SanDisk Sansa TakeTV
For those of you who are still using PCs and jealous of AppleTV (and more of you may well be lured away to Apple’s fiefdom after the uber-hip Leopard is released) there’s now a devise that lets you easily move video content from your PC to your TV: the Sansa® TakeTV™ video player. Pretty eloquently named, huh?
The sell is that this USB device lets you easily transfer downloaded video content from your computer to TV in mere minutes without the hassle of wires or the excruciatingly long business of burning DVDs.
But Engadget posted a review of the flash-based lightweight system and accompanying Fanfare video download service that observes that the interface has a raw, unfinished feel; the system recognized XviD and DivX files, but not AVC1 encoded movies nor a standard encoded MPEG-4 Handbrake-ripped DVD; the Fanfare interface was slick but too busy; and that downloaded videos, while 350MB per 30 minutes, actually looked more like 600-800Kbps.
That said, the thing only costs between $99-150, a lot cheaper than Apple TV. Engadget concludes that “Maybe with the right hardware and software tweaks this could be a very compelling cheap-or-free download service paired with a very easy to use hardware solution, but for right now we think there are quite a few kinks to iron out.”
For now you may just want to stick with your SanDisk Sans e200 mp3 players. Lucky for you, Gomadic’s got a full range of accessories for the devices like useful Rapid Wall AC Charges, Rapid Car charges, and Power Hot Sync and Charge Retractable USB Cables, so you’ll be fully charged, connected and protected no matter where you find yourself.