SmartDisk Flash Trax XT 40 GB Digital Multimedia Player and Storage

Transfer, store and share your videos, pictures, audio and data files with FlashTrax XT, the patented, palm-sized, portable multimedia player and video recorder that travels anywhere. Transfer thousands of high resolution images and hours of video for entertainment. Safely capture and store photos from flash memory cards using "one touch" copy key. Download multimedia files onto the built-in hard disk drive. FlashTrax XT records and plays television shows or movies on the built-in color LCD. Connect FlashTrax XT to a TV or video projector for viewing with family and friends. FlashTrax XT plays digital video formats, including MPEG-4, DivX, WMV9 and XviD, and is adaptable to both NTSC and PAL television output systems. High resolution 3.6 LCD for crisp images FlashTrax XT supports JPEG, BMP, GIF and some RAW digital file formats Simple user interface allows you to find and manage your digital content Quickly transfer content from your PC or laptop to FlashTrax XT with USB 2.0 A/V out allows connecting to external entertainment systems Operates with Windows 98SE or OS 9.2 and higher systems FlashTrax XT's built-in operating system is upgradeable. That means future enhancements can be added as they are made available through the SmartDisk web site Adjustable flip-top lid protects the LCD and provides up to 130-degree tilt for comfortable viewing Removable and rechargeable 4400 mAh Li-Ion battery and AC charger included (watch up to 8 hours video or listen up to 15 hours of music per charge) Stereo audio output / earphone jack On-screen menu plus navigation buttons / Transport keys for simple music and video playback control Built-in speaker Like an external hard drive and MP3 player but more - much more Unit Dimensions - 3.82 in X 6.22 in X 1.38 inch / Weighs 15 ounces

I love it! (A. Bloom, South Lake Tahoe, CA, 2008-06-05)

I got this unit because I am an IPod hater & the other units such as the Zune are WAY overpriced. I am EXTREMELY pleased with this thing! I personally don't have any use for a CF card at all, just need a portable player. My favorite feature on this is you can plug it into any DVD player & record straight onto the hard drive while the movie is playing. This is something I have not seen ANY other player do ever. The only other feature I could ask for is more format compatibility when it comes to videos, but hey, ya can't have it all I guess. Great buy! Best player I have ever had!

Great Storage, Backup and Media Player Device (R. Mallick, 2008-04-23)

First and formost, the SmartDisk Flash Trax XT is designed to backup and review your digital images. I use it for two devices: Nikon Digital Camera and Marantz portable recorder. I have no problems seeing the raw files from my camera, or playing back audio recorded on the Marantz recorder. Why I love this device is that it provides me plenty of on-demand backup for my field recordings and photos, while providing me some basic entertainment capabilities.

Copying a memory card: Just stick your Compact Flash card in the side and press copy. It will copy the card to a time-stamped folder. Note-copying your card does not erase it, so if you backup your card, and continue shooting, without reformatting, you will end up with duplicate files, each in their own timestamped folder. The Flash Trax XT does not decided whether a file is a duplicate or not, rather everytime you backup your card, it places that backup in a new folder.
I successfully use SanDisk 1GB CF and Fujitsu 4GB Microdrives with the FlashTrax.

Caveat, I can only backup 2GB SD cards using my SD to CF adapter, even though the adapter will read larger cards in my laptop.

Music Player. The music player sounds good, but it's no iPod. When I really want music, I carry my iPod. However, I keep a couple thousand songs on my FlashTrax so if I'm working in a studio, I can have music. The music player will play MP3 (I would never use Microsoft WMA-ever!) but it will not play AAC files. You can choose a song or playlist when displaying photos in a slideshow.

Video Player. I have managed to get some DVD content into this device from DVD's that I OWN, by using MediaFork (Mac) and choosing Divx/MP3 as the file format. MediaFork's MPEG4 isn't compatible with the FlashTrax XT. Again, it is handy to have a couple movies ripped for travelling, and fun to have some favorite comedy episodes handy. Cool Feature-using the included AV cable, you can display anything on the FlashTrax screen on a TV with RCA inputs. Video playback looks pretty good, no skipped frames and only a little fuzzy on a normal TV.

