MP3 Reviews

The MuVo NX is the big brother to the MuVo NOMAD. The new features included make using this MP3 player an absolute breeze. There's now an LCD screen with backlight, which, despite the odd inaccuracy with the timing and the average brightness of the light makes selecting songs much easier. There's even a high quality EQ system, which allows you to use a custom EQ setting or a preset. The microphone comes in handy, though the 8-bit quality means bootlegs are out of the question! It's also much easier to navigate your music files, and a copy of Creative MediaSource is even thrown in which is superb for ripping and recording. The batteries last ages, though the backlight, EQ and jog dial tend to drain them quicker. The player can also be used as a flash drive - those used to floppy disks know the relief this brings. The 128MB is not huge, but you can squeeze on about 40-45 MP3s. Just the size of the player alone is one aesthetic quality that prompted me to buy it (apart from being a previous Creative NOMAD user).
However, the sound quality is not amazing through the standard issue headphones, and they quickly die out being so delicate. There also seems to be a common glitch with most of the NX users I know that results in a sound cut-out if the player is put down in a certain way - possibly a poor quality eadphone connection. Creative have also done away with the handy neck-cord - instead, an armband contraption is thrown in that is absolutely no use to me. The jog-dial - despite being better than the tiny switches on the NOMAD - is far too delicate.

i've owned the device for 5 mo now, and it's done a beautiful job as a "walkman" and a usb storage device (ppt files, etc.). having read every review on amazon, i was a bit concerned about the 'lasting quality' of the device, but i haven't had any trouble, even after having dropped it a few times. the factory headphs are undeniably bad; i bought a pair of sennheiser mx500s as a replacement. the irivers obviously have a solid reputation when it comes to these "compact mp3" players, but i couldn't deal with having another connecting cable (from mp3 player->computer) on my desk. the built-in plug on the muvo and its size just makes it an all around convenient little gadget. to echo a previous reviewer, if you're concerned about the 'order' of your uploaded songs, use the "copy to device" function in windows media player. oh and for those that are just doing +/-30-min workouts, 128mb is more than enough storage space.

finally, if you're really paranoid about warranties, etc. look into your credit card options - visa (platinum) said it would double the manufacturer's warranty, so that took my muvo from 3->6 mos. if that's still not enough for you, then look into buying an iriver from best buy and purchasing the additional 1-2yr coverage direct through best buy.

I love it. Small, lightweight, easy to use.

The headphones are terrible!

Not as light, not as sharp, not as fast, and not as powerful as some other devices out there, this version of the Toshiba Pocket PC takes the features out there and combines them into a package that actually is better than the sum of its parts.

It's got the latest CPU and OS which, while promising a lot, are actually slower and less capable than they ought to be. It's got a new screen, while bigger and brighter than its e740 predecessor, is not as bright and sharp as other devices such as the Sony Clie.

It IS quite expandable what with its SD AND CF slots (important for someone who already has several CF devices and memory from other PDAs and cameras!) Not to mention the built in Wi-Fi which means I no longer need to carry a CF network card.

Only issues I have are that I also bought a couple SanDisk 256MB SD cards which seem to be incompatible with this device for some reason and Toshiba merely said to check the SanDisk site for compatibility. Seems that SanDisk doesn't certify this combination so be aware of that. Also this device still has a one touch record button that always gets pushed accidentally keeping the device on and taking up memory with nothing. They really ought to remove that.

Otherwise, it's probably the best Pocket PC out there.

(Note: The only difference between the Toshiba e750 and e755 is that the latter e755 comes with a photo viewer software title on the companion CD. In fact, the machine in the e755 packaging says "e750".)

Featuring a new mobile processor, the most internal memory of any PDA, built-in wi-fi, dual CF/SDIO slots, and good battery life, the e750/e755 is close to being perfect. The compact and attractive form factor is a huge plus, as well. The new Intel processor is the star of the line-up. It's an updated version of the Xscalar processor, which wasn't getting good reviews due to lack of optimization options. The e750/e755 allows you to switch between two speeds, hence you can choose between higher speed or better battery life. Even at the lower speed, PPC apps feel quick and responsive. The battery is also user replaceable. What's left to improve for Toshiba is their lackluster customer support. Because their PPCs are made by an OEM in Taiwan rather than in their own plants in Japan, the build quality is still a bit lacking, but the e750/e755 seems to be better made than the e740, which was getting a lot of complaints.

See my e750 review for more updated details. [...]

