Hauppauge are renowned for their PC based TV and video gadgets, they started with PC based cards for decoding analogue then digital television transmissions. Then they moved into outboard boxes that could interface to PC's via USB link and very recently produced a device to act as a wireless media centre in the home.

But this is a big leap for Hauppauge the Portable Media Player presents a different range of challenges from ergonomics to battery life, but their sound background in all things video should at least produce a quality picture?

The Hauppauge pMVP is a 20gb device which can store approximately 5000 MP3 tracks or 20,000 JPEG photos or perhaps 30 MPEG 4 full length movies which can be replayed from the hard disk. The main selling point of the Hauppauge is the glorious 7" screen with a 720 x 480 pixel resolution which is one of the best available on the latest batch of portable media players.

The portable media player is part of Hauppauge's MVP range, this is a thin client device running on the increasingly popular Linux operating system, it is significant on a portable device due to its efficient processor utilisation and general lack of bloat ware that often bogs down windows based PMP's. The pMVP supports MPEG4 and Divx video along with limited WM9 replay capability and for images there is support of JPEG, GIFF and BMP file formats. What isn't included is DRM support for window media and some of the online music formats like AC3 and ATRAC, also missing is any form of conversion software to make more files into compatible ones for the pMVP.

At 192 x 115 x 28mm the 570 gram Hauppauge is a substantial bit of kit and you will definitely know if its in your pocket, build quality seems good and inspires confidence when you press the top mounted buttons.

During our review we had a terrible sense of DeJa Vu as if we'd seen the pMVP somewhere before and after a bit of digging we found the MobiNote DP7010. While we haven't been able to establish if Hauppauge have taken the OEM rights to the DP7010 the specification and style are almost identical, not that that's a bad thing.

However we did note that the DP7010 had won acclaims for its design and then dawn criticism for its interface and format support, ideal as input for our own testing of the pMVP.

On first firing up the pMVP we were pleased with the quality of the on screen graphics and the brightness of the screen output, the menu system is basic although functional and we soon managed to find and play the pre loaded sample movies. They played fine without issue and the blacks were black too, perhaps we were worrying over nothing?

First up we fired a copy of Star Wars return of the Jedi encoded in Divx across the USB 2.0 link, this took a while, enough time for a cup of tea. Finally time to give is a whirl and sure enough it played again without stumble or pause, video quality was good and the wide screen really makes the most of a well encoded movie. We did note that Hauppauge had dropped many of the formats Mobinote had mentioned and that the lack of conversion software seemed a bit suspicious, after moving over many differing formats we managed to conclude why.

Both MPEG 1 and 2 files, AVI and most version of windows media refused to play at all, some AVI's would play with audio only but there seemed to be not pattern as to which would and would not work. Its safe to say that Hauppauge have listed only the formats they guarantee to work so unless you encode in Divx, MPEG-4 or WM9 (at specific bit rates and resolution) then this may not be the device for you.

If the pMVP is aimed at mass market sales it seems a little strange to offer a device that is so picky about formats and one that Joe public will struggle to get media onto, in that respect it does not sit well with the rest of the Hauppauge range which is relatively idiot proof.

We did find and update which made a few more files work, but we still struggled to get it to work with any AVI files. The manual is terrible looking like it had been photo copied by a 4 year old and online support for the pMVP is still in its infancy.

Audio replay was more successful with a good audio level and quality, MP3 and WMA files played without issue and there is support for many common play list formats like M3U, B4S and ASX. This is just as well as using the pMVP to find what track you want is an interesting experience, there are limitations on being able to play a whole folder of music in order and we couldn't find a repeat or loop function.

Searching the stored tracks is a case of wading through the list and then when you want to play a track the on screen play button seems dead, so you have to use the button on the top of the unit.

Perhaps a very weird and frankly annoying feature is the decision not to support Ogg Vorbis, on an embedded Linux device this would have been very easy and again this will turn off another section of possible purchasers.

What else is there? well you can encode direct to MEG-4 using the AV in connections, this is a very manual  press record type of function and therefore of limited use. You can view images too with support for JPEG, Giff and BMP files, the photo viewer is very basic and apart from the use of the 7" screen its probably better to look at the 1.5" screen on the back of your camera.

The battery is a non removable  Li-polymer unit with an expect life of 2000 hours, we managed some 2.5 hours of video replay from the unit before it decide to shut down and insisted we charge up again, the recharge was left running overnight by which time the pMVP was ready to go again.

The Hauppauge pMVP is a member of a growing club, the portable media player also rans, again this is a device which promises so much and delivers with a great screen and audio capabilities only to be marred by a poor user interface and picky format compatibility. Priced at £329 its not too expensive but you should go into this purchase with your eyes wide open, if you have a need for mostly video playback on the move and are a Divx fan it could be for you.

For the rest of us the wait for the Video Ipod goes on, someone must be about to bring out a mass market multi format device? maybe Archos....

Published - 07/05/2005

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