MP3 Reviews

I searched through all the mp3 cd players at amazon and a few other places too. This player has the best reviews. I mainly use it to listen to audio books converted to mp3's. It works perfectly and never skips while walking or jumping around. Rechargeable batteries last about 10 to 12 hours. I'm very happy with this product. Save yourself the time of sorting through the mix of different brands and features; buy this one.

Originally purchased a memorex MP3 player MP8507 - great on paper, but skips too easily in practice. Was not a keeper. See my previous review.

In reading reviews, we noticed that many MP3 players have skipping problems. After the Memorex, this became our number one concern in finding a replacement. In short, this Philips player has solved the problem - NO SKIPPING!

When this unit arrived, we put it through the test of orientating the player in all directions, running up and down the stairs, fast walking. No skipping at all! At last something that has an ESP that works! (We did not try the snowboard test)Works with all CD-RW's, CDRs and Silvers we have - even handles the DirectCD format.

To top things off, the sound was significantly better than the Memorex (which had a low level static sound). The ear plug headphones gave a very nice sound for their size.

Only missing feature was ID3 tag support that the Memorex had. This is not missed too much since there is no load delay when CD is inserted.

Note that some places claim that this unit supports WMA files - this is not the case. It does support AAC files which is a better format. ACC is not practical for us at the moment since our DVD player supports MP3's and a free ACC encoder (decent) could not be downloaded for the PC.

Using NiMh batteries, this player is lasting well over 4 hours for us - not a problem.

For the extra $... over the Memorex, we have ended up with a player that will be hassle free - well worth the extra money for us. The Philips also comes with an AC power adaptor and belt clip (removable from the player). Lastly, the sound is excellent - even with the provided plugs. Use market headphones for even better sound. Enjoy!

This mp3 player is a good buy. Lightweight, sleek design,
and multiple features make it the leading product in its
class.

As an avid jogger, I really enjoy my neckphones small size, light weight, and portability. I got these for 30$ and added a 128 MB card which has worked flawlessly. That gives me over two hours of music at a very good bitrate. While the sound quality is only average and the radio has problems with reception, for a light, easy MP3 player, this model is excellent.

First off, i though i was buying the sencond generation, but i find after some testing, this is really a good value for a great player. The software was easy to install, and i was off and 'toasting' my mmc card in less than 30 minutes. Overall, they are heavier than other headphones, and extend farther to the side than most headphones, but you don't notice it. There is no skipping (being its an mp3) and the sound is good. I got better quality with these than my sony ones, even without the bass functions. There are 2 buttons, stop/play and Fast forward, but little more is needed. I find you can repeat songs by pressing the play button twice at the end of a song.
After a few hours of running/working out, i don't notice it at all, even though sprinting or heavy jogging will make them bounce, i have yet to have them fall off.
The radio does nothing, i can only get AM stations, and MAYBY some FM if i have my hand at the headphones, and it could really go without.
Overall, this is a good player. It comes with a 32 MB MMC card, and takes a max of 64 MB for about 50 for the memory card. Even with the lack of function and/or display, you don't notice it and begin to enjoy not having to hold onto a discman or a MP3 player. A definate buy for those lookin for a good MP3 player

I have had a set for a while and love them! I added a 128mb card to my old set and it worked well before being misplaced. I ordered a new set for a friend, and we have tried several 128 mb cards and can't get them to work. I think the first was San Disk and must have been compatible. Now, with the new ones, I cant get them to format. I also can't find the patch on the Microsoft website for XP. Can someone tell me if they have had the same problem and how it was resolved? Which MMC brands have you found to be compatible? Thank you.

This Nike FM radio isn't bad. It's small, it's light, and it's pretty cool looking.
But, if you live in a city (like New York City in this case), the reception sucks.
The thing is this: it doesn't allow you to switch the receiption mode. Some walkman type devices let you switch between 'city' and 'normal'. This one doesn't, and it really could use it.
I commute from New Jersey to NYC and while the receiption is very good for 75 percent of the trip, when I close in on NYC, the static really kicks in. In NYC, it's horrible. I can't get some of the stations at all when on the island of Manhattan.
If you live in a city, beware of this FM tuner. Outside the cities, enjoy!

