MP3 Reviews

I liked the interface of this player, but it has some real problems with skipping. At first I thought it was a problem with the media I was using to burn my CD's but then I used the media shipped with the product (you get 3 free CD's with the player) and found the player still skipped. The player would skip even without movement, at random, even in ESP mode, and while playing MP3 CD's. (With ESP off it almost wouldn't work.) Also, the player has no Hold switch. (The hold switch keeps you from accidently pressing buttons when the player is in your pocket or purse.) I returned it. You shouldn't buy it, go for a RioVolt or something from a more reputable company, like Sony, Panasonic, or even Phillips. Even if it costs a little more, you'll end up saving yourself the hassle of returning it. The interface and four line display, radio, and headphones are all very nice, much better than I expected, but that doesn't make up for the skipping.

This is a great MP3/CD Player, don't get me wrong. It has excellent sound, easy navigation, and even an AM/FM radio. But the battery life is HORRIBLE. My batteries barely lasted 1 day (one hour to work, one hour home). I cannot replace batteries every day, or even every other day. I will be returning this model for something else.

I needed something to play mp3/cd's and initially got it because of the high anti-skip time and its price. i first ordered a panasonic then cancelled it once i found out that it skipped a lot. the reviewer who got 'one day' (2 hours) battery life must have been using very low quality or already used batteries. first day i used it for 4 hours straight on kirkland signature batteries (mediocre costco brand) on mp3 with 120ESP, the batteries didnt get on low, and im stilling using those same ones now. Today I used this biking, street as well as bumpy trails, and it did not skip once in mp3 mode. Sound quality is good. I'd say the only negative thing it is not too big generally, but it is kind of thick. I also played mp3's from 56kbps-192kbps, had no problem playing any of them, but before I did my first CD i did what the other reviewer reccommended, making the files less than 26 chars. The radio is OK. The seek function isnt very good, so if you know the to the dot address of an FM or AM station, its better you do it yourself with tune. For Example: it picks up Power 106 (which is really 105.9) as 106.0, but once manually reset it sounded much better. good luck

I've found two deficiencies with this product, that make it (for me, at least) unacceptable.

1. Sound playback (e.g. using the voice recording capability) is way too soft, through the unit's built-in speaker. Its barely audible, even with playback volume at its loudest setting. Using the included earbuds, it provides adequate sound volume (e.g. normal voice level), so its not a problem with the recording sensitivity, but rather the playback. I thought I might have gotten a faulty unit, but I also tried a second one, the playback volume problem was the same. When I demonstrated the problem to a store clerk, even he admitted that it sucked.

2. The product is advertised as being able to play MP3s, but you can't just copy them to the SD card, you have to use the included software to import them, which will wrap your sound files with "digital rights management". The software appears to want to install DRM on your computer, and if you decline, the software just crashes. For me, this is false advertising, and then you also won't be able to interchange your music with e.g. your PDA. Would you buy a cassette player/walkman that required special software to "install" your audio on the cassette, but then only allowed you to play that audio on that particular player?

Aside from the above two problems, the camera functions OK in daylight, but the flash is underpowered, most of my nighttime pictures did not come out.

Its too bad the above two deficiencies are so bad, I really wanted to like this device, its really quite small, thin, and light, a pleasure to carry in the pocket or around the neck. But at its price point, with the above two (easily fixable) problems, I'd rather return it and get something else.

p.s. The box lists an 800 phone number for technical support, but after navigating the voice menu and waiting 10 minutes on hold, the technician tells me its the wrong phone number for this camera. Ugh.

