Audio Video News

RCA is now shipping the impressively named LYRA X3000, the company's flagship Personal Multimedia Recorder that was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The new portable has a 3.6-inch TFT color LCD screen with 320 x 240 resolution, weighs less than eight ounces, and is 0.75 inches thick.

RCA says the LYRA X3000 is capable of direct recording of audio and video from multiple sources without a computer and can store up to 80 hours of video, 300 hours of MP3 files, or as many as 10,000 digital still images on the built-in 20 GB hard drive. An included home theater docking base with its own IR blaster allows the unit to record standard definition video and audio from sources such as a cable box or satellite dish while the user is away.

When used in conjunction with a computer, the included DivX transcoder software will convert video files to DivX files for playback on the X3000. The X3000 is compatible with pay-per-song and subscription music services as well as MP3, Windows Media Audio, and Audible book files. For those who can't wait to download a file after opening the box, the portable comes pre-loaded with two(!) country music videos from the American Music Channel. For those who can take the time to load content on the player, RCA includes a free 7-day trial to Yahoo! Music Unlimited and 100 free music downloads from emusic.com. When playing music, ID3 tag song data with artist, album, song title, and genre is visible on the color LCD screen.

Digital photos can be transferred to the X3000 from an SD memory card or a compatible digital camera without using a computer or, with a computer, via the unit's high-speed USB connection. There's also a built-in microphone for recording voice notes to tag individual photos or for using the X3000 as a voice recorder.

The X3000 includes a removable lithium ion battery which is said to provide for up to four hours of uninterrupted video playback on a single charge. Other accessories include a plastic cover case, two RCA input/output cables, a car DC adapter, earbud-style headphones, and a 3-device remote control for recording from or playing content on a TV.

The suggested retail of the LYRA X3000 is $399.