Toshiba are the industry leader. This machine is fast, the screen is great, and the memory is completely serviceable. It gets an enum failure error which requires a soft restart from time to time, but it is fully functional, top-of-the-line. I will be upgrading to the 805.

This device is not worth the $30+ since the amplifier function is so hit and miss. With my car stereo & iPod mini the signal produced from the "amped" line-out on the charger is about 1/50th of the volume produced just by hooking the tape adapter into the normal audio-out on the iPod. I didn't even think the charger's line out was working at first until I cranked the stereo all the way up with the "amped" line out volume on max. Basically, I paid an extra $10 for a non-feature. In hindsight I should have ordered the DLO charger only for $20 from somewhere else because all I have is a charger.

I think that the folks that gave this product low ratings have electrical systems in their vehicles that are not compatible or are hooking it up wrong (somehow?). This charger should not have any effect on the hissing sound through a cassette adapter. There are many ways to use the line output with this product: If you have an aftermarket cd player that has a line input on the front of the head unit, you can use a 3$ mini stero jack cable and hook it up that way (from the ipod headphones or the Charger). Better yet, in my case my cd player has RCA line inputs on the back, so I just bought a Mini Stero Jack that splits to two RCA's and plugged them in...AWESOME SOUND!! I recommend the charger, and for me it works great!!

From my Car Stereo Head Unit, I bought a 15 dollar rca adapter to convert the CD changer port to a standard RCA Input. Go out and buy a 5 dollar RCA to Mini cable and connect that from the RCA adapter to the Auto Kit. Connect your IPOD to the Auto Kit, and away you go. The best sound you can get from your IPOD. No static Cassette, no low sound FM transmitter. Just straight RCA input into your Car Stereo.<br /> Total cost approx. 55 dollars to get the best out of your ipod while charging. After buying two cables and the Auto Kit. 1.5 years and still going...<br /> Worth the buy.

HI - I wrote a review of this earlier this year - and I am still impressed by the fact you can send computer audio or any audio throughout your house...However, it looks like as of about May 1, 2004 the website that the hardware works with is no longer active. When you are deciding whether you want this, factor that into your decision. In my case, it's still good, but I can no longer control the channels. I have to set up some audio playing on the PC first and I can't change channels. Buyer beware.

You spent good money on your stereo system, so why get stuck listening to streaming music with your tiny little computer speakers? The iRhythm is a simple, cheap and easy-to-install solution for anyone, even people unfamiliar with the technology behind it.

I just bought the iRhythm 900MHz Wireless Remote Tuner and am impressed with the software AND the hardware. Not only does it let you play streaming music through your stereo, it also broadcasts whatever you want to play on your computer: MP3s, CDs, DVDs, .wav files -- all without the hassle of stringing cords from room to room.

The tuner hardware is straight-forward, intuitive and looks just like the iRhythm software. I plugged it in and within 2 minutes, I had music from the Net playing on my stereo. With dozens of high-quality preset stations and the ability to add your own customized internet stations via the software interface, the simplicity and flexiblity make the iRhythm a winner.

It takes a lot to impress me, but the iRhythm Tuner certainly gets my vote.

The Acer iRhythm 900MHz Wireless Remote Tuner works as advertised.
Easy installation (get the software updates online), very good sound quality, a very clever device that is handsomely designed and well constructed.

In addition to being able to access a (seeming) zillion internet radio stations, the remote device can also wirelessly "broadcast" your music playlists (or internet radio) from your PC to your home sound system or headphones (using the included small remote receiver).

It is recommended that you also install the latest FREE versions of Windows Media Player and Real One Player. Somehow these players interface with the iRhythm Tuner and expand its capabilities.

A cautionary note: The iRhythm software may tell you, incorrectly, that you have obsolete versions of Windows Media and Real One Players. This slight error does not affect the functionality of the unit and can be ignored.

The unit is optimized for Broadband/DSL connections but will operate with a good 56K modem connection. If you can stream music using Windows Media or Real One Players then the device will work on your system.

Summary, it is a fun and highly practical device that enables you to squeeze more audio entertainment from the internet and from your PC.

Player does wonderfully with my over 85 aubible files but contrary to manual will NOT accept playlists from WMP (even version 9) and instead it scrambles lists back to alphabetic and frequently confuses songs from different artists.

