Product Description

Advanced D.sound Technology.Am/fm Digital Synthesizer Tuner.Mp3 Playback.30 Station Preset Memory.No-skip Anti-skip System.Cd Round Form With Lcd On Top Cover.Includes Headphones. ... Read more

Features

• Plays standard CD, audio CD-R, audio CD-RW, and MP3 CD (does not read ID3 tags)
• Built-in digital synthesizer tuner offers 20 FM and 10 AM station presets
• Hold prevents unintended commands (play, stop, etc.), and resume picks up exactly where the player left off
• Up to 75 hours of MP3 playback and 33 hours of CD-DA from 2 AA batteries (not included)

Reviews (23)

It's Okay
I got this Cd player about 3 months ago and it is pretty good. The FM tuner is great, i get pretty good reception and can hear most of my radio stations. Although i do have to move it around to hear clearly.

I have MP3 cd's so i was looking for a cd player that would play them. Ive had a few cd's which it wouldn't play, but i just made another copy and it was fine.

Why didn't i just give it a 4? When i first got i had a BIG problem. It would just stop when i was listening to it. I thought it could be from just me moving but no. Even when i didn't move it would turn off. It got me very angry and frustrated. It had skip protection so i didn't know what the problem was. I was going to take it back but i was too lazy.

So far it hasn't been turning off, i also haven't been moving around with it as much. But it is very good except that one problem, which i think stopped. It could've just been my particular cd player. I do recomend it but only if you want to take the risk of it stopping like mine.

SL-SV573J
I actually have the SL-SV573J and I absolutely love it!For what it comes with, you can't beat the price.It has a cool remote control that will allow you the ability to change tracks, volume, even the radio station without stopping to look at the unit as you jog.It also comes with a jogger case and wrap-around headphones.The product claims to not skip, and after jogging, biking, and weight-lifting, I have yet to hear it skip.I even played my brother in a little one-on-one basketball action while wearing this unit and it never missed a beat.I would highly recommend this product...as 700 MB can cost you as little as a few cents, you literally never have to worry about running out of memory!

A good player that can't be goth
Well, I was looking around Wal-Mart for a new CD player, that had radio and MP3. They had a few Durabrands, but I was scared to buy one because of their lack of durability and quality in the past. They had a few Maganvoxs (spelling check?), but the look wasn't too appealing. They had some Sonys, but they were kinda pricey, even though the money was worth it. So, on to Target (which had a bigger selection anyway).

They had GPX, but similar to Durabrand. They had the Virgin Pulse and I've read poor reviews about it in the past.

Okay, you're sick of me talking about the selection...alright alright alright already.

Anyway, I found this. It had exactly what I was looking for, and the blue color catches attention. The price kinda turned me off, but I really did want it.

I'm glad I still bought this. The sound quality is excellent, and features not one, not two, but three bass setting. One is no bass excelerator, SXBS, and SXBS+. The headphones are a bit akward to use, but once you put them on, they sound great, and they become quite comfortable.

It took me about 15 minutes to figure it out, but the manual was very clear, and then I got used to it, though the beginners may want to stay away if they can't read the manual.

The durability is quite good, though people often bash it (what do you expect dropping it with the lid open?). It feels lightweight, which makes it feel flimsy, but it really isn't at all and the lightweight features is just another good thing about the player.

The battery life lasts much longer than my old player (RP2472). 72 hours will last you awhile!

Though, there's no remote, and the MP3 option is a pain, which do make minor negatives, that should not force you to not buy this CD player!


P.S. This player is not meant to play WMA. It says so on the bottom of the box. It says "This unit cannot play files if they have a suffix other than mp3 or MP3." Meaning, it only plays mp3 format songs.

P.P.S. The star ratings has changed to 3. The screen had recently shattered and has made the player unusable. Is it goth or something? I will be turning this back to Target because I have the packaging and recipit and bought it 2 months ago. So much for this player. I'll think abot trying it again.

waste of money
the mp3 player chokes on 160 kbs lame encoded mp3 files


the random play function doesn't work (seems to play only a small subset of the tracks on a disc, and repeats the same track several times)

Not too bad
I've had it for over six months now.

The sound quality is really good.However, it is quite flimsy.The outer casing seems to be the kind that can easily be opened up.That's not a very good thing.

However, I've had no major problems with the sound. It's great.The bass works good.Radio tuner is great.Has a really long battery life, so that's also a plus point! ... Read more

Product Description

converts MP3, WMA, and WAV files to ATRAC (or ATRAC3 in LP2 or LP4 mode) for MiniDisc playback * USB interface (cable included) * "Easy Skip" group/folder function * car cassette and power adapters * car remote with Velcro for mounting * in-line remote with built-in AM/FM/TV/weather band tuner * player can connect to only one remote at a time * 10 AM/30 FM/7 TV/4 weather band presets * minijack input (stereo analog and mini-optical digital) * minijack microphone input * 6-band graphic equalizer with 4 preset and 2 user-customizable settings * 4 acoustic sound presets (Studio, Live, Club, and Arena) * G-Protection skip recovery system * Automatic Volume Limiter System * stereo headphones * AC adapter * charging stand * Toslink-to-mini-optical cable * carrying case with Velcro for mounting to car interior * one 74-minute MiniDisc * playback time in LP4 mode: up to 73 hours with included rechargeable battery plus one "AA" in supplied external case * includes Simple Burner and Sonic Stage software CD-ROM * 3-1/4"W x 15/16"H x 3"D * weight: 3.8 oz. without battery * warranty: 1 year parts, 90 days labor ... Read more

Features

• Record and play back your own MP3 mixes directly to your Sony Mini-Disc
• Built-in bookmark function for skipping directly to your favorite songs
• More than five hours of continuous playback
• AM/FM/TV/Weather band digital tuner(in remote)
• G-Protection technology lets you hear your favorite songs skip-free

Reviews (14)

Speechless!! This product is so great I couldn't believe it
I received this md player as a gift and it has been, by far, the best gift I`ve got. I read a lot of reviews coplaining about the software, well I can tell you it coudln't be easier to use, it's quiete simple, so much you do not really need to go to de manual to get the hang of it. The md has a really nice design, specially this model, because of the recharchable battery, which is very slim, aside, this kit includes so many usefull accesories you wouldn't believe it. The sound quality, even at the lowest bitrate, is awesome, so you can record the so promised 5 hours on each disc without really loosing sound quality. In short...a great product overall.

How to transfer recordings to PC ????
I bought this recorder for recording purposes. To me, it does a great job in offering the sound quality that I really need.

The problem I have with is transferring from the recorder to my PC. The original software that comes with this recorder does not allow users to do just that. Thanks for the inconvenience Sony!
It took me almost what seemed to be all day to

1) Download a "audio capture software"
2) find an minijack analog cable....whatever that is

Its a very good device, sound quality wise, but, Sony needs to come up with a program that allows users to transfer from Minidisk ( MD ) to the PC.

Don't buy if you need to record
This player has no way of transferring things you record onto another Computer or even other media. It has, as my reviewer colleague explains, no line out.

I bought this as I am a professional musician, and I want to record and archive rehearsals, etc. It was sold with a microphone(which I didn't buy) for that purpose.

The manual says this, but it is on page 72 in 8 point font in a footnote. The advertizing is misleading, as it says you can "check in" tracks.

The whole promise of MD devices was that you could do everything on them a CD couldn't do--like record. This lack of feature effectivly prevents you from recording, because you can never get the recording off the Mini Disc. In fact, for all the great editing tools that are advertised with this device, you cannot even edit the recording live.

The only solution is to plug it into a ripper. This converts the digital signal to analog, effectivly wasting the whole point of using digital media in the first place.

overall, a good portable minidisc recorder but...
I've had this minidisc recorder for about 1.5 months. I wanted to review features/shortcomings that I didn't notice other reviewers comment on for those that want to get a MD for live recording, not for recording gobs and gobs of material onto one disc. (For recording from the computer to the mini disc, I already have a digital out on my computer so I have never tried using the Net MD software.)

First of all, my experience with the mini discs in general has been very positive. I have been a huge supporter of mini disc ever since I got my first player in Japan in 1997. Due to their ability to easily re-record, edit, move around tracks, title tracks, on the spot excellent sounding recordings (no tape hiss), etc. I have gone through two portable recorders and two deck units. These are the older mini disc systems, before Net MD. My portable died so I wanted to get a replacement. I did not want Net MD as high-speed or long play discs are not compatible with the old system. There are work arounds of course or I could buy a new Net MD compatible deck, but I would rather not at this time. (I found this out first-hand about 1 year ago when I tried to play on my deck a music class lecture/jam session disc my friend recorded using a portable Net MD recorder.)

I like to create my own 'best of' mixes on mini disc to hear on the go, however, the main reason behind my love of mini disc is the excellent quality of live recordings (versus analogue tape) for the cheap price. I want to use the portable to record live musicians and then listen to the disc on the deck unit. I searched and searched to find new portable recorders with a mic input and without Net MD technology but could not find one. Another requirement of mine was that the player come with a rechargable slim battery and a casing for AA batteries. (Duel battery power sources is a must for portable devices used in live situations.) I also didn't want to spend too much money. I carefully read as much as I could find on the Sony MZ-NF810CK before I bought it. This is my first Sony mini disc player.

My big complaint about this recorder is that you cannot adjust the recording level while it is recording. (This was possible on my previous portable recorders.) The recording level can only be adjusted while it is in record/pause mode. This is a hindrance during live recordings. Distortion is very unkind to digital recordings and if you have to pause your recording in order to fix the level, you will have a mini disc with gaps in the performance. Due to moving around to find a sweet spot, the fluctuation in sound levels, and the poor lighting in some recording situtations, it can take a few minutes to adjust the levels properly.

Another complaint of mine is that it is too easy to create new tracks by accidentally pressing on the "track mark" button. There should be some sort of lock for it. This wouldn't be so bad if the player had the "combine" function but it does not, in other words, you cannot undo a split track. Once you split a track, you have to put the disc in another mini disc with the "combine" function in order to put the tracks back together. (I use my deck for this.)

Other than the above gripes, the player is great. It does have features that I have not had in previous portables. It has EQ functions, long-play stereo and mono modes, and a radio. It also lets you group music into "groups", much like how a folder/directory functions in computer terms. The player itself is extremely small and light. These portables just get smaller and lighter each year. My friend has a complaint about the ever decreasing size of the players as she finds the buttons harder and harder to press separately, without pressing more than 1 button at a time (they are squished together too tightly). Future functionality of portables is a concern of mine if features are being deleted such as the "combine" function.

As another reviewer pointed out, it would be nice to have a backlight on the display but that is not critical for me. I am also one of those people who likes to play music very loud and agree with another reviewer who thinks this portable does not play loud enough. I have found that in order to get the loudest sound possible, you have to turn off any sort of EQ setting. Those settings severly dampen the sound. I connected the portable to my car stereo with the EQ on and had to turn on the car stereo volume all the way in order to hear the music at what I call a normal person's level, (a level that doesn't interfere with conversation). Not being one for conversation, I wanted the music even louder. I do not recommend turning on the EQ setting while connected to a car stereo because you may forget how loud your stereo is and blow out your speakers once you change to the radio or disconnect the mini disc player.

Stay Away, a rip off
The software will only work on computers with "factory installed" windows, and even then is very difficult to use. If your windows installation was not done in a factory on a pre-built computer, you can not upload or download data to the minidisc player. I only discovered this after a hellish experience with sony tech support. STAY AWAY. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

The ultra-compact Panasonic SVAV25 D-Snap digital video camera does it all. In addition to capturing high-quality MPEG4 video and digital still photos to an SD memory card, you can also use the SVAV25 as a digital audio player and voice recorder. The SVAV25 features a 2-megapixel digital still resolution, 2-inch flip-out LCD for reviewing your video and photos, and 2.5x digital zoom.

Video and Still Optics
Using the MPEG4 format, the SVAV25 saves video to Secure Digital (SD) and MultiMedia (MMC) memory cards (an 8 MB SD card is included). With the small size of MPEG4 files--featuring resolution modes of either 320 x 240 or 176 x 144--you can easily post video to your Web site or send files to friends and family via e-mail.

The following shows the approximate amount of continuous video that can be recorded on several sizes of SD memory card (including larger optional cards):

• Super Fine (320 x 240, 1 Mbps): 0.9 minutes (included 8 MB card), 7 minutes (64 MB card), 15 minutes (128 MB card)
• Fine (320 x 240, 420 Kbps): 2 minutes (included 8 MB card), 17 minutes (64 MB card), 35 minutes (128 MB card)
• Normal (176 x 144, 300 Kbps): 2.5 minutes (included 8 MB card), 25 minutes (64 MB card), 50 minutes (128 MB card)
• Economy (176 x 144, 100 Kbps): 8 minutes (included 8 MB card), 70 minutes (64 MB card), 150 minutes (128 MB card)

Audio
In addition to its motion and still image capability, the SVAV25 can also be used as a digital audio player--just slip in an SD card loaded with tunes and listen via the included earphones. It's compatible with MP3 and AAC audio files. And with the built-in microphone (monaural), you can easily record voice memos, lectures, interviews, and reminders to the SD card.