This was the smallest decent quality fm radio I could find and I'm very happy with it so far. It's straightforward and easy to use, the headphone design keeps the cord from getting in your way when you're working out, and the reception is very good. My only complaints are that the headphones aren't adjustable (not a huge problem, but for smaller people, they aren't as comfortable as they might be) and the radio emits a high pitched "beep" everytime you use the up or down arrows to change stations (one beep per decimal point, which is a lot if you're going from 97.1 to 107.9!). Another minor complaint is that you have to push the buttons really hard, but that's probably because of the waterproof casing.

All in all, a very good radio. I'd recommend it.

This radio is really nice. It gets really good reception even in my old gym which was like a concrete square. The arm band is really nice to. The only thing that is bad about this is the headphones. They are absolutly horrible! They are uncomfortable and do not stay in your ears. If you get a good pari of headphones you will be very satisfied with this radio. It is really simple and can store up to 10 radio stations. It is also very durable (I have already dropped it a few times). It is also a good price for a Nike radio! I would recommend it!

For me, it was either an MP3CD player, or a flash based system. Hard drive based systems are nice, but I cannot afford to lose or drop a $250+ unit. This is also a good unit to have if you want to get into a hard drive MP3 player ::eventually:: but want to wait for the technology to advance / prices to drop.

I liked the idea of essentially having a "playlist" of songs on media that I can keep for a while and not have to erase and rewrite all the time. In the long run, managing a small collection of 8mm MP3CDs is less hassle than constantly reloading a flash based player and losing what was there before. Also, those 8mm CDs will play in 99% of computers and full size MP3CD players.

The sound quality is very good. The unit has an electronic skip protection (ESP). However, I have found that even when I am riding my bike it is hard to make it skip. Leave ESP off and your battery will last about 1/3 longer.

The only thing I wish this player did was display ID3 tags, but maybe I am asking for too much in a player this small.

This product is a great "poor man's mp3 player" Giving the perfect balance between price, portability, mp3 storage, and quality. the only problem I have like some other people here have had is battery life. Just like one of the other reviewers here said, my unit drains batteries even if it isn't turned on also. A great product though, if you don't mind using the ac adapter.

my girlfriend gave me a 64mb samsung mp3 player which cost around $70, she told me that i could take it or not, cuz she havent paid for it... so i had this one for about a week and dont even put a song on it ... i just told her to take it back because 64 mbs is nothng .... 20 or 40 extra bucks and i could get a 128 or even a 256 mp3 player... so i started lookin for an mp3 player at amazon (very good service, have bought a lot of things and everything is alway on time and works good!) and i found out that none of the mp3s avialable fit to me, soudenly i remembered i have a sony mavica cd500 which uses 8 cm cd-r media and i looked for an 8 cm cd player who played back mp3s and i found this one, the best!!!

an mp3 cd player for 50 bux is the best deal u can do

i m very pleased with this product, i bought a 5 pack 8cm cd r two days before i got it and burned those cds on musicmatch jukebox plus, i almost got 80 songs on each and the sound is incredible!!!! i pretty much like this shuffle option, it rocks!
i mostly listn to punk rock music, in a 210 mb disc at 128kbps u can get around 80 tracks

its weight?? dont worry u dont even feel it!

i just have to advise two things:

1. the ear-plug covers comes a little bit damaged because of the way its packed, but its not that bad,
2. before purchase this cd player, u most buy a pack of 2 or 4 rechargable batteries and a charger for those, cuz if u use those standar batteries u are lost and will be mad cuz they only last about 4-5 hours, not kiddin!