Gateway's Support is staggeringly poor and basically they lie and cheat. After tens of emails since April and initial denials that there was any problem, every time I have asked them to take the machine back, they have said "just wait sir" the new software we are working on will solve this problem (note that the Feb 19 upgrade did nothing to help and their other solutions of reformatting (several times) and reloading all your files will just waste your time and try your patience). Finally today, they have admitted that gateway has no way of making a WMP playlist work but having confirmed this, now they say they WILL DO NOTHING FOR ME because the Warranty has expired!!!!! In other words their tactic was to spin out the customer exchange till they had an excuse to refuse to help.

If you want good audible performance and do not care if your albums play out of order, this is a viable buy - otherwise do not consider it, Gateway have no intention of supporting it further and their tech support team know nothing about the item.

I purchased this as a gift for my husband. The unit has shut down and scrambled songs twice. The unit has been replaced twice. They never repair, only replace it with another dysfunctional unit. Customer service is horrible!! No support from Gateway. What a mistake. Do not buy this unit!!!!!!! You will kiss 300 dollars good-bye!

My wife is an Ipod fan, and we frequently dispute who has the better device for portable music.

I like the Gateway jukebox for the following reasons:

1) It uses WMA files rather than MP3, AAC, or some other format. I've already ripped hundreds of my CDs into WMA format and don't want a portable device that requires me to change.

2) It accepts WMA files of 192 bps rather than the lower bit rates more commonly used. This allows for better sound quality.

3) It uses Windows Media Player, which I find to be the most intuitive software available for managing digital music.

4) It includes an FM tuner -- something no Ipod currently offers.

5) It has a sleek chrome-and-black look rather than the Ipod colors, which I find excessively feminine for my taste.

On balance, I am very satisfied with this device, but potential buyers should be aware of the following issues:

1) The software can be buggy. I have encountered problems with scrambled song titles and artist names. Make sure to download and latest firmware update and to re-synchronize the jukebox with Windows Media Player on a regular basis. Doing so tends to eliminate the scrambled data problem.

2) A serious oversight in the design process is the need to designate each album as a playlist in order to hear the album tracks in the intended order rather than alphabetical order. Once I figured this procedure out, it has been relatively easy to hear music as the artist / producter intended, but the process is counterintuitive for the beginner.

3) The FM radio needs improvement. It sputters for about 30 seconds before tuning the station. Also, for best reception, one needs to use the remote control as an antenna. This is awkward since the remote control cable makes the total cord length long enough to trip over. I find remote controls useless for portable devices and do not like having to use it to tune weak stations.

I love Sony..I even loved this Sony,,,unfortunately all the stories are true. I only gave it one star beacuse it is small and fairly well designed. For $270.00 you should get something more than software hassles because of all this protection b/s, something that works with ME when it is advertsied to work with ME, and a battery and charger that actaully works. The hassles with the software and the battery are all true. This is a lot of money, I am shocked Sony just basically leaves it to the user to resolve or live with the problems. ["buy an extra battery"..after waiting on hold for an hour...'cause mine doesn't work correctly????..what a load of baloney!!!!!!]. Here is the topper..buy a song off Real's site after downloading Real which supports this unit because Sony's software is so bad it never works correctly and has little functionality [same Sony camera-same problem...hmmmmm]then find out that the format they sell you the song in is not supported by the player in spite of the fact that they support this specific player with their software....the double helix ram balonay format is not supported by the player. The inconsideration and lack of customer comittment is unblievable to me. I am done with Sony [Get a Canon or Nikon camera and an Ipod...and I am done with Real]

I am truely shocked at the good reviews for this product. The things that are good are that it is a good petit size, excellent for someone like me who does not wanna hawl a bunch of cds around and a bulky cd player especially if you are gonna go to the gym and work out or what have you. In its most compact format it holds about 50 songs depending on the lengths of songs and using its smallest format. Othen than that everything else sucks. The battery is a piece of crap. It is a unique size which is not available in stores, so once it goes no matter what you are doing you cannot replace it with another, you have to wait until you get home to recharge it again. Since I had it I have returned to to Sony 2 times mostly casue the battery does not work right. It clearly says in the book to charge it 7 hours which i do and after a while it starts to decrease in energy. It has been a bad experience sending out the product to sony and waiting for them to return it and what have you. It has an indicator to tell you the life of the battery, mine always is blinking meaning it is low even though i just charged it. ALso it NEVER indicates the battery is full and if it does it last one song. I mean I spend 300 bucks i expect a product that works right. Not this crap. I mean i am always having issues with the battery BOTH the ones i have. Casue i bought an extra one on the side per Sonys request.... whatever. If you wanna hear the first song it is ok, but lets say you wanna hear song number 49 on your player well as you search through all the songs clicking to number 49 there goes the battery and shuts off. It is rediculous at least if you could pop a double a battery in there it wold be ok but you can not do that. So trust me the size is great but not practical, especially for this money.

