“UK PC maker Packard Bell will next month extend its line of Flash-based MP3 players with its hard drive unit, a 5GB it hopes will be snapped up by all those folk who can’t get hold of an iPod Mini,” Tony Smith reports for The Register.
“The Pocket M@estro will play MP3 and WMA files and incorporate an FM radio. Shows can be recorded as MP3 files, and the device can also record voice memos. Songs can be transferred to the player across a standard USB 2.0 link,” Smith reports.
More details and picture (make sure you haven’t eaten recently) here.
MacDailyNews Take: Puckered Smell? They’re still around?
Oh my gawd. It looks like my old, very old, garage door opener.
Good luck Packard.
LOL “Fudge” Packard Bell. I thought they died 10 years ago…
That “thing” is as ugly as home-made sin. Apple has nothing to worry about here!
That’s right sander! My first tought was my Dad’s circa 1976 calculator. Jeeez! What a piece of sheeeeeeee-it! I can’t believe something like this gets approved in design meetings. How the hell can Pack-turd Bell powers let this kind of thing get past the initial design stage. Sorry, i am biased but please, someone come up with SOMETHING, ANYTHING to compete. I am sobbing with disgust over the lame attempts. Nothing will beat the mini or the regular iPod any time soon.
God awful! That thing is not even in the same ballpark as the mini. God that mini is sexy!
Not to mention the seven hour battery life. And people complain about the mini’s eight hour battery life…
awhh come on that thing is not that ugly, but that doesn’t mean I like it. the thing that sucks about it is that u have to look @ it to change thing, unlike the iPod where u just know what to do witout actually looking. But hey nice try!! PB I mean i thought this company was out of existance for like how many yrs now, I guess the saved alil money just enough for their flash players.
So this is the latest iPod Mini killer and I am supposed to be impressed by the FM radio and WMA features? Yeah, right. Nice try.
It gives garage door openers a bad name. It is indeed ugly or at least homely. Something only a Packard Bell computer could love. Sorry, but most Taiwanese-designed products have very poor looks and user interfaces (not to mention laughable “english” instructions).
FM Radio? Finally!!!!!
Packard really is on the cutting edge of technology…
Man that’s fugly
Ugly!
but you can’t help but think … FINALLY.
A portable that can do all those things ‘in the box’ as opposed to requiring attachments. Nice that it has a built-in radio. Why is this so hard for Apple to incorporate?
Oh… and why did it have to be Packard-Bell. That’s a name that goes hand-in-hand with horror stories.
Ugly!
but you can’t help but think … FINALLY.
A portable that can do all those things ‘in the box’ as opposed to requiring attachments. Nice that it has a built-in radio. Why is this so hard for Apple to incorporate?
Oh… and why did it have to be Packard-Bell. That’s a name that goes hand-in-hand with horror stories.
Yawn…
I’ve listen to the FM radios in some of these players. They’re simply awful. Moving around causes interference, distortion and weak signals fading in and out. By a standalone radio if you must but the whole idea is to be your own program director and not have to listen to somebody elses selection of music.
Sad, sad thing…
well, FINALLY for what market segment? How many would simply argue why pay for features never going to be used?
And it looks so ugly that only an over-60 could look at it and think “Uh, Ok, it has all those additional features that it will kill the iPod. Let’s do it!”
Like you could show up in a college dorm with THAT and get out alive! LOL, not even in my times.
Hahahaha
This is sooooo funny!
My very first – actually my daughter’s, but it was our families first – computer was a Packard Bell.
[B]ABSOLUTE GARBAGE.[/B] Was loaded with useless software that hijacked the computer and tried to take you to the different companies software sites in order to sell you more useless software.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, don’t hold your breath, I can assure you that the iPod is VERY safe from Packard Bell
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Sucker Hell … as most Packard Bells are.
The iPod Mini only competitor is the Rio Carbon. To bad you can’t use ITMS with it. People like Rio, Dell, and iRiver are why the iPods keep getting cheaper faster. We should thank them for it.
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Sander, you’re right, it does look like a garage door opener. I wanted to laugh out loud, but being that it is 3:52 am and the little one is asleep, I had to snicker to myself.
Hey RADIOking, here’s the gadget for you. It’s got FM radio and you can even record your own rants. Just don’t show it in public, though. You don’t want high school kids snickering behind your back!
best joke so far, i wonder will people buy a break or a stilish iPod? hmmm iPod winns again……and again….and again
Considering all of the chanllenges that we have seen over the last year to the iPod and the iPod mini, It appear Apple to be at the top of this game for some time to come. The best prducts hands down come from Apple!
Whoa, who decided that ’70s Modern was back in style? Looks like something from a Kubrick movie. “Oh No, not Ludwig Van!!”