MP3 Reviews

Ok, if you are interested in this product, I'll assume that you already own a Rio, so I guess I can't try to talk you out of that.

GOOD - Small, easy to carry around, cheap compared to OTHER flash memory manufacturers.

BAD - Expensive compared to CD-R, MD, etc.

UGLY - Bad memory clusters will cause skips over time.

Basically, if you have a Rio, and need more memory, this is the stuff to buy. Don't try and find Camera flash cards, and figure out how to use them in your Rio. That would not only be a nuscence, but also would end up costing you more. If you don't own a Rio, and are considering buying one, take a look at my reviews of the PMP300 and the PMP500.

- E-Mail me at nairos@home.com if you have any questions -

Even though the 16mb disk adds more memory i would personaly try the 32mb disk for optmum expansion

This mp3 player is the ultimate in portable music players. The only thing bad about it is that there is only 32MB on memory in it. Also the flash memory cards are not that easy to get ahold of from where I'm at. And I believe that this item should be shipped anywhere in North America, not just the U.S!

I'll keep this short and sweet. I've had the Zen Xtra 40GB for about a month. I'm returning it tomorrow (hopefully) to get an iPod.

Pros:
- Plenty of space
- 1/2 the cost of a 40GB iPod

Cons:
- User interface is difficult to use; jog dial isn't very easy to manipulate
- Poorly designed software (buggy and doesn't work 50% of the time)
- EAX sound field manipulation is garbage - don't use it
- Can't use it as an external hard drive w/o extra drivers
- Bigger than shirt pocket
- Sync capability is practically useless and error-prone (200 of my files wouldn't sync thru Creative's driver)

The only redeeming thing about the Zen is a third-party shareware product called Notmad Explorer which is great - but unfortunately it uses the Creative driver and the Zen itself, so it's not much better.

So you want to buy an MP3 player? Well if you don't have enough cash for an iPod and/or a general mistrust of Apple products, this player is for you. The Nomad has some definite advantages over the iPod that far outweigh its drawbacks.

First, it has a massive amount of storage at roughly half the cost of the comparable iPod. The 40GB version I have is capable of holding 4000 minutes of music. Secondly, the Nomad can hold both music and Data files, so if you need to transport a few documents between home and work, this player can also do that job for you. Thirdly, music can be copied off of the Nomad as well as loaded to. The iPod only allows the user to load music onto the device (Apple's attempt to prevent indiscriminant copying). With the Nomad, you can effectively use your player as a backup for your music. Finally, the computer interface is very simple and familiar to the Windows user. The Nomad shows up like a hard drive in Windows Explorer, and you simply drag and drop music into the player.

The drawbacks of this device are few, but notable. First, the interface is nowhere near as nice as an iPod. They use a series of buttons and a clumsy wheel. It's not flashy and neat like the iPod, but I don't want to pay double just for a neat interface. If you simply must have that touchy-feely interface, Creative Labs is coming out with a Nomad Zen touch fairly soon. Secondly, the EAX sound features are utterly worthless. Unless you want to hear what your music will sound like in a church or a stadium, you wont use this feature. Finally, the organization of songs on the player could use a little tweaking. Everything is sorted by the ID tag of the MP3 file. iPod does the same thing, but I would expect something a little better from Creative labs, like being able to use folders to organize music.

So to recap:

PROS:
-Huge storage capacity at half the cost of an iPod
-Holds both data and music
-Can copy files to and from device (unlike iPod which is unidirectional)
-Simple explorer interface for moving music to/from device

CONS:
-Unimaginative control interface (will be solved when Nomad Zen Touch comes out)
-EAX audio features are useless
-File organization leaves a bit to be desired.

I had been putting off getting a digital music player in the hopes that prices would drop. I finally decided to get the Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 40GB, which was decidedly cheaper than comparable products from Apple, HP and iRiver.

Boy, this thing is the best! I used to have to lug around all my CDs, but this thing stores my entire music library (THOUSANDS of CDs!). Navigation is easy; you can search by artist, album or genre, as well as create your own playlists. It has something called EAX which is supposed to be some sort of advanced sound technology, but I don't see much value in it. Supports both USB 1.1 and 2.0; I have 1.1 and it took about 48 hours to put about 8,000 songs on it from my computer. If you listen to it about 4 hours per day, you'll need to recharge the batteries about once every 5 days (do the math if you listen more or less than that).