Well I want to say Sony has some good points for this device and then Sony has some action items they need to work on. First off price is a concern (I think Sony is asking too much) for me becasue MP3s and multi format devices can be really cheap, so why would Sony charge more? Is it worth it? Well I suppose all the features, support, and life of the device would tell you that. JOGGERS/GYM/ACTIVE ONES - I found this device to have a below average build and durability. The reason I say this is because I take pretty good care not to be too hard, but you know you have to recharge the battery and swap cards. Well the battery door plastic clasp broke which holds the battery in the device. This happend 3 months out of warranty, Sony wanted $59.95 for repair (not with parts). So you could maybe buy another player for that cost. Mind you I was not throwing this around, dropping it, I was pretty careful, so this just came from everyday wear and tear. I use tape now to keep the battery door closed which doesn't always work and makes the player stop working. Yes I admit you see Sony and think OH I feel safe with their quality, support, etc. but I shall warn you that this device is not very durable. Yes you are getting a slew of features and formats, but be sure you realize you need to factor you are risking this breaking after a few months use I would say.

I recently bought one of these mp3 players and have enjoyed it. The 256mb size holds enough music to fill all the boring spots in school, with enough space left over to transfer a few files. The sound quality out of this thing is great. While it doesn't have a random button, it does play songs in order of insertion so grouping by sound works.
The voice recorder works great, but only records at 64k quality, compared to the mp3s at minimum 128k quality. Also, while it is enough mic range to record little notes to yourself, it can not record lectures done by teachers.
My only real gripe with this product is the trouble I have had in making it transfer files in Mac OS 9.1. Every time I try, the whole computer hangs on the copying message. Other than that, it is a handy little thing to have.

I justified my purchase of this gizmo because I needed a voice recorder. It works fine but I found out that you need to press a series of buttons to record. I needed something more convenient.

My real desire was to have a small lightweight MP3 player. This accomplishes that in spades. Very easy to use-plug into your USB port and transfer MP3s to it. Plug in your earphones and away you go.

256 megs is about 3-4 hours of music total. I've never loaded it that much. It has the most amount of memory that I've seen in a MP3 player this small. This things not much bigger than a flash drive unit. By the time you add space for the extra electronics to play MP3s, battery and a LCD screen, it's amazing that they could keep it this small.

Controls are limited. Basically you have volume and skip forward, backward. There are some equalizer presets to change the sound but no actual bass or treble control. Random would be nice but not available.

Also, it doesn't come with an armband-only a cord to hang around your neck. Not too convenient if you are going to exercise or do something that requires a lot of movement. In fact, the small size of this unit caused me to make a mistake. But it also shows that Buslink has good customer service.

I was using it when I would do yardwork, etc. Instead of using the neck cord I put it in my pocket. My body movement caused too much pressure on the earphone jack. It caused the connection to become unstable. However, I emailed Buslink with this problem and they sent me a RMA number within 1-2 days. I need to send it back but was able to jury rig it to keep working. I hate to be without it for 3-4 weeks to send it back.

In a nutshell, it's a great little MP3 player, very small, lightweight. Also functions as a voice recorder and flash drive. If you want more storage or more audio features, look elsewhere. But if you want an MP3 player that is practically unnoticeable, get this one.

I bought it too and that a nice stuff ! I bought it on ebay @ 30 + 15 shipping. cheer Target ! :)

These speakers are okay as far as sound goes. However, one major flaw is the tendency for one of the speakers to go out. You can get it going again if you have a pair of headphones and you jiggle the plug around inside but it's very touchy. All and all it makes for a very annyoing listening experience.

I don't understand why these speakers are getting such high reviews from people. They're ok, but definitely not great. They get loud without distorting, there's a decent amount of bass for their price and they're cheap. But I think anyone would be much better off getting a slightly more expensive but better set of speakers.

