Blue Raven MediaMate 7080

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MediaMate 7000 series players come with a leather case, an AC adapter, a car charger, an AV cable and coupler, and generic earbuds.

The good news is that unlike the Archos players, the MediaMate includes a built-in DVR by way of a 2.5mm super minijack AV connection. There's a one-touch recording button located on the top of the device that allows you to record any composite video signal directly to a high-quality 720x480, 30fps AVI file (lower resolution settings are available as well). While the MediaMate's screen only displays video at 480x234, the built-in TV output (also a 2.5mm super minijack) displays at 720x480, allowing you to play video through to your television at a much higher quality. You can also schedule DVR recording times, although the feature is about as attractive and intuitive as programming a VCR. Another feature we appreciate is the ability to set bookmarks in video files so that you can take a break from viewing and still resume playing where you left off.

If you're more likely to rip or download your music to your personal computer and use the MediaMate to take it on the go, then file format compatibility is a big concern (unless you enjoy re-encoding your archived videos between formats). The good news is that the MediaMate natively supports MPEG-1/2/4, AVI, DivX, XVI, and WMV formats. Even files freshly ripped from a DVD in VOB format will play on the MediaMate without any file conversion. Because the MediaMate is based around a Windows FAT32-formatted hard drive, you cannot transfer files larger than 2GB to the device--so that uncompressed version of Lord of the Rings may need to get split into multiple files or converted into something more reasonable.

Digging beyond the video features of the MediaMate, the MP3 player and photo viewer were average but useful. The MP3 player supports unprotected MP3, WMA, WAV and OGG formats. Because the MediaMate does not support Microsoft's MTP mode, there's no syncing the device using Windows Media applications or through DRM-protected video or music rental services. Instead, the MediaMate will appear on your computer as an external hard drive, and all music and video files will need to be dragged into their appropriate folders. MediaMate's MP3 player also supports folder organization and basic ID3 tag information. The player's graphic user interface has a cheesy Windows 98 feel to it, but we've seen worse.

Performance
The MediaMate puts out strikingly full, warm sound quality with noticeable attention paid to stereo separation. Of course, given its bulk, price, and inability to sync with Windows Media Player, no one will be buying the MediaMate strictly for music playback. More importantly, the MediaMate's above-average sound quality makes for a better movie experience, especially with action-packed blockbusters where hearing the bullets whiz past your ears is a crucial part of the experience.

The MediaMate didn't do quite as well on the rest of our performance benchmarks. Even the highest quality videos appear grainy due to the player's 480x234 resolution being simply too low for its 7-inch size. To be fair, we experienced this same frustration with the Archos AV700. Finally, battery life rated at 4 hours for video and 10 hours for music--somewhat below average, but long enough to get through two movies on a long flight. The included cigarette lighter adapter will go a long way to extend the life of the MediaMate during road trips.

The removable battery holds a rated charge of only 4 hours for video and 10 hours for audio. Extra batteries can be purchased for about $40.

Final thoughts
The MediaMate is not a standout PVP. It has a low screen resolution for its size, lousy viewing angles, and no control over screen brightness. If you're not interested in a DVR--and are just looking for a travel-worthy PVP with a beautiful screen, flexible format support, and good battery life--we feel the Creative Zen Vision:W is a much better device, with an ample screen size in a much more portable form. If a DVR is an important feature for you and you're convinced that bigger is better, then the Blue Raven MediaMate is a perfectly suitable solution if the more full-featured Archos AV700 or 704 WiFi are out of reach. If recording capability is not a big deal and you already own a video iPod, consider products like the Philips DCP850 or the iLuv i1055, which can give your iPod a wide-screen upgrade for a fraction of the price.

See more CNET content tagged:: video player,; portable video player,; Creative Zen,; portable video,; PMP

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1.5 stars

"horrible pvp"

by Reventon42 on January 30, 2008

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