In summary, I LOVE this thing! It has all the functionality that I need, and it is BY FAR the best value. There's no other product that can store 40GB of music for less than $300. P.S. I listen to it while programming at work, and I've found that jazz boosts my lines of code per hour and cuts down on the number of bugs! ;-)

If you like the quirky pictures which a Holga, Diana, or other cameras produce; you will like this. I was originally angry at the poor quality of images as I wanted to use the camera for professional insurance work. But....I let it set in a drawer for six months and got it back out.
I experimented with it and got some interesting surreal results which I made into works of art with PhotoShop. This toy camera may be the beginning of another legendary junk camera.

Its an excellent camera and they should continue to sell them. It would be a disapointment if they cancel these nice camera's.I know alot of people with them and people that want to order some in canada. So please do cancel these camera's. thanks in advance

This is a great Camerar with excellent battery life!
The 16 mb of flash memory holds 180 pictures at the highest image quality setting!
I have taken over 100 pictures with the flash on and my batteries are still at full power! :)
This camera is feature packed for the low cost.
It includes a video out so you can view your pictures as a slide show on your TV.
The mp3 playback qualtity is excellent as well.
The included PC software is a breeze to use and the camera could not be any easier to set up.
I highly recommend this camera as a first digital camera or as a camera for the young photographers in your house :)

On May 29, 2004 I ordered the digital recorder, based upon the glowing reviews that I've read about the sound quality. I'm a barbershopper and wanted to have high fidelity digital recordings for the chorus web site and for learning tapes. The device is tiny, sleek and shiny like an elongated lighter. It sounded sensational with the little ear buds, but came with no protective case. On 07/09/04 it stopped working entirely. The display did not light up, yet the batteries were new (2 days old)and the battery display showed that it was fully charged the day before. I was heading out for a rehearsal, and had it on my wrist by the strap. My guess is that it must have bumped into the car door as I slid into the driver's seat. When I took it off my wrist to put on the seat belt, that's when I discovered that the display was dead. I opened the battery slide and the little coil that pushes against the battery sprung out. Without that in place the recorder cannot work. Because the failure happened more than a month after purchase, Home Depot would not cover it. Olympus is having me send it back. We'll see what happens. It's a nice device, with great fidelity, but it's incredibly fragile. I'd hesitate before recommending it.

Yes, the features of this machine are nice, but the DSS format's name "Digital Speech Standard" and Olympus's touting of it as an "international standard" are deliberately misleading. In fact, Olympus owns it and does not even make it available enough for software vendors to develop conversion software. There is no way to, for instance, convert a CD audio, or MP3, or any other audio file into DSS format in order to play it on the DM-10. If you buy the thing thinking you can load 10 hours of CD audio books onto it, you will find that instead you only get 1 hour (in WMA format). And if you call Olympus to ask about it, their tech support people based in India will just tell you tough luck.

I purchased the DM-20, which has twice the storage. I would recommend finding that one if you plan to use it much for music. It has great support for Windows Media Audio .wma and .mp3 files, and their proprietary format. I try to do everything in .wma. At the lowest quality compression setting you get a very long recording time. Navigation is easy. The controls are set out well. The LCD has good info and lots of options. The voice recording quality is excellent, especially from the remote control plug-in microphone (which might not be available in all versions).

i got this player for Christmas. The setup was fairly easy. I like the fact that i can use it was a back-up hard drive too. The Archos frimware is very iffy so i reconmend getting the rockbox one. It is better and has different fonts and even includes games like tetris. THis made the player better. It helps to have USB2.0 to help with faster tranfers. Transfers are easy becuase it shows up as another hard drive so it is a drag and drop job. Good player

Pros
rechargable battery
upgradeable firmware
memory
capability
good looks
ok battery life

Cons
size (on the heavy size)
included headphones

As a basic MP3 player its it pretty good. Its 15GB capacity should be sufficient for most users and the USB connectivity is good too. However, it is bulkier and heavier than the Creative Labs Zen.

I've had my Jukebox Recorder 15 for about six months now, been getting used to 'living with it', so to speak. In that time, I've gotten VERY accustomed with using it. Yes, like anything with a great deal of complexity in a simple package, there's a bit of a learning curve. But once you figure out how to 'handshake' with this box (and it doesn't take long), you find that it's quite intuitive, and navigating through its functions is a breeze.

Audio quality? Excellent, both on record and playback. The unit can RECORD (which is VERY nice) via a line-level analog or digital input, which makes this a great device for hooking to a line-level output from a stereo to transfer pesky non-digital sources such as vinyl or tape. It can handle qualities up to 320kbps in constant or variable bit rates. Playback audio is excellent and rather powerful for a portable device.

The internal battery is very convenient, IMHO...all it takes is a few hours of charging and you can get some 10 or so hours of playback time. No running out to drop some dough on more batteries needed, nope.