First of all, if you're looking for film-quality photography, you ought to go with film. And if you want professional looking digital prints you ought to get something nice... but this thing, compared to all the other cameras I've seen, is ridiculously perfect for having a camera when you didn't know you would need it. I had been looking for something very small for a long time and I finally found this. I mean, you want to take this thing everywhere, it's so conveniently small. And for snapshots, it's got a pretty decent design and is very easy to use. Setting things up with that orange joystick thing isn't the best, but you don't need to use that to take a picture, just to set up your options and do things in editing and while using other media. The resolution you can get with this is unexpectedly good for such a tiny little lens. I have to admit, trying to use it as an mp3 player just isn't worth it, and if I were you I would not buy it for music. The video looks like video from most other still digital cameras, not great but very convenient if you need a video clip of something quick. And yeah, the supplied card is a joke. Order a bigger card when you order this. I found this camera for $200 elsewhere... so shop around.

For size and build quality, this little item is superb. It is a technological marvel, being so light, yet so functional. The picture quality is excellent considering it is a 2MP camera, but the digital zoom is a little too sensitive. When the zoom is on max, a little movement is captured or the picture is blurred. In normal mode, the pictures are superb. Very sharp, clear and light capture excellent.

The user menu is pretty much self-explanatory, and easy to use. The ball button, is a little annoying at times as it is not the fastest method of navigating through menus.

The video feature is again surprisingly good, with sound capture superb, and video excellent. Again the zoom lets this feature down too. It seems the best way to use the camera/video is by not using the zoom at max or at all.

As an MP3 player, the AS10 does a good job, but is let down by the software. The Jukebox software is long-winded and complicated. It would have been much better if the software allow click and drag of files to the SD card.

Unlike general digital cameras, where the camera if it accepts SD cards it will also accept MMC cards, the AS10 does not accept anything bar the SD card. This is worth bearing in mind.

The product is self is lovely, the cradle, rechargeable battery are all good features and the AS10 also comes with carry case, although not very protective. Due to the size of the AS10, it's very handy to carry around everyday, as you never know when an exciting photo opportunity may come. Also it would have been nice if Panasonic could have supplied an SD card that is larger than 8mb.

PROS: Intuitively arranged buttons. Good design.
CONS: Eats batteries in less than 7 hours. Complicated file transfer software (unlike other players, which can be accessed as a hard drive letter in Windows Explorer). And worst of all... Secumax! It prevents the transfer of mp3 files from player to PC, allegedly to discourage piracy. I work around this problem by renaming the files by its initials to make it less recognizable by the software. After renaming, files may be copied to the PC. I wonder if a standalone USB media reader could bypass this protection too. Nonetheless there are other players in this price range, with similarly good build quality, which offer friendlier features.

Like some other reviewers, I was disappointed with the lack of remote control and FM radio. But for the price, I believe this is a very good piece of electronic machinary. The controls are intuitive, sound is clear, and the software is easy to use. However, there are a few things that kept it from a 5 stars. First of all, the fact that this player can only accept up to 64mb of flash memory is a disadvantage. Secondly, the earbuds that came with the player isn't very comfortable and isn't of high quality. Despite some of the flaws, I think this player is one of the best ones you can get if you are on a budget.

This Mp.3 PLayer is So...I BoUgHt ThIs ItEm ThInkNg iT wAs A GoOd dEal aNd It wAs. It'S sO EaSy tO uSe aNd Is So PeRfEcT WhEn eXcErIsIng Or DoInG aNyThInG u NeEd To dO, ThE ExTrA sMaRtMeDiA cArDs ArE So...aT LoW pRicE I woUlD rEaLlY eNcOuRaGe YoU tO BuY tHiS iTem.

I bought it because it looked nice and because it uses Smart Cards, but it is a flop. The menu is impossible to navigate, the manual not helpful at all, and the software that comes with it is basically useless. The manufacturer does not offer the patches required to make it work with Windows XP. The letters on the screen are hard to read. Good sound and the FM radio included is a good feature, but it is not worth the hassle of going through the installation. The buttons are confusing, too many functions in too few buttons. The remote control is even harder to use.After trying to instal it in a brand-new laptop I gave up and had to return it. Why not paying a bit more and getting a hard drive memory MP3 player with several GB that will allow one to store tons of music...that's what I did and bought a Zen NX Jukebox with 20 GB. I transferred all the music I had in my 7 128 MB SmartCards and still have over 17 GB to go!

