Multimedia/Photo Viewers - what's out there?

Hi all,

I am looking at buying either the P-5000 or the Creative Zen Vision W but was wondering what else is out there that can play music and video as well as copy my Canon RAW/JPG photos off my CF cards and let me view them etc.

While I will use it to play media while I'm travelling the main requirement is that whatever I buy must be very good with photos.

I know Archos do quite a few models but the one I like (the 604?) is very expensive here in Australia and (IMHO) looks very plasticy and flimsy.

So far the P-5000 is the best looking but what else is out there in this market segment of high capacity PMP/Photo Viewers? Anyone used both the Zen Vision W and the P-5000 that would like to recommend one or the other?

Also can you replace the HDD units on either of these models? (It seems not from what I've read but maybe someone out there knows for sure.)

Cheers,

Mike

Mike Christie said:

Hi all,

I am looking at buying either the P-5000 or the Creative Zen Vision
W but was wondering what else is out there that can play music and
video as well as copy my Canon RAW/JPG photos off my CF cards and
let me view them etc.

While I will use it to play media while I'm travelling the main
requirement is that whatever I buy must be very good with photos.

I know Archos do quite a few models but the one I like (the 604?)
is very expensive here in Australia and (IMHO) looks very plasticy
and flimsy.

So far the P-5000 is the best looking but what else is out there in
this market segment of high capacity PMP/Photo Viewers? Anyone
used both the Zen Vision W and the P-5000 that would like to
recommend one or the other?

Also can you replace the HDD units on either of these models? (It
seems not from what I've read but maybe someone out there knows for
sure.)

Click to expand...

I use a P-3000 superb portable viewer. the 36 gig on the drive seems plenty big enough for me.

--
James Grove
http://www.eventdigital.co.uk

I have a Giga Vu Pro Evolution and an HD80. I gave a quick overview of them at
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1023&message=20640638

My understanding from several posts here is that the P5000 has its operating system on disk. When the disk fails, you cannot just repleace the drive and turn it on. You need to have made a copy of the OS and to know how to install it on the drive. That's why I chose the GPVE and HD80. I know the drives will fail, and their OSes are in firmware, so I can install another drive and turn the device on, hoping it works. :-> (The HD80 even comes with the right torx driver so you can take it apart and get to the drive.)

I would consider the GPVE to be a competitor of the P-5000, going for quality of screen, ability to view photos, fast, and so forth. The HD80 I would call interfaceless. Just plug a card in, push a button, and the card is uploaded to the device. No photos, no great screen, just speed and it runs on 4 AAs, which I find very appealing for my uses.

Mike

I know squat about these devises but here is another possible possibility http://secure.serverlab.net/shop/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=5080&Category_Code=ESP&Store_Code=T00107

Thanks - that looks like a good unit as well and not as costly as the P-5000.

Unfortunately it doesn't look as though it's available here in Australia but I guess I could get one from B&H or Adorama or wherever.

Thanks for that - I've downloaded the manual for the GVPE so will have a look through it to see if it does what I want. I know it's not why most photographers buy one of these units but I do want to be able to play media really well in addition to storing/viewing my photos as this will be travelling with me in remote areas and on long journeys. How does the Gigavu do on the media front?

Also, did your replacement unit work OK or did you still have battery problems etc? One of the reasons I thought about the Epson is that I've heard they are very reliable - the last thing anyone wants on a photo trip is for the unit to fail (obviously).

Wow... I just looked up the price of the GVPE and they are very expensive here in Australia (nothing new there - we need another 230 million people to get same prices as the US gets!)... the 80GB model is A$1355 which is nearly double the best price of the P-5000 (A$799)! I suspect it's because Jobo are a niche company with only one small importer here whereas Epson is in every large country and have the clout to make their prices cheaper - simple economics at the end of the day.

I'd have to say so far it's looking like the P-5000 is the stand out unit from a price, quality, performance and availability perspective. I'm not planning to buy for another month or so so there's still plenty of time for me to investigate other options though... would love to get my hands on all the units to test them before purchasing but alas, that's not possible so will have to go with reviews and recommendations from the good folks here and on other photo sites.

Mike Christie said:

Also, did your replacement unit work OK or did you still have battery problems etc?

Click to expand...

The replacement unit works find. I have a post on battery life at the URL in my signature below. With the correct formats of video and music, the unit works fine. I see your follow up post on price. :-> My problem with the P-5000 is that the OS is on disk; with the GVPE, the OS is in firmware, and I've just downloaded and upgraded it. When the disk fails, I'll just replace it and with the OS in firmware won't have to worry about having a copy of the OS to figure out how to install. Someone has posted directions on this bulletin board, and for me to install another copy of the OS in the field (isn't that where all problems arise?), I'd rather have it in firmware.
--
Giga Vu Pro Evolution discussion group:
http://groups.google.com/group/gvpe

I'm looking around also ... same reasons, need/want a great mp3 player as well as pictures/video.

