Several companies have already been catering to this market for years with Apple, Creative, Archos, and iRiver leading the way.

On paper, JNC-Digital’s SSF M-7 model has what it takes to be considered among the best the market has to offer. From a relatively unknown company, the M-7 already includes features found only in top-of-the-line models from the leading market players. These features include a high-resolution widescreen LCD, a large 20GB storage capacity, support for most major formats for audio (MP3, WMA), video (MPEG4, WMV, MOV, DivX), and image files (JPEG, GIF, BMP), voice recorder, audio-video recorder from external sources, and a kickstand for comfortable viewing.

JNC SSF M-7 Portable Media Player

The M-7’s most outstanding feature is its large LCD screen. At 7-inches, it easily trumps its rivals in screen size. In fact, it probably has one of the largest screens on a portable media player except for laptops. Videos and images are sharp and vibrant and can be viewed clearly from almost any angle.

Encased in hard white plastic, the M-7 is a bit heavy compared to most portable media players. Because of its large screen, it is also too bulky to be carried by hand. While it is still portable, it is not a good idea to use it while strolling in the mall like an ordinary mp3 player. The M-7 is more suited for use during short road trips or when lounging in areas like the beach or your favorite café.

Starting up the M-7 only takes a few seconds. Navigating through the menu options is done via a scroll wheel. Turning it up or down moves the selector accordingly; clicking on the wheel selects the item. Simple, right? Unfortunately, for a device like this, it is too simple.

The scroll wheel only moves the selector up or down one item at a time. If you have 1000 songs in the M-7 (it can store around 5,000), you would need to turn the wheel 1000 times every time you want to listen to song #1000. You can’t even go reverse and sort through the list from the bottom-up.

Once you get to the video or song you want to play, the M-7 rewards you with outstanding stereo audio. Interestingly, there is no way to adjust the audio settings within the player – very weird for a supposedly advanced portable media player. Fortunately, the default setting is good enough for the average listener.

Pictures viewed on the M-7 are disappointing! Due to its wide screen, pictures appear stretched and wider than normal. Aside from the LCD brightness, there is no way to adjust the M-7’s display settings. If you are figure conscious, expect to be enraged when you see yourself on the M-7.

The M-7 also has the ability to record voice via a built-in microphone. Although it conveniently stores the recorded voice files in 192kbps MP3 format, this function is not something to be excited about. The built-in mic can only clearly record from around 2 feet making this function handy only for personal memos.

One exciting feature the M-7 has, though, is its ability to serve as a video monitor from external sources such as DVD players, videocam, and other devices through its AV in slot. Taking it further, the M-7 also has the ability to record from these inputs. I found this function useful in recording my favorite TV shows and viewing them later on the road.

After considering all of the above, JNC SSF M-7 had me confused. How can a product with all the right features be so mediocre? It can play crisp video on its large high resolution LCD screen but converting the file to the right format takes too much time. It delivers great audio but getting to your favorite song takes too much effort. It displays sharp and colourful pictures but its wide screen stretches the display to noticeably unnatural proportions. It is supposed to be a portable device but you need to be near a power source because its battery only has enough power to play audio for 6 to 8 hours and video for around 2 hours – just enough for an average full-length movie.

All in all, the JNC SSF M-7 has all the features of a premium portable media player but it fails miserably in the ease-of –use department. With its ultra-wide screen, the JNC SSF M-7 is most suited for watching videos and recorded programs. If you are looking for a user-friendly device, you might want to consider other models instead.