We’re assuming “Infotainment Centre”
means a portable video player that
includes TV reception, although we’d pre-
fer to avoid the term—it doesn’t do the
badass display on the Qool 5GB video
player justice. The “World of Tomorrow”
OLED screen delivers generous detail,
especially noticeable in fast-motion
scenes, which never blur as they often do
with LCDs. And unlike LCD screens, OLED
displays look just as good viewed from
any angle, horizontally or vertically, so two
people can watch the same movie without
invading each other’s space. There isn’t
as much color depth as with some LCD-
based PVPs we’ve seen, but on a 2.2-inch
screen this isn’t a deal-breaker.
What’s harder to accept is the player’s
relative incompetence with various com-
pressed video formats, and its inability to
play anything encoded at bit rates above
4Mb/s. If you only intend to encode video
tailored for the Qool using thebundled software (a chore), this isn’t a
big deal, but you wouldn’t want to endure
the horror of having to re-encode already-
compressed video fi les meant for PC view-
ing. There’s no support for Divx 6, VOB
fi les, or OGG media.
Audio playback is an afterthought, with
poor earbuds and no equalization options.
And don’t be impressed by the included
extra battery, as each one delivers about an
hour and a half of video playback. Still, if you
want to indulge yourself with OLED technol-
ogy, the Qool PIC is your baby.If a portable video player that’s more than
8 inches wide isn’t what you’re looking for,
you’re dismissed. Even if the big little screen
experience sounds like fun, take a closer look
before you swipe your credit card.
Compared with other portable video play-
ers, Archos’ megalithic AV700—with its enor-
mous 7-inch LCD display—is so extravagant
it’s almost vulgar. The display is acceptably
bright and has an exceptionally wide lateral
viewing angle, but the resolution is limited to
480x234 (although it will play higher-resolution
video by down-sampling) and faint gridlines
across the screen’s surface further degrade
the image quality. We hoped for redemption
from the TV-out performance, but the video
output from the bundled RCA connector was
fl at and lacked contrast—couldn’t Archos
have sprung for component cables, or even
an S-Video connector?There’s no great story to tell about
MP3 playback. The AV700 conforms
to the PlaysForSure standard imple-
mented by many downloading servic-
es, but the volume ceiling is well below
average. And don’t get us started on
the creaky built-in speakers.
We appreciate blue-ribbon fea-
tures like scheduled video recording
from analog sources, but the AV700
lacks a surprising number of basicplayback capabilities. It supports Divx 5 and
Divx 6 (yea!) fi les at bit rates exceeding DVD
quality, but only supports WMV fi les encoded
via the “simple profi le” limited to 320x240. It
won’t play MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 or VOB fi les
ripped from a DVD-Video, and doesn’t display
external subtitles. In short, there’s not much
to get hopped up about besides a gadget that
looks fantastic on the coffee table.Serving suggestion: Hang the humongous
AV700 from a tree branch on the front
lawn, and create your own drive-in theater!5
ARCHOS AV700
$600, http://www.archos.comQool 5GB QMP-2210RX Personal Infotainment Centre
We dig that pretty little patch of screen
The gorgeous display is cruelly sabotaged
by battery life that won’t get you through
some feature-length films.Archos 40GB AV700 Digital Video Recorder
Big. Bulky. Blurry. Baloney.
SPECS
FORMATS WMV (including protected
WMV), Divx 5 (not Divx 6), Xvid
video; MP3, WMA (including
protected WMA), WAV audio
BATTERY LIFE 1:31 (hours:minutes)
WEIGHT 1.5 ounces
DIMENSIONS 4.5 x 2.75 x .75 inches
SCREEN 2.25-inch OLEDSPECS
Archos 40GB AV700 Digital Video Recorder
DIGITAL VIDEO PLAYERS DIGITAL VIDEO PLAYERS DIGITAL PLAYERS DIGITAL VIDEO PLAYERS DIGITAL PLAYERS DIGITAL VIDEO PLAYERS DIGITAL PLAYERS DIGITAL VIDEO PLAYERS
want to indulge yourself with OLED technol-
ogy, the Qool PIC is your baby.by battery life that won’t get you through
some feature-length films.to get hopped up about besides a gadget that
looks fantastic on the coffee table.
$600, http://www.archos.comQool 5GB QMP-2210RX Personal Infotainment Centre
6
QOOL QMP-2210RX
$500, http://www.qoollabs.comFORMATS WMV (including protected
WMV), Divx 5 and Divx 6, Xvid
video; MP3, WMA (including
protected WMA), WAV audio
BATTERY LIFE 3:09 (hours:minutes)
WEIGHT 20.8 ounces
DIMENSIONS 8.2 x 4.2 x .8 inches
SCREEN 7-inch LCD48 MA XIMUMPC DECEMBER 2005 DECEMBER 2005 MA XIMUMPC 49