OTHER TECH

NHJ Hefty hard drive plus a TV tuner

MPM-201

DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 5.5 x 3.25 x 1.125 inches WEIGHT 125/8 ounces PRICE $400 MANUFACTURER NHJ USA, nhjapan.com, 760-736-8330

Plus

•TV tuner simplifies video recording. •Big hard-disk drive. •Two memory-card slots.

Minus

•Bulky and heavy. •Mediocre video quality. •Requires cradle for A/V connections. •No WMA playback.

Key Features

•3.5-inch (diagonal), 480 x 234-pixel LCD screen •30-GB hard drive •cable/satellite-ready TV tuner •cradle for recharging, A/V connections •SD and CompactFlash memory-card slots •remote control •video formats records MPEG-4 (AVI); plays MPEG-4 (AVI) •audio formats records WAV; plays MP3, WAV •digital image formats JPEG •tested battery life (playback only) video, 3.5 hours; audio, 6 hours

The NHJ MPM-201 is the capacity king of the group, with a hard drive that holds 30 GB. It's also the heavyweight, at more than 3/4 of a pound, and generally feels bulky. Handheld it may be, but svelte it ain't. Part of the bulk is because it offers slots for both CompactFlash (Types I and II) and SD memory cards - a welcome feature. Another considerable perk is a TV tuner that lets you record directly from a cable or satellite feed (though not off-air). And the tuner is built into the recharging/connection cradle, not the player itself, so it adds no weight.

IMPORTING AND MANAGING FILES The supplied CD-ROM holds drivers for Windows 98SE and 2000 and for Macintosh OS 9, none of them the current versions. In addition, it has two PC applications: MusicMatch Jukebox Basic, a CD ripping and file-management utility, and Dr. DivX, a video encoder, but the version here seems to be limited to performing file conversions. I elected to use MusicMatch to rip some CDs to MP3 files, edited the files' embedded ID3 information tags, and then downloaded the files to the player via its USB port.

It was easy to drag and drop files from the PC to the player, and I also had no problems managing files once they were in the player. Having CF and SD cards onboard simultaneously with the internal hard drive could make things confusing, but the simple menu structure keeps it all clear. Also, a tiny onscreen keyboard lets you rename and search for files - not exactly touch typing, but serviceable. As with the Ovideon AVIAh, the ability to record directly from a cable-TV jack was fantastic. If you want to avoid computers and just grab some TV shows for the ride, this is the way to go. I was surprised (and pleased) that my review sample dutifully dubbed copy-protected movies from both DVD players that I tried.

USABILITY The player's menus are fairly easy to use, and the supplied remote control (not shown) can operate the player when it's docked in its cradle. The cradle's status LED glows in various colors and flashes in different ways to show you what activity is taking place (recording, charging, and so on). One small gripe, though: when the player is docked, its navigation control is hard to use because a plastic piece on the cradle gets in the way - a poor design. Plus, since the control is on the left side of the player, righties (like me) may find it harder to use.

VIDEO PERFORMANCE Video quality was average at best. Picture resolution was pretty good, if somewhat grainy, but colors were washed out, sometimes appearing as almost a sepia tone. I did appreciate the wide screen, and motion was smooth. The image was certainly watchable, but it won't win any awards. While most of the players had trouble to some degree syncing audio to video, this seemed to occur more often on the MPM-201.

MUSIC PERFORMANCE The sound quality from the supplied earbuds was acceptable but no better. It was a little muffled and less clear than I heard from others in this group, but they could play loud with only slight distortion. When I switched to my reference earphones, the sound was about average. Sound from the two tiny speakers would be acceptable for occasional movie watching but not much else. I was disappointed that the MPM-201 can't play WMA files, which limits your opportunities for purchasing online songs.

BOTTOM LINE The NHJ MPM-201 player lets you record directly from a TV and even make scheduled recordings - an undeniably great feature. The player is also sizable in both storage capacity and, well, size. The good news is that the extra capacity means you can store more stuff. On the downside, it's quite a load in your pants.