OTHER TECH

Variety is the spice of life - clichéd but oh so true, especially when it comes to TV. No one wants to watch reruns of 24 on the tube 24/7. That's just boring, even if the show does kick butt and Jack Bauer is one tough hombre. Fortunately, cable, satellite, and DVD satiate our jones at home - but getting that same programming variety for a handheld video player such as a video iPod or Sony PSP isn't so easy. Your options are to either download the limited television content available on the Web from sites such as iTunes (and pay the asking price) or buy expensive prerecorded movies such as those in Sony's UMD (Universal Media Disc) format for PSP. That's not much of a choice.

The Neuros MPEG-4 Recorder 2 just may be the solution. The R2 is a digital VCR for the portable video age. This ultracompact deck lets you record video files onto digital memory cards (instead of VHS tapes) in MPEG-4 format for direct playback on your PSP or other devices or for easy transfer to your video iPod. You can record from any source equipped with a composite-video output, including DVD players, though be advised that dubbing copy-protected DVDs may violate copyright law.

SETUP If you can hook up a VCR, you can handle the R2. You wire it between your video source and television via the supplied minijack-to-RCA composite-video cables (for video input and output). In addition to the ins and outs, the relatively naked box also has slots for Memory Stick Duo and Compact Flash cards, though neither is included. All control is handled via a credit card-sized remote.