I brought this player after looking at mp3 players for months.It simply is beautiful......
Advantages:
The MPIO FD100 has 128 mb built in flash memory
(there is a 256 version).
Fm tuner, voice/fm recording, mp3 player and remote control.
Memory slot Smart Media Card 16/32/64/128 MB
It's compact and stylish.
Earphone's are comfortable.
Firmware is upgradable.
EQ has 7 modes.
The remote has a cobalt blue LED backlight backlight single line.
Player has a graphic LCD indigo blue LED backlight 4 lne.
Format Supported MP3(8-320 Kbps),WMA (5-192 Kbps), MPEG, ASF
Has an internal mic, uses 1 AA battery, Can be used to store data files also. You can navigate files while you listen to your music.
Files can be stored in folders.
Has a speed control function use for multi language support.
Connects via USB and you download your files via the MPIO Manager2 to player.
Also a plugin for Win Media is provided.
Setup is a breeze.
In the box:
User"s Manual, Mp3-Player, Product CD, USB Cable, AA Battery, Carrying Case, Hand Strap, High Quality Earphone, Dust card, Remote Control and Belt Clip. (Player comes in 4 colours)
OS supported PC win 98/ME/2000/XP
MAC ver.X
Dis-Advantages:
Upgrade Mpio Manager from web site as interface is unable to resize. Fixed with new version.
Unable to support Smart Media cards larger than 128 mb according to manual.
Suggestion get encoder for MP3 encoding.
I gave only 4 stars because I was not happy with software.( Not the MPIO Manager the other thing that was included)
I Use MusicMatch Jukebox Plus and hopefully support would be added in the future.

This mp3 player is great!! It looks better than I thought. The manual doesn't help though. That is the only thing that sucks. You could make playlists too - I didn't know this until I made a playlist. It comes with downloading software - .99 per song.

This player may not have FM radio, but it does have nice clarity, sleek design, and reliability knowing that it comes from the best, Rio. There is no way I'm ever owning a heavy, bulky cd player again.
It holds about 2.5 cds at a time(30 songs)and comes with updated software, which is neat and easy to use. It has a great price and holds all the music you will need. The earphones are "buds" with 4/5 rating on comfort and clarity. Holds right in your pocket for on the go travel. It has a nice joystick, and seems will last a good while. And if you want to change the music,put it in the USB port and put more on! It's that easy. So if youre looking for an affordable Mp3 player, this is the one to get!

After waiting so long for the Rio Fuse to arrive (it had been on backorder for a while), I was pleased. This is the second Rio product that I've owned, the first being the Rio 800.

It is so small and so tiny and if you have very good eyesight, then good luck. The font is so small and the buttons even smaller. The Rio Music Manager program is not that difficult. Anyone can transfer music onto this player and there are no cables and wires to fuss over.

The only problems that you may run into is the menu on the Rio Fuse player itself. Again, I said the font is small and the buttons are even smaller. It might take getting used to. The other problem that I had was plugging it in the USB port. There were other wires that were in the way so I couldn't get to the USB port and when I did manage to plug it in, my keyboard lost its connection. So you might have to make some connection sacrifices like I did.

Other than that, I just love the Rio Fuse. It's not a big and bulky player like a CD walkman and you can slip it in your purse. You might also want to get some rechargable batteries, because although it comes with an Energizer AAA battery, it will run out really fast.