More Features

• 2-inch flip-out LCD with 117,000-pixel resolution
• Connects to your PC via USB 1.1 connectivity
• Lens: F4 (4.5mm focal length)
• Measures 1.06 x 2.43 x 3.06 inches (H x W x D)
• Weighs 3.2 ounces

What's in the Box
This package includes the Panasonic SVAV25 digital camcorder, 8 MB SD memory card, battery pack, AC adaptor, stereo earphones, USB cable, carrying case, cleaning cloth, hand strap, and CD-ROM with USB drivers for Windows and the following Panasonic software (not Mac compatible):

• SD MovieStage Ver. 2.5 displays MPEG4 motion images and JPEG still images in thumbnail form and plays them back on a PC. You can also cut and edit motion images and send e-mail with motion images attached.
• SD Jukebox Ver. 4.0 Software transfers music from your SD memory card to your PC and allows you to rip CDs to your PC and convert music data to different PC music file formats. When ripping CDs, music information from the CD database (CDDB) is obtained automatically, including album title, artist and song title. You can also organize your songs by artist, title or personalized playlists. There is also a "Mood Analyzer" (Music Sommelier) that automatically selects songs to match your mood.

Features

• Built-in flash, mic, and speaker and includes 8MB SD memory card and stereo earphones
• Rechargable battery provides up to 2 hours of video recording time or 4 hours of music playback
• Pocket-sized MPEG-4 SD video camera, 2-megapixel still camera, and digital music player--weighs just .2 pounds
• 2.5x digital zoom lens with night view capabilities
• 2-inch LCD flips up for recording and viewing video

Reviews (6)

Get something else...
This product simply tries to do too much and fails at doing a good job at anything.I rarely return items unless they're really unsatisfactory, but this went back.

My requirements werent huge...we just had a baby and I wanted something small, solid state, and simple to take candid photos and video of the baby without lugging around a regular camcorder.As long as the video and sound were halfway decent enough...something upstream of "what the heck is that?!?", I'd have been happy.

The video even in the extra fine mode is grainy and jerky.The sound accompanying the video is muddy.The photos taken if taken up close are washed out white by the flash.

You MUST use the included clunky panasonic crippleware to copy the movies from the device or the sound on them doesnt work.Inexplicably.You can in fact see the device as a separate hard disk, and play movies, but it sounds like you're underwater and someone above water is talking to you.You can convert the movie files to even crappier quality formats suitable for showing your friends and relatives how technically inept you are.

By the way, if you indeed use the barely acceptable 'extra fine' mode, the included 8MB card can record all of 20 seconds of video.In the 'extra fine' mode, regular mpeg4 codecs will not recognize the file and you have to install a panasonic provided codec that I was only able to find on the company's japanese web site.Going to the regular US site and choosing the product led me to a promising looking page of downloads, manuals and so forth.Choosing any link takes you to valuable information about hair dryers and other sundry products.

Once your friends and relatives manage to download the 4.7MB codec, they can then view your handiwork.

In order to copy mp3 files to it, you also MUST use the included s/w which requires a serial # thats printed on the cd's paper case. Lose that, and you're SOL.I found whole forums dedicated to people bemoaning the fact that they've lost their serial number and when going to load the s/w on a new machine, couldnt do so.

The unit plagued me with "Check Card!" at various times when trying to record video or take still shots.When it did this I had to eject the SD card, wait a few seconds, then reinsert it.All was then well.

I didnt try the voice recording/playback area.I was afraid of something really, really bad happening.

Here's where its going to be good for you.You only have a couple of hundred bucks, you need something thats pocket sized, you need some vaguely recognizable video quality in full daylight and dont need to know what people are saying during the video, and/or you're taking some photos from a long enough distance (more than 2-3') where the flash wont wash them out.And you dont mind loading a bunch of proprietary s/w onto your machine.

Great
I bought this for my boyfriend about a year ago and he absolutely loves this thing. He brings it everywhere he goes. Everyone is always asking what it is & think it's the coolest thing around. The battery lasts long and it's been working good for over a year with no problems. It's a gadget guys' dream.

Convenience - YES. Design - NO
Being my first digital camera, I was impressed by all the features available in a gadget the size of a credit card. Although the pictures/video may look a bit blurry on the screen, they came out perfectly when uploaded to my computer.

However, the one thing that killed it for me was the size and, more importantly, design. I found it somewhat uncomfortable to take pictures what with the location of the buttons and all. There is one located adjacent to the screen (when you open it up) and a button on the side, which I thought was much more convenient. I also didn't like how it automatically returned to the beginning of the photoalbum whenever you would delete a picture or simply choose to return to the page last viewed.

This is a WONDERFUL camera for putting in your pocket and spontaneous use (although, it could be a bit quicker in start up). My camera survived a month-long trip to Europe as well as several local trips around town. If you want convenience, this is your best bet. If you have large hands, though (no joking!) or need some room to move your fingers, you'll find the design too stuffy for your liking.

Fun Product
This camcorder is a fun piece of equipment.While it does not offer high resolution photos or video, it is simple to use and handles a wide variety of tasks from playing asf files to mp3 files to recording audio, video, and taking pictures.The design is unique and possesses most of the needed features for such a device, including a flash, sd card, headphones, and all of the computer accessories.To fulfill basic tasks and for having fun, this product works wonderfully.

Good all in one gadget
This is an interesting and good all in one gadget. Fits in your pocket and easily you have a digital camera, voice recorder, mp3 player and even a camcorder (but don't expect great quality images!!!)... The picture (2MP) quality is just ok, but if you want more, you should buy na SLR camera. This is a convenient pocket sized camera that goes everywhere! Take a picture and improve it later at your PC (reducing noise, color balance, etc). As a camcorder, it's a good equipment to produce internet videos... But don't move it so fast (blur easily!)... the images will not be sharp enought! If you have an extra SD card (at least 256 MB), you will enjoy 4 hours of good sound quality. The supplied earphones are good enough but don't expect an IPOD overall quality! So, if you want an interesting all in one gadget, this Panasonic could be your choice! ... Read more

Product Description

Available storage capacity may vary. ... Read more

Features

• Backlit graphic display
• 1.8-inch HDD - 20 gigabyte capacity
• FM Record MP3 Encoding
• USB 2.0 Connectivity
• Playback support for multiple codecs -MP3 - MP3Pro - WMA

Reviews (10)

Good for the price, but not intuitive
I purchased an RD2850 about six months ago, mainly because of its price, and the accessories that came with it (namely, a cassette adaptor and car charger). A comparable IPod with those accessories would have been around $150 more expensive. While I saved a good deal of money, and am happy with the Lyra, it has a number of problems that one should watch for:

1.) The interface and overall design is completely counter-intuitive. It took me a long time to figure out how to even learn how all the buttons worked.
2.) The device tends to freeze every now and then, and when it does, it lets out a deafening buzz. By far the most annoying aspect.
3.) The headphones that come with the player are awful. While most headphones that come with mp3 players are of poor quality, these are exceptionally bad.
4.) If you subscribe to most music download services (Napster, MSN, etc.), the music format won't play on an RD2850.

If you're looking to save money on a 20GB mp3 player, the RD2850 is a good buy. It has its problems, but it does what you need it to. If money isn't an issue, buy an IPod.

Did not work reliably
My Rio Carbon died but I bought the store protection so I went out and bought the RCA Lyra because I wanted to spend a reasonable amount of money, 20 gig was enough storage space for my tunes, and I liked the FM tuner.I am pretty familiar with MP3 players this is about the 5th one I've owned.

I charged it up and loaded up the tunes.However, it just did not work reliably.It took forever to find songs and then just froze all the time.I don't know if it was because I loaded up 14 gig of the 20 gig capacity or what but it just would not respond.I tried updating the firmware but it didn't help.It is going back to the store for a refund and I will try something else.

Too bad because it came with lots of extras including a car charger, one of those tape deck converters for the car, lots of cables, etc...It also was pretty easy to link to musicmatch which was a plus because I use that.But unreliable stuff has to go back.

I don't see what the big problem is...
Windows recognizes this as a portable hard drive, so in Windows Explorer, I drug my music files (only 1250) onto the Lyra (which took about 11 minutes).The booklet described the one simple step needed to tag them (right clicking on the Lyra logo in the active program bar andselecting "Profile Device Contents").(I do not use MusicMatch which is bundled with it).That took about 2 1/2 minutes.In all, I had my music library categorized and complete on my Lyra in less than 20 minutes.

The only problem I see with this device that cost it the Fifth star is its size.Compared to other portable mp3 players, this is kind of bulky.But oh well, nothing is perfect.

If you have the money, go buy an iPod.If you feel like saving acouple of bucks and don't have enough music to fill 60Gigs, buy this (after my 1250 songs, I've still got 13Gigs left).

Not user friendly!
I received this MP3 player as a gift for Christmas and spent about 20 hours trying to figure it out.I installed everything with no problem but trying use it was extremely difficult.The user guide and quick start guide are both pretty skimpy so they were no help.Trying to get information from RCA's website was difficult as the pages wouldn't load and I kept getting errors.MusicMatch is their recommended music management tool and whenever I loaded music onto the player from there it wouldn't profile the songs so I ended up accessing only the demo tracks on the player.I profiled the music using Lyra DJ and that didn't help either.It was extremely frustrating especially because I was following the directions to a T - I wasn't winging it and making it up as I went along.This was my first MP3 player so maybe I was making rookie mistakes but I exchanged it for an iPod (20 GB) last night and already have it up and running today - it took about 30 minutes.The difference in cost was about $60 and, to me, was well worth the cost.

Where the heck did my audio book go???
I listen to a lot of audio books so I suppose the RCA Lyra RD2850A 29G HDD mp3pro Player seemed like a great Christmas present for me.And I have to admit that having an mp3 player with more capacity than my PC's old D: drive was a bit of a kick.The unit is pretty large so it doesn't hide unobtrusively in my jeans pocket like my old Creative MuVo did, but that's ok, I'll clip it to my waistband and hope it stays there.
As an engineer, I don't usually RTFM.I didn't.The Lyra has a USB I/F and a FAT file system, so Windows 2000 automagically recognizes it as a Removable Disk.I proceeded to drag and drop 20G of audio books into it, almost 1500 files, into the directory called \MUSIC\.That's a lot of audio since I listen mostly to low bit rate lectures.Impressive!
A little bit of random button-pushing got the device to profile the contents.This took a while to complete, but that's fine, consider it part of the initial setup.After that, some more random button-pushing (a million monkeys, eh?) got some mp3s to play, and even captured my favorite radio show as an mp3. Nice. It was all a bit jumbled in there, though, and sorting by Artist or Artist/Album or even by track title didn't make it possible to locate a 12 lecture series, much less pick out and listen to the 6th lecture.Hmmm, seems the tags are messed up, I'll have to fix that.Ok, let's install the software and get serious.
Well, that's where the fun began.The Lyra comes with an application called Lyra DJ.Lyra DJ has a simple user interface - a big orange button labeled "Analyze Device" and a little gray button labeled "0 Sets".
"The main advantage of a simple user interface is that it prevents the user from actually doing anything." -- banth
Push the button and voila'!Wait several hours for it to analyze the device.The analysis failed several times.Ok, I'm a trained professional.I can handle it.I deleted most of my audio - a mistake, I realized, but that's what happens when you're wrestling with new hardware at 2AM.This time the analysis actually completed.In retrospect, if I had moved the files out of the \MUSIC\ file tree I would have saved myself a lot of hassle.
I decided to continue at work, and this is where I realized that having a separate USB cable with a non-standard plug is a disadvantage.My old Creative MuVo plugged right into the USB port so I didn't have to worry about forgetting the cable.
Back at home again I ran the analysis and pushed Lyra DJs little grey button.It only took a minute or so to create 15 LDJ sets.The device itself calls these playlists.Very kewl, *now* I can listen to some audio books... what the....???
According to the blurb, Lyra DJ uses "advanced acoustical analysis" to "create sets of related content".I'm sure it does, but my tiny engineering mind wasn't able to discern the relationships between the items in the plain vanilla .m3u text-based playlists created by Lyra DJ.I suspect that if you listen to music and in no particular order, this won't be an issue.
I won't bother you with the irritating misspellings on the Lyra DJ app.Most engineers can't spell anyway.
I briefly considered editing the playlists manually, but as I juggled several open files cutting and pasting I realized that I just don't have time to futz with it, especially if I want to load another 18G of audio.I was going to have to use another app to generate playlists.
I also considered modifying the ID tags to enable the RCA Lyra itself to present them in a logical manner.I don't &$^$ think so.
The RCA Lyra also comes bundled with MusicMatch software.Throw the installation CD away.Save yourself some trouble and use something already installed on your computer to create playlists.I settled on WinAmp.So here's how to do it:
Arrange your audio files in a neat, structured manner as subdirectories in the RCA Lyra \MUSIC\ directory.
In WinAmp, create a new playlist.
Also in WinAmp, Add a folder from your RCA Lyra directory structure to the playlist.Make sure the files are sorted correctly in WinAmp - if ID tags are messed up the playlist will be scrambled.
Still in WinAmp, Save the playlist to the RCA Lyra \lyra_playlists\ directory.
From the RCA Lyra menu system, profile the device.
It's important to save the playlist to the RCA Lyra so that the .m3u file has the correct paths.
Simple, eh?
I'm failing to see the benefit of carrying 20G of audio files when a 512M Creative MuVo carries an entire work day of audio.
But that's ok, the RCA Lyra RD2850A 29G HDD mp3pro Player is a serious Guy Magnet.