Photos. The core purpose of this device is backup, storage and display of photos. I keep my favorite images in a seperate folder all the time, which gives me the ability to view them or share with others anywhere. In addition, the camera card backup is handy and simple. This feature is well-thought out. You can also playback photos in a slide show, even pick an mp3 song.

Radio. The radio only works if a cable is plugged into the headphone jack. Either headphones or an audio cable connected to speakers will work. The cable should be at least 3 feet long. Reception is alright, but could be better.

Audio/Video recorder. Strangely, this device has an analog capture input. It records computer-quality video, which plays back nice on the screen. I've used it as a backup to my video camera, although the quality is worse, once I had a tape eaten in the camcorder and the Flash Trax video was the only source of an important speech at a wedding. A little After Affects made that video clip useful in the final product.

Overall, this is primarily a photography data storage/display device with some fun features. As a photographer, this device is priceless. If you are primarily looking for a portable audio/video playback device, this is no competition for a Video iPod.

Note: I had absolutely NO problems upgrading my original hard drive to a new Hitachi Travelstar 160GB laptop drive. The unit had no problems formatting the drive, and it has been working well. I recycled my old 40GB drive into an older laptop. So, if you have the 40GB model, there is upgrade hope. At 160GB, I find this device to be extremely useful.

DON'T BUY SMARTDISK PRODUCTS (K. Kopchick, 2008-04-16)

Bought the FlashTrax Media Player. After a power outage the hard drive was fine, but the main computer would not recognize the drive. We were only three months over the one year warranty, and even though we would pay for the repair they said they wouldn't touch it after it was out of warranty. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. Poor attention was given to detailed emails, had to keep repeating the same thing over and over.
Their final response...."But it is the way that we have everything set up. We can not change things because you want us to. It would not be fair to every other customer who fellows the rules and saves their paper work. Good luck." Hello? I had the paperwork.

Great item...awsome capabilities! (danny radikal, 2008-01-11)

I picked this item up to use as a photo dump for vacationing. Really liked the ability to read RAW camera files. Picked up a cf to xd adapter so i can dump photos from my camera's xd card with the touch of the copy button. If you were to run out of tape in your camcorder you could hook it up to this and record direct to the hard drive. Not to mention the use of watching movies and listening to music when traveling. With the help of a program called clonedvd mobile i was able to transfer 20 full dvd movies to this device using up only 9 gb of space! The headphone out sounds great with a decent pair of headphones. External speaker is ok, but keep in mind it's basically a mono speaker setup. Use headphones!

I've read some concerns of hard drive failure, but with some research online i found a few step by step guides to replacing a dead 40 gb drive with up to a 120 gb regular laptop hard drive with zero modification! The unit comes with an internal mic for recording which i modded to accept an external mic to use as a field recorder. It is suprisingly decent in the recording aspect. Records from mic, a/v source, or radio. Truthfully i have found the radio pretty useless but it does have one. Lion battery is not built in so when it dies you just pop the old one out and order a new one. Try that with an ipod!

Overall it is a great product that i would definately purchase again! The only reason i didn't give it a perfect 5 stars was because of the radio feature....which i personally don't care too much for anyway.

I am still SMILING!!!!!!!!!!! (Oswald Davis, jamaica, 2007-12-17)

I got this last month (November) & I am having a ball with it! One upgrade I would like to see is a "VIDEO" icon in the main menu. If this is possible, the videos can be streamed (ie. played one after the other without having to manually select & start the next one)as is done in the "MOVIE" menu.

All in all this is a great device.One regret I have is not purchasing the 80GB!

Any new upgrade on the horizon? Last one was dated 2005 (system upgrade 0070).