A couple things I noticed were that when I took it out of the packagethe joystick was bent to the left a bit down at the stem so fixing it is impossible. Folks at rio said they wouldnt replace it because it was "customer abuse" and as others have said it interpheres with other cables although i can just barely slip it in. Updates via Rio Music Manager are ongoing which is great, and transfers are fast. Although I dont go for the quality of music i go for quantity. If you use Windows Media Player Sync for transfering your mp3s you can fit well over 70 songs on this thing. Ive owned this for about 7 months now, dirt and dust gets underneath the screen but you can crack oopen the bottom and blow it out, also the screen gets very scratched for me just get some plastik sandpaper (about 2000 grit) and some toothpaste and sand it down. I keep mine fairly glassy. Another Con about the fuse is its inability to accept external memory, but doesnt bother me as much as other people i know that owns it. 70 songs is good enough for me. Other than what I have said I would probably get a Rio Nitrus if I was put back into the place of buying it. about 10 times the space and just over 150 dollars makes it a great competitor with the overly expensive Apple Ipod Besides who has 40 gigs of music except a radio station...Nobody thats who

I am looking for a cd player that can play mp3s. This one looks good and i have a few questions to someone who owns this product... does it play regular sized cds or does it only play the new minidisc things?? is it easy to control?? is the size small and compact? and my last question... whats ATRAC3? can you please explain what it is to me... thanks for your help please answer my questions if you want..

I must say, I was a little hesitant at first to buy this product. After receiving it not 3 hours ago, I can clearly state this is one of the best combinations of price, features, usibility, and duribility EVER concocted by ANY portable audio company\makers!!!! Even though this player does not have any of the preset EQ's of a panasonic, or the shiny-ness of an RCA, or the super unnecesary anti skip of an iRiver, it is in my opinion still one of the best in the biz. I was really looking for a cd player than had an LCD display on the lid, and walla, this player has a crisp and clear dot matrix with enough room to display pretty much everything you need.
The digital bass is some of the strongest, richest sound production I have ever listened to, and it completely makes up for the lack of preset eqs (that are on panasonic players). The balance of sound is mastered. And trust me, i listen to everything...Punk, Heavy Metal, Pop, Classical, Jazz, Blues, Johnny Cash (heh heh) Techno, Dance, you name it, i listen to it.
The controls are very cleverly placed on the lid and on the sides. They are easy to find and use.
Another clever design desicion i found is that the players lid opens sideways when compared to the LCD screen. This is because the AA batteries go in the back of the player, behind the horizontal LCD. This causes, when the player is put on a flat surface, a ever so slight increase in the readability of the screen, but not so noticible as to take away the style and smallness of the player in general.

All in all, get this. Im serious. Stop reading and buy this player. Really stop. Im not kidding!!!! GRRRR BUY IT!

this is my first time reviewing anything online, and the reason i feel compelled to do so is because i think that this discman is an absolute must for anyone out shopping for an mp3/cd player (Especially one for the car). i have spent quite a bit of time researching for the best cd player out there, have owned quite a few, and without a doubt this is the best one. where to start... the battery life is fantastic at 95 hours for two AA's. it's wonderfully slim and sexy, stylish and elegant in all the ways good electronics are. sound quality is great... some other discman's (panasonic), seem to sacrifice sound quality or the volume tops off at a level you cannot hear over the subway roar (not this one, this will break your ears at full volume...break them). it features fantastic antiskip... the thing will put the current song in memory after 10 seconds and stop it from skipping, making skipping virtually impossible (ie: you can hurl it at a homeless person and it will not miss a beat). the ease of switching between songs in mp3 or atrac form is unsurpassed. the id tagging here is perfect, but the big news, and the thing that makes me absolutely enthralled with this device is the jog dial. not to exaggerate, but the jog dial is the greatest invention since the typewriter... and more useful than water or air. it allows you to easily roll your way through hundreds of songs or folders in seconds. it is so simple that i am shocked other companies havent thought of this sooner. in many other players you have to tap a button a hundred times to get to the song you like... doesnt that suck? no one likes tapping!! here you roll, and its much faster and easier and looks cool as hell. what else to say? there are no problems with this discman...its perfect... it looks great, the buttons all make perfect sense in their placement, it works better than any discman i have ever seen or read about.... and if youre looking for the best you cannot do any better (Serisouly, even those more expensive ones out there arent more functional.... sure they look like miniature ufo's...but they dont have no jogdial).
enjoy it.

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

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.