... Read more

Product Description

iAUDIO 4 is a ultra-compact digital music player with FM Radio, Voice Recorder and Direct MP3 Encoder. Enjoy the highest-quality sound powered by BBE, 124 colors backlight and 15 hrs of continuous playback with 1 AAA battery. You can also create MP3 files ... Read more

Features

• iAUDIO 4, Armband, Case, Earbuds, Battery, CD, Manual, USB Connector, Line-in & USB Cable.
• Ultra-compact player of 1.1 oz, 2.9 X 1.2 X 0.6 inches body.
• MP3, WMA, WAV Player, FM Radio, Voice Recorder, Direct MP3 Encoder, USB Flash Drive.
• Up to 15+ hrs of continuous skip free playback on a single AAA battery.
• Sound Effects of BBE, Mach3Bass and 5 Bands EQ. 4 Lines Wide LCD with 124 colors LED backlight.

Reviews (3)

SUPERB !!!

I usually don't write comments on a product. But I must tell
ya, this product deserves an accolade.

The sound (audio out) and recording qualities are impressive.
And they are all adjustable (e.g. you can change the setting
to 96 kbps for voice recording). Here are the things that I
did w/ it:

(1) Listened to mp3 and wma files
(2) Recorded lectures (voices)
(3) Listened to radio
(4) Recorded radio
(5) Installed firmwares (i.e. "software" for mp3 players)
(6) Put my picture (pixelated binary image) in the startup screen
(7) Exercised (w/ its armband) while listening to (1) thru (4) above
(8) Used it as a usb storage device
(9) Set different colors for MENU, PLAY, RECORD, RADIO screens

What else do you need?!!!


And here are the things that you should expect after buying
this product(iAudio 4):

(1) It comes w/ a carrying cover(case). Most of the times, the
player will remain in that cover in order to avoid getting
scratches.

(2) It comes w/ a set of headphones. Its size is bulky and the
sound quality is marginal. This is quite unfortunate b/c you
don't get to fully experience what the player can offer. So get
a better set of headphones. (I have Sony In-ear headphones,
and yes they are great)

(3) It connects to the computer using USB 1.0. Bit slow in
transferring files. Also it comes w/ a "small" USB connector
and a USB cable. That is, one of the (external) connectors is
required in order to transfer files.

(4) Expect to use the "colored backlight" feature sparingly to
avoid wasting battery power.


Well that's all about it. Overall I'm extremely impressed w/
this product. My only problem with this thing is that now I
cannot live without it!!!

Anyhoo, good luck w/ your quest to find the best mp3 player.

Does this company actually exist?
They lost my order but did not forget to charge my credit card. It took 4 different numbers to actually find someone who said they worked for the company...there would be less go betweens in a drug deal...If I were you I would avoid this at all costs. Unless of course you don't mind sending your money into the ether...I think of this as a charity contribution to some nameless, faceless, guy laying out on his yacht who obviously needed my money more than I did.

The iAUDIO4 - I'm lovin' it!
I know that McDonald's slogan sounds really cheesy, but it is so true for my iAUDIO4. I have literally fallen in love with it and I don't go anywhere without it.

Let me explain to you why I love this device so much:
First of all the accessories that come with your iAUDIO; it's all there: Your armband for sports, the carrying case, the headphones, line in cable, battery, manual, portable USB port and the USB cable. Admittedly, this doesn't make a great player, but it helps.

The body of the i4 is amazingly small and nearly completely made of lightweight aluminium. It feels and looks extremely durable. The unit is basically built around the iAUDIO's massive screen. Its 4 line LCD display is the biggest yet on any flash based mp3 player around. The screen also has 124 different backlight colours to choose from that give perfect readability in the dark. In direct sunlight, even though the backlight colours are no longer visible, the display is easy to read.

Sometimes I wonder how Cowon managed to fit all the following features into the iAUDIO's little body: line-in recording, voice recording, FM radio, FM radio recording & an mp3, wav, wma player. Even though the recording functions are all limited to a maximum of 128 kbps mp3s they all function well and have excellent sound on playback. The FM radio receiver is extremely powerful and can receive a lot of stations, although I live in the middle of nowhere.

Concerning the most important aspect of any audio player: The iAUDIOs sound can only be described as being extremely good. It's clean as hell and has more body than e.g. the iriver 700 or 800 series. The equaliser is also awesome (5 band; each band has +/-28) and the BBE is great! Altogether there are over 1.6 Trillion possibilities of setting the iAUDIOs jetEffect settings. That should do for pretty well everyone ;-)

Uploading songs to your player is easy. Just connect it to your PC and it will automatically register as a removable storage device (it shows up under "my computer"). Now all you need to do is drag'n'drop your songs and you are ready to go.

Navigating on the iAUDIO is simple. It takes a bit of getting used to, but should be no problem for non-techy people. If there is something you really don't understand you can just consult the manual.

Battery life on the iAUDIO is not outstanding, but for AAAs it's good. I get a little more than 9 hours from my Sanyo 800 mAh batteries and 12-13 from alkalines.

So I have been praising the iAUDIO all the time, but there are also some minor negative points: There is a slight gap between 2 songs (find me a flash mp3 player that has gapless playback :-p ). The device only operates on USB 1.1 and not on USB 2. Transfer rates for the iAUDIO are roughly 0.75 MB/s which is fully utilizing the USB 1.1 standards. Don't let yourself be fooled by false advertising of USB 2 being up to 40 times faster for flash players. To date the fastest USB 2 transfer rate on flash players is 2-3 times faster than the iAUDIOs USB 1.1.
The headphones that come packaged with the device can be too big for some peoples ears so you might have to buy some new ones. Also people with really big hands (I'm talking massive here) might have problems operating the iAUDIO4, because its controls are slightly on the small side.

The bottom line:
The iAUDIO4 is a good looking, tiny, really high quality device with excellent sound. Don't let yourself be put off by its trivial faults. The iAUDIO is awesome and I am sure you will love it too. ... Read more

Product Description

Enjoy up to 4 hours of your favorite music with the iRiver 128MB Portable MP3 Player with FM Tuner. You can even record from your FM radio and the 4-line graphical text display with bright backlight makes it all easy to manage. Features: 128MB internal storage; MP3, WMA, and ASF compatibility; integrated digital FM tuner with presets; record to player directly from FM tuner; built-in voice recorder; iRiver Music Manager for simple music transfers; USB connection; can be used as portable drive to transport any file type; Sennheiser MX300 earphones; neck strap; PC installation CD; USB cable and a printed manual. Available storage capacity may vary. ... Read more

Features

• Built-in Voice Recorder
• Integrated digital FM tuner with presets
• Exclusive Record from FM feature lets you store and play back special radio programming
• Supports MP3, WMA and ASF music files
• Up to 20 hours playback on a single AA battery

Reviews (16)

Used frequently for a year
I've used this little player for well over a year, almost exclusively for frequent jogging.Overall I'm pleased.Some good things:
1) Battery life is better than other players I've used, and volume can go plenty loud for one AA battery.I estimate I change the battery every 10-15 hours of use.
2) The unit is very compact and it's easy to push the little knob around with my thumb to skip songs and adjust volume while exercising.
3) Rugged enough for me.Rain, sweat, accidental dropping have not affected the unit.Nor is the finish wearing off like other players I've used.
4) Plays wma files, which I often use since they are more compact than mp3.
5) Has a radio with tons of presets.
6) Can record from voice or radio though I never use those features.

Some gripes:
1) Volume adjust should be instantaneous.Instead you have to hold the little knob in the up/down direction briefly before anything happens as if to confirm you really want a change.
2) Button functions are non-intuitive.For example, to change between MP3 and radio, you have to push and hold the "mode" button, then drive around with the knob.With a 4-way knob that is also a push button, 3 other buttons and a sliding swith, these guys got in way over their ergonomic heads.
3) Uncertified drivers for Windows XP.Just make players look like a USB drive and save everyone the hassle.

Hope this helps.I'm happy with mine and won't be in the market for another anytime soon.

broken hearted
This unit lasted about 3 months before it abruptly stopped working. Kudos to iRiver for replacing it with no questions asked, however the replacement unit broke after 2 months. The power button simply stopped working.
The sound is good quality, toggle fairly easy to manage, but why bother spending $$ on something that lasts a couple of months. No wonder why Apple does so well with those i-pods.

Quality Fails, Customer Service Never Exists
I bought this product one month ago and it used to be good. HOWEVER, the problem happpend exactly one month after the purchase. The FM tuner, for some unkown reason, didn't work suddenly. No radio, no signal but just noise. (The other part seemed fine.)

I tried to contact iRiver Customer Service Dept for a warranty service. No email replied ever to my internet request. Their 800 customer service line seemed busy forever. I once held the line for over twenty minutes and nobody answered. They must have lots of customers to take care of and I was just so unlucky.

Overall speaking, I strongly deny of the recommendation of this product, not only for its quality control problem but also their lousy customer service.

Reasonable engineering, DRM gets in the way
In contrast to many reviewers, I actually like the UI. iRiver has also done a good job of adding new features to the latest firmwares -- there is a "language learn" feature, you can add lyrics to the music (you need to type them in and align them to the music yourself), and a slew of other neat features. The problem is that iRiver seems to care more about pleasing the record companies than its customers. It is the only MP3 player on the market that I have seen that will only allow you to transfer files from the computer to the player, rather than both ways. You cannot use it as a memorystick to transfer music files between two computers. It's retarded. Similarly, you cannot just mount it as a file system. You need to use iRiver's proprietary POS software to transfer files back and forth. Most MP3 players, you can just plug into any computer and go --- not here --- you've got to deal with driver and software installation and a whole slew of other issues like that.

There is a firmware update that fixes some of these issues, but it takes away some of the other functionality.

iRiver clearly has good engineers. Nevertheless, until iRiver begins engineering for it's customers rather than for the record companies, I'd avoid it.

Good sound, small, lots of features(cost become reasonable)
I bought this not long ago after did lots of research from the Internet. Actually, I'm looking for MP3 player with rechargable battery(which is iAudio U2 256MB by COWON) but it's still kind of pricey.
From my research, I noticed many people praise the sound quality of iRiver IFP series. You got you hear it yourselves, the sound quality is good(but with the price like this, it's great).
(+) sounds quality.
(+) the size is small but loaded with lots of features.
(+) supports multiple languages such as Chinese(Traditional and Simplified), Japanese, and Korean. I confirmed Chinese and Korean titles display in the LCD while playing the song.

(-) no armband. If there is, it surely beat it's competitors.
(-) not very intuitive. I understand that iRiver puts an effort to minimize number of button, because too many button can be confusing too, right?

Despite of no armband and not very intuitive, I still give full 5 stars because:
- the size is small you can slide it in your pocket therefore armband is not absolute necessary, and
- not very intuitive, but after play it for about 10 minutes it'll be easy. ... Read more

Product Description

Listen to your MP3 player in the car, enjoy your favorite audio book CD while commuting, blast your laptop MP3 collection through your home stereo, or link your satellite radio to your car stereo - Beamit makes it happen. Virtually any device with an audio output jack is a candidate for beaming - just plug, tune, and play. You'll be beaming from ear to ear. iRock!, do you? ... Read more

Features

• Works with virtually any portable audio device with a headphone or line-out jack
• Compact size: 2.0" x 3.0" x 1.0"
• Broadcasts your tunes from your favorite portable audio device to any FM receiver
• Just plug into the headphone jack of your music device, tune your car or home stereo to one of four FM frequencies, and listen
• High fidelity, full stereo sound

Reviews (66)

very poor
FM transmitters of this size don't last forever. That is a fact I accept but I had hoped it would last longer than 2 weeks. I bought my first one from Target before a road trip in a uhaul without a cd player. The sound was marginal at best and by the end of the three day drive to Oregon it was extremely noisy. I plugged it in to my computer to transmit some streaming stations and it had trouble hitting the receiver (direct line of sight) no more than 40 feet away. Two more days and it crackled its last and died. I exchanged the transmitter at Target for a new one and a week and a half later I was returning that one as well. Spend a few extra bucks, save yourself the hassle and get a Belkin.

Only for those who'll sacrifice quality to hear their tunes
This adapter serves the purpose, however unless you live in rural Mississippi you will likely run into interference.If you're like me and you live in a city where 3 of the 4 frequencies are used by radio stations, you will constantly have interference problems.The only reason I put up with it is because I'm a music fanatic who drives a 1986 station wagon, and I'm not about to spend money on a new car stereo.Not recommended unless you live in rural areas or you're desperate for tunes like me!

You're liars if you say this product is good
I bought this thing, knowing full well, it would be subpar, but would be good for what i needed it for, jammin to some mp3's while driving around all day delivering pizza. So i got it, and sure enough i was right, it sounded ok, there was some noise but nothing i couldn't deal with. but it worked great for what it was. Then a few weeks later i noticed the sound wasn't coming in properly, so i moved the player and the transmitter around. then it sounded fine again. then a few minutes later it happened again, from then on i had to keep fiddling with it to get the music to play out of all my speakers. after a few days i had to have the wire bent in all sorts of weird ways to get the music to play. Then one day it stopped working altogether (on a nice 2 hour trip into New Jersey no less). So then i went back to the store and exchanged it and promised to take extra great care of this one, i layed it out flat and nice in the car at all times, tok the best of care of it. literally 3 days later it crapped out just like the first one. Exchanged it one more time, 5 days later it crapped out. I threw it under my tire as i drove, screw the warranty, it's not worth my time to keep this thing. And the biggest liar of all, is the guy who said " *uses very little power (with the batteries)". That is a load! the thing drains two AAA batteries in a matter of about 4 hours.
even if you don't have it on it seems. Not worth the 30 bucks i spent.

