I bought my daughter one of these VideoNow players for her birthday last month and it was by far the best $40 I ever spent. She takes it everywhere we go and has almost all of the current SpongeBob collection, a Fairly Odd Parents single disk, and a Scooby Doo single disk. Each disk contains two episodes and the single-disk sets go for about $5. The three-disk sets, two episodes per disk as well, but three disks in a box, go for about $15.

For a total of $90, that's the player and all those videos, and I was able to get a portable video entertainment solution for my daughter that keeps her happy and out of my hair (what little I have left when I don't shave it off).

This unit isn't going to win any awards for spectacular graphics, but what do you expect for $40? It's definitely not on a par with a DVD player, but then again it's not intended to be. It'll satisfy the age group for which it was intended though. If you're looking for a low cost portable video device for your kids, the VideoNow may be worth taking a look at. I give the VideoNow unit 4 out of 5. It certainly does what it is intended to do, at a very reasonable cost too. My final word: it could really use a brightness control to balance out the picture a little better.

OUR RATING: 4 of 5

James Booth is a self-taught PC and Palm device user that dabbles in graphics and photography. He can be reached at lizardworks@mchsi.com.