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AViAh 1000

DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 2.75 x 4.75 x 0.875 inch WEIGHT 5.125 ounces PRICE $600 MANUFACTURER Ovideon, ovideon.com, 630-236-9917

Plus

•Vivid color screen. •TV tuner makes recording a snap

Minus

•Small screen. •No MP3/WMA ripping. •Small hard-disk drive.

Key Features

•2.25-inch (diagonal), 521 x 218-pixel OLED screen •5-GB hard drive •cable-ready TV tuner •video formats records MPEG-4 (ASF); plays MPEG-4 SP (ML, ASF, AVI), DivX, Xvid, WMV9 SP •audio formats records voice only (G.726); plays MP3, WMA, G.726 •digital image formats JPEG •tested battery life (playback only) video, 2 hours; audio, 5.5 hours

The AVIAh 1000 has one big claim to fame: a built-in TV tuner that allows you to watch off-air or cable TV and record programs directly to its 5-GB hard drive. Other connections allow you to record from a camcorder or feed video or audio for playback through an external A/V system. There's a built-in voice recorder as well. The AVIAh's styling is fairly unassuming, with a silver plastic case and a tiny joystick front and center. Along with its hard drive, its 2.25-inch (diagonal) display is the smallest in this group.

IMPORTING AND MANAGING FILESWhen I connected the AVIAh's USB port to my PC, the player appeared as another drive. It was an easy matter to drag and drop files from the PC to the player. I could similarly use the computer to select a folder within the player's memory and play videos stored in it on my PC. File transfer via USB was slower than on the other players, a small pain, though the AVIAh's hard disk holds less anyway. The utility CD provides a bare-bones file-conversion program.

USABILITY I really appreciated the player's built-in TV tuner because it let me record shows directly, without a computer. All I had to do was plug in a cable feed using the supplied adapter, click through the channels to select a program, and hit the record button. The AVIAh recorded the program as an MPEG-4 ASF file. Simple. I also liked being able to capture a single image from a video program as a JPEG.

On the other hand, the player's user interface took some getting used to. The navigation is far from intuitive, the controls are physically awkward to use, and the combinations of button presses needed to get things done were hard to figure out. The brevity of the owner's manual, and the illegibility of the text in its illustrations, didn't do much to soothe my frustrations. If you know what a "swear jar" is, be assured that mine got much richer.

VIDEO PERFORMANCE While I'm very familiar with OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display technology on car head units, this is the first time I've seen it on a handheld player. I was fairly impressed by the bright, sharp picture with its vivid colors. The tiny screen was even watchable outdoors in bright sunlight and at extreme angles. Audio and video were out of sync by a fair amount on some files, but, as with the other players, this wasn't a dealbreaker.

The off-air TV tuner (with a plug-in telescoping antenna) was almost useless, reliably pulling in only one station in my urban Miami location, though you might have better luck. The player would merrily dub copy-protected movies from one DVD player I tried, but not another.

MUSIC PERFORMANCE I listened to a number of tracks, and fidelity was fine at low and medium listening volumes, limited primarily by the files' bit rate. But when I played them loud, the sound grew harsh. The supplied earbuds were actually pretty good - they'll do fine for casual listening. I was bummed, though, that I couldn't use the player to directly rip MP3 or WMA music files from a CD player the way I could with most of the other portables.

BOTTOM LINE The AVIAh 1000 is most notable for its TV tuner. Though the player's off-air reception was spotty, its ability to plug directly into a cable jack for watching and recording programs without a computer is potentially a huge plus. Battery life is relatively short, however, so don't expect to watch all of Desperate Housewives, Season 1, on your next plane ride to China.