More from CES: Endless personal video players

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More from CES: Endless personal video players

Gizmodo has a roundup of all the personal video players shown at CES last week, and there are approximately a bagillion of them set to launch this year.

I have to admit, as much as I like my TiVo and find viewing movies and shows on a computer useful in some cases, I'm not sold on the utility of a dedicated personal video player, nor do I think they'd be wildly successful in the US. I've heard from many folks that they're big in Japan because most people in a major city take a long subway ride to and from work, so personal players are convenient ways to catch up on TV and news. In America though, most everyone drives a car (aside from a few major cities) and you can't view a TV while operating (not legally or safely) a car when commuting to and from work.

The only time I could see wanting one of these personally would be during flights across the country. I don't fly more than once a month, so my laptop serves as my personal video player just fine. Also, Sony and other electronics manufacturers have been selling handheld TV receivers for decades, without anything more than moderate uptake among sports fans. I'm still not sure there is any market for a personal video device, even though a video iPod sounds cool on the surface.

Maybe I've completely missed this one. Do personal video players have enough of a niche and a chance for big sales in the US? How would you use one, and would it be worth spending $500 on a device that only did video playback?

by Matt Haughey January 14, 2004 in News

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The *ONLY* way I would see a personal video player useful is if Tivo created one that was compatible with my Tivo that I could pull recorded shows / movies / sports off of my Tivo, to my personal video player and watch them on the go.

Otherwise, my laptop serves just fine as a DVD player on the road.

And with the availability of personal DVd players with small LCD screens... whats the point? I don't record much video myself, and I have a very large (200+) DVD collection so that serves my purposes better.

The Tivo capabilities would be the only thing that would make me interested in a "PVP".

Posted by: carl at Jan 14, 2004 12:45:17 PM

I don't think there is a market for it in the US, and neither does Apple. That is why you don't see a Video iPod. If anyone could forecast a market for such things, it would be Apple. They'll let these other companies capture the small market for it. Not saying it won't happen in the future, but at this time, there just isn't enough demand to warrant a large company (that doesn't have unlimited money to throw at it, aka MS) to invest resources in such a product.

Posted by: Chris at Jan 14, 2004 1:03:42 PM

I don't see a big market for these types of devices here in the US either.

TiVo is going to allow you to take your recording with you on the go using DVD as the storage media so the consumer can decide to either use their laptops or personal DVD players to watch the shows.

$500 for a personal TiVo like device doesn't seem very reasonable to me when a portable DVD player can be had for half that and then include TiVo To Go and you're all set.

Posted by: Jeffrey at Jan 14, 2004 2:57:59 PM

Anything that "just" plays video probably won't stick here in the US. But something the size of a paperback with a nice fat 20Gb+ hard drive that plays video files, plays audio files, lets you copy photos from your camera to the player's hard drive, lets you display those photos on the player's screen, and plugs into your computer as an external USB/1394 drive might.

Posted by: Ernie Longmire at Jan 14, 2004 5:48:11 PM

Matt: The key is price. If I had the choice of hauling around a small, $200 device that could hold hours of media rather than a $1000 laptop serving the same purpose, I'll take the cheaper, more compact option.

But as long as these things hover around the $600 range, I wouldn't even consider it.

Posted by: Roger Benningfield at Jan 14, 2004 10:21:17 PM

Looking at the Gizmodo photos I get the impression that most of these portable video players are too big. If a device is going to be portable, I’d like for it to fit into a pocket, or at least be able to fit inside a jacket pocket without being too bulky. Of course, having a tiny video player is sort of pointless. Why would I want to spend more than ten or fifteen minutes watching anything on a screen that I have to strain to see?

Posted by: marc balgavy at Jan 15, 2004 10:03:45 AM

I think this is one area where there is likely to be a healthy market but it will be tough to predict. Video is too compelling to write off this early.

That's why Tivo has been horrendously frusterating and Tivo-to-go is still slightly frusterating. Since Tivo-to-go is still so restrictive, the killer video device is going to continue to have a tough time finding itself. The breakthroughs require unfettered experimentation.

Posted by: pb at Jan 15, 2004 10:58:13 AM

Agree with other posters that price ( iPod, < most of what was at CES) are key. HOWEVER, even more important are the companion services to get video onto the thing. Movielink/CinemaNow is good, TiVoToGo is better, but the "killer app" is an iTunes-like store for Television shows (everything from last night's "CSI" to a "Simpsons" episode from 7 years ago).

Posted by: mh at Jan 17, 2004 1:29:47 PM

If the tv studios were smart they would go the route of an iTunes like store coupled with a PVP device.

Unfortunately for us, they are too stupid and egotistical to execute on it. You'd never get them to cooperate. Then there would be a Fox one, an aBC one, an NBC one... all using competing video standards.

If they could get their collective heads out of their asses, they could making a killing on it. But they can't, so they won't.

In the end, we the consumers lose.

Posted by: carl at Jan 19, 2004 1:10:08 PM

mnletomol.com Meal Company as their VP of Sales

Posted by: Jesse Capelli at Jul 23, 2005 5:07:32 AM

I recently picked up a PVP and I love it. I moslty use it when I go to the GYM. Running on the treadmill used to be so boring, but now I just pull out my little PVP for a little entertainment and now I dont mind Running for an hour. I think of it as a$500 step toward my goal of getting in better shape. I use it for many other things but just wanted to give the main reason for spending so much.

Posted by: BigKaips at Feb 3, 2006 11:07:50 AM

More from CES: Endless personal video players

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