Harman Kardon is a manufacturer of high end audio products. This speakers were originally designed for Dell computers. The problems mentioned by other reviewers are probably due to a bad setup of the equipment, grounding problems or bad recordings. I got mine and plug them in my computer and they sounded great. At the beginning I had a problem of too much echo, but it was because of the 3d function of my soundcard, so I had to disable it to let the speakers perform well, otherwise vocals sound awful. Also I place the speakers properly, because they are very directional. Believe me, they are the best computer speakers I have heard, unbelievable sound for their size. They have very good bass though I don't believe they go down to 30 Hz as you find in their specs. They are a best buy.

I bought it last april and i didnt realize that slide lock key was too weak, and now I try to write data but a message is about the data is secure (locked).

I have tried many brands of SD cards (Lexar, Vicking, Sandisk, etc) in my palm TT, and by far Lexar makes the most reliable memory cards on the market. The are faster than any other brand. Sandisk cards are the cheapest in the market, and I bought one 256MG, and in the card only work a couple of hours and I lost all my data. Vicking is much better than Sandisk, but it doesnt have the speed of the Lexar cards. The only downside of lexar is price, but is not much, and for me is worth it. Go with Lexar, you wont regret it.

I bought this card a month ago for my new Kodak DX6340. I have not had any problem with the card and the camera. I chose Lexar over other brands because of its low price and good experience with Lexar 256MB JumpDrive 2.0. My card came from J&R (through amazon.com) and has "Made in Japan" on the back of card.

I seem to have problems getting the USB (or parrallel?) to work with XP.

So, most of the people complain about it not being compatible with Win2000? Rest assures that this no longer is valid! I upgraded to Real Jukebox 2 since the one supplied with the CD didn't work under Win ME and Win2000. Although strongly advised not to upgrade, I went ahead and upgraded to JukeBox2. I downloaded a couple of songs onto the player and test listened to them, and it worked! Win2000 doesn't recognize the USB device (the Rush), but if you supply the CD that came with the Philips Rush it will take the driver found on the CD. The Philips rush is a pretty neat MP3 player, small enough to put it into your coat pocket (the advantage over MP3CDPlayers) and has enough storage for 1 hour of near CD quality music (enough for the trip to work and back home). However it does support the RealAudio formats, hence possessing longer playback times when listening to news and similar. I agree that the power consumption of the Rush is horrible! If you decide you want this device, then BUY RECHARGABLES (best Li-Ion). Those should keep the power expenses at their minimum (my previous RIO300 had a similar problem). NOTE: The Rush doesn't recharge the batteries although an adapter is included in the package! You will have to use external recharging devices! The supplied carrying bag looks nice, but shouldn't be used (it easily opens when jumping around). Otherwise I am happy with the RUSH, it's running smoothly and happily under Windows2000, Windows ME and Windows98 (I tested it under all three operating environments).

RealONE player is the new version from Real, replacing older versions of Real-Jukebox and Real-Player. It is much, much better than the older versions. However if you install it using the method documented, your Rush player will not work (you may or may not be warned, depending if you are upgrading from Real Jukebox 1 (warning given - not supported), or from Real Jukebox-plus 2 (no warning).

The solution is to copy the previously working file pdphilip.dll from C:\Program Files\Real\RealJukebox\plugins to C:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer\plugins. Then open RealONE, and click Tools -> Preferences -> Devices -> Philips Rush (Disabled) -> Enable Device?

Note that:
a. above file locations are for Windows 2000 using default locations - other OS may differ slightly.
b. If you have not upgraded yet, save a copy of pdphilip.dll from C:\Program Files\Real\RealJukebox\plugins before upgrading - the upgrade may delete it!
c. If you have upgraded, and pdphilip.dll was deleted, re-install RealJukebox1 from your Rush CD, then remember to install the "Windows 98" Plug-in patch (as others above point out, it is needed for all OS if you use USB!), make a copy of pdphilip.dll, then install RealONE, copy pdphilip.dll as above ....

You may get away with just installing the "Windows 98" Plug-in patch - I did above before thinking of trying that?

I actually have a RUSH SA126 but expect the same applies to SA101 SA107 SA125 and SA126 - they appear to only differ in memory card size, or type of mains adaptor &/or documentation delivered with them in the box.

Does anyone know why Philips don't put a definitive statement on their site (I've emailed them several times, but never got other than an auto acknowledge email back), and work with Real to get the RUSH driver indexed from the Real "Devices" support pages.

The Philips RUSH rates:
5 stars for hardware,
5 stars for performance,
4 stars for Software BUT
ZERO for software installation instructions and
ZERO for manufacturers software support
Overall 5 stars only for those who are willing to work it out for themselves.