MP3 Reviews

i got caught to with the cm800 it plays fine and all but i cant make any directories if lcd doesnt work i did happen to notice if you let it get cold ( leave in car) overnight in winter
the lcd works for a minute i dont know if this tidbit will help in getting support for repair but it plays still should be a factory recall or voucher

If you don't mind burning your own mp3 cd's, this is the player for you. Its small size make it very easy to carry around and the 120 sec skip protection works very well. The day after I got it, I attached the included case to my belt and worked out in the garden for several hours without a single skip. The mini-cds hold about three albums worth of music ripped at 128Kbps. They cost less than fifty cents a piece and I like their size. They have the CM800 at Circuit City for 59.00 and I don't see how you can go wrong.

When you burn your CD's just make sure you use Mode 1, although you can have the long file names. Don't do multi-session, or the disk can't be read. Burn it disk-at-once at no more than 8x. These settings work for me.

This is a GREAT little MP3 player. Those tiny little CDs hold about 4 hours of MP3 music! The sound quality is great. For better volume, use your own headphones though - the ones that come with them are a bit low on volume.
Compared to other full-size CD MP3 players, this tiny little guy is sure nice!
Batteries last about 8 hrs. There is even a LCD window where you see the songs, can scroll through them, play 'em all or program your favorites.
The 3 CDs that come with it give you about 12 hrs playing time (they're blank - you need a CD Writer to put the music on 'em.
For the money, I can't find a better deal anywhere. Compared to many a bit more expensive - THIS is the one I'd recommend.
120 seconds anti-shock is pretty cool too. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I'm enjoying mine!

I've had this mp3 player for about 8 months and it has given me nothing but satisfaction. The size is awesome for taking places and i just wish they made a specialized bag for it. Yeah, your thinking, 64mb isn't that much space. Your right. It will hold around 23 songs. Willing to spend 30 more dollars? Go out and buy a 128mb smart media card. All you have to do is slide it into the player, it's that easy. That's what i did and with that it'll hold about 60 songs. I took off the extra star because on the screen it doesn't show the name of the song very clearly. It'll say something like, if the song is Billie Jean, it will say "/_BILLIE/_" across the screen. Otherwise this is a great mp3 player and i think you should go out and buy it!

On the whole a well-engineered piece of personal electronics, charming and useful in many ways - would repurchase, but irritated by the following (more-or-less minor) shortcomings:

* No real mega-bass, effect of 4 on-board EQ settings unsatisfying.
* Poorly produced manual supplied only electronically.
* On-board software crashes and locks up easily. Have upgraded from frimware version 0.021 to 0.201, the very latest (what do those numbers tell you?!). :) Have had one total lock-up where even removing the battery did nothing: *RELOADING THE FIRMWARE FIXED*.
* Screen difficult to see, slow to draw, no backlight.
* Resolution of voice recordings unadjustable, low-bandwidth (4-bit) IMA-ADPCM (.wav) encoding only.
* Weakly made battery-compartment door doesn't stay firmly shut, cheap plastic case construction in general, metalic paint quickly wears off.
* Tricky to power-on and power-off, sluggish to navigate.
* MP3 Files without ID3 tags display in 8.3 designation.
* Despite reports to the contrary, will not play anything but mp3's and IMA-ADPCM wav's. (although very-low-bitrate mp3's do play.)
* On-board 'Auto-Shut-Off' function works only when play is stopped. Also not when connected to computer USB which will RUN DOWN THE BATTERY if left plugged in. I have wasted 3 batteries like this.
* No 'Shuffle' Mode.
* Playlist resets to song #1 after shutoff.
* Included earbuds of moderate quality.

Best feature: Memory-Card expandable (mine has 192 megs now, and dispite reports works fine with a 128meg card.)

Would most like to see in future firmware upgrades: Play for WMA and other formats, true MegaBass, better auto-shutoff, fix for any of the above stated weeknesses and, most importantly, option for FULL-16bit PCM RECORDING!!!!!!! (CONTACT ME AT PINIONJA@YAHOO.COM IF YOU HAVE INFO WITH REGARD TO THIS!)

The site is down, anyone with drivers for Windows XP please forward them to me ASAP. GBE@adelphia.net AIM: Sh0wSt0pperHBK, Thanks

I Purchased this in order to listen to my music....(of course its an mp3 player) the sound quality was bad u didnt have enough options there was no stop button (to my knowledge) and it was a pain. heres the really bad part. Normaly u can rip music from cd's and send them to well mp3 player with this you cant i called philips and asked them for help and they did they simply said with this philips model you have to download seprate software.....i was like what?! i spend good money on this product and i want the same i shouldnt have to download seprate software for this to do what i want.i personaly had a 20gb model but itsprobally as bad as this model here anyways i wouldnt recommend this mp3 jukebox to anyone .

