Entertainment on the go with the ViewSonic VPD400
If you’re looking for a quality portable media player at a reasonable price, do yourself a favour and test-drive the ViewSonic VPD400.
It lets you store and display your favourite movies, photos, ebooks and music and you can record audio, which is a great feature for those who need to keep accurate records of lectures, conferences or business meetings. The player has 8G of memory onboard, expandable to up to 16G via a Micro SD card.
It features a 4.3in 160k color TFT LCD and has estimated playback times of 3.5 hours for 720p format video, 4 hours for DVD format video, and 15 hours (screen off) for audio. Measuring just 113.5 x 74.5 x 13.8mm (a good viewing size, yet still compact) and weighing in at a measley 134g, it will fit easily into most pockets and bags.
I must say that I was initially a little skeptical about watching a movie on a display of this size, but within just a few minutes, my misgivings were proved wrong, such was the quality of the screen. Likewise with reading ebooks on the player — the text was crisp and easily read.
Of course, that shouldn’t have come as a surprise, given ViewSonic’s impressive track record with its core business of manufacturing computer monitors. Fortunately, ViewSonic has now applied its display expertise to a new range of products, including netbooks and all-in-one PCs.
The VPD400 has a recommended retail price of $249, but a quick trawl of the Internet will find you one for under $200. It also has a slightly bigger sibling (the VPD500) with a 5in display for $299. Both players are available in black, white or pink.
Gail Lipscombe has worked for some of Australia's hottest tech magazines for over 10 years. In her blog, she focuses on demystifying technology, gadgets and the web for average consumers.