After this comming up a lot on this and other sites I decided to write this to solve any confusion.
PMP Pros
* Support for a wider range of music formats.
-MPEG 1/2/2.5 Layer3 (In laymans terms mp3)
-WMA (microsofts supported format)
-WAV (Unprocessed sound)
-ASF (Audio)
For more info on any of these try Dreamtactix audio 101s
here
* Support for a wider range of video formats.
-AVI
-ASF
-MPG
* Higher overall resolution of 640x480 (only seen using video out)
* Same weight as the PMC
* supports both BMP and JPEG image viewing at higher resolution than the PMC. It also supports zooming in the pictures and rotation.
*works on a larger selection of systems
Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP
MAC OS 9.2.2 or higher / Mac OS 10.2 or higher
Linux (some users have theirs running on)
PMC Pros
* Longer audio battery life of 12 hours compared to 10 on the PMP.
* More EQ settings available.
* supports PLAY FOR SURE.
* Runs in a windows based environment
PMP cons
* Crashes quite often on some firmware.
* Often difficult to get good audio/video sync.
PMC cons
*Fails to support formats outside of MP3 and Windows media files. This will limit the amount of files that can be played without conversion.
* No FM radio
* No support for Linux or Mac systems.
* more expensive to buy due to the Microsoft software
* not available outside the US
Overall the PMP offers a bigger selection of features but a less simple to use interface, this said anyone who has spent time organising their computers files in "my computer" will easily adapt to the PMPs interface. The PMC however with its longer audio life offers many advantages. If you intend to use the Video out the PMC is lacking due to its resolution will stop looking good on screens bigger than 14 or 15 inches. The PMPs 640x480 support offers good crisp images on TVs up to and beyond 21 inches. The PMP also has the hope of Games which is yet another postitive over the PMC.
Please dont message me to add things to this comparison as the information is based upon the 2 devices if both support something I excluded it, my goal was to outline the main differences and to define the clear cut pros and cons. All information is from iRiver sources.
Information on the 2 players from iRiver internation can be found here
PMP
PMC