I honestly think this system looks visually better then the iPod. As a matter of fact, this system uses a 2 color LCD screen. It is exactly like a game gear system screen or a small portable hand held TV screen except the actual Philip's hardware on this unit only permits 2 colors. However the iPod is only a regular Dot Matrix screen with the regular green back light screen (kinda like your watch.)
With that aside what irritates me the most is the freakin' software provided. You can't drag and drop files on to you unit. You have to use this slow program provided and ONLY this program. Perhaps most of your mp3 selection you cant use because philips created a thing that prevents you from downloading certain audio files that have been encrypted on the unit (something to do with Digital Rights Managament). Of course, this should not be much of Philip's concern if they want to stay in the audio business unless hassled by the government.
Also one would think if you have a 20gig HD on your jukebox with a nice quality screen, that I'm sure they could reserve a couple MB for games and programs. Think about it, perhaps a calculator, calender, about 2 dozen games (ya know, tetris, solitaire, frogger)and perhaps a screen saver - several of them - for viewing pleasure while sitting on that chair of yours. OK, now I'm just pushing it, since a lot of companies leave out just the simple essentials - the simple CHEAP essentials - that could give them better leverages over the competition.
Any who, the unit's own software is uncomfortably slow. It was a cool design to add animated menus and so forth, but if they move 2 frames per second, then what is the use. The fast forward doesn't fast forward really, it merely seems to distort the audio while it is moving 1/2 a second faster. But perhaps I'm picky, but, It would have been nice to separate the Play/Pause button from the Power button. How do you pause without powering off, or at least stop taking off certain needed buttons for aesthetic reasons.
But other then that, this is a fine piece of machinery.
O yeah, why do they always package the rather expensive audio players with cheap crappy headphones?

I have to admit, the DMM software it came with is clumsy and slow, but it never froze on me. I am also using the Sveta Portable software which you can dowload from here: http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?t= 4628

This program allows you to do drag and drop in both directions and organize the player's playlists and songs.

The sound is great, (remember, junk in - junk out, so bad rips will sound bad as in any other player), it's small, light, great looking and sooo easy to use. I am impressed and really surprised about what other people wrote here.

i own one of this first generation mp3 cd players back more than a year ago and it just can't complete with mp3 cd player these days...

This is the most affordable MP3 CD player in the market.
Nice silver cool design & affordable price with Casio logo. This is the best buy among all MP3 CD player for this coming season.

This is the product I am looking for MP3 CD player. It has a cool design shape with easy to use, easy to carry in the car. Sound quality is great this is the player for MP3 CD player !

i own one of this first generation mp3 cd players back more than a year ago and it just can't complete with mp3 cd player these days...

This is the most affordable MP3 CD player in the market.
Nice silver cool design & affordable price with Casio logo. This is the best buy among all MP3 CD player for this coming season.

This is the product I am looking for MP3 CD player. It has a cool design shape with easy to use, easy to carry in the car. Sound quality is great this is the player for MP3 CD player !

This is a very good product and should not be knocked simply because it isn't the "in" brand at the moment. I've had mine for 6+ months and it has worked great at a fraction of the price of an iPod. <br /> <br /> I use it in the car daily with a tape adaptor from a portable CD player. I charge it up nightly. It took me on a 980 mile x 2 road trip to Portland, OR with no problem. <br /> <br /> Think about it: you're getting 8 TIMES the space for songs that you get on an iPod Mini for less $. 8000 songs versus 1000 songs for less money? Doesn't sound like much of a contest to me. Plus, it comes with everything you need, including a case at no extra price. <br /> <br /> So if you are more concerned about a good buy than what's "in", you'll be very satisfied with this product. But a word of advice: buy the service contract--it's just good sense. Any brand you get is still a fragile item and you'll kick yourself if something goes wrong and you haven't protected your investment. Happy shopping...

It's passed the 6 month test, no problems w/ it, no shutdown of hard drive. Fingers crossed it can pass the 8 month test...I'm sorry about the horror stories, maybe I just got lucky w/ a functioning Jukebox. I'm pretty active w/ it, jogging, weightlifting, painting w/ it on, even dropped it once or twice, but still works. Course, I don't throw it around or treat it like a stupid little walkman, it *is* a computer and should be treated as such.

