They’re either awkwardly shaped or bad tempered. With just a few exceptions, the players we’ve reviewed so far have been extremely picky about the codecs they’re willing to play back. In most cases it’s WMV or nothing at all. Continue Reading...
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