MP3 Reviews

WARNING: The Panasonic SD-80 does not allow any protected files to be uploaded, legally purchased or not. It a great little player, the right size and lots of functionality BUT, if you can't upload your favorite music its not very functional. Since the future trend is to purchase songs rather than albums, more and more music will be purchased off Internet sites. None of these songs will be useable on the SD-80 and Panasonic has stated it has no intention of revising the software to allow the upload of legally purchased protected files. Great little player, BUT A WASTE OF MONEY.

I've spent the last hour trying to install software so that my boyfriend can use my computer to put music onto his MP3 player. While the SV-SD85 is small, cute, has good sound quality and is relatively tough, the software is proprietary and if you're disorganized, like he is, then you will loose the install drivers. Well, don't because it has a version of realplayer on it that has coding specific to panasonic. If you try to drag and drop files, you will be sorely disappointed (like I was). Don't try to go to the Panasonic website to download the drivers either, they're not there.

This thing is really small but excellent for a person that is on the go. The footprint of the unit is so small that you forget you have it on while working out at the Gym or running. It has a lot of nice features and good software that lets you rip your CD's to MP3 for use with the unit. Another advantage that people don't really make use of is that with a cassette adapter you can use this thing in your car and get the same high quality sound in you car or truck. Without having to buy $600 or more in car audio equipment.

I bought this remote, and it doesn't even work. I called diamond about the problem, and they saud that I must have dropped it or something, but it never worked out of the box. I got so mad I smashed the thing. Don't buy one. I had the some problem with the Rio to, I wouldn't trust anything from diamond.

I should have known from the inexpensive price that this product was heading for the garbage. From the first day I bought it all it did was worsen the sound and slow down my mp3's. The buttons on this quiet too large headphone remote are hard to follow and I had trouble figuring out many of them. This large piece of equipment is too big for Diamond Rio and adds uneccessary bulk.

The reason I got this was that the play, stop, and change song buttonson my player fell off and i lost them! I had to use a pencil to turnit on or change the song. This worked great on the bus. It has all the buttons you need, and isn't as cheap as the player itself. The two problems are the size of the cord(I had to put it in my pocket and wrap the excess cord around it instead of using the given clip. I also found my frieds mini disk remote was smaller and had a lcd display that displayed the song name volume etc. The player itself only displayed the track number. If you dont need a player right now then WAIT FOR THE 600 TO COME OUT. It. . . has 32mb expandable to 320. Well im running out of things to say so the bottom line is if you do more then just sit in a chair and listen to it you need the remote. Also note it ONLY WORKS WITH THE 300

I bought the 2026 from Target two years ago and up till yesterday, I hadn't had any problems from the unit. Yesterday, I tried to look at a movie and...nothing!!! I tried the plugs and the power cord but they were correctly connected. The owner's manual was a joke. The worst part is that my movie is stuck in the player. I know this player is the 2027 and it may not happen to you- but do you want to take a chance?

These Memorex DVD players are junk. They are full of great options but they DON'T last long at all. My family had 3 of the 2026 model that each lasted less than 6 months...two of them played less than 10 dvds before crashing. There was a reason Target only carried that model for a few months before Memorex upgraded to the 2027. This model is also junk. Mine is less than 1 year old and no longer plays MP3 discs. It plays DVDs but does not function like it's supposed to. I won't ever buy Memorex again and I would strongly suggest the same.

I recently purchased a Memorex DVD player, and let me say that I am quite pleased with it. I was hesitant to purchase the item at first, but it was at a price that I just couldn't resist! Am a professional audio/video technician, so I am, needles to say, very picky when it comes to purchasing electronics. I am pleased with the plethora of functions integrated into this unit for such a low price. While I will admit, it is not the best brand on the market, the technology is comparable to to that of many much higher priced DVD players. I also appreciate the simple operation that this product offers. My children can operate it without much hassle, and it even incorporates a parent control lock, so my children can't watch movies that I would not approve of. I have never been much of a Memorex fan, but I must give them credit for their accomplishment. They have managed to produce a low-cost, high-quality piece of equipment, that I am proud to own. Memorex, Hats off to you!!

when i got this product for christmas the power buttom did not work and i found out that it was not in contact. whiel doin that wires were also apart. i went to returen it to target but i could not get my money back and they gave me a naother one and it did the same thing. i would not buy.

I received this as a Christmas present from a couple of friends and have loved the convenience, and how simple the product is. I didn't even need to load the included software to download music, so basically the product has been very easy to use. Love the small size and the extra componenets that are included (car adaptor and arm band). Few concerns have been the limited memory space, but that can be solved by purchasing a separate memory card.

