With its ability to provide compact, lightweight video and audio fun for commuters, travelers, and students, GoVideo's PVP4040 Pocket Cinema player/recorder a stylish treat. At a mere 4 x 3 inches and less than a full inch thick, the device is much smaller than a CD player, a minidisc player/recorder, or--critically--a portable DVD player. And it actually records from external devices, generating MPEG-4 video and MP3 audio files on the fly. This little device would be a fabulous tool for single parents traveling lightly with one or more kids. It's built around a nearly edge-to-edge 3.5-inch color LCD, on which you can view full-motion video as well as slide shows of your favorite digital photos, which is probably how the PVP4040 will be used the most, whether at Mom and Dad's house or at dinner with friends or colleagues. Internal 128 MB memory holds around 2 hours of 128 kbps MP3 files and, at the lowest quality setting, close to that duration in MPEG-4.

With photos only, you'll get more than 300 full-resolution (2-megapixel) JPEGs and many times that if you take the time to scale them for 480 x 240 display before loading them. Need more storage? There's a slot for an optional SD Card so you can add anywhere from 8 MB to 1 GB of additional flash memory. JPEG images look pretty satisfying when they're landscape oriented (as opposed to portrait, which results in a tiny image in the middle of the screen). Just be sure to orient them before loading.

We were impressed with the screen's high brightness, high contrast, and color accuracy, and the screen is remarkably free of line flickering. What it lacks is resolution. Granted, the PVP4040's small size is a selling point. But even at 2.9 x 2.1 inches, the 480 x 240 screen's lack of detail is readily apparent when viewing non-close-up JPEGs. Surprisingly, the lack of detail wasn't as glaring with video content, but MPEG-4 compression brings its own artifacts to the table.

The PVP4040 hooks up to your PC computer (Windows ME, 2000, or XP) via USB 2.0/1.1 using a supplied cable. Loading JPEG images and MP3 files is easy--just drag and drop them onto the PVP4040. Video files, however, must first be converted to MPEG-4 (.asf) or DivX (.avi), a feat performed by GoVideo's included TransCoder software.

Alternately, you can record video content directly from VHS, camcorder, laser disc, non-copy-protected DVDs, and other composite-video sources using a handy cable, also provided. Just plug in your source and hit record. Three modes let you scale the quality to your available memory: 128 MB will give you up to 110 minutes of A/V content in "economy," 50 minutes in "normal," and 30 minutes in "fine" mode. Yes, "fine" is a telling term: the MPEG-4 quality in this mode is still nowhere near as good as what you see on the screen when your program is coming in. That's the price of portability, perhaps, but it would be nice to have the option of true high quality, even with limited duration.

Nevertheless, now you can make the most of your morning bus or train ride by loading the morning TV news while you're showering and eating. Just run an A/V feed from the outputs of your PVR or VCR into the PVP4040, press "record," and let the Pocket Cinema do the rest.

The process works for music, too. You can create your own MP3s (up to 128 kbps) from the headphone output of your portable-audio device (cable included), or from other components using an optional "Y" adapter or cable. With audio only, it's a little hard to tell when recording has commenced, and there's no input level control. Still, the option is there.

We've yet to meet earbud headphones we like--pick up some over-ears, if you don't own a set, for greater comfort and better sound. --Michael Mikesell

Pros:

• Small size
• Light weight
• Stylish appearance
• Bright screen
• High-contrast, accurate colors
• Intuitive audio and/or video recording
• Comes with rechargeable battery
• Strong headphone amplifier
• Convenient accessory pack
• Firmware upgradeable
• Doesn't get too hot during extended use

• 480 x 240 screen lacks ability for nuanced images
• Can't view photos while listening to music
• No zoom/rotate features for still photos
• No high-resolution video-capture
• No MP3 shuffle, scan, or programming
• Minimal navigation options

GoVideo PVP4040 Pocket Cinema Portable A-V Player with 3.5- LCD is the Electronics version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around  258.34USD.