I have never tried the Ipod, so I can't compare the sound, interface, ect. All I can say, is that this product is a Godsend at 220 bucks. If you are a finnicky listener like me, and you can't stomach listening to the radio because you have to change the station every other song, if not turn off the radio completely, because you are so freaking sick of stupid music passed off as, well, music, then a product like this is mandatory in your life. You need to have the ability to only listen to what you want to listen to. I have a playlist of over 400+ indie-esque rock songs, another of 50+ that lists my current fave songs, and another of 40+ classical and celtic music pieces. It is what it is, a personal jukebox, a personal radio station. No more interchanging CDs while driving (btw, I just used an old car tape-deck adapter from my CD player to adapt the jukebox to the car stereo, no need to buy the accessory car adapter kit), no more tedious and infuriatingly redundant pop-"alternative" rock music while waiting to hear one good song out of thirty, no more 8 minute commercial breaks...just pop in the jukebox and hit shuffle. The interface can be a little messy, but it's still worth it. 80 bucks less than an Ipod and 20+ GB more...yeah, it's definitely worth it (if it works for you).

its as good as.<br /> buttered bread.<br /> its beter than 125mb card <br /> beter than cdplayers with eq<br /> itholds over 400 cds.can be programed to dj.this things beter than any device playable made.you dont have to worri<br /> about your cds getting damaged from being mishandeled.i transfered every cd in my colection.to my jukebox.and leave <br /> my cds home.ive owned mini discs,cds with mp3 files,rca mp3 players,this jukebox serpasses all of them.if you value your<br /> cd collection.get it .it doesent have no movin parts like mini disc.better program than atrac.sonys mini disc data 5gb.jukebox 30gb sonys price 215$ creative zen extra 30gb.<br /> 256$ with a better program than atrac3.buy it.

I bought the product a few months ago & enjoyed its use - great sound & functionality (I'd have given 4 stars). Unfortunately, a friend sent it crashing to the floor & it stopped working completely. I have, since then, tried every available method for getting in touch with Creative's tech support department - multiple emails (all unanswered) & phone calls (on hold for ++45 minutes EVERY TIME with never an answer regardless of the time of day). The sales department is the only one who picks up the phone & won't give any further information about support or repair. I'd like to send the unit to them to have it repaired (I'm assuming the hard drive needs replacement)and would gladly pay any costs, including shipping, which I have explained multiple times to the sales rep answering the phone. No answers...Unfortunately, I am at the end of my rope & decided it's a sunk cost. LESSON LEARNED: DON'T BUY FROM A ONE PRODUCT COMPANY!! Going back to my good old Rio 500 (purchased 2 years ago & still working beautifully). It doesn't have the memory, but it's less frustrating - they actualy answer the phone & offer advice!

If you like to take a lot of your music with you or if you would like to to play on your home stereo all those MP3's sitting on your computer, then the Nomad Jukebox is the product for you. With the recent reduction in price, there's no reason to wait anymore. Portable CD players that play discs encoded with MP3's are great, but why limit yourself to one disc when you can put hundreds on the Jukebox. I've had mine for about 3 weeks and it's great. Here are a few observations: (1) The only difference between the Nomad Jukebox and Nomad Jukebox C is that the "C" model does not include headphones, an extra set of rechargeable batteries or a carrying pouch. You've probably got headphones already from another portable, but if you need these things they are all available in an accessory pack that includes a car adapter; (2) at the risk of stating the obvious, the Jukebox is not a portable CD player, but is actually a sealed hard drive, just like the one in your computer (and you do need a computer to use this thing), which is why battery life is not particulary long (they are rechargeables); (3) the Jukebox will hold a tremendous amount of music -- hundreds and hundreds of songs -- which means you can plug it in, put it on shuffle and you won't hear the same song for a while; (4) loading music from your computer is quick and easy, or you can record through the line-in input; (5) playlist management is easy; just pick out the songs from your library you want in your queue and save it, then when you're ready for those songs, just load the playlist. Or just load everything from a particular artist or genre; and (6) sound quality is very good, depending in large part, of course, on the bitrate at which the MP3s were encoded (and it will play formats other than MP3). This is a great device for a music lover.

This is the best purchase I have made in my life.....! I have like 6 days of continuos music in the palm of my hand AMAZING....VERY VERY easy to use.
FAST LOADING,SEARCHING AND PLAYING TECHNOLOGY...

I bought this CD player, and wasn't expecting it to be perfect, being from RCA. I love the MP3 on this CD player because it is easy to read, and you can scroll through the list and pick which songs that you like. There is one major problem with this CD player though - whenever playing an MP3 cd or a standard audio CD, a loud buzzing noise occurs. Even when you turn the volume high, anytime the music you are listening to gets quiet, you can hear the noise. I have very high quality headphones, and I can still hear the buzzing. It is extremely annoying, especially when trying to listen to classical music. I took the same audio CD and put it into my old sony CD player, and it worked perfectly, without any buzzing. Also, it is great that you can choose from modes of DSP like Jazz, Pop Classical, etc, but the bass boost mode provides hardly any bass. I play the Cello, and when I went to put on Mozart, I was stunned when I found I could not hear them because the bass was not adequate. I woud not buy this aga

I bought this cd player to replace my broken philips cd player because i broke the screen. At first the rca was good until i was using for 5 hours straight and the batteries died.My philips lasted at least 10 hours.The other reason i dont like it because any slight touch of the slide it pops right open. Last I hate the color. Other than those reasons the anti-skip is good,mp3 cds load fast, no promblems so far.