thank god my brother had some cybershot sony rechargable batteries and gave me a pair and my problem was solved

i think philips should have think about a carrying case or a clip on for it, i usually use the expanium for jogging or walk on mornings and i have to carry it on my short's pockets

hi i had the 64MB version of the Rover....
it was good, had a good price, but now, its TERRIBLE...
i dropped it at waist-height, it wasnt the type of thing you'd expect to do anything to it...but it just stopped playing MP3s....i contacted tech support...and they said that it wasnt covered in the warranty...
it acts as though it has no mp3s on it...displaying the red light... and Smartdisk won't even repair it for a fee or of no charge...
I've had that thing for less than 5 months- it should last a LOT longer than that...
there was also nothing in the warranty about physical damage of any kind...

if you do get this product, also note the terrible way of switching songs, or raising the volume

This is a real bargain ... It plugs directly into your pc using the usb port and behaves like another hard dive. No need to mess with software or wires. It's a real snap to drag and drop files from your pc to the Rover. It holds a lot of music files at 128 mb, especially if you rip 'em using mp3pro or wma. All this in a device the size of a cigarette lighter.
Downside: its design is too simple. Volume control and reverse/forward are on the same dial. The dial is hard to turn. When you want to skip a song you might just end up turning it up to earsplitting volumes or turning it off. This is something the manufacturer has to fix. Otherwise, a nifty little gadget.

This unit is great! It is extremely easy to use, and delivers exactly what was promised and expected.

As others have said, the single control for play/pause, next/previous track, and volume is a little strange, but okay. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is due to the combined control and lack of FF/REW.

Sure, a display would be great, but I'm sure it would cost more, be bigger, and eat batteries. The ultimate feature is that it can be used as a USB drive as well. No cables, no drivers, no nothing -- it worked like magic for me on 2000 and XP (and it supports other OSes too).

I guess it doesn't support WMA (I haven't tried, but it's not mentioned anywhere), but that's okay too since most music is in the MP3 format and there are also programs to convert WMAs to MP3s. I've tried several different bitrates and it's handled every one of them; it can even play MP3s that my PocketPC won't play.

The construction seems fine. It's plastic, but light. I thought the headphones sounded fine. I'm confident that I made the right choice buying this unit.

short version is that this is a nice mp3 player. Expansion slot for SD, solid construction (battery cover is a bit flimsy though) battery life is long. etc. etc.
Biggest drawback that negates all of the above is that they DRM crippled the little thing. It was so nice up until you find out you have to use TDK's proprietory UniFi software. Which unifies nothing. It "allows" you to copy mp3s from you system to it. And then they are dead. You can't copy them back, you can't transfer them to anything else. And here's the best part, Windows does not recognize the device unless you install the software.
It is all the software as well, if you merely remove the SD card you can move and copy MP3s to it via a reader and the mojo plays them fine. But obviously this doesn't work for the main flash memory. And you need the software to make it work... so unless someone reverse engineers the program, don't buy this.

I was quite excited when my Mojo 256 arrived. Had no trouble loading it up with music via the TDK Unifi app or via RealOne Player. Controls are simple to figure out, and the buttons are easy to control by "feel" without having to look at them. Sound quality was great, I liked the "lock" feature for jogging around the neighborhood. However, after 1 day of use, the unit locked up right after I used the RealOne Player's "Format internal memory" feature on the unit and then loaded some songs onto it. It really looked as though the RealOne player had somehow erased the firmware on the unit, as it became completely unresponsive via USB or the LCD; the unit displayed only the battery life indicator, and could only be powered off by taking out the battery. TDK tech support told me that this is impossible as the firmware is on its own ROM chip. In any case, I'm exchanging the defective unit through Amazon with no problem. I have high hopes that the replacement will work fine, as it's a very nice player for the price.

I am surprised how well it does everything. I paid $150 and was expecting mediochre performance for that money. I use it mostly for recording voice and it is very good for this and has hours of recording space and more if you add an SD card.

Only problems so far: had to cut a hole in the carrying case for the mic, no provision for an external mic, plastic case fit and look are a let down, software on PC sometimes doesn't recognise the player (shut-down and try again.)

This gadget is great-- light, cheap, upgradable, good battery life and data, voice, mp3, FM radio all in one. Hard to beat.

Now, I'm a gadget freak. I considered buying a portable DVD player so I could watch movies on the road without dragging along a laptop. When I saw this little beauty, it seemed an obvious alternative! I already had a decent MP3 jukebox, so video was my main draw here.

