Portable Media Player that supports WMV and composite?

August 9, 2011 6:55 AM

ProductFilter: Looking for a Portable Media Player that supports WMV file formats AND composite or S-Video output. And is hopefully not a piece of junk.

I'm looking for a portable video source that can play back WMV-formatted files, and can output to an old-style analog connector - composite or S-video, but not component. It looks like the Creative Zen X-Fi2 does this with an additional cable, but the reviews... well, are a bit sketchy. Another candidate is Archos, but I cannot determine what if any Archos player outputs analog, and it is unclear whether they support WMV.

This is for work purposes, and it will be used to play back videos output from a single other system - so I'm more than willing to compromise on unrelated features given its special purpose nature.

posted by scolbath to Technology (3 answers total)

Anything But iPod's comparison page brings up a number of players that support WMV (under Supported Formats, uncheck Any and check WMV), though the site isn't so handy about video-out options.

For that, you can check product specifications or manuals online. The Samsung YP-R1 might support S-video, and Archos 5 flash or HDD can play back WMV, and can output video with a bonus dock. There may be more, but I stopped on the first page of ABI search results.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:06 AM on August 9, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks, didn't know about 'Anything but iPod'! That should help me out!
posted by scolbath at 11:24 AM on August 9, 2011

They have some on-site reviews which may provide additional localized information, beyond the comparison feature.

Also, if you aren't concerned about (some) quality loss, you can convert your videos to other formats for different products. Depending on the player(s) you like, you can look into tutorials on videohelp.com.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:37 PM on August 9, 2011