BUT...that's not all, folks. The nice thing here is that this also can function as a removeable drive, with USB transfer capabilities. So you can cram some MP3s in there, some large project, etc etc...and take more than just music with you. This'll be convenient for anyone who has to transport large files, such as multitrack session files for music types, or big graphics files for artists, or some specifically-needed piece of software that needs to move around, etc etc. Use your imagination, you'll find uses.

Plus, of course, this works with anything...sure, you can make an iPod work with a Windows box, but it's not quite so 'happy'. So with this being more 'generic', it seems to help with ease of use/connectability issues for different platforms. Just find a USB port and get busy.

The only flaws here lie in the headphones. They're pretty uncomfortable. But this is easy enough to remedy and, in fact, WORTH remediation by getting a much better set of 'cans' and using those with the Jukebox Recorder 15. You can appreciate the excellent quality of audio you'll get out of a well-encoded MP3 with this box that way.

I'm planning to take mine into some studio sessions I have coming up next month (June 2003) so that I can convert and 'dump' various mixes of tracks in MP3 format to the box so that they can be reviewed outside the studio, at leisure. It's good enough, IMHO, that even semi-pro-type usage of Archos's machine in this way is warranted. Very cool little machine, this.

I purchased the EM500 as my first PDA, along with a 64MB MMC card. The card allows me to store vast amounts of data and music on MMC, compensating somewhat for the barebones 16 MB of RAM permitted in this device.

Due to technological changes by Microsoft, the EM-500 and most other Pocket PCs on the market as of August 2001 cannot be upgraded to the new Windows Pocket PC 2002 operating system.

Assuming you need to buy a PDA before the new generation of Pocket PC 2002 PDAs reaches the market, the EM-500 is a great choice.

The video quality is excellent. The unit design is simple, sturdy and elegant. The included applications are more than sufficient for the average PDA or MP3 user. The success of the character and handwriting recognition software in translating simple messages was a pleasant surprise.

For added convenience, buy Casio's EM500 docking cradle.

I love PDA's (and computers in general, for that matter) and this is an excellent device. There was a time when I swore by Palm's pda's, but while Windows CE (now known as Pocket PC) has evolved to near-desktop power, the Palm has remained virtually unchanged. Of the Pocket PC's available, this unit is the best compromise of size and power. It packs a 150mhz cpu (more powerful than the HP Jornada, less than the Ipaq), 16mb of ram, and an amazing screen capable of displaying 16bit color. The Ipaq and HP Jornada can both only do 12-bit color at best. All of that is packed in a comfortable, small device that feels extremely solid in the hand.

While I do believe the EM-500 is probably the best unit available, it does have a few draw-backs. The miserly 16mb of ram is hardly enough... if you buy this make sure to get a 32mb or 64mb memory card to go with it. My other complaints are minimal: lack of hardware volume control, location of IRDA port... but none of these minor issues really impact the usefulness of the unit.

Definitely a great PDA, and well worth the money

This is a great pda for the price and it works well with windows which is a major plus. I am a med student and use mine to reference material quickly (it makes me look like a genius). Anyway, it has lot of other app as well so you can use it to play your fav song... on the train/bus or edit email or read a book... I COULD GO ON AND ON... anyway, good deal especially if you find one used.

I was in the market for a new MP3 player and was absolutely overwhelmed when I started my research and found all the brands, options, price ranges and reviews on all the various types. I had very specific features in mind and was surprised that hardly any of them had all the things I was looking for. Or, if they did, they got not-so-good reviews. Finally, after much searching (and crossing my fingers) I settled on the iRock. I have had itfor apx. 2 months now and am happy as can be with it. I use it mostly for exercizing and air plane flights- and it works perfectly for both!
The software is very easy to use, it holds a resonable amount of music, the sound quality is excellent, the display is easy to read, the menus are easy to navigate, the head phones are better than most, it's so light weight that you barely notice it's there, it's got a belt clip for exercising, it's got a great battery life, it's sturdy, the FM radio comes in surprisingly well, it's easy to download music and it was fairly inexpensive! The ONLY things I wish is had: a clock and the ability to expand memory. I don't write reviews often, but this little guy inspired me enough to do so. Two thumbs up!!!

After looking at a number of MP3 players, the iRock 860 can't be beat in terms of value over cost. Not only is this player affordable, but it speaks volumes about product design, quality, durability and usability. Everything is designed to be compact but within reach, easily accessible by using only one hand to hold and manipulate the player's play/pause, and song skip buttons. The player is sturdy, holds up well to normal usage, and has a feel and appearance that will make you take notice. I have taken this player from Shanghai, to Hong Kong, to Taiwan, back to the US, and it has yet to fail on me after all this traveling. Audio quality is great, it acts like a USB drive (no drivers necessary, just plug it in and go) and it even has about 30 hours of life on a single battery! How great is that? If you need a simple to use MP3 player with basic functions and a long lifespan, look no further than the iRock 860.

