MP3 Player, On the Cheap. No Really, VERY Cheap!

[ChristopherP]

Well, the day has come. My eBay 128mb MP3 player finally arrived today!

Recorded delivery then eh? Scribbled on the front of the parcel was "Signed for by Postman", and then it was dumped on the doorstep.

Friggin temp workers at it again probably!

Ok. So i opened the package and i was VERY, VERY impressed with the way such a cheap poduct was packaged.

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Verry nice...​

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Thick cardboard, and the box opens like a book, with the flaps having embedded magnets in them so the case stays shut when it is needed to. Very smart!​

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So what do you get?​

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You get a mini CD (like a CD that can fit in the palm of your hand and goes in the deeper grooves in your CD tray) with the 98 drivers and a couple of pointless utilities on, a weird headphone, clip, neckstrap in one thing, a small half chinese half english manual and...​

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Looks cool enough, lets see what it's like. Sod the manual, how complicated can it be?!​

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I plugged it into my computer.​

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and i get this...​

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Thats what i expected...​

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So i just dragged my MP3 folders across (the unit supports folders so you dont have to go through a whole list, you just select a folder for each artist. The on screen display also tells you the song artist, song name, format, quality and track positiion. Cool.​

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So, what you all been asking. How many songs? Well, at 64KB/Ps WMA which to be honest, is actually quite good, it will hold maybe 130 tracks. But to my dismay i found that i dont get ID3 tagging so i had to convert all my tracks to 128Kbps MP3, MUCH larger file sizes (and a noticable increase in quality) But i reckon with such a format, 40 Tracks on average. Not bad for £27.99 Delivered!​

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With a couple of full albums on there, i checked on my disk space...​

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Ouch, nearly out. I can throw some misc songs on in a seperate folder though at 64kbps WMA, that wont matter. So another 12 on there should be about right. If i wanted my entire music collection to fit, i would have bought an ipod. I can swap song round it's no big deal, and its not THAT much of a HUUGE deal if it gets broken when at college.​

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What about it's other features? Radio.​

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Was reeally quite impressed, i picked up good quality stereo radio 1 immediatly. Thats all that matters i guess. Can't comment on how well it picks up signal, but it worked for me!​

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Haven't checked out the voice recorder yet, i doubt i will even use that very much.​

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Ok Build Quality.​

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By no means does it have the strength or weight of an Ipod. But it didn't cost £200 and it IS generic! But in all honesty it's not THAT bad. Ok so the plastic control lever thing feels bad but the rest is good. Good quality rubberised plastic makes it feel quite sturdy and the plastic buttons on the edges arent bad. I did notice that the LCD is a bit wonky, not THAT noticable, but still a bit off angled. Theres one thing i can say to that, You gets what you pay for BUT it does work and it does its job well.​

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Music Quality? I put a 320KBps MP3 on the player, to check out what it is capable of. I must say that i was VERY, VERY impressed. Sound on a par with Ipod, easily. Also has a preset equaliser so you can change your settings. Not bad!​

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Any other cool features? Yeah. You can customise the display message, and even animate it i think so thats cool. You can upgrade the firmware and theres also a setting where you can tell it to turn itself off after X minutes. Packed full of features this thing!​

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Oh, not forgetting Shuffle, Repeat, A-B Repeat etc etc!​

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Oh and it's not that big either!​

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Umm... Don't know what else to put, so if you want to know anything, post after the review and i'll answer ya.​

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Marks out of 10?​

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Music Quality = 10​

Build Quality = 6​

Packaging = 9.5​

Included Stuff = 8​

Overall = 8.4​

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So not bad!​

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www.ecome.co.uk sell it, look on eBay too ​

 

[KGB-911]

Nice review Chris

Sorry, but i found it funny that you described how the packaging openes!!!

Looks good, I have a couple of Random Questions:

1) Where did you get those icons from (the HD, Floppy)

2) What is a "Virtual clone Drive"?

3) how much is worth if you bought it from a company like Dabs?

And, just thought i would comment, i am looking at getting a moblie like that... (Sony Ericson)

KGB

 

[ChristopherP]

LOL! Relevant feedback!!

Ok

1) ThemeXP (comes with the program)
2) You can mount ISO images with it and it fools the computer into thinking youve put the CD in
3) It's Free http://www.elby.ch/products/clone_dvd/

And Sony ericcsson are generally very very good!

 

[Quadophile]

I am getting dizzy looking at these pics you posted, almost all of them are out of focus. Would you consider replacing them with properly focused and exposed pictures?

 

[KGB-911]

OK Chris...

In number 4, i ment, how much would the MP3 player be if you got it from a company, not ebay (how much did you save)

KGB

 

[ChristopherP]

Aria are actually selling it for £26.98inc VAT on their weekly special...

Quad - sorry, our digital camera is useless unless light conditions are good.

 

[Quadophile]

chris it is not the problem of light as I see it, it has to do with focusing only. The camera you are using is actually focusing the wrong object or you are too close to the subject and your minimum focusing limit is exceeded.

My suggestion:

Try taking these pics from a distance and crop them to show the product, that way you will get perfectly focused object.

 

[ChristopherP]

Maybe it is exposure as it takes about 5 seconds to take a photo

 

[Ian]

Did you take them with a proper digital camera chris, or a webcam/camera?

I used to get photos like that on my old camera when I didnt use the flash indoors (and didn't use a tripod).

 

[Quadophile]

Maybe it is exposure as it takes about 5 seconds to take a photo

If it does take 5 seconds than you must have kept the camera on something and used a timer to fire that shot. You need to get the autofucus sensor on the product or move away as I suggested to you before.

 

[ChristopherP]

Sorry, i didn't see this thread.

It is a Trust powercam 770Z

I think it does have focus problems, not with distance, but with the amount of light. Strange

 

[HaspWinder]

Hey, I have been considering on getting one of these little mp3's but I didn't know much about them, I'm going out tomm. afternoon to get one thanks to your review, thanks alot. =|

 

[mudfrog]

I've just bought a Philips 128mb Go Gear for £35 off ebay and it hasn't got a fm radio or a recorder function!

Still it's a good player and I don't listen to the radio so not to bothered. Does my face look bovered. Face. Look. Bovered. I ainnnnnnnt bovered.

Good review by the way. Even if the photos are out of focus a bit

Cheers,

Rich