In just one afternoon, I watched Shampoo while getting my hair cut, The Amazing Race while running on a treadmill, and The Swan while sitting beside a lake. Why? Because I could, thanks to the Archos AV400, the first of a slew of new portable video players.

Typically weighing less than a pound, with small high-resolution color screens (the AV400 I used had a 3.8-inch screen), stereo sound, and a hard drive big enough for storing video, PVPs have a cool quotient that's off the charts. You can record this morning's Today show, Quentin Tarantino's entire film oeuvre and video of your Vegas vacation for viewing anywhere you go, anytime you want. Correction: Airline pilots and neurosurgeons, make that almost anytime.

PVPs can also store and play digital music and photos and back up data from a PC. In short, a PVP can be your home-away-from-home entertainment center.

Two years after the first model debuted, PVPs are arriving en masse this fall. Intel and Microsoft are supplying the processor and operating system/player software, respectively, for other devices called Portable Media Centers. PMCs will be available this fall from Creative Labs, IRiver, Samsung, Sanyo, ViewSonic, and others. The Archos AV400 uses its own operating system, though the company says its future PVPs will also support Microsoft's operating system for PMCs. Many companies will be offering them, but the picture's not clear whether we'll all ditch our MP3 players for PVPs.

Copy DVDs--Legally

I spent several days romping around town with the Archos AV400, showing it off to friends and colleagues. All agreed: It's one sexy little gadget, and even its price tag ($550 for the 20GB version, which stores up to 80 hours of video) didn't diminish their ardor.

Aside from the AV400's surface appeal, it has an easy-to-use interface, a gorgeous color screen, and rich sound (though it distorted a bit at its highest volume setting). You can capture high-quality video using the S-Video or composite ports on a VCR, satellite/cable converter, or TV--you can even program the device to record shows while you're away. Or you can connect it to your PC or Mac (via USB 2.0) to transfer MPEG video and other files for later playback.

The device also connects easily to your TV for big-screen playback via a docking cradle. The quality of video played back on my TV seemed nearly as good as the source material; shows looked just a little fuzzier than in the original broadcasts.

Unlike the Portable Media Centers, the AV400 can also record encrypted, commercial DVDs and VHS tapes. Going on a long trip? Just copy your favorite DVDs onto the AV400.

However, you can't transfer video files made from encrypted content to your computer, and you can't display them on your TV set--obvious copyright protections on Archos's part. You can view protected content only on the AV400's 3.8-inch screen. That's a shame, because watching a wide-screen, letter-boxed DVD movie like Blade Runner on the AV400's display is like listening to William Shatner sing "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"--the novelty wears off quickly.

Portable Media Centers will have even more restrictions than the current AV400. Unlike the Archos device, for instance, PMCs won't be able to record directly from traditional video sources such as a cable converter box. Instead, all content on a PMC must originate on a PC (but again, you can't import DVDs). That means you must first record the latest Reno 911! on your Windows Media Center PC or Windows XP computer with a TV tuner, then transfer it to the PMC. At least the transfer should be quick: Microsoft specifies a USB 2.0 connection for all PMCs. You're supposed to be able to connect a PMC to your TV for video playback, too.

As for movies, Microsoft has a partnership with CinemaNow, a fee-based online service that provides downloadable video files especially formatted for viewing on PMCs. (See "Video to Go" for more about video download sites.) But camcorder footage and other video content must be stored as Windows Media Video (WMV), the format required for viewing on a PMC. For now, only the new Windows Media Player 10 on the PC can convert files to PMC-friendly WMV.

So Many Simpsons, So Little Time

Given the music industry's claims of huge losses from illegal digital-music file sharing, it was reasonable to expect this new generation of handheld multimedia players to be fortified with strong copyright protection (the AV400's surprisingly loose restrictions notwithstanding). Still, if you're used to converting audio CDs into MP3 files for listening on the go, the restrictions on PVPs--and on PMCs in particular--will take some getting used to.

With prices ranging from $400 to $800, PVPs are pricey, too. And let's be real: Watching video on a tiny PVP screen pales in comparison to watching a DVD movie on a laptop or a portable DVD player.

Then again, life is short, the list of great Simpsons episodes is long, and the easy portability of a PVP can provide a viable solution to that existential dilemma. I like the AV400: While most companies are now introducing their first PVPs, the AV400 is Archos's third-generation device. The company's had time to figure this PVP thing out, and it shows.

If you can wait, hey, even better. Prices are bound to fall as more PVPs debut. And as of this writing, it remains to be seen how PMCs will stack up against the AV400 in terms of video and audio quality. But for a true, gotta-have-it-now gadget freak, the concept of waiting is as ridiculous as, well, not watching Shampoo while getting a haircut.