On our desk this week - 4

MSI MegaView 588

If you're the kind of person that watches a lot of video content, then it's eminently possible that you've contemplated getting a portable media player. No, not a laptop - a dedicated device that will play any TV you've recorded on your PVR or downloaded from Bit Torrent.

Microsoft has its own scheme for portable devices, which are branded under the PlaysForSure scheme. However, outside of that, manufacturers are doing their own thing and creating devices as they see fit without necessarily guaranteeing Windows Media Center integration. The MegaView 588 is one such device. It comes with a 20GB hard disk and a 3.5", 320x240 display for watching video content.

In terms of form factor, it's a nice enough player. It doesn't feel cheap or plasticky, although since it costs £229, you'd expect it to feel pretty nice. It has a nice amount of controls on the body, offering quick access to the most common controls without making the exterior look complicated. The actual video playback quality is pretty good. Because the screen is fairly large without having a huge resolution, playback can look a little grainy at times. The iPod video has a 320x240 screen, but it is only a couple of inches across, which makes video look crisper, if smaller. There's a lot to be said for the bigger screen, however - it does make you feel a little less bug-eyed than having to squint at something smaller for an hour or two.

The MegaView comes with full DivX certification, meaning that its playback quality has been approved by the chaps that provide the codec in most common use. The player also handles WMV 9 video and MPEG 4, as well as WMA, MP3 and WAV music. We think this is kind of lacking: there's no support for any of the lossless formats, and no decoding of H.264 content.

The player features a USB 2.0 port. Not only can you use this to connect the player to the computer to transfer media, you can also use it to connect to other devices, such as a digital camera. If you're away from your laptop, you can dump the contents of your digital camera's memory card to the MegaView, freeing up space. You can then grab the photos from the media device when you get a chance. This is a very handy feature, and will suit those who not only watch a lot of media on the move, but make a lot of media too.

In the field, we found we were able to get 4 hours of video playback off the machine, which is not at all shabby. In fact, it's pretty darned good, outclassing the 30GB iPod by three to one. However, it comes up short next to the PSP, which we've stretched 5 hours out of previously. The machine comes with a nice bundle of accessories including cables to hook up to a TV for playback and also cables to enable the recording of video from a source.

The MegaView is a great little machine, and if you're happy to have all your movies in DivX, then you've got no worries. If you download any of the increasing amount of iPod video standard media, you'll find yourself scuppered by the lack of H.264 decoding on the machine, despite sharing the 320x240 resolution. It is also a little too expensive: you can grab a 30GB iPod for £219 now, £10 cheaper than the MegaView. OK, so the screen is smaller, but you also get to buy into the whole iPod ethos and all the kudos that that entails.

Name: MSI MegaView 588
Buy it from: Advanced MP3 Players
Cost: £229
Verdict: Good battery life and a nice screen, but could do with some more codec flexibility.