Received my Lyra for Christmas and what a value. Very easy to use and I love the FM radio so I can tune in the big screen TV's at the fitness club. The extra items for the car and the arm strap were a definite plus. I did it all without reading the instructions...that tells you something right there.

i bought this card because i have a dell laptop which has either a poor sound card, or its wiring is poorly shielded, resulting in noticable interference when listening. the audigy2 external sound card solves this problem--the sound is clear, crisp, and has no noticable interference. i have several issues with the software however. first off, once you'll install the software on your computer you'll have to download a plethora of software updates and fixes from creative's site. secondly, the software is poorly integrated with the hardware--on numerous occasions the software could not detect the sound card, and the 'diagnostic' utility that comes with it advises to reinstall the software, rather than fix the problem; geez, thanks. thirdly, often i had to manually shut-off my laptop because windows could not shutdown a background process--i never had this problem before installing this card. fourthly, sometimes the card is detected by the system, and sometimes it is not (this could be an issue with their hardware). overall, i have mixed feelings--sound is great, but it may be frustrating to get it.

I recommended this product to my friend as an external decoder for DVD surround sound. As an upgrade from Extigy, this thing surprisingly doesn't have a coaxial in. So those who want to use it as a dolby surround sound decoder are pretty much stuck with DVD players that have toshlink out.
As for the sound quality ,it's actually not that bad for a creative product. Definitely a step up from average AC97 onboard soundcards. But I doubt how many people would want to spend over 100 for the difference.

First of all, you will hear the difference. I absolutely guarantee it. You're laptop (or default pc) audio cannot even begin to measure up to the awesome power of the Audigy. You will hear it the moment you plug this marvel into your USB port. Even your mundane and boring-to-the-death windows system sounds now carry a cadence that was simply not there before.

The sound card supports 7.1 speakers (for hardcore gamers) as well as the more pedestrian 5.1 setup (like mine). the handling of surround sound is superb. The availability of EAX (the patented SoundBlaster HARDWARE sound package) provides for seemless transitions, and the direct hardware equalizer and on the fly effects are a tremendous bonus if you are planning to use this second sound card's output for DJ-ing (like i am).

The fact that this has an independent power supply might seem inconvenient at first, and frankly... it is... There is a tradeoff, however... You will not believe how loud your speakers can actualy go now without distorting! Deafening. Almost like a pre-amp in that respect.

The negative reviews for this card startle me. Jeff Rutsch is incorrect when he says the USB cable is short. Its 4 feet. Too long for me, actually... furthermore, if you want a 20 foot cable, go out and buy it! No issues whatsoever with magnetic shielding... Its a SoundBlaster for heaven's sake! I have also not had any problems with the installation (even though it took a good hour!) or recognition. It does help if you "Safely Remove" it and/or plug it in before booting up... Otherwise the remote does not always work properly. Also, talking about CD sound, Jeff (even if he is a computer guru, as he claims) did not do his homework. By default your CD-ROM drive converts the digital audio into analog for playback. If you do not adjust this setting, that is the way it will stay after you install the new hardware. Come on Jeff! That was both in the help file and the tutorial program! You should have read those!

Woody Jin's comments also amuse me. There apparently is a white noise that you can't really hear, but its there. What??? :| If you can't hear it.. its not there by definition... Right?

As a matter of fact my experience has been that my onboard laptop audio sounds like a woodsaw compared to this.... Actually the Audigy2 does not produce *any* background noise. At all...

My only "problem" with this device is that it almost neccecitates a speaker upgrade... I am eagerly awaiting my new set of speakers right now, in order to better experience the explosive sound of the Audigy2 card...

I bought this for use in my car with an MP3 CD player and had nothing but problems.

First off, the DC power output that they claim you can use to plug your CD player into, that way you don't have to have two things plugged into the car's DC output, is just about useless. It didn't provide enough power for my CD player.

Second, the plug that goes into your car's cigarette lighter DC power port is very cheaply made. It gets in the way of things, and doesn't stay plugged in. Many times when I would hit big bumps on the road, it would become loose and lose contact, causing the device to lose power and turn off.

Third, when the music that you're listening to is somewhat loud, there is distortion and static.

But by far the worst problem I had is the frequency drifting. This product is just plain dangerous to use in a car, because every 5 minutes or so the frequency drifts, meaning that you have to adjust the dial to get it to transmit at the right frequency. And the dial is extremely sensitive so it's a real pain to try to find the right setting on the dial. The drifting is worse when the temperature is changing, I gave up on trying to use this until my car completely warmed up after being out in the cold all day, because I'd have to adjust the dial every 30 seconds or so until it warmed up.