Good, when it works
I had the adapter that was just like this without the lighter adapter and it worked great. I got this new one after I lost the other. It worked well, but then the radio stations became a little stronger and now it cannot work in my cars at all.

Pass on this
Plain and simple, this thing just does not work. It's one of the poorest FM modulators I've tried. Awful sound quality. Pathetic adjacent channel rejection. Published specs MUST be from fantasy land.

Go with the cassette adapter unless you absolutely must use FM. If you must go FM, don't use this. ... Read more

Features

• Buttons are raised and positioned for blind operation, so you can keep your focus where it's needed
• Perfect for runners and riders
• Structurally sound, comfortable, and thoroughly wearable
• Includes remote with high resolution display & handstrap
• Plays standard CDs and CD-Rs burned with MP3 files

Reviews (10)

Read before you buy
My draw to this product was the price. I mean compared to the iPod or the Zen, this thing is cheap... ...but it's got some serious drawbacks...

The drawbacks...
The engineering that went into this is really bad. First off, it's really heavy and bigger than normal CD players. It doesn't even fit into my jacket that has a pocket designed for cd players.

The display doesn't light up, and it's hard to read. It does become an orange color at certain angles, but none of the angles are practical for viewing. No album names, just numbers.

The display on the remote and the main unit is made of cheap, soft plastic... This stuff scratches very very easy. Nike should have packed it with a silk bag. Definitely doesn't fit the description of "sport equipment", more suitably for a Gucci toting softy that wants to be seen, rather than get fit. Why they didn't make it out of glass, I'll never know. I do know that after it gets scratched from simply leaving it your gym bag, you're going to get really choked.

When and if you decide to run with it, you're going to notice how totally annoying it is to change songs/volume, it's strapped to your hand, yet you have to use your other hand to change the input. Now you're going to say, "why don't you use the remote?" Well... the remote is awful... I'm not sure how many people with engineering degrees it's going to take at Philips to figure out that having the headphone jack at one end and the line going to the unit on the other end, IS A BAD IDEA!!! It's totally horrible to set up for a run. You end up totally wrapped up in wires. Wasn't the whole idea of this unit to allow you to run? So picture yourself running down the street with wires all over your body and a big bulky CD player in one hand and a remote magnetized to your chest. To change a song you can either reach up to your chest or reach over to your other hand... where is the logic in this remote???

Speaking of the remote... when you do decide to use it, you'll notice that the volume isn't true. What I mean by this, is that it's just secondary to the main unit. This is really annoying. So if your CD unit is in your backpack and you want to crank the volume on the remote, you have to open your bag and turn up the volume on the main unit and then adjust your remote. These Philips guys have never heard of the KISS princple.

It has a couple of ESP settings, I don't bother using them. You can run and listen to MP3's without any on.

The head unit is noisy. Really noisy. I was in the library listening to tunes with it, and was getting angry looks by people. I couldn't figure out why, when someone finally asked me to please put the main unit in my bag. Everytime this thing loads an MP3 into it's buffer, it makes a loud awful sounds.

The magnets... AWFUL... I'm in the process of getting a couple degrees, one of which is computer science. I was working on an assignment in the lab, and I saved it onto a disk and tossed it into my backpack... ...can you guess what got erased??? The magnets on the remote (in the other part of my backpack) latched onto the disk and toasted it. Just a few hours of wasted work. Philips does put a nice little warning note about magnets and credit cards in the box. How nice of them. A simple clip would work about a MILLION times better!!!

The soft orange rubber coating they put on the front is a really bad idea. The other degree I'm getting is in Visual Arts, and while drawing for a few hours while listening to it, the buttons got covered with graphite. This wouldn't have been a problem except for the fact that it's a real pain in the butt to clean, and in fact it doesn't get clean.

So basically after a week of use my unit has a scratched display (err) and a graphite-grey stained orange front.

But in some fairness, it does it's job. It plays MP3's from CDR's and has a nice long battery life - and thats why I bought it. I am just so suprised at how badly engineered this product is.

Would I buy another product from Nike/Philips? - Not a chance

Stylish but with only short term reliability
I bought this walkman early this year, probably JAN/FEB to take running with me. I usually run on a treadmill, but anti-shock is still important, and I was impressed with the eight-minute anti-shock memory. This is the best thing about it - it literally wont skip, even if the CD is slightly scratched and skips on other players. The unit looks nice, and the no-look buttons work well while on the move. The mp3 option also works great, and the sound quality is indistinguishable from CD.
The rubber hand strap is a pain to put on the player, and needs frequent washing otherwise it starts to smell like rancid socks. As usual with these things, the headphones are rubbish; Nike is supplying this type of headphones with all it's sports audio and THEY DO NOT STAY ON, even when you turn your head, they need to start supplying more rugged, expensive headphones with these players. I had to use my old headphones, which worked fine. However, if you've spent $... on this thing, you shouldn't need to go out and spend another $... on headphones.
The remote control unit stopped working months ago, and the magnets on it rust up fairly easily. Yesterday (now early July), the display on the front of the unit started to disappear, and some of it appears backwards.
But, there's been no deterioration in sound quality, or interruption in play due to these faults.
I am probably going to try and return it under guarantee very soon, because when it works, this is a nice walkman. However, they need to bring out a new model with all of these technical and practical issues solved. Soon.

Above Average
First of all, there is one word to describe the sound quality..........heh I can't think of any, thats how good it is.
Basically after trading in a previous defective Panasonic CD Player, and seeing as though I have millions of mp3s on discs, I realised an MP3 CD player was what I had needed.
After purchasing this for, wait for it...£100! I was satisfied.
Meaning, there was a lot a "Pro's" to this player, but just one (maybe three) BIG (and I express the word 'big') flaw/downside which balances it out.
Pro's: - Sound Quality
- Functions
- LCD Display
- Remote Control (However there is no need for this,
because after all, this is supposed to
be a "Sports CD Player")
- MP3 Support Function

CON'S: - =BIG...Player= (As soon as I held it in my hand, I thought of one word "BRICK", it was heavy...and as a frequent user of CD Players while walking, I couldn't fit it in any of my...pockets!)
- =Headphones= (I like the concept, but it just isn't
suitable for every head out there! The damn
earplugs are too big, larger than ususal,
and tends to fall out of my ears if i just
tilt my head once!) The Magnets are also a
good idea and are useful in certain
occasions, but are quite heavy, it also
causes the headphones to sag down and come
off seing as though the headphones are
really light)
As a 17-year-old, I don't usually use this for jogging etc. rather for walking, therefore the player being large and heavier than the average cd player is very annoying. However as soon as you turn this thing on, and bust out the hip hop, r&b, rock whatever music you listen to... you forget about all it's negatives, it made me get off my seat and breakdance out on tha street, 4realz!

Great sounding player
...The sound was really nice, the volume was not so low. A little lower than my old [one] but I can handle this small difference and it had an equalizer for controlling treble and bass. ... This is really nice.
I agree that the design and the battery life are not so well as [other ones]which have about 80 hours of battery life while this one has 24 hours without ESP. But I guess [other ones are]stealing from sound quality while boosting the battery life. I don't know but I definitely didn't like the sound of [some other]players.
The remote and the magnets are really ingenious. Really easy to use. The device itself is really sound but also a little big. Anyway, it has advantages and disadvantages but the sound is the most important thing for me, and it has a great sound. I recommend this to everyone who listens to these things while walking, running etc. It doesn't skip and sounds great.

this product is not a "sports" cd player
I needed a new sports cd player to use while running, so I bought this Philips cd/mp3 player.While I enjoyed the fact that it played mp3s and was relatively inexpensive, I was very disappointed with the product as a whole.

The magnetic parts that attach to your shirt to keep the headphone cord out of the way are very annoying and heavy.When running with this cd player, I felt like I was weighed down.I would rather have the headphone cord flapping around than have heavy magnets hitting against me.

Furthermore, the remote on the headphone cord is completely useless.The cd player comes with a sporty case to make the cd player easy to hold while exercising, but this means that your hand is not free to use the remote - so the remote just bangs against you and weighs you down as you run.

And finally, this cd player ate through batteries and was both heavier and larger than most other cd players on the market. ... Read more

Product Description

Enjoy an assortment of your favorite tunes with this RCA Lyra Personal Digital Player. Compact enough to fit in your pocket and mighty enough to handle up to 2 hours of mp3PRO encoded music at 64 kbps (mp3PRO compatibility available in a future software download). If 64 MB of internal memory doesn't satisfy your music appetite, use the external SD/MMC slot to expand your music capacity. With the 2-Line LCD display, you can quickly locate the song name, artist name, elapsed time, volume level and battery level indicator while in playback mode. This jamming Lyra also includes a full accessory kit - Sports Armband, e.clipz Clip-On Headphones, USB cable, CD-ROM Music Management Software and 1 "AAA" Alkaline battery. Personalize your music entertainment with this RCA Lyra Personal Digital Player. ... Read more

Features

• External SC/MMC slot for expandable memory
• 2-line LCD display
• Comes with a sports armband, e.clipz headphones, USB cable, CD-ROM music management software, and 1 AAA alkaline battery
• 64 MB built-in memory stores up to 2 hours of mp3PRO encoded music
• MP3 and WMA playback, and mp3PRO ready

Reviews (52)

Disappointed
Exactly as others said the jack is definitely a problem and only after 2 months. This player had such great potential to then be loss to such a simple problem. I dont know if I could ever consider another product from them.

mp3 playa
well i bought this because i droped my cd player and it broke in half. about a week after i got it the volume up clicker thing broke and another week after that the volume down clicker broke too so I have to hold it if I want to get the volume up or down. The battery life is not good.Either buy bulk batterys for it or get some rechargable ones. the only thing i do like about it it does have some good bass and it does still kinda work.

Not a very durable product!!
I was very excited to get this player because of the reviews I had read.Man, have I been dissappointed!

I've owned two only to have both break within 2 months.The first one fell on the cement when the velcro on the armband gave out while I was bending over.The headphone jack on the second one went south about seven weeks after I bought it.The left speaker cuts in and out and every once in a while the player will stop playing music and replace it with a very high pitched squeal that won't stop until you pull out the battery.It doesn't feel very good on the ole eardrums!

I don't know if I just bought two bad units or if this is how they are, but either way I won't be buying anymore.

A good player for the money
I have owned this player for several months and have not had any problems with it.The sound quality is very good.If you plan on keeping this player for a while, the SD card slot can be extremely valuable.SD memory card prices continue to drop so you can continually expand this player to hold more and more music for less and less money.I just got a 512MB San Disk...and now the player can hold several CDs worth of MP3s / WMA files, depending on the sampling rate of your MP3s.If you maintain multiple SD cards, you can quickly swap them out for a new set of MP3s and not have to mess with deleting/downloading new songs into the player.Believe me, the importance of the SD card slot cannot be understated if you are looking for expandablity.All in all, it's a great, straight-forward, and compact player.

Poor Quality
I bought this for my daughter for christmas and in less thn 1 month she complained that she needed to wiggle the headset plug to get good audio. I disassembled the unit to find that there was poor solder joints on the headset jack. RCA, if you want to keep any reputation, we need better quality from you! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

PNY's sleek, multifunction Vibe digital audio player can also operate as a USB mass-storage flash drive, voice recorder, and FM radio. It's compatible with both MP3 and WMA digital formats, but it's not compatible with Secure WMA files from online music stores or subscription services. The 256 MB of internal flash memory can store up to 8 hours WMA or 4 hours MP3 music.

It operated on a single AAA battery and provides approximately 12 hours of battery life. It features a sliding faceplate to expose/protect the control panel and an EL backlit LCD graphics display. Other features include SRS-WOW enhanced sound, sleep timer, and 5-mode equalizer. It connects to PCs and Macs via USB 1.1. ... Read more

Features

• SRS-WOW sound enhancement; 5-mode equalizer
• EL backlit LCD graphics display
• Includes ear bud headphones, USB extension cable and lanyard
• Multifunction digital audio player, USB flash drive, voice recorder, and FM radio
• 256 MB holds up to 8 hours WMA or 4 hours MP3 music; does not support copy-protected WMA

Reviews (2)

Save your money!
I was attracted by the multifunctionality of Vibe.I am a professional electronic engineer. And yet, I spent hours to figure out how to use this thing. I recorded FM file and then tried to delete it.The manual has no information about this elementary procedure.Its web FAQ file has only 16 questions that do not deal with "delete" or "file". My naive attempt to delete the file via USB connection with my PC failed since the file turned out to be protected. The device has 6 buttons and 6 modes.This inevitably creates the necessity of memorizing six 6X2 connectivity tables or keeping the manual and the device always in front of your eyes. I do not like ether of that.

VIBE - Good Flash Player
I have bought two of these Vive players, a black 512 MB version and a white 1-Gigabyte version. The 128 MB Vibe is the same except for the reduced capacity.

