iriver PMC120 20 GB Portable Media Center

The PMC-120 is the player for you IF you happen to own a computer running Windows XP Media Center Edition - a recent creature that turns your computer into a kind of TiVo, recording TV programs directly onto your hard drive. I do in fact own a Dell MCE model, and have scads of TV shows I'd like to take on the road with me, as well as vacation photos (*.jpg), music, etc.

Pros: The PMC syncs neatly with Window Media Player 10 to convert my TV files (*.dvr-ms) to a format playable by the portable player. Installation and translation of files is straightforward - you just build a playlist and hit "synchronize." The portable's screen is bright and the controls are much more intuitive than I-River's other model, the PMP-120 (P not C). There is a USB port built in so, if your digicam also has a port, presumably you could send photos right to the player without going home to your computer. It's a nice way to show people your snapshots.

Cons: The PMC is so...Read more

When I got my hands on the PMC-120 I thought this was going to to be the best player but when I started to play with it all the glitches started to come into my way.
I agree with the other reviews that it has a first generation-device feel to it.
MUSIC:
When I tried to put music in my PMC it syncronized my mp3s with the WMP 10 with no problem (very fast). If U are looking for a grab and drop (copy/paste) your music mp3 device, this is not for you because when I did it got everything in one same folder that read "Unknown artist and album". So you have to put all your mp3s via WMP 10, wich is no problem for me because it does it very fast. The problems that I encountered is that it only has one "Portable playlist" and sometimes when Im playing an mp3 and navegating through the other albums the controls respond 1 to 2 seconds later after pushing the button.
One cool thing is that it shows the cd covers without having to put them in. This is done via the...Read more

I recommend this player if you're in the market for a portable media player. I've found it's durable, easy to use and definitely worth what I paid for it. It comes with a nice zippered carrying case, which does a great job of keeping the screen from getting scratched up while you're not using it. The screen is clear and bright, the controls are comfortable and easy to use and the menus are very easy to navigate.

My experiences are pretty similar to the other reviewers. I agree, if you have a Media Center PC, this thing is invaluable. However, I've found that it takes way too long (hours!) for the player to convert dvr-ms files. With some 3rd party software, I can edit out the commercials and re-encode to the size accepted by the player (320x240 wmv) in about a 1/2 hour and once done, it takes only about 30 seconds to copy over. 20 gb is more than adequate for most people, since the video files are only about 200 mb for an hour show. The operating system on the...Read more