Day 1: Features Galore
Boy, this one is sure packed with goodies! It took me a while to just read the features MSI MEGA VIEW boasts of-video, music, photos, voice recording, FM radio, audio/video recording, SD/MMC card slot, and portable storage. Whew! One can even plug-in a digital camera, DV or memory card reader directly into the player to play or view media. I plugged in the charger and got ready for my dose of entertainment.
Day 2: Loading It Up
The 1.8-inch 20 GB hard drive in the MEGA VIEW 588 promises enough storage capacity for long hours of entertainment. The player supports many popular video and audio formats, including the DivX, WMV9, MP3, and WMA. On connecting it with my PC, the player was detected as a removable drive. File transfer through the USB 2.0 interface was fast and I copied videos, music, and photos in seconds.
Day 3: Now The Fun Starts!
The press of a button brought its 3.5-inch TFT display to life. Using the 5-way navigation key, made handling the menu child’s play. All I had to do was scroll and select the desired function, click the file I wanted to play, and I was all set!
Day 5: My Personal Movie Theatre
I had to fly to Delhi for some work. During the two-hour flight, I tried out my new personal movie theatre! I plugged in my earphones so as not to disturb my co-passengers and started the action flick I had loaded. Video playback on the gizmo was decent and the movie ended just as the landing was announced.
Day 10: Play It Again
When I played some music, the MSI MEGA VIEW 588 reproduced the audio faithfully. The in-built speaker was OK, but the bundled earphones were better. The FM radio was very useful when I wanted a change. I could also record from the FM directly to the MP3!
Day 18: Useful At Work
I planned to check the voice recording feature at a press conference I was to attend. Selecting the voice recording function from the main menu, I pressed the record button on top. Got a good voice transcript of the presentation-enough to complete my report at work.
Day 25: Picture This
The digital images I had captured over the years found a great companion in the MEGA VIEW 588. I could view them wherever I was, and also view them at home by connecting it to a TV and running a slideshow with music.
Day 28: For The Record
There was a cricket match between India and South Africa, and I wanted to capture some of the action. I connected the player to my TV using the AV cable and used the wireless remote controller to record replays from the comfort of my armchair. This is one gadget I don’t want to let go of!
Day 30: All Good Things…
It was end of the road for me and my MEGA VIEW 588. And I was sad to see it go. I sure hope another one like it comes along soon. Sigh!