From the slick, ultra-slim design to the rechargeable battery pack with a long playing time (55 hrs. with the pack, 95 more hours with the additional AA battery plug)and optical line out, Sony delivers a top-quality MP3/ATRAC cd player with a back-lit remote. The software to make the ATRAC files is easy to use (at least I had no problems with it), and the sound is excellent. The only flaws thus far are the weak headphones supplied (get Sony's MDR-33 or MDR-55 headphones instead), the cumbersome additional battery plug, and the needless charging stand (you can charge the batteries by simply plugging the cd player into the wall and press the "charge light" on the side).

This product performed in exactly the manner it describes - it uses 3" CD-R media to make for a less bulky package than full size MP3 players. It supports WMA and MP3 digital formats, which was a requirement for me. It's useful as a storage device when I'm back visiting family. Installation and operation are a breeze. Included headphones are of above average quality.

The battery issue is this products only downfall. It uses a proprietary battery which lasts aroun 4/5 hours for my use, and can only be charged in unit. The charging only takes place when you have it connected to the power supply and you turn the unit off, not exactly the most obvious charging manner.

The battery issue alone is not enough to part me from this great thing

I recommend this to anyone who loves the idea of a CD-mp3 player that's versatile, feature-rich and has great accessories.

What makes this little guy so special? Well, other than having a backlit display with ID3 support, support for both variable-bitrate MP3 and WMA, coming bundled with a mini-version of Nero, flash-upgrade ready and pretty decent headphones when compared to the competition, the RipGo! is a portable CD burner!

While burning at 4x (slow compared to modern CD-burners, even most portable ones), the RipGo! offers versatility that no other MP3 player in its price range can match. At work and just bought a new CD? Pop it into the CD player of your computer, convert the music to mp3 or wma and download it directly onto a new or partially-fully 8cm CDR via the included USB cable.

The only real downside to this machine is the power issue. It uses a 6v 2amp power supply (that's 2000mA). Most DC adapters use between 500mA and 850mA, so in order to take this on the road, I had to buy a AC/DC inverter that could handle the amperage and just plug my AC adapter into it. The proprietary Lithium-Ion battery also takes about 3 hours to charge up from empty (not that bad if you charge it overnight or while listening and plugged into an AC outlet), but only lasts for 5 hours (that's 5 hours of plugging it in and letting it go without touching it and lighting up the back-lit display, I suspect. Kind of short for most mp3 cd players.

I tend to use it plugged into a wall outlet.

Pros:
1. Size (4"X6")
2. Included accessories (headphones that don't hurt, a slimline AC adapter, USB cable, 2 8cm CDRs and an installation disk with sample music and software.
3. Flash-upgradable.
4. It's a burner as well as a player.
5. ID3 Support with foldername support for easy navigation.
6. MP3, WMA and CD-Audio playback.
7. Backlit display with contrast control.
8. Random (Shuffle), Repeat & Equalizer settings.
9. Set-up is a breeze with WinXP.

Cons:
1. Battery is proprietary. 5 hour life, 3 hour recharge.
2. Power supply is needy. 6v 2000mA. Good luck finding accessories for the car.
3. 8cm CD means fewer albums per disk, but I've been encoding my music as 64kb WMA using Windows Media Player and get good sound. It's also really hard to find good 8cm CD wallets. Amazon offers some good Case-Logic wallets and holders, but the one I decided on had to be to ordered direct from Case-Logic.

The RipGo unit performs as it's advertised. It burns 3" CD-Rs (not CD-RWs) of 185M and 210M capacity via USB port. Although only rated at 4x, lower capacity of the discs make burns at 4x tolerable. The unit does not have buffer underrun protection, however I have not had created any coasters burning 10 discs using Nero software. Playback of MP3 and WMA files is reliable and with no skips during walks. This player can play much louder than most portable units sold today and preset EQs functions very well. The unit also has balance control and random play option. The behind the head headphone is typical inexpensive units packaged with portables and you would want to replace it with a better unit.

