MP3 players are very high on many people's must have lists. CD players and tape based Walkman's are passé, and today's MP3 players can store more music than ever before, all while not being much bigger than a deck of playing cards. Rather than listening to a bus passenger drone on about their day, portable music allows us to kill the doldrums of everyday life and escaping for a short while.

Another medium that is gaining popularity amongst the easily bored is portable video. While some people bring laptops to work, it's not uncommon to see a passenger fire up a DVD to pass the time. The problem with notebooks is that they are unwieldy and given their size, it's hard to keep curious onlookers from peering over your shoulder.

To address these concerns, we've seen portable video devices released throughout 2004. MSI, who are well known for their motherboards and video cards, and who have branched into a number of markets over the past few years sent over their entry into this growing market, the MSI MEGA View 561.

Features

• 3.5" TFT LCD display • MPEG4 Player (MPEG4, DivX, Motion JPEG, WMV9) • MP3 Player (MP3, WMV, WAV) • Image Browser (JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF) • FM Radio/ Record • Voice Record • Audio/Video Record • Data Storage : 20 GB • USB 2.0

The MSI MEGA View 561

The MEGA View 561 arrived in a glossy black and silver box with the media player displayed on the front of it, and it is sure to grab some attention on store shelves. It's not often that the wife is impressed with the UPS dropoffs we tend to receive, but this package caught her eye and marks the first time she tore something open before I did.

Our first impressions were certainly positive. Adorned in a brushed aluminum coloured shell, the MEGA View 561 is an impressive looking media player. The device measures about 4.75" wide, 3" high and 1" thick (119 x 76 x 21mm officially), making it about half the size of a DVD box. With the Li-ion rechargeable and removable battery, the device weighs 8.5 ounces (240g) which is only a couple more ounces than the iPod. For playback, the battery is rated at 3 hours for video and 8 hours for audio.

The screen measures 3.5" and is a backlit, Thin Film Transistor (TFT LCD) display capable of 262 000 colours and 320x240 resolution. Note that we found the best way to watch video on the player was without any direct lighting behind you or above the player. In those scenarios, such as watching under direct sunlight, the screen appeared blackened and unviewable.

Screen's Pixels	Poor Angle	Good Angle

The first image to the left above gives you an idea of how visible the pixels are when viewing the image. These are really only visible from 6" to 12", and not too noticeable from further away. The next two images demonstrate the importance of viewing the screen at the right angle. Viewing the screen dead on is quite clear, but otherwise, like a poor lighting scenario, the screen is muddled and dark.

The MEGA View 561 uses a Texas Instruments TI DM270 DSP (Digital Signal Processor) which is responsible for processing the imagery. It is capable of MPEG-4 video at VGA resolution up to 30 fps and has an on-chip 80MHz ARM 7 32-bit RISC microprocessor with a total of 40Kb cache and memory. Full specifications can be found on this page.

Rounding things out on the front of the device are the Navigation button, Enter and Exit buttons to the right of the LCD as well as the Power and REC LEDs located above the LCD.

Scattered about the edges of the MEGA View 561 are the A/V input and outputs as well as other buttons for the operation of the device. On the top of the unit, from left to right; Power On/Off, Lock, Mic, Volume Control, and Rec.

On the rear of the MEGA View 561 are a few rubber pads to keep the device still while resting on its back. On the upper right corner, we have the speaker which simply put, is quite bad. At the highest volumes, the audio is horribly muffled and filled with static at high frequencies. Lower volumes are acceptable (but not great) but if the device is resting on its back or if your holding it in such a way that your hand covers the speaker, you'll need to turn up the volume, thus distorting the sound.

On the left hand side of the device, from left to right, we have the; AV Line-in Jack, Earphone Jack, AV Line-out Jack, USB Connector and the DC-in Jack. Headphones are included, and while they're not high quality headphones, the sound when plugged into the headphone jack is much better than the sound outputted by the rear speaker.

On the bottom of the device, we have the; Battery cap, Tripod Screw Hole, and CIR Receiver. A small tripod is included with the package and allows you to stand the MEGA View 561 up though given the 3.5" screen, I wouldn't bother trying to view the device from more than six feet away.

MSI includes a basic remote which handles most of the device's functions and has a ten foot range. There is also a Velcro carry bag for the device as well as an assortment of manuals and CD software (a trial version of Dr. DivX is included) to round out the package. MSI also packs in a custom Composite cable, USB 2.0 cable and power adapter for direct power to the device and/or recharging the unit.

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