I bought the iRock 400 FM and that works much better, I would recommend buying that instead of this.

Ordered on 3/12. Arrived on 3/14. The shipping is expensive ($5.57) but very impressive.

The packaging is cheap and misfit. The wires come out like manggled spaghetti. The unit feels flimsy. It looks like it is bought from Dollar Tree or DollarRama.

The power supply to the CD player works but the contact is extremely flaky. Any slightest move causes the CD player to turn off. And this is a parked car. Don't bother to use it in a moving car.

The radio transimission is easy to setup but the frequency shifts. There is some static noise. The sound is at best AM radio quality, which is Ok for hard rock or other noisy music, but a little too poor for light music.

I have much praise for this product. I bought the SF100 not too soon after getting a CD/MP3 player. This was more than a year ago when the iRock music adapter first came out, but was (and still is) overpriced. The price on this product is a great deal!

I won't ramble on too long, however, because I mostly wanted to provide a contrasting testimony to the problems other users have experienced. Contrary to their complaints about drifting severly limited the appeal of this product, I was able to take a 300+ mile trip without having to adjust the SF100 that much. At worse, only a few times did the adjustment have to be very slight. I don't think that is bad at all.

I do agree with the other review that says the mess of wires is very inconvenient. I also blew the fuse on the SF100 twice trying to power my CD/MP3 player using the plug from the SF100 plug for this purpose. I haven't tried again yet to get that to work, but that is minor since I was able to drive a total of 800 or so miles without my CD/MP3 player running low on batteries.

This one is ok, but needs the adapter. I prefer the first one Belkin released. I have the cassette adaptor and cup holder in my Honda Civic. Works like a charm. !!!STAY AWAY from the FM transmitters.!!! I find them (I bought the one from Belkin and Griffen) both to be a waste of money...interference, static, etc...it defeats the whole purpose of digital music: clarity.

compare this first to a belkin auto charger and you'll notice the difference in the firewire cable. you'd need that flat thinggy to connect the charger to the new 3G ipods. look for other alternatives if belkins price too high.
.........

"Auto Charger for all iPods" is Griffin's strapline.

Well that is true as long as you buy an extra cable for the new version, or remember to take the cable that comes with the iPod.

Great work by Griffin... take an original product, change the strapline to include the new iPod and add a note on the back to say this device will only work if you go out and buy an additional item. Hey presto...Griffin have launched a 'new' product.

Just think of the other possibilities..."Sony memory stick, NOW compatible with all PDAs" (as long as you buy an adaptor).
Office 200x, compatible with all versions of Windows (as long as you buy an upgrade)...Damn it, I see where you got the inspiration from!!

Still it works, I suppose that's got to be worth a 2 points, (the extra point is for the marketing department. Good job chaps

Don't buy this unit at any price. I bought it a long time ago because it was the only one on the market at the time, and I liked the idea of playing MP3 CD-RWs. You can read other reviews and see the same complaints, but here are my chief complaints:
1. It skips horribly at the slightest provocation, anti-shock or not. This problem alone made me throw it out after I got my Sony, rather than subject someone else to this frustration.
2. Battery life (rechargable NiMH) is 2-3 hours.
3. It displays "Unknown tag" if the file has no ID3 tag. It could display the file name instead.
4. The supplied AC adapter often refuses to work for no reason.
5. The supplied earphones are horrible.
6. It's difficult to navigate through tracks. It plays files in directories but doesn't allow you to navigate directories. Everything is treated as being in one big directory.
7. Hitting "Next" while in shuffle mode actually goes to the next file sequentially, rather than picking a track randomly.
8. The user's manual is a useless short pdf.

There are better players on the market (i.e. every other player). Buy one of those. SERIOUSLY!

I bought a Philips Expanium and returned it for this player thinking that I wanted to see the song titles.

