Alienware MP3 Players
The truth about Alienware MP3 Players, it's out there.
Alienware set the standards on the games-based PC by creating dedicated gaming machines with a no holds barred attitude. The finest performing PCs dedicated to high frame-rates and smooth video with the best audio options of the day are available on Alienware's notebooks or desktop PCs. They even sell many of the peripherals to make any machine a little leaner and meaner.
Alienware has even made a name for itself as a leading manufacturer of media center, server and professional systems. Their logo has been featured prominently in placement ads across the entertainment industry, including in the hit TV show 24 as the notebook of choice for the Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU).
In October 2005, Alienware is set to join the MP3 player race with their project code-named Close Encounters-Fourth Kind (CE-IV). Featuring Alienware's unique otherworldly design, the CE-IV has the alien face logo front and center over a thumb control. A monochrome display for essential file info is over top of the controls much like an iPod.
But this is no iPod. The CE-IV features a jagged octagonal design making it look like technology that might have warped in from another galaxy. The Alienware CE-IV will be available with either 1 gigabyte or 512 kilobytes of built-in ROM memory. Both models have a memory card slot available for expansion. An optional plug in docking station with speakers for full stereo sound will be available upon release of the CE-IV. The docking station is called HUB, and features Alienware's unique esthetic. Hub looks like a spaceship that might just be infested with something that plants its young in your belly.
The power PC manufacturer is touting Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology as a feature for their MP3 players. That's like saying high blood pressure is a feature of salt. Perhaps they mean CE-IV is compatible with DRM protected material so you can download media for your MP3 player from sources that use this form of copy protection. It seems like a meaningless feature but we'll have to see exactly what they mean when their products are released.
Another feature- this time with a little more substance- is WOW technology by SRS. This is no more than a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) that offers wide sound. Like all DSP's they may add a dimension of acoustic flexibility, but their best feature is the ability to turn them off. If you're using garbage headphones, SRS WOW might give you the impression that your headphones have a little more oomph than they really do. SRS WOW and any DSP is a poor substitute for not taking the time to get a real set of cans.
Little is known about the new Alienware MP3 players except that they might be convenient with their expandable memory slot. As a low capacity MP3 player, certainly not on par with your iPod Mini or Shuffle, it might be a winner. It's a 1 gig player if you were to add another gig memory card- that's a nice little capacity for a ROM based handheld. Alienware's unique design automatically makes it a cool looking little device that you could have hanging from a glowing fiber around your neck- it'll surely make the coolest necklace this side of Alpha Centarui.