After about 4 months of light use, the lid hinge broke on the unit (break in the plastic tab due to defect). Although it was explained to them that the unit was never dropped and was always kept in a case, Imation customer support was very quick to blame me for dropping the unit. They finally agreed to repair the unit under warranty but upon repair, again they insisted that the unit was dropped. It is not a very pleasant experience when the customer service does not believe the word of the customer. Although the merchandise works as advertised, the treatment of their customer service makes me think twice about purchasing any other Imation product.

First of all, I couldn't find a board to post my review on AT&T wireless, so I had to choose to review some product. I'm giving 4 stars to it since I heard this is a good phone.

However, what I want to do today is to WARN YOU that AT&T WIRELESS SUCKS. Their customer service can provide wrong information and force you to pay more than you should.

Here is my story. I had a AT&T wireless phone, but for personal reasons I wanted to cancel it. It was 2 months before the contract would expire, so I confirmed with the CSR that I would have to pay the $175 cancelation fee, which is actually reasonable and under contract.

But, but, at this time he gave me wrong information. He suggested that I suspend the account for 2 months and cancel it afterwards. I was a little doubtful but, since this was the information directly from a CSR, I did as what he told me to do.

Then, 2 months later, I called in again. This time a different CSR said that time of suspension does not count in the contract. This means I must wait for another 2 months, and pay, before I can cancel the account. Unfortunately I don't have the conversation record with the first CSR due to a system crash, so I have no strong evidence to support myself.

It is all OK to me since I am not using the phone anyway, and it only costs < $100 for 2 months. However, I can't stand the fact that CSRs provide wrong information and mislead customers. AT&T has lost a customer forever, and I bet they will lose more once more people know about their bad customer service.

AT&T WIRELESS SUCKS, DON'T BUY AT&T WIRELESS

Would have been 5 stars, but . . .

Sony claims that they worked hard to make the phone compatible with iSync on the Macintosh, unfortuantely it isn't fully compatible. Multi-day and all-day calendar events won't transfer over. When contacting Sony, they say they don't support the feature and I need to contact apple. Doesn't sound like they worked too hard after all.

I love this phone; its small, has a tremendous amount of features, and has great synch abilities. Although the camera quality isn't the greatest, its made for a phone...if you want high quality, buy a digital camera. That said, quick photo snap is nice and the menus fly by in a breeze. The reception I am getting on ATT is great!

I know there have been complaints on activating this bad boy, but I really didnt have much of a problem. If you get the phone through Amazon you are going to have to call ATT in order to activate your SIM card and be able to start making and receiving calls. I called 1-888-288-4202 and talked to a guy named Nikolai who got my stuff straight within 30 minutes. The only problem was that a day after I had called him it still read 'inactive SIM', but on a whim I powered it down and then back up and it worked. My advice to anyone getting this phone is to call that number and let them activate it, then wait like an hour and shut down your phone and then restart it...it should probably be rearin and ready to go by then. Again, great phone and great features!!

I installed the drive with no problems. My computer and Windows 98 recognized it right away. Then I installed the software, and the nightmare began. The company touts it as simple, and indeed it is...there is almost no user interaction involved other than copy and paste. That's basically the problem. You never know what it's doing, there is no way to determine if it's doing anything, and more than half the time it isn't. I have had to copy and paste several times on the same file to get it to record and it is very irritating. Drive 4, software 0. Buy something with better software if you can afford it.

I read all the comments from the other reviewers, and it seemed like a good drive. But, mine arrived without User's Manual, and NOT A SINGLE CD OF SOFTWARE. It only had a Quick Start guide, wich is a joke. The drive itself is very good, but be very careful...you could be dropping extra (big) bucks for software that *should* be included in the package...also, Ricoh tech support, although fast (at least in my case), gives some very, very stupid solutions...

The hardware and software are both easy to install and use. I like the software's capability that allows me to just copy and paste my MP3s onto a blank CD for recording. It's a great product combination for the price!