Reasons not to by this player:(1)This player is made very poorly. It feels like it is going to break. The paint on the buttons has already started to rub off and I barely use the device. (2) It skips worse than my Sony discman that is almost 10 years old. In the car you find yourself hearing snippets of the songs. It will even skip sitting on a table across the room (there was no dust on the CD). I'm not sure what's wrong with the player but sometimes it is simply unable to play an MP3 for no good reason (3) The headphone jack is finicky. You'll find yourself listening to mono for a while and realize that you have to push the headphone plug into the jack again. (4) Battery life is exceptionally bad. I'm lucky to get 3 hours out of the player. That's not enough to last me one day while I'm at work. Even though it comes with a rechargable battery pack, the battery gauge is still calibrated for alkalines so it looks like you have half of the battery life remaining right after a charge. (5) The ID-3 take support is pointless. If you haven't painstakenly labeled each one of your songs then you'll end up listening to "Unknown Tag" all day. It does NOT default to the file name if there is no ID-3 tag. Get the Rio Volt. Even though it has that annoying dancer at the bottom of the LCD screen, it's worlds better than this device.

I just bought the Pine SM-200C+ player and it's best player you can get for your money. It has 50 secs anti-shock, eq, rechargable batteries and random (features that the SM-200C is missing). I was originally going to get the Sonicblue Rio Volt 250. But after reading all the reviews of it dying just days/weeks after people ordered it, I decided on saving myself [money] and got this player instead. It has almost all the same features for half the price!

It doesn't have a back-lit display, remote & isn't upgradable, but I dont need any of that stuff anyways. The back-lit display would just drain your batteries, the buttons on the remote are too small and if a product works with no problems from the start, there is no need to upgrade the firmware.

Quick review:
Good ESP... no complain about that... And i liked the belt clip too but the desig is poor... and buttons are hard to identify whithout seen (whoever uses the player while driving would appreciate to be able to keep the eyes on the road) The cd cover release is easy to open accidentaly i.e. when trying to adjust the volume or when taking the player off the belt. Also the Superbass feature distorts the sound if you set it to the maximum. The resume mode doesn't completely work... the player will start in the song it was playing but at the begining.. and you have to press the mode button to go back to random or repeat modes. Batery life is decent (around 11 not continuous hours with a pair of alkaline AA)
I would add a random-dir play mode (to be able to play in random order the tracks in a directory)
My advice is "take a look at the Riovolt sp50, soul player or if you are into big brands you can even get a sony for the same money)
The bottomline: This player would be a good value for $35.00
The two stars are one for the esp and the other as a late christmas gift for Phillips. ;-)

I bought this player for it's MP3 capability, HOWEVER, when in MP3 mode, the player emits a random ugly "barking" sound in the right channel. There is even a mention of this in an addendum to the user manual. Philips calls it "monkey chatter", supposedly caused by "random electrostatic discharge", whatever that means. All I know is, it is extremely annoying and it totally ruins the sound of most MP3's played through it.

The unit works fine when playing music CDs, but if you want to play MP3's, stay away from this barking dog.

+ Fast startup - 2 to 4 seconds usually to read a MP3 disc.
+ Easy navigation. Folders & track seeking is fast. So is in song FF/RW you can hear. good for audio books.
+ Survives drops. Had mine go 3+ feet to concrete many times.
+ Nice high-visibility orange display (not backlit tho).
+ Smooth analog volume dial. No distortion heard at very loud volumes.
+ belt-clip
+ Nice chromed buttons.
+ Lots of sticker space on top (if you're into that)
+ Reads <128Kbs to 320Kbs MP3s w/o a problem.
+ Solid feeling construction (eg. Rio SP100 yucky!)
+ Button beep can be turned off.

+/- about a 10 hour battery life on 2 Ni-Mh AAs.

- Resume feature doesn't work right. Sometimes does, most of the time doesn't. Goes back to track 1 mostly.
- yucky in-ear headphones with ill-fitting rubber protrusion.
- newer players out have ID3 track display, backlit display, a working resume, etc. for the same ~...price.

Basically, great, durable, fast player marred by no ID3 tags & bad resume feature, now superseeded by the newest MP3 portables.

I am also having trouble in reading Lexar 128MB memory stick. On Dazzle / Zio website I was not able to get firmware update. I am using Windows 2000 so can somebody post a link to firmware update on zio's website>

The Dazzle reader doesn't work with my 128MB lexar stick. But it works fine with my 128MB sony stick and my 128MB sandisk stick. The lexar stick works fine in my camera and in my hp officejet's reader. I'd stay away from this reader.

I encountered the same problems with a Lexar 128MB memory stick that have been mentioned by other reviewers. I discovered that dazzle has a firmware update for this reader available on their website. I downloaded, installed and ran the firmware updater and have had no problems with the reader since.

There's not much more to say. I wish the cord was about 2 feet longer. I have my USB hub on the floor, and the cord is barely long enough to reach --- and the reader is at the back of the desk. If it was a bit longer, I'd be able to pull it closer to the keyboard when I'm using it.