The logo on top of the great player, read review below

Unibrain's iZak is simply brilliant!

iZak from Unibrain, hard disc based multimedia player. I was quite skeptic about this little piece of hardware, but then again I was right in the middle of the potential buyers market. I am an internet and computer freak with a special love for movies and series. I bought this little device a couple of days back and after some heavy beta testing I've turned into a huge fan. I might consider starting a website for this player if no one else has done so, yet.
Before I get into the few technical details needed for the iZak ,let me tell you that it passed all my needy tests with flying colors. DVD, DivX, XviD ( same thing if you ask me ) jpeg and mp3 all played with crystal clear image and sound and with NO ANNOYING DRIVE SOUNDS THAT DVD PLAYERS PRODUCE. It's like watching cable television with your favorite programs and movies played right when you need them. Simply amazing. Well truth is that we don't have cable tv here in Greece so I have nothing to compare it to but my guess is that this must be how it looks like.
The device gives extended information during all media playback. You get bitrates, chapters, time, angles, subtitles and audio plus a whole lot more info that only computer geeks have actual knowledge of. During XviD playback for instance you get FPS width and length and kbps. ( see picture with blurred image, you don't need to know what I watch.. although my guess is that you got it already ).
Playback of my 5 megapixel images was flawless and full image info was displayed, like full name path, size etc.
Full name path is displayed throughout all the menus ( no more 8 letter names standard DVD with DivX playback machines usually give.)
I could go on for a few more pages but believe, if I take the time to write a few sentences about I and go through the trouble of a mini review this thing is good. Get it while stocks last..
Images follow..

iZak alongside my SE mobile

iZak on my 32inch TV, Goliath and David style

iZak movie info during playback

iZak alongside of a Pronto 1st Gen

Do your earbuds cause you trouble ?

I was over at iPodlounge for no apparent reason ( since I don't own an iPod nor am I willing to buy one.. not soon anyway.. ) and I discovered this little fella

Apparently this little design thingy wraps your earbuds cord and keeps it tidy. It only costs $5 so don't give it a second thought go fetch one. I am expecting mine in 15 days. I'll post the results after some heavy beta testing..

Armin van Buuren @ Venue Thessaloniki Greece ( 9th of March 2005 )

This past Saturday I went to Armin van Buuren’s set in my homecity of Thessaloniki at club Venue. I had great expectations for this show. There are about a handfull of DJ’s that I enjoy and on my top spot lies Armin.
The first letdown of the show was that Armin appeared around 4:30 in the morning after a quite dissapointing DJ that played some 180 Bpms of craaaaap right before Armin’s set thus giving Armin a much faster pace to start with. Secondly the club’s soundsystem was clearly setup for techno and hardcore ‘whatever’ that seems to be popular in my country only. The bass and the kick were loud as f%&k and you could only hear about 10% of the melody. The thing that makes trance so great is the melody that follows the rhythm and clearly NOT the extreme and pointless fast repetitive bass. Strike three was the people in the club. It seems to me that trance is kept alive in my city by high school dropouts but on the verge of being extremely caustic for no reason I might leave this argument as it is.
On the bright side I have to say that Armin was a real sport. He would sign all the autographs he was requested, he would constantly smile for the camera and he would not stop dancing while he was playing his tunes. If only we could actually hear what he was playing. It’s a shame we are only relying in two clubs in my city for our trance needs and we always seem to get twisted versions of hardcore and techno parties. No worries for me though, I listen to Armin’s show every week and I get much more than my weekly trance fix.
Thanks Armin for dropping by but I must admit I enjoyed the last time ( at club decadence couple of years back ) a whole lot more.. I hope to see you again in my city, this time with a well setup sound system..

Armin van Buuren coming to Thessaloniki @ Venue on 09-04-2005

Finally some news worth mentioning, it's been some 2 weeks since my last post simply because I couldn't find any good news to report. Well here it is. Armin is coming to town AAAAAArmin is comin' to town A A A A Armin is comiing to toooown.. ( sing in jingle bells tune )YEAH BABY YEAH. Thessaloniki will be blessed by the presence of non other than #3 in the world and #1 in our hearts dj. I'm gonna get down and boogey.. I would take some pictures to post in this blog but my guess is that I'm gonna be shaking all night long so no time for pictures.. see you all at Venue on Saturday night..