Hands on with the Philips SA6145/37 Portable Media Player

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. Why is it that the iPod is getting so much press for its MP3 and video playing capability? Yes, it dominates the market due to its Portable Media Player (PMP) goodness, but technically, it really shouldn't.

After all, there are a lot of PMPs that are just as good, if not better than the iPod. Take for example, the Philips SA5145 4GB/Go. This little PMP can do a lot for your money, looks good, and I found it quite simple to use.

All I had to do is just plug it in to my computer with the mini USB, and I was ready to go. In fact, it even helped me by downloading the latest Windows Media Player, which I found very easy to use and one of the best ways to download songs and videos to the SA5145. I found that the machine literally did all the work as everything, including my pictures was downloaded in a matter of minutes.

The sound quality was very good, and so was the video quality. The screen is larger than most PMPs, and that really makes the WMV images stand out in clear, digital quality. In fact, it can hold about 18 hours of video, which is enough for the 4GB it holds.

As for the sound, it was also incredibly good as demonstrated by the sample video it came with. At one time, a helicopter buzzed past, and it went from one ear to the other. The music quality was also grand and it can hold about 1,900 songs. I'm sure that probably isn't a lot compared to the 80GB and 160GB iPod models that are out there, but honestly, how many songs do you need?

There are several other features that are worth talking about. For example, the voice recorder really worked well and was simple to operate, which is usually not the case. The same applies to the FM radio, which I've seen on other PMPs, and they usually don't work. In fact, you usually get a bunch of static, but this one played clearly with over 20 presets.

So, all in all, you're getting an awesome deal with the Philips SA6145 4GB Go from Philips. I suppose I could recommend going to Amazon.com and getting it for about $150.00, but that might sound like a shameless plug. Oh, what the heck, go get it!