Lasse Penttinen
27 May 2004 10:06
It's neither a Walkman or a Watchman, but it carries the Vaio model name better known from the laptops. But the specs look really promising as the Vaio HMP-21 comes with 20 gigabyte HD, with MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video support. Most pleasing detail is that it also supports the MP3 audio format instead of the Sony ATRAC. Still images can also be viewed with the new Vaio It runs with batteries and can be charged with an AC adaptor or by connecting it to an USB 2.0 equipped computer.
The second model, the HMP-A1, contains a 20GB hard drive, the contents of which are listed on a front-mounted 3.5in, 320 x 240 colour LCD - larger than the VGF-AP1's 2.2in display. The new unit is larger, too, and heavier: it's 13 x 7.6 x 2.2cm to the first model's 11.5 x 6.3 x 1.7cm. The two machines weight 250g and 195g, respectively.Source: The Register
The HMP-A1 plays back MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 files. Its software allows it to handle MPEG 1, AVI, WMV and DVR-MS, but these are converted to one of the MPEG video formats when they're downloaded from a host PC to the player.