CNET editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
OK
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 11/16/2004
- Released on: 09/01/2004
The MP-2000's large, 3.5-inch, 480x234 screen isn't the best we've seen, and it tends to look dark gray, not black, if it isn't facing you directly. At only 8 ounces, the player is light enough to hold up so that friends can check out your video stash, and the display is visible well past 45 degrees to the side of the player. We managed to crowd about three people around the gadget before folks on the perimeter couldn't see more than a brightly colored blur.
The interface isn't particularly sophisticated, but barring one or two incidents, we found it simple enough to use the thumbstick to scroll through various menu options and select the video or audio that we wanted to play or record. It would be nice if pressing the thumbstick would enter your selection. Instead, you have to use a separate Enter button. This can be annoying, as there is a natural tendency to want to move the joystick left or right into or out of folders and menu options. We wasted quite a bit of time doing this, instead of pressing the separate Enter and Exit buttons. While playing video, pressing up or down on the thumbstick brings up the brightness settings for the monitor. Moving the thumbstick to the left or right engages fast-forward or rewind, while clicking multiple times to the left or right speeds up those functions.
The player, which offers both A/V-in and A/V-out jacks (these require special minijack-to-RCA video/audio cables that ship with the device), can't display on both a TV and the built-in LCD simultaneously. Neither does it autodetect when the A/V output cable is plugged in. So in order to play video on an external monitor, you'll need to manually set the device to use the video-out jack.
Other than a built-in mount for attaching the MP-2000 to a tripod, the unit lacks a method of propping itself up for hands-free viewing. While you could lean it against a coffee cup for extended viewing, some kind of kickstand on the player would have been a welcome extra. The MP-2000 also sorely needs a remote control, an item that ships with Archos's AV420.
In theory, the Apex MP-2000 can handle MPEG4; DivX 3, 4, and 5; Motion JPEG; and WMV9 video files along with MP3 and WMA audio. While it handled all of the non-copy-protected audio files we threw at it, getting video to play on it, regardless of the format, was a crapshoot. Why? Because Apex doesn't give any detailed information about what video formatting the MP-2000 actually uses. This is no doubt the most annoying thing about the MP-200: its lack of detailed information, both within the interface and the manual. This is especially problematic when you're trying to play video on the device; regardless of codec, if the format (resolution, frame rate, and so on) isn't compatible, the device simply tells you it's an "unsupported format." Want to know what formats of video are supported? The manual states only this: "There may be circumstances where a multimedia file that is transferred from your computer to the MP-2000 may not work properly. This is not a malfunction." A trip to the company's Web site confirms it: Apex doesn't list the complete video playback specs for the device anywhere.
The MP-2000 is automatically recognized as a hard drive when you plug it into a USB 2.0 port, and transferring files is a simple, drag-and-drop process--just remember to put video in the video file and audio in the audio file. Perhaps the easier method of getting video content onto the MP-2000 is recording directly from a video source, such as a TV. Files are saved in MPEG4 format in a variety of quality and resolution settings, including Standard (240x180, 96Kbps) and Best (320x240, 224Kbps). It will not copy protected DVDs, though, which means that using the A/V output on your DVD player to record your DVD collection onto the MP-2000 simply isn't an option. The Archos AV420 offers the ability to record protected content onto the hard drive and play it back only on the LCD screen, something we would have liked to have seen in the MP-2000. Also, unlike some other PVPs, there isn't a bookmarking feature, nor is there a 24-second Skip Commercial function. The MP-2000 also offers audio recording via line-in or by using the built-in mic for voice recording. Line-in audio is recorded into MP3 at various bit rates, which are designated only as Standard, Better, Best, and so forth.
Back to the main interface: It's extremely low-res, it feels antiquated for a device of this nature, and it screams "Nintendo NES" rather than "21st-century media gadget." Still, it's not a deal breaker--it's efficient, just not elegant. The main menu includes the following clear options: Video, Music, Photo, Voice Record, A/V Record, and Settings. Drilling down into any of the content options (video, audio, photo) opens a Windows Explorer-type folder tree with separate tiny windows for thumbnail images (or video) and file information.
Selecting the Music playback mode kicks up a display that vaguely resembles a stack of components and reminds us of a cheap-looking Winamp skin. The thumbstick makes quick work of drilling through nested folders of tunes, but you'll have a tough time playing more than a folder's worth of music if you don't simply dump them all into a single folder. Even setting the MP-2000 to random playback works only within the folder you're currently in. That might be a feature, if you prefer to listen to one album at a time, but we think the lack of playlist support is a definite fault. We're also less than impressed with the static click that pops though the headphones when you skip back and forth between songs.
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