With TV-Out being the hot development topic among manufacturers of late the bar has shifted with the introduction of full HD 1080P HDMI output.
None of the players on trial offer that but this roundup looks at what they do offer and contains the final verdict in this week-long battle of the 3 inchers.

For the final time, the players we’re looking at are:

The 2GB touchscreen Nationite One Series OS-81
The 8GB touchscreen Onda VX series VX777LE
The 4GB Onda VX series VX555HD
and the mystery player…

See all after the jump.

-TV Out-

Nationite One Series OS-81

Using component TV-Out, surprisingly good quality RMVB playback on the animation and solid VCD quality on the AVI files.
As with each of the players there’s not remote but the one drawback is continuous play wasn’t offered so after each file the TV button had to be hit to get it back on screen.
Apart from that it’s a really nice quality output.
To see how the OS-81 squares up against other players, check out this previous TV-Out test.

Onda VX Series VX777LE

Sharing the RK2706 chip that the OS-81 has, the VX777LE again offers really nice RMVB playback and top quality VCD-esque playback on AVIs etc.
This just pips the OS-81 as it has continuous play.
The big difference with this player is it uses a slightly smaller than conventional jack but luckily that is included in the box.

Onda VX Series VX555HD

With the CC1600 comes both component and composite TV out and a higher quality playback.
The VX555HD is much more comparable to DVD, albeit it on a mid range DVD player.
There is a good rendering of detail and smooth picture throughout. It also plays back the high definition files the OS-81 and VX777LE can’t do.

The Mystery Player!

Falling at the last hurdle, the best we could get from the mystery player when connected to the TV was some audio.
If it does offer TV-Out it’s keeping it a secret. Still, the mystery player had a good innings.

-Verdicts-

The quality on display from each player was top drawer so with no real winners or losers present (well, let’s say the mystery player lost), here’s a run down of where they excelled and fell in the tests.

Box Contents

The OS-81 comes equipped with the basics whereas the VX777LE goes a little further with the inclusion of a silicone player  case and a stylus for touchscreen.

Size

The OS-81 takes the prize for the slimmest player and the VX555HD is the shortest but has a little extra chunkiness in the depth.

Interface

For graphics, ease of use and large icons, the touchscreen VX777LE is top drawer, followed by the simpler touchscreen stylings of the OS-81.
The VX555HD lacks touchscreen but is still easily navigable via the intuitive button system.

Music Navigation

The VX777LE comes up trumps again with its excellent use of ID3 tags, incorporating artist, album and genre, as well as offering lyrics playback.
The OS-81 is just behind it with some a simpler but effective navigation. Third prize in this category goes to the VX555HD which CC1600-based music sorting system isn’t quite as easy to use as the touchscreen forerunners.

Audio Playback

Another sterling performance from all players here with the OS-81 and VX777LE’s RK2706 dual core chip kicking out the jams with the best of them with great fat bass and excellent mids and highs.
The Cirrus Logic powered VX555HD was just a slight cut above the rest due to its dedicated chip.

Video Playback

The OS-81 excelled here, delivering bold, bright and smooth playback that was deceptively good.
It was just a cut above the slightly darker display of the VX777LE but that still displayed excellent quality video.
The CC1600 chipset of the VX555HD introduces 720P HD playback into the mix which takes it to the next level when used with higher quality files.

So there we have it, three top quality players, each with their own specialities, be it the quality functionality and video of the OS-81, the slick, bright and bold interface of the VX777LE or the HD capability of the VX555HD.

The Nationite OS-81 is available from the store here and the Onda VX777LE and VX555HD are available here.

Got a stronger opinion on these players? Discuss on the forum.