I was just looking for a cheap flash mp3 player in the $100 range for me to use while running, but I am impressed with the quality I got in the iRock 860. The build and interface of the unit seems solid and quite attractive, especially with the included protective case/beltclip. As someone that detests Musicmatch, I was greatly relieved that I could manage songs using my software of choice, Windows Media Player; file transfers are simple if a little slow (due to USB 1.1). In action, the player sounds great and is loud enough to overcome a roomfull of noisy treadmills at the gym. People looking for encycleopaedic features and lots of memory should buy a hard-drive player first, but flash players are the only way to go for exercise, and I have no qualms in recommending this player.

I just baught this unit from costco. I think its a worst unit. I cut two mp3 cds of 650 mb capacity TDK one. None is working, But these CD's are working on other player and on my desktop.
Normal CD works but Quality is not impressive. SKIP protection is very very bad. I think mucic player is not entirely a field for Casio. They put there mind somewhere else.

I have yet to be able to hear even 1 song on the player, even normal CD's don't work - everything sounds like the chipmunks. Trying to deal with casio support is a joke - nothing on their web site (web site listed in manual doesn't even exist) and only 1 number in the manual that is open for 8 hours a day monday-friday. After 1 hour on hold (wasting my lunch hour at work) they said it is defective and they can't help without having the player sent to them or to return it where it was purchased from. I feel like I just wasted my money and time trying to deal with the problem - it is not worth it.

Not sure why there are negative impressions of this unit. I received as a gift for the holidays '01 and it's worked great every since. I almost always listen to CD's I've burned and the unit has always recognized them. In fact, I wanted a unit that would be able to read CD-R's, CD's. and MP's. The unit has done this flawlessly. The headphones are comfortable and sound quality is good. Overall, this is a super value in comparison to MP3 only players with expensive memory add-ons. The only drawback is I wish their was a rechargable battery included.

It is nice. Protects my pod well. It also keeps the pod from slipping off the table. Only bad is that the raised cut holes for the < << || >> > make it difficult for the common functions.

This is a great case. The only problem is that the holes for the buttons are a little too small if you have big fingers, but once you get used to it, it is a great product.

Originally i bought the best case i could find. It was leather, it had a belt clip, and a screen cover. After having it for about a month, i realized how useless it was, since it did exactly the opposite of what a case is suppose to do. The small translucant cover began to rub against the screen in my pocket and left it brutally scratched. As for the belt loop, if your a high school student like me, do you really think its a good idea to leve your 300 dollar iPod out on your belt??? no. There is only 2 small annoyances with this case

1. its made of a coarse rubber and is at times hard to coax into your pocket

2. the 4 top buttons are somewhat hindered by the thickness of the cover, but its not a huge problem, you just have to poke as opposed to tap

believe me, this case may be the cheapest, but in no way reflects its quality, pick one up today!

So, I bought this for my lap top, and not knowing much about burners I kind of had to guess which to get.

Let's start with the bad then end of with the good:
1. Yamaha never sent me the rebate that was advertised with the burner. So, it makes this burner a little more pricey than others
2. The burning software is a little bit buggy and often does an illegal operation and shuts down. however, it hasn't really affected it too much because it usually does the error when you are shutting it down anyway.
3. I often lose sound on my regular cd drive when playing discs and on the hard drive when playing music. but that could be my own computer's fault.
4. I bought the drive thinking i could use it with headphones since it's portable. well, you need an outlet to get power, so it's not something you can use to run off of batteries. I also thought it could store MP3's, which it doesn't, but that's pretty much my own ignorance when it comes to these things.

Ok, so the good things:

1. it was really easy to install
2. it records music very quickly
3. the sound quality is good
4. you can plug it into a receiver and play CD's that way without having to buy a separate cd player for your stereo.

well, anyway, I hope this helps!

A wonderful cool looking device that immediately worked under Linux. Only problem: Most computers (such as my notebook purchased last year) do not have a usb 2.0 port. The drive also works with the old usb 1.1, but will only run at a speed of 6x instead of 24x.

So you will have to buy a usb 2.0 port card in addition to this drive. Apart from that it would be 5 out of 5 stars:

The buffer-underrun-protection works wonderfully, and that it can play mp3 cds without the computer being connected is just another plus.

Linux 2.4.19 will have usb 2.0 drivers included, they are already in the 2.4.19pre3 code.

Michael
PS: Windows XP worked also, but Linux is just better ;-)

they trim/slim considerably that brick the R&D Yamaha people call a power supply!
What were they thinking?