James' thoughts on Vosonic vp8350

I purchased the unit from Jal Digital in Australia. I know nothing of the company other than they were the first to carry it and I've read of others on the photography forum dpreview.com purchasing items from them. I must say that I am very pleased with Jal. I bought it for $376.30 (which was cheaper than any other site I found and the others were only taking pre-orders) and received free shipping (holiday special per their site). I ordered it on 12/31, they sent it out on 1/3 (hey, it was new years, give them a day or so to recover) international priority with Fedex, and I received it on 1/5. Did I mention they sent it free 1/2 way around the world to the US? (I don't know why that impresses me so much, maybe because I look at the cost of airfare for me to take a trip to Australia and get dizzy).

Update: My Digital Discount now carries it in the US for $350
Update to update: make that $389.99 now.

Reasons for purchase (in order of importance): download and view raw digital photos from my Canon 350d digital camera, mp3 player, watch video (probably rarely use except to show my friends how cool it would be if I did use it), I like being the first one in my group with the cool digial toys (need counseling, I know)

Other units I considered were:
iPod video: sleek and sexy; but, didn't feel like paying for the video (I know, there are legal ways around it), I wanted a larger screen size, and I really wanted something that could display the raw photos from my Canon 350d digital camera.

Archos AV500: from what I've read, the screen quality of this one is something else. You can also get the cobranded version through Dish network (one of its Pocket Dish players). Since I have Dish it sounded interesting, particularly the ease of uploading (however I don't have the only receiver they carry that can transfer 1 hr of video to the player in 5 min via USB 2.) Bummer, plus I can't view raw files on that one either.

Creative Zen Vision: looks nice but people sure get fired up about it's viewing angle (or lack of). It has a compact flash card slot (yeah!) but no raw viewing (boo). Syncs with Microsoft Outlook® Contacts, Calendar & Tasks (that would be nice to have in the Vosonic)

Epson P-2000: thanks to a big name player for giving this niche some legs.

If you have any questions for me, please send an email and I'll see what I can do.
You can also visit the vp8350 page on Vosonic's website.
dpreview's storage and media forum is also a great place to learn more about this and many other personal storage devices (PSD).
Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Vosonic, just a satisfied customer who found very little info posted about this product when I bought it and figured this site might help someone in their search for a PSD.

February 22, 2006: A product manual is now available on Vosonic's site in the downloads section.

January, 2006: When I purchased Vosonic's vp8350, I could not find any information about this device on the web other than the basic specs off their website (In all fairness it is still listed as "coming soon" on their own site). From the specs, it appeared to be just what I was looking for. Not being able to resist the temptation, I purchased it without seeing any screen shots or reading any reviews or user experiences (nobody said I was the sharpest tool in the shed). Anyway, if it helps anyone, here is my "kicking of the tires". Last thing, please be aware I have nothing to compare this unit to (re screen quality, etc); I've never held any other units. Last, last thing, in all the pictures yes, the protective covering is still over the face of the unit.