The unit is about the size and shape of a tube of lipstick. It is very light and hangs from your neck on a lanyard as some people wear a cross. The Creative Vu2 Micro NX 200, which competes with this player, does not have a needed metal stub to attach a lanyard or chain.

These things are too tiny and too expensive not to attach to your person in some manner. If you lose pens on a regular basis, you should pay attention to this detail in the Vibe's construction.

I plan to replace the supplied lanyard with a gold chain someday. I usually drop it inside my shirt for covert use. The Vibe comes with a higher end set of black ear buds.

It lasts around 12 hours on an AAA battery. I buy super alkaline AAA at the local drugstore for about thirty-five cents each when on sale. You cannot accidentally turn the VIBE on and wear down the battery because most controls are under a sliding faceplate. The only two external controls are up and down volume.
The hidden buttons are

AB switch
Fast Reverse
Mode - Menu
Fast Forward
Record
Play

The Vibe pulls apart to reveal a USB connection. It draws its power while connected to the PC from the USB port. You can plug this into a cable or directly into a USP port if there is room. There is no need for any special software except for Win98 drivers to access the Vibe with Explorer. All the functions of Explorer, format, rename, delete, copy, paste, etc. work while using the Vibe attached to your PC. You can also use the Vibe as a USB flash drive.

There are three functions in this player of interest.

MP3 Play

One is the obvious MP3 or WMA playback. The blue back lit LCD shows three lines of text or a line of icons depending on the mode. The Vive LCD displays more information than the Creative Vu2 Micro NX 200, which is a similar player. There is a user defined equalizer and several presets like WOW, SRS, FLAT, BASS, and some other choices. This player can drive a nice set of external amplified speakers with a subwoofer with some amazing music. I also have feed the Vibe audio output via a Belkin's FM transmitter or a cassette adaptor to mobile radios with good results.
You can fast forwarded or reverse within any file that is playing. When you power off and back on and hit play it resumes exactly where you left off. You can tag folders or files if you want to limit playback to a list of choices. There are also choices that randomize playback, play once, or loop the list.

Voice Recorder

The Vibe has a built in microphone that is very sensitive. It produces acceptable recordings as long as you get `into' the microphone or if there is little other background noise. I once recorded TV audio from across the room and it was quite good. I had bad results when I first tried a Vibe held a waist level inside an automobile with the AC running at full blast a minute after I bought the first one. I almost immediately returned it as unacceptable. I am glad I did not! You could turn this on to record, drop the unit out of sight, and covertly record until the battery died eight to twelve hours later. The recording is stored as wav file internally. These files can be uploaded to your PC to be played there or stored as notes. You can also rename the file on the Vibe using Explorer.

FM Radio

The FM radio in the Vibe is comparable to some better FM units found in cars. It features search, auto program store of the sixteen strongest signals in presets as well as manual tuning. You can record any FM signal and play it back using the Voice recorder mode.
I use it with an XM Roady 2 to time shift the XM satellite broadcast. The Roady down converts the satellite channel to the FM band and the Vibe can pick this up as far as twenty feet away in the house. While driving I sometimes have it pick up XM content while I am listening to the car radio or books on tape in the cassette. I then carry this with me and listen to XM inside buildings. The Vibe makes a good companion to XM. What is funny to some geeks is that Delphi is now selling a similar time shift solution for XM for $350 and that one only stores five hours. The Delphi unit does include a built in XM receiver.

If you got any ideas from this post, be sure and vote about this review on Amazon.

Vic ... Read more

Product Description

Listen to your MP3 player in the car, enjoy your favorite audio book CD while commuting, blast your laptop MP3 collection through your home stereo, or link your satellite radio to your car stereo - Beamit makes it happen. Virtually any device with an audio output jack is a candidate for beaming - just plug, tune, and play. You'll be beaming from ear to ear. iRock!, do you? ... Read more

Features

• Works with virtually any portable audio device with a headphone or line-out jack
• Compact size: 2.0" x 3.0" x 1.0"
• Broadcasts your tunes from your favorite portable audio device to any FM receiver
• Just plug into the headphone jack of your music device, tune your car or home stereo to one of four FM frequencies, and listen
• High fidelity, full stereo sound

Reviews (66)

very poor
FM transmitters of this size don't last forever. That is a fact I accept but I had hoped it would last longer than 2 weeks. I bought my first one from Target before a road trip in a uhaul without a cd player. The sound was marginal at best and by the end of the three day drive to Oregon it was extremely noisy. I plugged it in to my computer to transmit some streaming stations and it had trouble hitting the receiver (direct line of sight) no more than 40 feet away. Two more days and it crackled its last and died. I exchanged the transmitter at Target for a new one and a week and a half later I was returning that one as well. Spend a few extra bucks, save yourself the hassle and get a Belkin.

Only for those who'll sacrifice quality to hear their tunes
This adapter serves the purpose, however unless you live in rural Mississippi you will likely run into interference.If you're like me and you live in a city where 3 of the 4 frequencies are used by radio stations, you will constantly have interference problems.The only reason I put up with it is because I'm a music fanatic who drives a 1986 station wagon, and I'm not about to spend money on a new car stereo.Not recommended unless you live in rural areas or you're desperate for tunes like me!

You're liars if you say this product is good
I bought this thing, knowing full well, it would be subpar, but would be good for what i needed it for, jammin to some mp3's while driving around all day delivering pizza. So i got it, and sure enough i was right, it sounded ok, there was some noise but nothing i couldn't deal with. but it worked great for what it was. Then a few weeks later i noticed the sound wasn't coming in properly, so i moved the player and the transmitter around. then it sounded fine again. then a few minutes later it happened again, from then on i had to keep fiddling with it to get the music to play out of all my speakers. after a few days i had to have the wire bent in all sorts of weird ways to get the music to play. Then one day it stopped working altogether (on a nice 2 hour trip into New Jersey no less). So then i went back to the store and exchanged it and promised to take extra great care of this one, i layed it out flat and nice in the car at all times, tok the best of care of it. literally 3 days later it crapped out just like the first one. Exchanged it one more time, 5 days later it crapped out. I threw it under my tire as i drove, screw the warranty, it's not worth my time to keep this thing. And the biggest liar of all, is the guy who said " *uses very little power (with the batteries)". That is a load! the thing drains two AAA batteries in a matter of about 4 hours.
even if you don't have it on it seems. Not worth the 30 bucks i spent.

Good, when it works
I had the adapter that was just like this without the lighter adapter and it worked great. I got this new one after I lost the other. It worked well, but then the radio stations became a little stronger and now it cannot work in my cars at all.

Pass on this
Plain and simple, this thing just does not work. It's one of the poorest FM modulators I've tried. Awful sound quality. Pathetic adjacent channel rejection. Published specs MUST be from fantasy land.

Go with the cassette adapter unless you absolutely must use FM. If you must go FM, don't use this. ... Read more

Features

• Buttons are raised and positioned for blind operation, so you can keep your focus where it's needed
• Perfect for runners and riders
• Structurally sound, comfortable, and thoroughly wearable
• Includes remote with high resolution display & handstrap
• Plays standard CDs and CD-Rs burned with MP3 files

Reviews (10)

Read before you buy
My draw to this product was the price. I mean compared to the iPod or the Zen, this thing is cheap... ...but it's got some serious drawbacks...

The drawbacks...
The engineering that went into this is really bad. First off, it's really heavy and bigger than normal CD players. It doesn't even fit into my jacket that has a pocket designed for cd players.

The display doesn't light up, and it's hard to read. It does become an orange color at certain angles, but none of the angles are practical for viewing. No album names, just numbers.

The display on the remote and the main unit is made of cheap, soft plastic... This stuff scratches very very easy. Nike should have packed it with a silk bag. Definitely doesn't fit the description of "sport equipment", more suitably for a Gucci toting softy that wants to be seen, rather than get fit. Why they didn't make it out of glass, I'll never know. I do know that after it gets scratched from simply leaving it your gym bag, you're going to get really choked.

When and if you decide to run with it, you're going to notice how totally annoying it is to change songs/volume, it's strapped to your hand, yet you have to use your other hand to change the input. Now you're going to say, "why don't you use the remote?" Well... the remote is awful... I'm not sure how many people with engineering degrees it's going to take at Philips to figure out that having the headphone jack at one end and the line going to the unit on the other end, IS A BAD IDEA!!! It's totally horrible to set up for a run. You end up totally wrapped up in wires. Wasn't the whole idea of this unit to allow you to run? So picture yourself running down the street with wires all over your body and a big bulky CD player in one hand and a remote magnetized to your chest. To change a song you can either reach up to your chest or reach over to your other hand... where is the logic in this remote???

Speaking of the remote... when you do decide to use it, you'll notice that the volume isn't true. What I mean by this, is that it's just secondary to the main unit. This is really annoying. So if your CD unit is in your backpack and you want to crank the volume on the remote, you have to open your bag and turn up the volume on the main unit and then adjust your remote. These Philips guys have never heard of the KISS princple.

It has a couple of ESP settings, I don't bother using them. You can run and listen to MP3's without any on.

The head unit is noisy. Really noisy. I was in the library listening to tunes with it, and was getting angry looks by people. I couldn't figure out why, when someone finally asked me to please put the main unit in my bag. Everytime this thing loads an MP3 into it's buffer, it makes a loud awful sounds.

The magnets... AWFUL... I'm in the process of getting a couple degrees, one of which is computer science. I was working on an assignment in the lab, and I saved it onto a disk and tossed it into my backpack... ...can you guess what got erased??? The magnets on the remote (in the other part of my backpack) latched onto the disk and toasted it. Just a few hours of wasted work. Philips does put a nice little warning note about magnets and credit cards in the box. How nice of them. A simple clip would work about a MILLION times better!!!

The soft orange rubber coating they put on the front is a really bad idea. The other degree I'm getting is in Visual Arts, and while drawing for a few hours while listening to it, the buttons got covered with graphite. This wouldn't have been a problem except for the fact that it's a real pain in the butt to clean, and in fact it doesn't get clean.

So basically after a week of use my unit has a scratched display (err) and a graphite-grey stained orange front.

But in some fairness, it does it's job. It plays MP3's from CDR's and has a nice long battery life - and thats why I bought it. I am just so suprised at how badly engineered this product is.

Would I buy another product from Nike/Philips? - Not a chance

Stylish but with only short term reliability
I bought this walkman early this year, probably JAN/FEB to take running with me. I usually run on a treadmill, but anti-shock is still important, and I was impressed with the eight-minute anti-shock memory. This is the best thing about it - it literally wont skip, even if the CD is slightly scratched and skips on other players. The unit looks nice, and the no-look buttons work well while on the move. The mp3 option also works great, and the sound quality is indistinguishable from CD.
The rubber hand strap is a pain to put on the player, and needs frequent washing otherwise it starts to smell like rancid socks. As usual with these things, the headphones are rubbish; Nike is supplying this type of headphones with all it's sports audio and THEY DO NOT STAY ON, even when you turn your head, they need to start supplying more rugged, expensive headphones with these players. I had to use my old headphones, which worked fine. However, if you've spent $... on this thing, you shouldn't need to go out and spend another $... on headphones.
The remote control unit stopped working months ago, and the magnets on it rust up fairly easily. Yesterday (now early July), the display on the front of the unit started to disappear, and some of it appears backwards.
But, there's been no deterioration in sound quality, or interruption in play due to these faults.
I am probably going to try and return it under guarantee very soon, because when it works, this is a nice walkman. However, they need to bring out a new model with all of these technical and practical issues solved. Soon.

Above Average
First of all, there is one word to describe the sound quality..........heh I can't think of any, thats how good it is.
Basically after trading in a previous defective Panasonic CD Player, and seeing as though I have millions of mp3s on discs, I realised an MP3 CD player was what I had needed.
After purchasing this for, wait for it...£100! I was satisfied.
Meaning, there was a lot a "Pro's" to this player, but just one (maybe three) BIG (and I express the word 'big') flaw/downside which balances it out.
Pro's: - Sound Quality
- Functions
- LCD Display
- Remote Control (However there is no need for this,
because after all, this is supposed to
be a "Sports CD Player")
- MP3 Support Function

CON'S: - =BIG...Player= (As soon as I held it in my hand, I thought of one word "BRICK", it was heavy...and as a frequent user of CD Players while walking, I couldn't fit it in any of my...pockets!)
- =Headphones= (I like the concept, but it just isn't
suitable for every head out there! The damn
earplugs are too big, larger than ususal,
and tends to fall out of my ears if i just
tilt my head once!) The Magnets are also a
good idea and are useful in certain
occasions, but are quite heavy, it also
causes the headphones to sag down and come
off seing as though the headphones are
really light)
As a 17-year-old, I don't usually use this for jogging etc. rather for walking, therefore the player being large and heavier than the average cd player is very annoying. However as soon as you turn this thing on, and bust out the hip hop, r&b, rock whatever music you listen to... you forget about all it's negatives, it made me get off my seat and breakdance out on tha street, 4realz!

