Tech Toy


My NEW Phone!!!

It's the AV700, and it's INCREDIBLE!!! I knew I had to give up my XDA II MIni when I laid my eyes on it. How can you resist that HUGE, 7-inch screen?! Yes, you heard that right... 7 INCHES! Yeah, I need a clutchbag to bring it around in, and I can't really put it on my belt or my pants will sag, but DARN isn't that screen lovely? Oh, and it can't get a signal worth shit. But DARN it has a huge screen. Well, with 40 gigs of space in the hard drive, I don't really have time to call or text anyone when I'm busy watching vids, right? MWAHAHAHAHA!!!

I'm kidding of course.

The device above is the Archos AV700, and it's a portable Digital Video Recorder (DVR) and player. I wasn't pulling legs with the 7-inch screen though. I read the review in M/PH (a local tech mag) and just felt this was right for me. All week I've been troubling over three possible things to get for myself- it was a toss-up between a Playstation Portable or PSP, the new I-Pod (with video) and an Archos PVP (Personal Video Player).

I got thinking... the PSP is really nice and the price has gone down a LOT... but the games STILL aren't worth playing for me. There's Metal Gear Acid, but it's a darn CARD game. Not even Solid Snake can make me like a card game. Games on UMD are horribly expensive (at least 3K a pop), though you can now get games directly recorded on memory sticks from certain stores... it still doesn't change the fact that I still don't like any of the games and I don't really play games outside the house. So... even though I was tempted when I saw an actual PSP on display with Ridge Racer running on it amazingly at Megamall, I wasn't swayed. Give me a Tekken, DOA or a Streetfighter III title, Final Fantasy or something worth my time, and maybe I'll spring, Sony.

The new Apple I-Pod looks pretty awesome. It's thin, the screen looks great and you can bring 60 gigs of video and music around. Awesome! However, it has been made clear to me that the new I-Pod is first and foremost still a music player with video tagged on since the battery only lasts for little more than two hours playing video. Anyway, in that case, my O2 Mini still works perfectly as my portable video player, and I don't need to expend the extra effort to bring it around. basically, the I Pod just clones my phone's functions for a bit of cool factor and extra weight. It was a nice dream but really, nope.

So we came to the Archos PVP. I finally decided on it thanks to the recording capability. I can finally give my PC's old, old video capture card and the now weirdly-reduced Hard Drive a rest. The AV700 can record from TV, VCR, DVD and other sources simply by plugging in the docking station, inserting the proper AV-Ins and letting her rip. The resulting AVI files are crisp and easily convertible via PocketDIVXEncoder for mobile formats. The only problem here is that video copied from 'legit' DVDs can't be played on anything other than the AV700 itself, thanks to copy protection (I'll have to get special stuff to get around this problem... or just get pirated DVDs aplenty). There are tons more options on it aplenty, including on-board video editing, music and photos and more.
Bottom line is, I love video and recording video and all that jazz, and the AV700 gives it to me in Spades. It's something I will actually use, and use a lot. And that's what really counts when you get tech toys. And I can actually bring it along for trips with a library of movies to watch in a snap. And yes, I can now watch movies in the bathroom. HOHO!

An early Christmas present, and hopefully not the last. Heh.