First, the good stuff. The quality of the video is great! Solid colors will show some artifacts, but nothing too horrible. Don't expect DVD quality here, but it's quite reasonable for the type of device and amount of compression being done.

The included recording device works great. A little tricky to figure out the interface for recording, but once I did, had no problems recording off my TV.

Sound quality of MP3s is fine. Nothing to write home about, but okay. There's a decent playlist feature and the usual play modes. I tend to get lost in the menus though.

So, some negatives. I'll try to include stuff other people haven't mentioned. A big one for me is that you can't bookmark a video! That means if you don't finish watching it, you have to remember where you were and forward to get to that spot! Absolutely horrendous. Even my little Palm device can bookmark a video. At least the new upgrade has fast forward feature that will get there quickly.

I also find battery life to be much worse than reported. My first one was so bad, I returned it thinking the battery was bad. The new one is just as bad, I get maybe 1-1/2 hour of video playback. Not even enough to watch most movies. Even most DVD players (known battery hogs) are better than this. MP3 playing is certainly better, with the screen off, but I definitely don't get anywhere near 10 hours (or even the 8 that some report). Worse, the new model has a button that does not seem to work well, I have to press extra hard to activate its functions. So there's a good chance this one will go back as well. Just wish there was a reasonably decent alternative!

The music functions are pretty inadequate. It doesn't seem to sort my records in proper track order (alphabetical instead), which is really frustrating, not sure if there is a setting for this, but any decent MP3 player should do it by default. As mentioned before, the menuing is really counter intuitive at times and I often find myself unable to find the playback screen to forward to the next song. No quick mute feature that I could find either.

Overall, it's main plus is that there just aren't many great PVPs out yet. It wouldn't take much to improve this one, but right now, it's a tough sell for me.

The Arcos is fantastic! Although I do not own one myself, my friend owns one and I get regular use out of it... what a cool dude. But to the point of my entry: When you first get the Arcos, DON'T go straight into using it without charging the battery first. This is what my friend did, and we figured this is what cause the battery to be so pathetic. He re-ordered and CHARGED the new one first, resulting in a better battery. So remember to charge the Arcos BEFORE you use it 4 the first time.

First let me say that I had delivery of my Archos AV340 one week PRIOR to the Amazon estimated arrival date! Way to go Amazon. Excellent price, too.

The AV340 is to the older Archos models as a kitchen knife is to a Swiss Army Knife. Sitting on mine right now are several hundred jazz recordings, hundreds of family photos, some family videos, the extended dvd versions of both Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, the complete stage works of Samuel Beckett (3 dvds)...well, get the picture? And yes, the video recorder does over-ride any copy protection, both vhs and DVD. The user interface is quite simple, though as with previous Archos models it does take several clicks to get to specific items much like a PC. But this is essentially a PC, so manuevering through screens seems quite natural. Loading tons of recordings onto the hd is painless, simply drag and drop. The hd shows up in XP just like any other drive.

I also purchased the camera attachment which is, again, quite simple to use. It snaps onto the side of the base unit and shows up immediately on the interface screen. The still and video quality is quite good with the proper lighting. Commercial videos copied to the hd look perfect on the small screen. Blowing up to a large screen is not the way to go. When viewed on my Toshiba 50+ inch screen the picture quality greatly diminished. Still photos looked okay, but you wouldn't want to watch a film that way. But why do this anyway?

The unit itself is a bit bulkier than the previous versions of the already bulky Jukebox series. This baby will not fit in your shirt pocket. I was rather disappointed that Archos did not include a carrying case, though curiously the camera attachment did come with a case for the whole shebang. I use the case from my Jukebox, which works quite well with the AV340.

Be sure to purchase a PDA screen protector. The unit itself is very solid but offers no protection for the screen. A case and protector are a must.

Archos reverts back to their previous ways by attaching the interface connector cover with a piece of string. Come on guys, for this price couldn't you spare a metal clip?

