However, things get a little more complicated when you move up to video. Any files that are to be loaded onto the player must first be converted to the AMV format using the software supplied with the machine.
Although it's a bit of a pain, conversion is pretty straightforward. The software supports conversion from AVI, WMV, MPEG 1 and 2, Real Player, Quick Time and Flash sources. The converter will run on PC running Windows 98 or better, with DirectX 9.0 or above installed too.
Playback quality on the 1.8in LCD screen isn't the sharpest we've seen, but is fine for most content. You can display JPEG, GIF and BMP pictures too, but it's a good idea to scale them down first, to speed transfer and to ensure you don't fill your 2GB of storage all at once.
It can even be used as a phone charger
This player would be worth consideration if these features were all it could offer. However, the Baylis has another trick up its sleeve that's a real surprise. If we go back into the mists of time, before hoodies, Labour governments starting wars and extremely baggie trousers, people used to listen to music on things called ‘records’ or even the more space age ‘stereo cassette’.
A quick straw poll around the Register Hardware office discovered that quite a few people still have these ancient forms of communication in their possession. That's good news for the Eco player because it can record analogue sources and convert them to MP3. The theory is simple enough. Connect the ‘line out’ connection from a cassette player or turntable to the ‘line in’ on the player, and use the on-screen menu to begin and cease recording.
COMMENTS
All this to reinvent a 18th century device?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_box
Line out?
Turntable with a line-out? Do they have that these days? They certainly didn't in the old days when people bought records. They either had a moving magnet or moving coil cartridge which requires a phono amp to bring it up to line-out levels. That's what my Rega Planar 3 has - a MC cartridge that requires a phono preamp (which I built myself). If you buying a turntable with line-out (not likely to be a decent turntable) then why not buy a USB one?!
What about your CO2?
You'll be expelling more CO2 due to the required exertion to charge it up. How does that compare to a power plant? What if your power comes from hydro or wind? Then you would spewing more CO2 doing it yourself.
@Chris Morrison
Look up the term Peak Oil sometime, maybe you'd think again?
Oil production isn't accelerating fast enough to meet demand, so the price of oil will skyrocket.
external speaker
Windup radio /mp3 player with torch = camping. Why then is there not an external speaker?
Lack of linux video software disappointing. At least you dont need a restrictive application like iTunes to add music. My ipod is on its way out and I am not getting another!