Great sounding player
...The sound was really nice, the volume was not so low. A little lower than my old [one] but I can handle this small difference and it had an equalizer for controlling treble and bass. ... This is really nice.
I agree that the design and the battery life are not so well as [other ones]which have about 80 hours of battery life while this one has 24 hours without ESP. But I guess [other ones are]stealing from sound quality while boosting the battery life. I don't know but I definitely didn't like the sound of [some other]players.
The remote and the magnets are really ingenious. Really easy to use. The device itself is really sound but also a little big. Anyway, it has advantages and disadvantages but the sound is the most important thing for me, and it has a great sound. I recommend this to everyone who listens to these things while walking, running etc. It doesn't skip and sounds great.

this product is not a "sports" cd player
I needed a new sports cd player to use while running, so I bought this Philips cd/mp3 player.While I enjoyed the fact that it played mp3s and was relatively inexpensive, I was very disappointed with the product as a whole.

The magnetic parts that attach to your shirt to keep the headphone cord out of the way are very annoying and heavy.When running with this cd player, I felt like I was weighed down.I would rather have the headphone cord flapping around than have heavy magnets hitting against me.

Furthermore, the remote on the headphone cord is completely useless.The cd player comes with a sporty case to make the cd player easy to hold while exercising, but this means that your hand is not free to use the remote - so the remote just bangs against you and weighs you down as you run.

And finally, this cd player ate through batteries and was both heavier and larger than most other cd players on the market. ... Read more

Product Description

Enjoy an assortment of your favorite tunes with this RCA Lyra Personal Digital Player. Compact enough to fit in your pocket and mighty enough to handle up to 2 hours of mp3PRO encoded music at 64 kbps (mp3PRO compatibility available in a future software download). If 64 MB of internal memory doesn't satisfy your music appetite, use the external SD/MMC slot to expand your music capacity. With the 2-Line LCD display, you can quickly locate the song name, artist name, elapsed time, volume level and battery level indicator while in playback mode. This jamming Lyra also includes a full accessory kit - Sports Armband, e.clipz Clip-On Headphones, USB cable, CD-ROM Music Management Software and 1 "AAA" Alkaline battery. Personalize your music entertainment with this RCA Lyra Personal Digital Player. ... Read more

Features

• External SC/MMC slot for expandable memory
• 2-line LCD display
• Comes with a sports armband, e.clipz headphones, USB cable, CD-ROM music management software, and 1 AAA alkaline battery
• 64 MB built-in memory stores up to 2 hours of mp3PRO encoded music
• MP3 and WMA playback, and mp3PRO ready

Reviews (52)

Disappointed
Exactly as others said the jack is definitely a problem and only after 2 months. This player had such great potential to then be loss to such a simple problem. I dont know if I could ever consider another product from them.

mp3 playa
well i bought this because i droped my cd player and it broke in half. about a week after i got it the volume up clicker thing broke and another week after that the volume down clicker broke too so I have to hold it if I want to get the volume up or down. The battery life is not good.Either buy bulk batterys for it or get some rechargable ones. the only thing i do like about it it does have some good bass and it does still kinda work.

Not a very durable product!!
I was very excited to get this player because of the reviews I had read.Man, have I been dissappointed!

I've owned two only to have both break within 2 months.The first one fell on the cement when the velcro on the armband gave out while I was bending over.The headphone jack on the second one went south about seven weeks after I bought it.The left speaker cuts in and out and every once in a while the player will stop playing music and replace it with a very high pitched squeal that won't stop until you pull out the battery.It doesn't feel very good on the ole eardrums!

I don't know if I just bought two bad units or if this is how they are, but either way I won't be buying anymore.

A good player for the money
I have owned this player for several months and have not had any problems with it.The sound quality is very good.If you plan on keeping this player for a while, the SD card slot can be extremely valuable.SD memory card prices continue to drop so you can continually expand this player to hold more and more music for less and less money.I just got a 512MB San Disk...and now the player can hold several CDs worth of MP3s / WMA files, depending on the sampling rate of your MP3s.If you maintain multiple SD cards, you can quickly swap them out for a new set of MP3s and not have to mess with deleting/downloading new songs into the player.Believe me, the importance of the SD card slot cannot be understated if you are looking for expandablity.All in all, it's a great, straight-forward, and compact player.

Poor Quality
I bought this for my daughter for christmas and in less thn 1 month she complained that she needed to wiggle the headset plug to get good audio. I disassembled the unit to find that there was poor solder joints on the headset jack. RCA, if you want to keep any reputation, we need better quality from you! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

PNY's sleek, multifunction Vibe digital audio player can also operate as a USB mass-storage flash drive, voice recorder, and FM radio. It's compatible with both MP3 and WMA digital formats, but it's not compatible with Secure WMA files from online music stores or subscription services. The 256 MB of internal flash memory can store up to 8 hours WMA or 4 hours MP3 music.

It operated on a single AAA battery and provides approximately 12 hours of battery life. It features a sliding faceplate to expose/protect the control panel and an EL backlit LCD graphics display. Other features include SRS-WOW enhanced sound, sleep timer, and 5-mode equalizer. It connects to PCs and Macs via USB 1.1. ... Read more

Features

• SRS-WOW sound enhancement; 5-mode equalizer
• EL backlit LCD graphics display
• Includes ear bud headphones, USB extension cable and lanyard
• Multifunction digital audio player, USB flash drive, voice recorder, and FM radio
• 256 MB holds up to 8 hours WMA or 4 hours MP3 music; does not support copy-protected WMA

Reviews (2)

Save your money!
I was attracted by the multifunctionality of Vibe.I am a professional electronic engineer. And yet, I spent hours to figure out how to use this thing. I recorded FM file and then tried to delete it.The manual has no information about this elementary procedure.Its web FAQ file has only 16 questions that do not deal with "delete" or "file". My naive attempt to delete the file via USB connection with my PC failed since the file turned out to be protected. The device has 6 buttons and 6 modes.This inevitably creates the necessity of memorizing six 6X2 connectivity tables or keeping the manual and the device always in front of your eyes. I do not like ether of that.

VIBE - Good Flash Player
I have bought two of these Vive players, a black 512 MB version and a white 1-Gigabyte version. The 128 MB Vibe is the same except for the reduced capacity.

The unit is about the size and shape of a tube of lipstick. It is very light and hangs from your neck on a lanyard as some people wear a cross. The Creative Vu2 Micro NX 200, which competes with this player, does not have a needed metal stub to attach a lanyard or chain.

These things are too tiny and too expensive not to attach to your person in some manner. If you lose pens on a regular basis, you should pay attention to this detail in the Vibe's construction.

I plan to replace the supplied lanyard with a gold chain someday. I usually drop it inside my shirt for covert use. The Vibe comes with a higher end set of black ear buds.

It lasts around 12 hours on an AAA battery. I buy super alkaline AAA at the local drugstore for about thirty-five cents each when on sale. You cannot accidentally turn the VIBE on and wear down the battery because most controls are under a sliding faceplate. The only two external controls are up and down volume.
The hidden buttons are

AB switch
Fast Reverse
Mode - Menu
Fast Forward
Record
Play

The Vibe pulls apart to reveal a USB connection. It draws its power while connected to the PC from the USB port. You can plug this into a cable or directly into a USP port if there is room. There is no need for any special software except for Win98 drivers to access the Vibe with Explorer. All the functions of Explorer, format, rename, delete, copy, paste, etc. work while using the Vibe attached to your PC. You can also use the Vibe as a USB flash drive.

There are three functions in this player of interest.

MP3 Play

One is the obvious MP3 or WMA playback. The blue back lit LCD shows three lines of text or a line of icons depending on the mode. The Vive LCD displays more information than the Creative Vu2 Micro NX 200, which is a similar player. There is a user defined equalizer and several presets like WOW, SRS, FLAT, BASS, and some other choices. This player can drive a nice set of external amplified speakers with a subwoofer with some amazing music. I also have feed the Vibe audio output via a Belkin's FM transmitter or a cassette adaptor to mobile radios with good results.
You can fast forwarded or reverse within any file that is playing. When you power off and back on and hit play it resumes exactly where you left off. You can tag folders or files if you want to limit playback to a list of choices. There are also choices that randomize playback, play once, or loop the list.

Voice Recorder

The Vibe has a built in microphone that is very sensitive. It produces acceptable recordings as long as you get `into' the microphone or if there is little other background noise. I once recorded TV audio from across the room and it was quite good. I had bad results when I first tried a Vibe held a waist level inside an automobile with the AC running at full blast a minute after I bought the first one. I almost immediately returned it as unacceptable. I am glad I did not! You could turn this on to record, drop the unit out of sight, and covertly record until the battery died eight to twelve hours later. The recording is stored as wav file internally. These files can be uploaded to your PC to be played there or stored as notes. You can also rename the file on the Vibe using Explorer.

FM Radio

The FM radio in the Vibe is comparable to some better FM units found in cars. It features search, auto program store of the sixteen strongest signals in presets as well as manual tuning. You can record any FM signal and play it back using the Voice recorder mode.
I use it with an XM Roady 2 to time shift the XM satellite broadcast. The Roady down converts the satellite channel to the FM band and the Vibe can pick this up as far as twenty feet away in the house. While driving I sometimes have it pick up XM content while I am listening to the car radio or books on tape in the cassette. I then carry this with me and listen to XM inside buildings. The Vibe makes a good companion to XM. What is funny to some geeks is that Delphi is now selling a similar time shift solution for XM for $350 and that one only stores five hours. The Delphi unit does include a built in XM receiver.

If you got any ideas from this post, be sure and vote about this review on Amazon.

Vic ... Read more

Product Description

This sleek Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra MP3 player by Creative has a large, hi-res, blue backlit LCD and 60GB of storage for up to 16,000 songs. It features fast USB file transfers, Quick Scroller navigation and playlist creation so you can load and organize your music quickly and easily. Compact and portable, it can also double as an external hard drive for storing photos, documents and other data files. The quick-charge battery offers up to 14 hours of continuous playback, while the anodized aluminum body is sleek and durable. Compatible with USB 2.0 and 1.1 for quick and easy file storage and transfer. Includes earphones, travel pouch and USB cable. Available storage capacity may vary. Imported. 4-2/5Hx3Wx7/8D". ... Read more

Features

• Removable, high-capacity Li-ion battery -- up to 14 hrs continuous playback per charge
• Compatible with Microsoft Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000, and XP
• 60 GB storage lets you bring up to 16,000 WMA songs (80 kbps) or MP3 songs (128 kbps) everywhere you go
• Use AudioSync to synchronize your music on your player with your PC at work, school and home or on the road
• Load a song a second with ultra fast USB 2.0 port, compatible with USB 1.1 too

Reviews (79)

Creative's player almost perfect
I have had this player for a little over a year, bought originally through Amazon, and found it to be pretty much everything that I wanted. I have loaded about 11,000 songs (variably recorded between 192kbps mp3 and 128 kbps wma) into it and still have about 6gb of memory left, enough for probably another couple thousand. I have used it almost on a daily basis, more often than not I use it plugged into portable speakers, the sound has been excellent. I ditched the accompanying headphones early on in favor of better quality Bose ones, far more comfortable. I don't fiddle with the audio options much, just switch the advanced EQ to pop or rock and I'm set. I was never able to figure out the smart volume feature, the match volume worked fine if I ever wanted to use it but the smart volume settings for train, car, plane just seem unnecessary; as are the sound environment settings for cathedral, auditorium, bath room, etc., it borderlines on silly. Perhaps in a future version Creative can focus on sound quality and not sound effects. The Creative Mediasource and Nomad Explorer software included was easy to use once you figure out the basics; I especially liked the Nomad Explorer software, which allows you to use drag-and-drop to put the music from the player back into your computer (or another) and vice-versa. That was a deciding feature between buying this and an Ipod, the ability to transfer the music out of your player, something you can't do (at least not easily) with an Ipod. It also plays wma files, something that also can't be done with an Ipod. My only concern now with the player is the battery, while initially I had a good 14 hours of playing time, now I'm lucky to get a couple hours before it quits. Anyways I'm now looking for a replacement battery so hopefully I'll be good for another year, by then maybe I'll be ready for an 80 or 100gb version as I'm sure they're around the corner. Otherwise this has been a great player, well worth the money and much more practical than an Ipod.

Excellent quality/value for this product!
Don't believe the negative reviews. I have the 40GB Ipod of Apple and this Zen Xtra of 60GB. So I will try to set the plusses and minusses together.
It simply is such, that there is not super perfect mp3 player on the market today that combines only the plusses on both models, so if you are still looking for an as good can be one, I recommend both types. Its up to your taste. To me, they both work to my satisfaction. Isnt it incredible, to fit hundreds of cds in them without loosing soundquality?
The ZenXtra is a lot cheaper, but not less versatile. The very big plus is the search option (song, artist, album), with the scrolling wheel on the side. The Ipod 40GB does not have this option, maybe because the clickwheel goes very fast to the song you are looking for. Some like the clickwheel better, but the negative point is, that with a case around it you need the remote control to operate it, because then the clickwheel is covered. Not with the Zen, you can reach the wheel on the side also when the protection case is there.
Fair enough, the Ipod looks a bit more sturdy, and the Zen Xtra case is a bit more fragile plastic. So keep them in a protection case and you don't have to worry about damage anymore.
For both models, you simply have to make sure your music dbase is consistent: not Abba and ABBA and AbBA or so, because then it will place songs under those 'different'artists. There are a lot of tag editors for free on the net anyway, so it pays to do it right from the start.
Ok, the Ipod with 60Gb (which I have not) has colours, not the Zen, but the price is almost double! The screen on the ZenXtra is fine, blue, and clear. Both models (Ipod 40GB and the ZenXtra 60GB) are sort of equal in size and weight.
The ZenXtra has EAX, a system that can control a same volume for the songs selected, very handy!
Both models have good sound quality.
For software, it both worked for me. I have not discovered how to put data on and back on the Ipod, but I managed to put a DVDmovie on my Zen as storage in the datalibrary, and back again on my computer.
If I would have to buy a 60GB model again, I would always go for a ZenXtra. The only reason to go for the 60GB Photo to me is the colourscreen and the model which looks a little bit more flashy. But hey, it also cost money! Apple is not cheap.