I don't understand about these other reviwers. My CD player works great. Reads my burnt CDs quickly and my MP3 discs are loaded in a snap. Great sound the headphones it comes with are great. If you turn the volume up full volume you can hear it across the room. Great anti-skip. EQ settings. I have a RCA Sterero with the same EQs on it and it great on my sterero and my portable cd player. My only bad thought about it is the Music Match software. You can burn MP3s really fast. The thing is when you want to take songs of of the disc or add some it says that you have to be a monthly subscriber to it. So does Real Player. Haven't figured out how to burn MP3s on Media Player though. All and all great CD/MP3 Player. I would buy another CD/MP3 player from RCA. They make some great stuff.

I purchased this product several months ago from someone else. FM worked great and I loved all the features. One day I put in a CD and all I got was a no disc message. I sent it back as defective and was sent another one. It behaved exactly the same way. Because both had come directly from Japan, I thought something might have happened during shipping or perhaps something wasn't correct for Stateside use. Because I really loved the size and features, I wanted to try one from Target. After reading the reviews, I've changed my mind. I've always associated Sony with quality products but not anymore. I really appreciate the opportunity to read other opinions and make informed choices.

The CFDS20CP does a fine job in a smaller work area but you won't be happy in a large space or outdoors. Though the "pre-set" mixer is good, a little more personal control with the bass or treble would be nice also a "mute" on the remote.
I'm new to MP3's but the first one I burned held 91 songs and kept me entertained for hours at work. Most of the new (smaller) MP3 playing boom boxes don't have a cassette but this Sony does which is a plus.
Pre-set radio stations, good reception on both FM & AM, sleep timer, remote, CD's,
CD-R's, MP3's, cassettes, I have to say ... it is a good deal.

I bought this about 2 years back, till now I did not have any problem. It is the only item you can get to play cassette, CD, MP3 and radio. Sony is not releasing any more of this type. It played some mp3 discs which other players did not play. I loved it's sound quality and radio signal pick up. The sound is enough for home use. Special mention is about it's remote. It is quite sensitive. Of course, you always get a sensitive remote controller from Sony.
It plays everything fine. I will just say go for it.

I bought this thinking it'd be the panacea to the brevity of the iPod's battery life. It is. When it works.

Pros:
•More time to listen to music.

Cons:
•Bulky. Power connector should be integrated, and the device should somehow fit around the iPod. While I have not had any bad experiences with suction cups holding expensive equipment, they are simply illogical considering that you are entrusting them with a $3-500 piece of equipment full of your life's work and all of your music.

Here's the kicker, and I realize that I'm not the only one who has had this problem:

I thought it was just a fluke when my battery pack's springs melted and I smelled burning plastic. Fortunately I haven't seriously burned myself, but cbBut it happened three times. Belkin phone support was no help, e-mail support didn't even address the issue, they just said "call us for help", and Belkin refused to replace the product.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has been helpful(I recently filed a complaint/report), but Belkin is still quiet. Oh well. The Voice Recorder for the iPod is also pretty bad. Stay away unless you enjoy getting burns and wasting batteries.

Lets face it: The IPOD battery just doesn't measure up. It is supposed to last for up to 8 hours of music, but hasn't survived past two hours before it dies. Thats why this Belkin external battery pack is so attractive. It's been on my wishlist for months, and when I finally got it, I was disappointed. Although it has increased my battery life over 6 hours more, it still is not as streamlined as the IPOD itself. It just adds some "dead weight" to it. This being said, it is NOT very portable. This Backup battery pack is great if you are stuck with long delays at an airport somewhere. However, if you are planning to use this on your morning jogs around the block, skip it.

Overall, this Battery Backup is a helpful addition to the IPOD, but it's size and weight really are limiting factors.

I really like this device for my travels. I often run out of juice on the ipod (only 8 hours won't work for a 12+ hour travel day) itself and since I'm just sitting in the cramped plane seat anyway, the extra weight isn't an issue. I don't recommend it if you want to run with it or use it for walking around since it doesn't really attach all that well to the ipod...espcially if you use a case with the ipod. Even if you use your ipod naked (how could you!?!), it doesn't really attach all that well either. But remember, Belkin designed it so really, it's not apple's fault they have idiots in the belkin design dept.
Overall, the utility is great for long travel times and design sucks
Adds considerable weight to ipod - if you run with it, your shorts may be dragging on the ground as a result of the battery pack
The batteries seem to last longer if stored in the off position when not in use

Why are most of these reviews not even about the damn battery pack?!? If you want to attack the ipod itself, go post it on the ipod product review page