Updated 14 Feb, 2012, 6:01 pm IST

Gadget of the Year 08 - Portable Media

03 Jan, 2009, 2:11 pm IST | Shayne Rana

Here's Tech 2.0's list of 2008's best portable media devices.

In the last couple of weeks we here at Tech2.0 have selected the best Games and Gadgets of 2008 and although 2009 is upon us there’s still a few segments that we’d like to showcase. With out further ado, here are Tech2.0s Best portable media devices of 2008.

Portable Media Players

Gadget of the Year - Cowon A3

The Cowon A3 is a very feature-rich PMP that’s loaded with goodies for a vidiot. It’s 4-inch, 800 x 480 pixel, 16 million color display is a perfect for just propping up and sitting back with a good movie. It has a wide support for video and audio formats including DivX, Xvid and FLAC. It also allows playback of video files with 1280 x 720 resolution and all media can be simply copy pasted onto the drive (30GB, 40GB, 60GB). What really stands out when it comes to the features is the live recording option that allows users to record from a TV or a camcorder. It also has a Line In and Out, standard 3.5mm earphone socket and USB connectivity. You can view images as well as .TXT and .PDF files. The company has also made it a point to bundle the player with all the relevant wires required for all connectivity options available.

Runner up - iPod Classic

An iPod is the epitome of music and video playback on a portable device but some how it’s constant tie in with a proprietary PC software and USB connectivity option poses little bit of an issue. Nothing you can’t get by of course. The latest 160GB iPod Classic allows users to transport their entire music collection in single device for playback anytime anywhere. The upgraded firmware has made it a funkier and more intuitive device than the previous models with games and a new UI on it’s a 2.5 inch TFT LCD that sports a 320 x 240 pixel resolution. It’s the same device that Apple users have loved since the first gen model was out but the new UI, a vast amount of storage space and a slightly better finish on the body makes it little more appealing.

Sony Walkman NWZ E436F

The E436 Walkman DAP comes equipped with a 2-inch QVGA TFT LCD display that’s good enough to watch short video clips and view images. The sound quality of the device is really good and can of course be enhanced with the aid of the in-built customizable 5 band graphic EQ. Although it comes with a bundled PC software for data transfer and management it’s not really necessary to use it. Files can be copy/pasted and stored in folders of your choice for playback so there’s no need to create playlists. It’s available in a range of funky colors in 4GB models.

On the next page we discuss the best digital audio players of 2008

Tags: Gadget of the Year 08