30GB Portable Media Center

Other products by Philips

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5 x 7 x 7 inches ; 5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000NFNPW2
• Item model number: PMC7230
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #39,025 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 12, 2007

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description Immerse yourself in movies and music with the truly portable Philips PMC7230/17 30 GB Portable Media Player and Recorder. View comfortably on the 3.5" LCD display or any TV--hassle free. Direct video recording and timer function ensure that you will not miss any of your favorite programs. Support for MP3/WMA music files and MPEG/WMV video files. Enjoy up to 3 hours of video and 16 hours of music playtime with the li-ion rechargeable battery.

Immerse yourself in music and movies no matter where you are.

Anytime, Anywhere
The PMC7230/17 boasts a bright 3.5" LCD color display for viewing your favorite movies, pictures or television recordings on the go. The familiar and friendly Windows-style controls help you navigate with ease. The li-ion rechargeable battery provides you with up to 3 hours of video playback and 16 hours of music. Your player automatically powers off in 10 minutes if there is no operation or music played. The last playback status and screen will be resumed the next time it is powered on. The device features an on/off lock to prevent accidental operation.

Video
The PCM7230/17 plays MPEG4 and WMV9 video. You can convert and transfer video files of other formats from your PC to your player with ArcSoft MediaConverter. Download video from your PC or record directly from a video source (DVD, Satellite box, TV output) in real time. Use the timer function to schedule video recordings, and easily synchronize with any Windows XP PC. PlaysForSure support means access to many online services.

On/Off lock prevents accidental activation of the player. See the other controls.

Audio
Enjoy your favorite music in MP3 and WMA format. Transfer your digital music and picture collection from your computer to your player using Windows Media Player 10. The player displays the album artwork for the song you are currently playing or when you are browsing through a list of songs or albums, along with other ID3 information like artist and genre. As with video, PlaysForSure support means a wide choice of online content compatible with your player. You can also use the player to record audio in real time through the supplied A/V cable.

What's in the Box
PCM7230/17 Portable Media Player; headphones; USB Cable; A/V cable; power adapter; quick-start guide; CD-ROM containing Windows Media Player 10, ArcSoft MediaConverter, user manual, video tutorials and FAQs.

Product Description

Philips Portable Media Player, 30 gig hard disc drive, plays MP3/WMA music files, plays Mpeg4 movie and video files, download video from PC or directly from video source (DVD, Satelite box, TV output) in real time, 3.5" color screen for easy to see video display, timer function to schedule video recordings, easy syncronization with any Windows XP PC, PlaysForSure, stores up to 130 hours of video or 15,000 songs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for travelers, July 24, 2007

By	T. Chu - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The screen is bright, clear, and big enough to watch for hours comfortably. Audio, through headphones, is good. Built-in speakers are nice, if you are in a quiet environment, as volume is small. Navigation is simple and intuitive. Battery life is very good. I can get through two full movies and still have a little left to listen to music. With my iPod Video, I am lucky to make it through a single movie. The PMC7230 also comes with a little kickstand to prop up the unit.

The reason why this unit does not get a 5, is because of the transfer of files to the unit. Transfer of MP3 files through Windows Media Player is slow, as they have to be "converted." Included video conversion software is very slow, but the good thing is that there are free alternatives available on the web.

Another bonus is the ability to record TV or other content.

After getting the content on the player, you undoubtedly will enjoy the experience, and notice many heads turn.

I love my iPod, but it's clear that iPod is for audio. The PMC7230 is for video.

100 of 126 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Crippled player, April 25, 2007

By	nvt "nvt" (Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews

Don't waste your money - the device could be good but who will ever know. It is crippled with PlayForSure mandatory requirements for the playback of all video.
In other words if you want to watch any video you *HAVE* to convert it using the ArcSoft conversion program. For a simple movie this takes hours on a good PC with 4 Gb of memory! Who has the time or the patience to do that.
I have a load of mpg files I wanted to transfer and play but could not just copy them. They had to be "converted" (in this case read crippled with some copy protection. DRM is stopping fair use and innovation. The whole point of these small devices is to allow playback anytime anyplace anywhere - I suspect this portable media center could do it but I will never know.
Hours later I am still waiting for the first file to be converted.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressed, November 26, 2007

By	MVega "mlopezvega" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

I just received this media player about 2 weeks ago. I read trough the reviews, but I purchased it because this is one of the few media players out there that lets you record directly though an external source. i.e.. TV or SAT service. I have loaded my MP3 library with ease. It does need to "convert" but I didn't find it to be a long process or problem. I have not used the software to "convert" movies. I have recorded about 10 movies (1.5h - 2.0h) long. I've got about 150 songs and 100 pictures on the media player; and I have only used about 15Gigs. I have the movie setting set to "medium" quality, which is still good.

PROS:
*can record directly from external source, such as TV, SAT Service, DVD
player
*3.5 LCD color display
* bright screen
*Timer to schedule TV recording
*Easy synchronization with Windows XP PC
*good speaker w/o using headset
*ability to view movies recorded on the PMC7230 on the Television


CONS:
*Battery life is about 3hours for movie playback
*When you record directly from an external source into your "video"
folder; the movie cannot be named. This make is difficult to identify
which movie is which. They are categorized by date recorded.
*I have gotten a message that you cannot record due to "copywrite" law;
only on a few DVD's.

All in all I am absolutely pleased with this PMC7230. I gave it a 4 because you cannot name the movies to be able to identify them better. This is something I can live with, given the performance of the product. I would definatly recommend this product.