You could be right here, and you are very correct in saying so for europe. RMVB was never released in europe because of what you said but the plugin is for sure avabilable in hk and china. rmvb has a much bigger market in asia tho. And i think every pmp player in the asia market has rmvb support apart from cowon A3 which is what makes the archos 605 stands out cos it does have the plugin in asia

Now I'm looking at my Cowon with regret, because I only bought it a couple of months ago. I have to convert nearly all of the files because they come in RMVB.

apart from the RMVB issue the cowon is still an awsome player. i have an A3 Cowon but now my gf uses it cos it has a built in mic and and she can use it to record lectures plus it has FM radio. Apart from no wifi and cant play RMVB the cowon is still a very good player. At least it can record tv straight out of the box where as if i want to record tv with my archos 605 i would need to pay extra $$ to buy an DVR dock. All in all both very good players both have its pros and cons, nither is perfect.

Thanks guys for the info!  If I ever need to buy a PMP, now I know what to get based on my needs.

mywords, you mentioned about those mini notebook, did you mean "netbook" such as Asus EEE or Dell Inspiron Mini?  I have got a EEE and you are right it is great for traveling!  Light enough (2 lbs) to carry it around. And it runs on Linux, with built-in wireless network adaptor, mic/speakers...etc., can surf the web or skype with friends easily.  But the keyboard is small so it is not convenient for people with big hands.  Afterall, it is not a good device for serious works, but great for temporary use.  Battery life is not that great though.

I'm currently considering HP (2133 Mini-Note).. there's a review here, brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13952 but users review for this at amazon is not that fantastic.

i dont really see the point of these netbook to be honest. thats just my own opinion tho, i mean if i were to use a netbook i would just carry my mac book pro. if i didnt want to carry my mbp with me i just bring my asus p353, nokia e71 or my archos 605. All can surf the net msn and watch videos, all 3 all them put together still easier then carrying a netbook. Plus the netbook battery and memory is poor..... thats the main concern

I always wonder why there are so few pmp makers in the market. Is it because it is not profitable? Creative Tech has stopped producing its 4" Zen-W line, and Korea's Maxian has focused its marketing within Korea.

I don't see brands like Sony, Philips or other electronic goods companies producing PMPs. As I see it, PMPs are incredibly useful. They are portable, can record and output to TV.

Right now, we're left with very limited choices. I suspect it's because of competition from smaller and smaller notebooks, and the price for these mini notebooks are dropping fast. I just saw a mini notebook that is only $10 more than my Cowon A3.

myword, interesting review.  How much is the HP 2133?  

收買佬, I can't help but to agree with you.  Even I own a Eee, I wouldn't really recommend it unless one has extra money or want to get a toy just for fun. And I would get one that is $350 or under.  I bring it to work everyday so I can use it for personal stuff such as surfing the web, IM...etc., and I have to carry my work laptop also, so the Eee does not add too much more weight, which is good.  But other than that, I don't use it much.  

As for the PMP choices, I think you are right.  People ask for more and more and they want to get an all-in-one device.  And it also depends on the country.  In countries where people take public transportation all the time, they get more opportunity to watch video on the road.  But then, most of them rather use their phone to kill time or ipod to kill time.  For travelers, they wouldn't mind carry a mini notebook or netbook only a little more heavier (and bigger) but can do so much more.

Myword i m afraid i have to disagree with you there, the PMP market is actually very big, but you are right in saying depending on where you are. There are so many options to choose from in asia, but alot of these are unknown brands and would you spend your hard earned cash on a gadget that will only work for 1year and this is why i would choose brands such as Archos and Cowon. Infact in america you have creative, zune, archos, cowon and the iriver too. So there are choices but just not as much in the asia market.
Secondly i would like to agree with you mickey on your point regarding has Netbook effected the PMP market. To some degree yes but you can say no also. You can't really compare them together as you can't compare apple to oranges. Netbook are designed for work and its great for ms office things or even to some degree media. But a PMP is solely designed to play media and the secondary function of surfing the web.
The market is still pretty strong and PMP companies are bringing out products every year which, i find this a bit depressing cos companies never give enough time for there old product to mature before bringing out a new device and leaving the old models behind.

By the way, how does the web surfing function work on a PMP?  Is it like iphone with a little web browser?  That's pretty neat.