Review: Goodmans X-Pro GPDR1 Media Player

Don Bradbury looks at another example from the pocketable media recorder/player genre.

Product	X-Pro GPDR1
Company	Goodmans
Web	www.epson.co.uk
Price	RRP £200; around £160 discount
We like	256MB MMC card; decent manual; Scart converter
We don't like	More expensive than the Mustek PVR-A1
Rating	8/10
Requirements

Similar in design, operation, and performance to the recently reviewed Mustek PVR-A1, the Goodmans offering covers the same media types but with a more complete specification.

Notably, that includes a 256MB MMC card to provide external memory that compliments its 32MB of internal memory - the only memory the Mustek device came with. That was sufficient for basic JPEG photo, MP3, and audio playing, but it was inadequate for anything more that a few minutes of video recording.

Now, with the external memory in service, you can take up to three quarters of an hour of high quality (SP) video - or considerably more in LP mode - recorded directly off your TV video/audio out phono ports. That could be long enough to record short shows you may want to watch while you're out and about with your portable media player.

So with an array of controls similar to Mustek's offering, but with subtle differences such as a more accessible (non-recessed) on/off button and possibly more appropriate silver frontage, this is quite an attractive device for carrying around.

Run time

The Goodmans device will, like Mustek's, let you switch off the colour LCD while recording, or while on timer-delay, to save battery power, but with the display left on we got a respectable 88 minutes of total recording and playback time before the previously fully charged Lithium ion battery needed recharging.

Another welcome inclusion in the Goodmans package is a Scart adapter for those whose TV does not provide phono sockets for TV and audio out. An available Scart socket is all you now need - and if you don't have one, you can cheaply buy a multi-socket box which might also double as video and DVD player sources of TV/audio out. If the Scart socket you use is from a digital source, a set top box for example, superior digital output is what you can record on your media player - and that while watching an alternative analogue channel if you wish.

Finally, the Goodmans manual is rather better than Mustek's. Single language, larger type, and taking more space to spell out the facilities and how to work them is all to the good. If you wonder why the MMC card is not seen by your player when you first insert it, you've got it in the wrong way. Change it round, this time watching it disappear right up to the edge of the case over the spring loading, and you're in business.

Marginally awkward to remove because of this arrangement, it's otherwise convenient as it means the card doesn't stick out when you carry the player in your pocket. Insertion or removal of the card when the player is switched on will shut it down. At such times a brief 'card switch' report on the display reminds you that only internal or external memory can be used at any one time. But most will have their video footage in the much larger external memory and reserve the internal memory for the less demanding facilities, thus avoiding the need to swap from one to the other while the unit is switched on.

The Goodmans' version of this media player still uses the process of software conversion or MPEG4 encoding for the JPEG, MP3, and audio files which are being transferred from a PC. That's only slightly tiresome. The whole process works well enough and the end product is presentable. As with the Mustek device, don't expect too much from the audio side. Use a pair of quality headphones, if you can, though you'll probably still detect some video interference on audio in quieter passages of sound.

In conclusion

The Goodmans X-Pro GPDR1 is more expensive than the similar Mustek PVR-A1, mainly to accommodate the cost of the 256MB of MMC card. Whether that makes it a better buy depends on your interest in recording memory-gobbling video. 256MB is the minimum you'll need for that while working in SP mode, though LP mode, if blocky, is generally watchable.

With the same facilities but more appropriate memory capacity, plus the Scart adapter and a better manual (and still including all the leads and software you need, such as Ulead VideoStudio 6) but otherwise identical to the Mustek package, including the carrying case, the Goodmans GPDR1 offers a neat introduction to photo and MP3 playback, as well as video and audio recording and playback. Add the bonus of its potential as a card reader while connected to a PC, and £160 may not seem too much to pay for someone a very welcome birthday or Christmas present.

 

Don Bradbury