I just posted up here, after doing lots of research:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1023&message=22871237

Here's a down-under online store for you to checkout the Vosonic

http://www.jaldigital.com.au//catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27_128&products_id=504&osCsid=355a9b396ef0301be626d089ff701672

Thanks - they look like good units but I'm a bit disappointed the screen is only 320x240... the P-5000's 640x480 is double the size (and at 4 inches) would still win it over for me I think. I just need to try and find a retailer that actually has the P-5000 in stock - seems they are like gold dust here right now... I want to try and see one alongside a Zen Vision W before I make my choice.

Well I can't argue with any of that.... and I admit it is something that does concern me, especailly if the O/S can't be upgraded via a download.

Perhaps I'm just trying to convince myself everything will be OK but my reasoning is that if Epson were getting lots and lots of units back they'd surely go to a flash based system. It does beg the question though - why on earth would anyone design a unit like these and not put the O/S in a flashable chip?

When you mentioned someone posted on a group of how to change the O/S did you mean the Epson or the GVPE? If it was the Epson do you have a link to where you saw that at all?

Actually, maybe I was too hasty - I just watched the video on the Wolverine website and it does look like a pretty good machine. It seems to do all I want and is certainly cheaper than the Epson. I'm also assuming since you buy your own drive it means the firmware is not on the HDD itself which is good... if it had the same screen as the P-5000 I'd probably buy one today!

I've now spent most of the afternoon looking into the new Vosonic 8390 unit with the OLED screen and I'm not sure I like what I'm reading - apparently OLED screens are only good for about 1000 hours max which means it could be dead in a year or two (depending on your use).

I am also not comfortable with the screen warranty - they will only replace the unit/screen in the first three months and then only if it has more than 4 dead pixels in the area around the main picture.... sounds to me like they don't have much faith in the screen to me - or am I being too cynical/pessimistic?

Check out this page for the warranty details on the 8390: http://www.vosonic.com/index.php?PA=warranty

Apart from the screen issue it looks like a really good unit - way cheaper than the P-5000 and has a user-swappable drive... but the trade off is clearly the (possibly) limited life of the screen and the poor 320x240 resolution (although that may not necessarily be a problem if it's a good enough screen I guess.)

So now I'm really confused - typically the Epson excels at what the VP8390 doesn't and vice-versa - talk about frustrating!

yea, I assume that is why most people are sticking with the 8360 and not going with the 8390 ... worried abou the OLED screen. The 8360 does not have this screen, but still has the limited resolution (compared to 5000)

Since the Creative Zen Vision W hasn't been mentioned much, I thought I'd chime in. I just received mine last week and have to say that I'm very pleased with it. I have the 30 gb model and have been playing with the video mostly and have to say it is excellent. The conversion software works on most video formats and when you use the better settings the picture is great. The screen is big enough for viewing 16:9 movies and photos look fantastic on this machine. It does have a little lag time in loading pics but once loaded they come up much quicker. It will size the shots to save space it you like.You can make slideshows w/ the included software. It has alot of cool features for displays and it is really easy to use. Very straightforward. It is a little klunky in size but if you are using for travel it will work just fine, its worth the tradeoff for a great screen. It should have a kickstand. Best thing is the price. I wasn't interested in paying $500 for the unit. I ostensibly wanted it for photo storage to dump excess shots while on vaction and for $230 w/ rebate I got a whole lot more. Just my 2 cents hope it helps in your search.

Thanks for your input on the ZVW - it's definately one of the 3 on my list alongside the P-5000 and the VP8390. I guess I'm just a little disappointed it still doesn't do RAW or support Adobe RGB which the P-5000 does (the Vosonic supports the former of course but not the latter) and also has the ZVW has the O/S on the HDD like the P-5000 which I'm not keen on.

Anyway, can I just ask where you got yours and whether the rebate is still on? (I doubt that extends to Australia but you never know.)

Even though I still love the look, feel and quality of the P-5000 I am still very concerned about the O/S on the HDD and, solely for that reason, am now really tempted to go for the VP8390... the screen is meant to be way better than the 8360, and I can put a 100GB drive in it and have A$200 left over!

I guess the only concern for me with the VP8390 is the unproven OLED screen - one of part of me wants to believe Vosonic wouldn't use that technology if it was inferior - but I really wonder how long the screen will really last. I suppose if it gets me through two years then that would be pretty good.

It's strange that, for me at least, all three models are generally excellent but they all have just one major thing each that concerns me... if only Epson didn't put the O/S on the HDD - then my decision would be a total no-brainer!

once again, look at the 8360, not the 8390 ... I've also decided I don't want to gamble on the 8390's special screen ... the 8360 is the same device only with a standard screen

Good point but from the reviews I've read the 8390's screens is quite a lot better quality - with better colour reproduction and a wider gamut.

Are there are any other differences between the '60 and the '90 that you know of?

Mike Christie said:

especailly if the O/S can't be upgraded via a download

Click to expand...

Even though the firmware is stored on disk, it is still possible to upgrade it. There is a new version of firmware available for download on the Epson site...

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=75863&prodoid=63061068&infoType=Downloads&platform=Windows

I bought my unit at buy.com. There was a $30.00 rebate and I had a $15.00 coupon. They had just lowered the price recently. Don't know how you'll do in Australia.

I also didn't like the inablility to view RAW but I figured I can live without it and I could use the jpeg + RAW if I absolutely needed to view. And for the price I could use this till they come up with the perfect PMP.
Good luck in your search.