Last, a previous review states that the batteries are not replaceable. According to Archos they are not. However, there is an online company that sells replacements and instructions on how to do this. I have not purchased one, but it looks quite simple, and would certainly extend movie viewing time.

So what you get here is an MP3, WAV, and WMA player and recorder, a vcr (with a built in timer), a great clear screen, an excellent user interface, and a 40GB hd for about $100-$150 more than an iPOD. Throw in about another $175 (got mine for $150)and you add a video camera and a 3.3 pixel digital still camera. Oh, and it will work on any tv in the world and over-rides dvd region codes. Just like my Swiss Army Knife, the Archos AV340 is big and bulky, but I wouldn't be without it.

This item was dead out of the box for me. Look elsewhere. Normally, Creative Labs has great quality. Not this time.

Great product! I tried the Rio 500 first but the volume was week and did not give me enough control. Then I got the Nomad II. Its got great volume (7 watts I think) and when you throw in the equalizer controls (bass and treble) and the output selection (headphones or speakers) you get plenty of sound. Depending on the size of the files I can fit about 30 songs, two - three hours of music. I generally use 65kb songs.

Interface is pretty OK. THe firmware on the Nomad is good, easy to use and upgradeble. The Creative music and Nomad software is not so hot, but I don't use it anyway. Because its upgradable, I got the WMA format so I can access the Nomad through the Windows Media Player.

THe sound recording is great. I recorded a late night speech and slept through the whole thing - about 4 hours the I reviewed it all the next morning. And I can't imagine not having a radio on something I paid 250+ for.

This is the one

I started running (again) this summer and since I was already an mp3 junkie decided to buy an mp3 player to keep me company. After days of research on the net I finally decided to buy the Creative Nomad II. It hasn't let me down. I had read reviews about weak sound and problems with battery terminals but I think the sound is excellent and definitely loud enough for working out. There was a day when the sound cut out so I switched batteries only to find out later that the charge was fine. I have not had this problem again.

My Nomad II came with a small pouch and remote control, which I love. I also bought the docking station and it's awesome. I never have to hook up the USB connection, just load it into the docking station. The battery charges while you download songs. The software was easy to use but I will probably download the upgrade for the WMA format and try and use that as well. I also bought a case logic belt (that's really for a cassette player) that goes around my waist and holds the player at the small of my back. Excellent for running.

Built in memory may have been nice but the upgradable smart media cards are nice too. Right now, an hours worth of music is plenty for me. I highly recommend the Nomad II!

I have a few questions before I buy this. I have hundreds of songs downloaded on Musicmatch can i transfer them onto this product? Also it said that this has a built in battery, will it ever run out of "juice". Please email me if you know these answers. rel61@hotmail.com

Unlike some I have had the product for more then 5 minutes and it is USB 2.0 compatible and you can transfer a song a second!!!!

It is funny how people who write negative reviews always promote another product.

Anyways here is an unbiased one. Do I have an IPOD or ZEN or another product???

NO

But I do have the RipDrive and the picture AMAZON has is incorrect.

What can I say about it,I love it.

The unit has one great feature no OTHER PLAYER has. The ability to upgrade your hard drive in the future up to 137GB.

I added an 80GB HDD and it works great!!!

1.You can set your own EQ levels, make on the fly playlists and store anytype of digital files in it.

That is just for starters.

I love the fact you need no drivers to use the product and the quality of playback is awesome (especially setting your own EQ levels)

The unit also can record (it is built in) from any audio source.

It has a line in and built in internal mic. I was able to record meetings/conversations and upload those fast using my USB 2.0 system.

It also has an FM tuner and that gets good reception in my area.

The unit weighs 10oz and comes with a cool case that you can attach to your belt or side (much like a cell phone)

It is not heavy at all and feels and looks very durable.

The user manual instructions are easy to follow and written in good english.

So far I love the unit and use it to transfer all my data files.

Look around and you will see a 1GB SD card costs 300+ dollars.

This is an all in one backup solution and portable MP3 player and recorder with an FM tuner built in.

I love it. GOOD JOB POGO!

