Philips Expands eXpanium MP3-CD Line with Six New Models

Philips Consumer Electronics' 2001 line of eXpanium portable MP3-CD players improve upon last year's models with new features, functionality, and one tiny little player designed to play 8cm (3") CDs. The display on this year's EXP503's LCD has been enlarged by 200 percent to make it large enough to provide a readout of album, artist, and track information. It can play CDs, CD-Rs and CD-RWs as well as 10 hours of music in the MP3-CD format. AAC and UDF files are also supported. The EXP503 will have an MSRP of $179. Four other models, with progressively less features, will be priced as low as $99, but the model that gives Philips bragging rights is the eXpanium EXP 401, which is even smaller than a standard 12cm CD and weighs about .5 pounds. The EXP 401 plays 8cm CDs that can contain over three hours of compressed digital audio in formats that include MP3, UDF or AAC, and will be powered by a single AA battery. Look for the EXP 401 this fall.