As far as originality, you won’t find any here. When they designed this Maxx Digital portable DVD player, they simply re-did the PSP for some reason I can’t fathom. Not that it’s not a good looking PSP. It is. It’s just a PSP, not a DVD player design. I just don’t like all my stuff to look like PSP’s, that’s all I’m saying.

The PDV-8500BLK features a nice 8.5-inch LCD widescreen, and will play videos in DVD, DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, CD, CD-R/RW, VCD and SVCD formats. It’s also got support for JPEG, MP3 and MPEG4 files via a built-in SD, MMS/MS card reader slot. Strangely it doesn’t play video games at all. And no UMD discs. It will cost you $120.

Creative’s ZEN X-Fi player is different and it appears to be targeted at Apple on both the hardware and software fronts, according to leaked information by epiZENter. The X-Fi changes the look of the original ZEN drastically, with an aluminum-and-chrome look that seems to be inspired by the iPhone.

This new ZEN features a nine-point directional pad to take advantage of integrated Wi-Fi. Users will be able to IM on Windows Live or Yahoo Messenger, typing without a touchscreen or a full QWERTY keyboard. Another feature of the device is that it will have access to a host computer’s own content so users can play it in another room. And an Internet-based media pool of some sort will give users access to some content at other Wi-Fi hotspots. No official release date yet, but word is it will be in July.

When it comes to MP3 design, you’re generally more concerned with things like what features it has, or whether it’s slim enough and has enough memory. With this one you’re concerned that it’s fugly little face might come alive and kill you quickly. This is the CJ7 Dog Doll MP3 Player with Built-in Speakers and yes, it seems like the crack pipe was passed around liberally at the design meeting that day.

It looks like a flower humped a tiny dog and the two mutated together. It has 1GB of internal memory, built in speaker and charges through the USB port, which is in the dog’s butt. The headphone jack is in the front. It’s $18.67 worth of wtf.

The REDI is a 1 GB mp3 player no doubt geared toward those who can’t figure out computers or are too lazy to go get the music themselves and put it on their mp3 player. They come with about 250 tracks already on them, which would give you about 6 hours of listening time. (There’s bound to be a ton of what you don’t want, just like buying CDs)

It sports a USB mini jack so you can upload your MP3’s should you actually know how to boot up your PC, or if your grandchild comes over to help. Since we don’t all have the same tastes, the REDI comes in a several different flavors. You can get an Ultimate Workout Mix, Golden Classics, Ultimate Rock N’ Roll Collection, the R&B Soul Collection to name a few. They’ll cost you $39.99 each.

The Magnavox and Sylvania branded Funai NB500 Blu-ray players have been spotted at Walmart. A number of Walmarts apparently. The NB500 is a Profile 1.1 Blu-ray player and is priced at a fairly reasonable $298. It’s got HDMI version 1.3, HD audio codec’s, and DVD upscaling.

Yes, these are low end players, and already somehow outdated, but the price being what it is, it’s going to get it’s share of buyers. We’re not really sure what you can expect performance-wise, but if any of you brave souls should buy one, do let us know in comments.

You’ve got your MP3 player in your pocket. It’s comfortable and secure. Problem is it’s not easy to manipulate your controls while keeping it there. Plus, it makes it look like you’re playing pocket pinball and scoring big. Well, if someone takes this magnetic control concept and brings it into the real world, it could make life a tad easier in this situtaion.

The Pocket Pal knob is outside of your clothing, while it’s magnetically fixed to the body, which is inside your pocket. The control is easy, and you would be able to adjust volume or skip songs. The only problem I see is losing the knob. I’m not sure this is a great solution for the real world, but I like how they think.

Pioneer revealed their latest two Blu-ray players, the Elite BDP-05FD and BDP-51FD. Both support BonusView extra disc content and 1080p True 24fps output, they have HDMI 1.3a ports, four Wolfson Professional Audio 12-bit digital-to-analog converters and the proprietary PureCinema Deinterlacer for upscaling standard definition DVDs. The Elite BDP-05FD has fancy gold-plated connections and capacitative controls.

If you combine either of these with any of Pioneer’s KURO HDTV sets, both players have the ability to set-up automatically to a screen-specific factory preset. Other presets include projector settings as well as other displays. 7.1 surround sound, with Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD and DTS HD Master decoding are all supported. The 51FD has a 108MHz 12-bit video encoder, while the 05FD has a 297MHz version. These will be priced at $599 for the BDP-51FD and $799 for the BDP-05FD. They have also improved the speed of the players due to customer demand.