I purchased my Ripdrive from J&R Music World through Amazon at a 10% saving. Why is J&R gone now?

Well, let's review.

This is an outstanding player and certainly beats any memory card player. I downloaded ~ 7GB of music (2145 songs) to it in less than 10 minutes, so you won't have to wait an hour or more to load the player (USB 2.0). It is extremely simple to operate and has only ten buttons. For those seriously interested, I recommend downloading the manual and reading it. It has superb playback and volume. I'm currently trying to run the battery down, but it's been playing 8 hrs. and 17 minutes and the battery indicator still shows full (> 70%). However, it took 6 hours to charge from 40%. I purchased a backup battery just in case from Pogo Products for $20.00. If you play it in random (shuffle) mode, it remembers the order it played the songs in, and you can backtrack. Also, if you turn off id3 tags, it will show the previous and next songs even in random mode. The time display can run in either elapsed or remaining mode. The picture of the player is still wrong unless you get to it from ThinkGeek. (See the manual or preferably pogoproducts.com.)

It has a number of repeat options: All, directory, subdirectory, and single. It also has an A-B repeat feature. Transferring files couldn't be easier. Simply drag and drop or select and then move or copy. I simply mirrored my main music directory on it. You can browse through the files or search for a particular file. You can create playlists on the fly. Updating the firmware (mine came with the latest version) is also extremely simple. Download the latest version from pogoproducts.com and copy it into the FIRMWARE folder.

The display is fairly large (160X105) and shows just about everything that you could want. It comes with a belt clip case that allows complete access to all buttons and ports, so you never have to remove it from the case. All cables are provided, along with earbud earphones which I didn't bother to open. I also purchased an FM transmitter (Belkin - seems quite satisfactory) which plugs into the earphone jack so that I can play my music collection through car radios. It has the capability to record voice on its built-in mike or any audio source on the line in jack which can be analog or digital. It can also record from its FM receiver which allows for 20 presets. This player has a number of other features which I won't go into here but which will no doubt pleasantly surprise you. The warranty is for one year, unlike Zen. I did considerable shopping on Amazon and also physically at Best Buy, CompUSA and Circuit City. Whatever you get, be sure and check out the warranty. An Archos that I was considering had one year parts, 90 days labor, which means that after 90 days you'd probably do better to can it.

Usually when I purchase a piece of gear like this, I find a number of points that I disagree on with the designer(s), but I have to say that I really can't find any nits to pick with this player. The price is low, it has more than ordinary functionality, and the performance is great. 5 STARS! Apple eat your heart out. Addendum: I was interrupted while writing this review, and the battery now has 12 hrs. 41 min.and still shows 2 bars (40-70%).

I got this player as a gift in February. It didn't work when I got it. It took 2 months for Samsung to return my messages and finally they let me send it back. I got it back in worse shape then I got it in the first place! When I first got it, my computer at least recognized there was a detachable device. Now my computer can't detect it at all. Thier customer service is unresponsive so I finally was able to send it back for a refund. Not worth the money at all.

alright well i bought this guy last year, when it was $180! ya im an idiot-- well this was hte time where we didnt know much about mp3 players because apple just introduced the first one and only 10gb ipod. So i looked at this samsung yepp because it wasnt as expensive as the ipod. I really liked it and it was cute and i loved how it looked. It has a great back lit screen and it is easy to use. It was not worth the money! it is now, since its $70! Ugh i guess i should have waited. Anyways it was not worth $180 because it holds 5 cds. The battery power isnt very good. Another thing is the program it uses. The samsung yepp mp3 program is extremely confusing and i am a computer wiz and i still dont understand it. Anyways its a great little toy. Its mainly for exersizing, when you go out and jog and stuff like that. If i had waited, i probably wouldnt get it today, since the other mp3 players that were $400, decreased to the price i bought this one. Ya its great, but you should wait and look out for others that hold more and that are better quality.

This is the best MP3 player if you like small. Great sound and it does not skip one bit. Downloading the music onto this player is so easy. It comes with all of the accessories. It is worth more than I payed....I recommend buying it!