Go iPod...
This is the 6th month with (or was) my Nomad Xtra. I absolutely loved the product and it was totally worth it... until now. I remember correctly that I didn't drop it even once, and I went extra protection for my Nomad. The cover kept popping off but I didn't care, putting it back on wasn't much of a chore. But the headphone jack went awol and I was in the middle of a song when it went totally blank. I thought it ran out of battery until I realized that I left a few minutes ago fully charged and ready for my day. Then I went everywhere online to see what happened and saw countless ppl with the same problem. I was sad. I lost hope in the product, I even tried calling customer service who advised me to "stick my headphone end into the jack and wiggle it violently" or "bang the jack against the wall." it scratched and scraped my player but i just wanted it to play. After a month of grueling I pondered whether to pay 175 bux to fix a product that wasn't really reliable, or buy an iPod 20GB. I went with the 20GB and to say it still hasn't had any problems. Go iPod or Dell, iRiver at least. Save yourself while you can.

Heavily researched all of them, VERY happy with my choice.
I spent about 8 or so hours online researching all the mp3 players available.I was looking for a 20 or 40 GB player, but ended up getting the 60GB because it was only about $30 more than the 40GB.

Every mp3 player has its pros and cons, I can live with the 'cons' of this player, no problem.I chose the Zen Xtra because:
1-It has the most bang for its buck..

2-It comes with a battery that you can replace, Ipod doesn't and neither do some of the others.

3-It comes with volume normalization, others don't.I have obtained mp3's from all over the place, and some are way louder than the others, this will set them all at the same volume.

4-You can buy a car DC adapter, some others don't.

5-The sound is very crisp...I did buy some $30 headphones, and the sound is fantastic.But even with the earbuds that come with it, the sound is still very good and crisp.

I don't know why people complain about the software, I'm no computer person and I figured it out in no time.It's a bit bigger than the Ipod (and they say you can't run with it), but it's not crazy big at all and I don't run with music anyway.My carrying case (included) has a window for the screen and I've had absolutely no problems with the player.The battery life is about 8-10 hours, depends on how much fiddling you do with it.

Other than that, all I can say is that I'm very happy with this product, no question.I picked it up for $279 at buy.com I think.I would highly recommend this to anyone.

QUESTION TO THOSE THAT OWN IT!!
Hello,
I am seriously considering buying the Creative Nomad Zen Xtra 60 GB MP3 Jukebox, but I could not deal with not being able to have my music organized by album with songs IN THE ORDER THAT THEY COME ON THE ALBUM. Can it be possible that they designed this product with no way to have your songs stored in the correct order by album?
Someone please tell me there is a way to have songs organized by artist with all songs from each album together, in the order they are supposed to be!?!

Thanks,
Hannah ... Read more

Product Description

iPod includes a 10, 15, 20, 30 or 40GB hard drive, a dock connector, an 8-hour rechargeable battery, headphone jack, 2-inch backlit LCD and a touch-sensitive wheel and backlit touch-sensitive buttons. Also standard are a dock connector-to-FireWire cable, earbud-style headphones, 6-pin-to-4-pin FireWire adapter, AC Adapter, and CD with iTunes for Mac OS X and iTunes for Windows. iPod supports any Mac with built-in FireWire and Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later, or any PC with built-in FireWire or USB 2.0 or a Windows-certified FireWire or USB 2.0 card and Windows XP Home or Professional or 2000. ... Read more

Features

• Features redesigned and backlit navigation, includes earbud headphones, FireWire Cable, PC FireWire Adapter, and AC adapter
• Equipped with a range of built-in utilities and games
• 15 GB model holds up to 3,700 songs; supports MP3, AAC, WAV, MP3 VBR, Audible (6), and AIFF formats
• Mac and Windows compatible; FireWire and USB 2.0 interface for fastest digital transfer available
• More than 8 hour battery life on a 3 hour charge (1-hour fast charge to 80% capacity)

Reviews (197)

A Lifesaver... For my EARS!
My job reassigned me to overnights and all I had to hear while I worked was horrible Musak! I thought, disc-mans are way too bulky and my musical tastes span many variaties. So I thought of MP3 players. I found the 15GB iPod and thought, "Holy crap! This thing has 3 quarters the capacity of my PC's hard drive!" So, I shelled out out the $235. I have about 300 songs on it now and that's only 1.41 out of 15 GB of space used at 19.1 hours! (One song being the 26 minute live "Dazed and Confused" from Led Zeppelin's "Song Remains the Same" soundtrack.) People bitch and moan about not enough space? I don't think I could ever come close to filling it unless I wanted every CD I own to be on it.

I just shuffle the songs while I work and I get all my favorite one hit 80's wonders to No Doubt to Van Halen (with Diamond Dave) to soundclips from Pulp Fiction to the opening theme from Chico and the Man! Now that's my OWN private Musak with style!

My only problem with it would be with the software. They have to develope a way to link certain pairs of songs so they play in sequence even when you have it set on shuffle. Ex: I hate hearing Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" without "Living Loving Maid" coming right after it. The same holds true with "The Song Remains the Same" and "Rain Song" or the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "A Little Help from My Friends" or No Doubt's "Sixteen" and "Sunday Morning." The biggest pet pieve is Van Halen's "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" not running into "One Foot Out the Door..." It's an abrupt end to the 1st song and a tear-off start for the 2nd.

The iPod only crashed on me once in the 8 months that I've owned it. I simply let the battery die (which reset it)and then recharged it and hadn't had a problem since. Great for your car too if you don't want to install a CD changer and play around with burning custom CD mixes of your favorite tunes. You will need an FM Transmitter to do this though. I recommend the Kensington, because there's rarely any static and it recharges while you drive (hell, I haven't used my original recharger since owning it, but I gues this is another review LOL).

If you have an issue with the compressed mp3's not being as good sound-wise to uncompressed wav files? It holds wav files too. BUY a case for it! So you don't scratch the crome backing. If you own a PC you'll need a USB adapter.

Happy Listening!

One Bad Apple
I've had this item for 6 mos and it crashed 2x. Now, it can't find the hard drive. I have to send it back. It's been very disappointing. Apple does have a 1 yr. warranty - so, I'll see what that process looks like next.Also, it's lame that Apple sends the Firewire port and then, consumers have to go out and purchase the USB.

Better than new one
if you are at all smart.. then you will buy one of these. The new ipods are only different in one main way, there is a click wheel instead of a touch weel. When it comes to spending 300 dollars and 200 dollars, ill buy the one with the touch wheel anyday. Its a great gadget!

Apple 15 GB 3rd Generation iPod
This iPod isn't as good as the fourth generation. The first and second generations were really bad because they were really thick and couldn't hold too many songs. But without those generation iPods we wouldn't have the new ones we see today. The 3rd Generation in my opinion is the worst normal iPod in the 4 generation package. The battery life is only 8 hours long which is even less than the 1st and 2nd generation's 10 hour battery life. This 15 GB can't even hold that much songs either. The top four buttons on the iPod are really stupid and now the four are integrated onto the click-wheel on the new iPod. Here are the specs of this generation iPod verses the 4th Generation iPod

APPLE iPOD 3RD GENERATION:
General
Product type Hard drive


PC interface(s) supported FireWire, Hi-Speed USB


Total output power 60 mW


Flash memory installed 15 GB


Digital storage Built-in 15 GB Hard disk drive


Weight 5.6 oz


Dimensions (W x D x H) 2.4 in x 0.6 in x 4.1 in


Body material Metal, Plastic


Color White


Included accessories Docking station


Software type Apple iTunes, MusicMatch Jukebox Plus
Carrying Case
Case type Case


Material Nylon


Strap Belt clip
Digital Player / Recorder
Digital formats supported AAC, MP3, WAV, AIFF, Audible


Digital player (recorder) playback modes Random play, Program play, One track repeat, All tracks repeat


Digital player (recorder) response bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz


Supported bit rates 16 - 320Kbps


Shockproof memory 1500 seconds


ID3 tags support Yes


External hard drive function Yes


Additional features Variable bit-rate compatible
Built-in Display
Built-in display LCD


Diagonal size 2"


Resolution 160 x 128


Display illumination color White


Display menu language Dutch, Danish, French, German, Korean, English, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional)


Features Adjustable contrast
Audio Features
Sound output mode Stereo


Timer Wake, Sleep


Built-in clock Timer, Digital clock


Additional features Hold button, Upgradeable firmware, Rechargeable capability, Battery level indication
CD System
CD system type None


Digital audio standards supported MP3, WAV, AAC
Equalizer
Factory preset qty 20
Radio
Tuner type None
Remote Control
Remote control Player remote control - Cable
Headphones
Headphones type Binaural Ear-bud


Sound output mode Stereo


Response bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz


Sensitivity 104 dB


Impedance 32 Ohm


Connectivity technology Wired
Connectivity
Cable(s) included 1 x IEEE 1394 cable - External, 1 x IEEE 1394 adapter - External


Connector type 1 x Headphones Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Docking station, 1 x Remote control
Battery / Power
Battery Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated


Mfr estimated battery life 8 hour(s)


Battery capacity 630 mAh


Recharge time 3 hour(s)


Power device type Power adapter
System Requirements
Interface devices IEEE 1394 FireWire port


OS required Microsoft Windows 2000, Apple MacOS X 10.1.5 or later, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
Warranty
Service & support type 1 year warranty

APPLE iPOD 4TH GENERATION:
General
Product type Digital player


PC interface(s) supported FireWire, Hi-Speed USB


Flash memory installed No built-in memory


Digital storage Built-in 20 GB Hard disk drive


Weight 5.6 oz


Dimensions (W x D x H) 2.4 in x .57 in x 4.1 in


Color White


Available body colors Silver


Included accessories Earbud headphones, AC adapter, FireWire cable, USB 2.0 cable
Carrying Case
Case type Optional
Digital Player / Recorder
Digital formats supported AAC, AIFF, MP3, WAV


Digital player (recorder) playback modes Random play, One track repeat, All tracks repeat


Edit functions Erase


Digital player (recorder) response bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz


Supported bit rates 32 - 320Kbps


Shockproof memory 1500 seconds


ID3 tags support Yes


External hard drive function Yes


Additional features Variable bit-rate compatible
Built-in Display
Built-in display LCD


Diagonal size 2"


Resolution 160 x 128


Backlight display Yes


Display illumination color White


Display menu language Dutch, Danish, French, German, Korean, English, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Japanese, Norwegian, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional)


Features Adjustable contrast
Audio Features
Sound output mode Stereo


Timer Wake, Sleep


Built-in clock Timer, Digital clock


Additional features Calendar, Phone book, Hold button, Upgradeable firmware, Playback speed control, Rechargeable capability, Battery level indication
CD System
CD system type None


Playback modes Skip playback, Random play, Repeat one/all


Digital audio standards supported MP3, AAC, MP3 VBR, Audible, AIFF, WAV
Equalizer
Factory preset qty 20
Radio
Tuner type None
Remote Control
Remote control None
Microphone
Microphone type None
Headphones
Headphones type Binaural Ear-bud


Sound output mode Stereo


Response bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz


Impedance 32 Ohm


Connectivity technology Wired
Connectivity
Cable(s) included 1 x, IEEE 1394 cable - External, USB cable - External


Connector type 1 x Headphones / remote control Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Docking station
Battery / Power
Battery Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryBuilt-in


Mfr estimated battery life 12 hour(s)


Recharge time 4 hour(s)


Power device type Power adapter
System Requirements
Interface devices USB port, IEEE 1394 FireWire port


OS required Apple MacOS X 10.1.5 or later, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Warranty
Service & support type 1 year warranty

Information: CNET.com

Works with old PC's just fine
I own three iPods, including this 3rd generation model. I specifically use it on a trashy PC... that is I got the machine out of someone's trash. It's an old machine (circa 1999) running 600 mhz with Win XP Professional. My iPod was recognized right away, without the need to load any drivers. Best of all is that if you set up your iPod on a PC, then you can plug it into either a Mac or Windows machine and access all of your files. Awesome!