Behold robot fans. We told you about the ultimate Wall-E robot toy. Here’s an animated MP3 player in the form of Wall-E “Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth Class”. He’s available from the Sharper Image, but probably most people haven’t noticed due to the chain’s questionable futute.

The 8-inch-tall “iDance Wall-E” claims to talk and dance to the music and his eyes even light up. You can also plug in an iPod or other MP3 player. I suppose it’s the latest version of the “i-Dog,”, just much cooler, since it’s a robot. He only costs $24.95.

You might think that this Bat MP3 player is from Wayne Industries, but it’s not. Though it would be pretty cool if Batman’s own company made all of his gear. That would give up his secret however.

I have no idea who makes it, but I do know that even Batman needs tunes while beating the tar out of the Joker. It’s shaped after a 2.75″ black batshuriken, and comes with 1GB of flash memory within and features stereo headphones that look like…bat ears. It will be available this July for $80. The Batman probably could dock this on his chest.

I admit, I’m not much of a Disney fan. Even if I were, I think that having this thing on my desk would creep me out. Runat Japan just announced this CD player based on Stitch from Disney’s popular series ‘Lilo and Stitch’. Stitch’s mouth opens wide revealing the CD tray, the ears double as speakers and the teeth are the controls.

It’s got an AM/FM tuner and the onboard speakers have an output of 0.6W×2ch. Here’s a great design move: It runs on 3 D batteries, which will give you a whole hour of play. The player is a Japan only and will cost you $92.

Do you hate it when you have to copy tons of pics from your camera onto the PC, then burn them using software so that they can later be viewed on your DVD player? Yes, there are plenty of cameras that offer TV out, but maybe you love your current camera and don’t want another.

If that’s the case, check out this device that does it all, without a PC. It’s a compact recorder for converting your JPEGs to MPEGs and burning them onto CDs. It can also burn images without converting, making back-ups easier. Comes equipped with RCA and S-Video inputs and also acts as a player.

This might be more for those who like novelty products. Or maybe you are a fan of carbonation. This device supports MP3, WMA, WMV, WAV and ASF file formats with ID3 tags with lyrics display.

It sports an OLED screen of unknown size, a microphone and a USB 2.0 port built-in. FM radio and voice recording functionality are included, as well as seven EQ settings. Internal memory comes in 128, 256 and 512MB, and 1, 2 and 4GB. You can get it in both blue and red, presumably for those with a vote to cast in the cola wars.(Your choice of fake Pepsi or fake coke)

Here at the Brick we’ve reported on our share of MP3 players, but these plastic and unofficial Lego-like bricks are one of the coolest/lamest, depending on your perspective. Of course we’re partial to all things brick. The controls are concealed as the raised bumps, and they sport a six-hour Li-ion battery. However, you do need your own microSD card for storage.

The players come in the same primary colors that you are used to seeing with Lego blocks, and just like the real thing they are made mostly from plastic. You can get one for $46, but don’t expect to build anything. I’m guessing that if you want a cheaper version, you’ll have to hold out for the crappy Duplo version, which you’ll want to hide in order to avoid ridicule.

Funny thing is, these MP3 players for infants actually look like teethers. I have one question. If you aren’t supposed to shake a baby due to it’s delicate brain, how is it good to crank up the tunes and give them their own MP3 player?

The SweetPea3 has 256MB of memory and is made for kids ages 0 to 8 years. They are calling it a “robust” music player that comes in pink or blue rubber. It lasts for about 40 hours on one AA battery. It also comes with music and stories from Susie Tallman and Jim Weiss. I don’t know who the hell that pair is, but now’s your chance to find out what their voices sound like mixed with potent baby saliva.

There’s gold in them there ears! iRiver is set to sell what it is calling the “assassin’s mace”. This amounts to a Mickey Mouse MP3 with gold paint on it ala Goldfinger.(Or more recently Goldmember of Austin Powers fame) Mickey fans will want to hurry as it’s only available in limited editions.

The design houses a Philips PNX0103ET sound processor. The ears will control the volume and track menu and it has an internal memory of 2GB. It’s very cute in a “If Mickey were a pimp” kind of way, as well as being simple and it won’t cost you a fortune, at $123.