Having owned 3 generations of iPods, I'd say this one is the best designed model. It's lighter than the classic iPod, and its "touch wheel" navigates through the menu with much more control than the "click wheel" currently used in the current, 4th generation iPods and iPod Minis. I often use the wheel to assign ratings to my MP3's, so it can tell iTunes which are my favorites. The click wheel is far too sensitive, and it can take many tries to assign a song a rating of one star. Conversely, these touch wheel iPods are very precise, making for a very pleasurable experience. ... Read more

Product Description

The all new Yamakawa MR-200 is the ultimate MP3 player for the mobile generation. In addition to the large 256MB internal memory, additional external SD/MMC cards of up to 256MB capacity can be inserted. With the MR-200 you can do one touch recordings from the built in FM radio, from your home stereo or through the built in microphone. You can record music or voice directly into MP3 format using different bit rates. No longer do not need a PC to create your MP3 files for mobile music entertainment. You can also connect the MR-200 as an USB storage device to your PC with a convenient auto installation function. The large back lighted display shows the complete ID3 tags of your music as well as a large number of additional information items. The MR-200 is easy to handle and operate since most functions are menu driven and explained through display information. Compare the features! You won't find a comparable multi-function MP3 device for anywhere near the price of the MR-200! ... Read more

Features

• Four-function devise
• MP3 player (256 MB)
• Voice & music recorder
• FM radio
• Portable data storage

Product Description

Take your D-NE1 wherever you go! This ultra-slim CD WALKMAN plays not only audio CDs, but also other formats, including ATRAC3plus, ATRAC3 and MP3. The supplied SonicStage Simple Burner software will enable you to create your own music compilations with the capacity for high-quality compression of up to 30 CDs at onto 1 CD-R/RW disk. The long battery life will also ensure non-stop music enjoyment. Slide the new disk into your D-NE1 and don't let it stop! ... Read more

Features

• CD, ATRAC3plus, ATRAC3, MP3, CD-R, and CD-RW playback lets you enjoy a wide variety of music
• Included SonicStage software lets you create your own ATRAC3plus music file compilations to store up to 490 songs on one CD
• Exceptionally thin design with dimensions that virtually mirror the size of the CD itself
• Skip-Free G-Protection technology provides quick recovery from both horizontal and vertical shock
• Comes with 2 AA rechargeable batteries, battery charging stand, AC adapter, headphones, SonicStage software, and carrying pouch

Reviews (12)

Great Product- Jon is a liar
I had this CD player for a year and a half now. BTW jon...i kno wut ur problem is...u burned the cds with too high of a speed. i had that problem before until i figured out that if u set the burning speed of the cds to 24x, the mp3 cd will work perfectly. Too fast of a burning speed will causes writing errors on the cd which nero or any other burning program cannot correct. Try setting your burning speed to 24x max. However, I do not use this cd player anymore due to that i got an ipod photo. But sometimes i still use this cd player since it is great. This CD Player doesn't have a clear quality but thats's expected because all the other CD players do not have good quality either. Since this CD player is 200 dollars tho, you can get an ipod for 100 dollars more and it is a better deal.

IT REALLY IS TRUE ATRAC CD PLAYERS DONT PLAY MP3S
I DID NOT HAVE THIS MODEL BUT IVE HAD 2 OTHER SONY ATRAC CD PLAYERS WITH THE SAME RESULTS, WHEN I BURNT A CD OF MY FAVORITE SONGS WITH 150 TRACKS THE SONICSTAGE PROGRAM SKIPPED 4 OR 5 OF MY SONGS DURING THE WRITING PROCESS. AND ALL OF THE MP3 FILES WORKED PROPERLY. OK NO PROBLEM RIGHT? WRONG. I FIGURED THAT THE SONICSTAGE WAS JUST A CRAPPY PROGRAM, BUT THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT REALLY MADE ME ANGRY AS A SONY CUSTOMER, I BURNT ANOTHER CD WITH NERO AND IT CAME OUT PERFECT ALL THE SONGS WERE THERE, (I BURNT THE SAME CD AS I DID WITH SONICSTAGE KEEP IN MIND)BUT WHEN I PUT IT IN MY CD PLAYER I NOTICED THAT CERTAIN TRACKS WERE THERE BUT WERE NOT PLAYING, ALL I HEARD WAS SILENCE, IT WAS LIKE THEY WERE GHOST TRACKS. I MUST HAVE WENT THROUGH 20 DIFFERENT CDS, (AND MUCH FRUSTRATION) UNTIL I PUT MY CD IN MY PANASONIC MP3 CD PLAYER AND GUESS WHAT PEOPLE, EVERY SONG WORKED NO PROBLEM, THERE IS A REAL PROBLEM WITH THE ATRAC CD PLAYERS, ITS JUST THAT NOBODY HAS RUN INTO THEM YET, BUT ONE DAY WHEN YOURE EXCITED TO BURN THAT NEW CD WITH YOUR FAVORITE SONGS, YOU MAY BE DISAPPOINTED IN THAT SOME OF YOUR SONG WONT PLAY, AND YOU WILL BE TORTURED BY THE THOUGHT THAT IT IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR CD BURNER, AND YOU MIGHT THROW THAT CD AWAY, AS I HAVE DONE MANY TIMES,WHEN THE CD IS COMPLETELY FINE, IT IS THE ATRAC CD PLAYER. THIS UPSET ME BECAUSE I THINK SONY HAS THE BEST LOOKING AND BEST QUALITY ELECTRONICS OUT THERE. SO I YOU WANT TO DO THE SMART THING STAY AWAY FROM THESE ATRAC PLAYERS, OTHER THAN THAT I WOULD RECOMMEND ANY SONY PRODUCT TO BE YOUR FIRST CHOICE.

SENDS ELECTRIC SHOCKS TO YOUR HEADPHONES
i bought this because i wanted something tiny. parts of it are designed well, but all of this is irrelevant, because if you move it at all it shorts, sends a shock through your head phones to your ears, and stops playing

no jog dial
a good cd player. except for the fact that there is no jog dial. how do they expect for you to go to your favorite songs? listen to each one by one? or remember the cd track by heart? c'mon guys at sony. give me a break. just for that reason i rated it 1 star. yeah...it's that big of a deal.

Good sound, silly mistakes.
I have really enjoyed my new gadget. It sounds good, has enough volume, unless you enjoy hearing loss. Even the squished Atrac compression suprised me. However, some of the basic playback features I found lacking. When playing compressed files, the CD stops spinning after gathering enough info and putting it into memory. This is cool, because the spinning uses the most battery life. However, there is a fairly lengthy gap between each cut. This is not a problem with most music, but if you have a continous mix CD, then you lose the feel of the DJs performance every time a new track is dropped. This is my first device of this sort, so maybe this is not unusual, but it is aggravating. Otherwise it's a great little gadget.

Dr. Anthony Danza ... Read more

Product Description

You spoke, SONICblue listened. The Rio Riot was designed to meet the demanding needs of today's music lover. With a 20 GB drive that stores over 400 complete albums of impressive, high-quality music, and the intuitive Rio LogiTrack interface, the Rio Riot is the perfect player for your entire music collection. ... Read more

Features

• Rio DJ remembers your favorite songs and creates custom mixes
• Built-in FM tuner with custom presets
• Windows and Mac compatible
• 20 GB digital audio player stores over 400 albums at high-quality setting
• Supports both MP3 and WMA files

Reviews (157)

Great player
This is a great mp3 player easy to use and operate.easy to organize your songs into your own personal playlists.the cost is alot cheaper then the other mp3 player and a lesser of a quility. i would recommend this mp3 player to anyone buying one.

A good player but not the best
I've had this unit since they were first introduced which was just pre-iPod.I would say for the money you should shop around, although this is an okay unit.Transfering is slow and not always error free but it gets the job done.A unit with firewire or USB 2.0 would be better.I have no plans on replacing my Riot as long as it works but by the time I do there will be plenty of options.

Excellent and awful at the same time
How can a device with such an amazing interface be so awful?

If you get over the glitches and squeeks when you play back a lot of your tracks then let me know. I have tried everything including the new drivers and copying time and time again. Even lowering the quality of my tracks did not help.

However what a cool interface, play tracks you've not heard for a long time, your favourites etc etc.

Battery, I trained it and realised you have to charge it when it is on and not turned off. Now I don't have any problems its always on.

Rugged, simple although I'd like to be able to take the tracks off.

I'd compare it with my archos av420 but its a little unfair. Apart from the interface the archos beats it in every way.

Buy an archos!

Rockin' in the Semi-free world
I bought a Rio Riot one month before shipping out to serve in Iraq. I spent that month transferring my entire music collection to the device. It saved my life. I had 5'500 some songs on it and it never left my side. A friend of mine had one and the first month we were there his was run over by a Hummer and was cracked all to pieces, but it still worked and now he has it in a display case with some other trophies. This device is rugged, durable, and one heck of a music player. I would like to say it took a bullet for me, but that honor goes to my Kevlar.

Tons of hard-disk
I bought mine from an ebay seller. It was a refurbished unit. I am very happy with this model. Not pretty, but very functional. I download my music from online and direct from my CD's.Great sound.I use it when I workout.Very satisfied. Again lot's of hard-disk for tons of songs. ... Read more

Product Description

This Audiovox entertainment system puts a TV tuner, DVD player, CD/MP3 player and AM/FM radio right under the counter or desktop. Ideal for RVs, busy kitchens and small workspaces, it has an ultra-slim design and brilliant 10.2" LCD monitor that flips down for viewing, and back up for out-of-the-way storage. As a television, the 125-channel NTSC TV tuner has dual A/V inputs and is cable-ready. The swiveling, TFT, active-matrix, widescreen (16:9) LCD also shows DVD movies in vivid detail. The radio and CD/MP3 player—as well as the TV and DVD player—are backed by built-in stereo speakers as well as a stereo output for connecting additional speakers. Features an LCD clock with alarm, 2-minute memo record function, built-in hands-free phone, speaker output, line output and display mode control. Includes mounting hardware and remote control. Imported. 13-4/5Lx10-1/6Wx2-9/10D". ... Read more

Features

• 2 composite A/V inputs, 1 RF, and a headphone jack
• Built-in stereo speakers (1.2 watts each)
• DVD player with folding, swiveling 10.2-inch LCD screen; measures13.75 x 8 x 11 inches (W x H x D) when open
• Can be used as a speakerphone; 125-channel cable-ready tuner, built-in AM/FM stereo, LED clock
• Compatible with DVD movie, CD audio, and CD-R/RW discs as well as MP3 digital audio files

Reviews (5)

Nice quality, somewhat pricey
Purchased this for the kitchen and installed it pretty much as directed. (If you have more than one-inch overhang on your kitchen shelves you need to do a little extra installation work.) The main selling point for me was the larger screen vs. most other kitchen slimline units and the fact that it has the DVD.

After a couple of months, I'm still happy with it. The controls are nicely designed, sound is good, but the picture is mediocre compared to current TV's.Compared to recent LCD's, even low end ones, it's so-so -- but certainly adequate for kitchen viewing.

Two other thoughts: first, it would be nice if the TV would lock in the up position with the screen hidden and less exposed to kitchen dirt and flying food. (We have toddlers.) Second, the DVD is fairly sensitive to dirty discs versus our other player.So far a paper towel and some window cleaner does the trick though.

The best christmas gift!
My husband surpirsed me with this for christmas.Since I spend so much time in our kitchen this is the perfect gift for the chef in your home.The sound and the quality of the picture are great.I think the dvd quality is much better than watching the tv.I highly recommend this!The size is also perfect, it is not to obnoxious in the kitchen.It is very sleek and discreet.

Good w/ annoyances
Got this for my wife's christmas present.In general, it all works rather well.DVD, TV and Radio (phone part untested) all work well and look good.Sound is decent.However, there are some things Audiovox ought to improve upon:

1. IR remote control reception is too finicky.It appears there are two IR receivers on the unit.One on the main unit and one below the TV screen.If you don't aim the remote control exactly perpenticular to one of those two receivers, the remote control isn't picked up.It could be the remote control shipped with the unit is weak.I can be only 5 feet away from the unit and the remote won't be picked up.

2. MP3 playback mode is weak.While it does play MP3s, it will only shuffle within folders.Also, it doesn't read the ID3 tags of the MP3 files.All you will see is the file name (which is truncated way too short in my opinion).It also isn't easy to get the CD in shuffle mode (lots of button clicks).

3. Tough to get disks in/out.You have to be in DVD mode to get a disk (CD,DVD,etc) in/out of the unit.Something you can get used to but why not allow disks to be inserted/ejected while you are watching TV or listening to the radio?

4. I have not found a way to program a TV channel in or out of the channel lineup.When the unit first powers up, it does an autoscan of all channels you can receive.It appears you can't take out any channel it decided the signal was good enough for.Same for adding a channel.

5. You are unable to use the remote to jump memory presets.For instance, if you preset a radio station (it has 4 presets), you can't use the remote to jump to that preset (same for the TV).You have to go to the main console buttons to do it.

6. The viewable screen angle range isn't too hot.For the most part, you want to be viewing the screen on center.

It is possible some of these can be circumvented, but the accompying manual is extremely terse.Still, considering the bredth of media this player can deal with, I think it was a good purchase.

Won't show color
I got the 10.4" (which is discontinued)as a present for my Dadand it was impressive right out of the box.However the picture wouldn't display with color after the unit was warmed up (DVD picture was fine - just problems with the TV picture).I had the cable company check the signal just in case but the problem was in the set.Also the clock wouldn't set right.I've reordered the 10.2" so I'll try again.

Top Notch!
Very compact, excellent picture and sound. A key feature is the ability to change the screen configuration; the default is widescreen (16:9), but you have the ability to change the proportions for a normal television picture or utilize the widescreen for DVD's.

We also found that it plays DVD+R and DVD+RW, even though that's not in the tech specs.I'm not sure about the DVD-R/RW.

My only negative is that when not viewed the screen locks only with the screen facing down toward the countertop, which isn't optimal in a kitchen.It will close in the opposite direction, but not lock.

Other than that, a terrific find!

- MDT ... Read more