Digital Audio Players

[drw25]

MP3, WMA, AAC, ATRAC - whatever your favourite format, you want to listen to it on the move. Tell us about what you use to listen to it.

[drw25]

The player is very small, approximately 2/3 the dimensions of my old NetMD player, with minimal controls, but to me (unlike some other people) this doesn't seem a problem. I find that the small navigation control isn't a problem if you rest your thumb on it and try and move it as you would a joystick. I think it would've been better if you pushed the navigation control to play and have a separate button to access the menu, rather than vice versa, as it is; however, I'm pretty sure this is something I'll get used to. Although a remote control with FM radio and voice recording is available at extra cost, I don't have this, so can't comment on it.

The player is of a similar build quality to my old Sony MZ-N510 in my opinion - an all-plastic body but solid feeling. However, with its built in hard drive, I wouldn't want to drop it from any height.

Sound quality's brilliant from the headphones that come with it, although I fiddled around with the equaliser (4 presets or custom 4 band) for a bit of extra bass and treble. I will be changing the headphones though, as they are white and their cord is far too long. Volume normalisation would've been nice as music files are never all exactly the same volume, but it's not a great problem, and I haven't seen many (if any) other players with this function.

I've read a couple of reviews that moan about the screen, but I think it's a perfectly acceptable size for the player and to the same proportions of an MD player and it's backlit in a pretty blue. MP3s, both CBR and VBR, and WMA 9 (I've tried VBR and CBR, but not lossless), all play well, with the screen displaying basic tag info available (artist, track name, album).

In order to get the best from this player, you need to make sure your music library's well organised - WMP9 takes care of this for me. The Muvo2 allows you to shuffle or repeat a whole folder, or repeat play a single track. You can navigate through your folders, or create playlists in the slightly clunky Creative software. I haven't really bothered with this software, preferring to access the player as a removable disk drive. The transfer rate's nice and quick with my new USB2 PCI card. And 4GB is plenty of space for me - at the moment I've half filled it and can't really find anything else to put on it at the moment!

The Muvo2 is powered by a flat lithium ion battery, similar to a mobile phone one. This can be charged via the supplied adapter, or by the USB port if you are not transferring any data across. Battery life's certainly not bad, although I've had varying results - often around 8 hours, but sometimes as low as 4. The manual suggests WMAs use battery power quicker and my use so far seems to agree with this.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my Muvo2 - it's perfect for the bus to and from school, walking to work and listening to in the car. It doesn't look particularly special, but I prefer functionality anyway, and the storage space is impressive for its physical size. At £161 from www.pixmania.com (including a £10 discount, which you can find in What Camera? or Digital Photo User magazine), it's reasonably priced, especially if you manage to flog your old player to someone else!

[Gin&Tonic]

Sony Minidisk MZ-N710

What You Get In The Box

Sony Minidisk MZ-N710 Unit
Earphones/Remote Control
Charger
Cradle
Sony Musicstage CD
Mini USB Cable
Instructions (but we don't need those ;) )

Looks

The Sony MZ-N710 is veeeery good looking, well, it is a Sony. Sleek and silver with a lovely readout and sturdy buttons. The remote control is thin with a clip and looks good also, it's in black, not silver, though, to match the earphone cable.

9/10

Usage

Well; the sound quality on a regular minidisk is just phenomenal. The sound can be varied through some strangely named settings, I find the best is X - very bassy, which is great for the RnB and Dance stuffs I listen to :D
The recording side is a bit more fiddly; the mini USB couldn't be easier, but quite frankly the Sonic Stage software sucks and takes far too long to get used to - basically you have to put all your music into a 'music drive' then onto the MD rather than just the drag-and-drop you'd have expected. That said; it's not a major thing as you do get used to it quickly.
One drawback is the lack of a backlight on either LCD panel; which for the price you would have expected for the price (and make).
The volume control is quite sweet- you just turn the top of the remote - anticlockwise being vol up, well, you get the idea :)

8/10


Overall

Overall I'm very happy with the Sony NetMD. There are a few minor niggles and the lack of a backlight would spur me onto getting the next model up; but I would certainly stick with Sony for my minidisk needs :D

8/10

[sidneylopsides]

iPod mini silver

I'm going to update this as I use it :)

What you get:
iPod mini silver, 4GB
mains charger
USB 2.0 and firewire cables
headphones
iTunes and iPod software
belt clip

First Impressions:

The box is similar to the iPod, two halfs that open up, the iPod mini on one side, the belt clip on the other. The two halfs open up, they contain everything else. The fact that even the packaging is well made starts to show the quality of what you are getting. The ipod and power adaptor are protected by plastic, not a platic bag or polythene thingy, it's cut and folded plastic sheet that makes an almost perfect see through model of what it is protecting. It also has "Don't steal music" printed on it :p
The iPod itself looks fabulous, small and sleek and so perfect. A single piece of aluminium with white plastic at the ends, the top has the heaphone socket and hold switch, the bottom the connector. The front has the screen and the wheel, the back has the serial and onther information etched (not printed or a sticker) into it.
The new wheel seems odd at first, it works like a laptop touchpad so there is no moving wheel, but if you press it down at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock positions they are buttons, the menu track skip and play/pause. It's very easy to use.
I'm now charging it and transfering music across, it seems my USB drivers aren't set up right so it is taking a while. The iTunes software is easy to use, it will keep track of new music and automatically copy it to the iPod.

I'll add to this after I get to use it a bit :)

Sound quality is excellent, very very clear and full. There are lots of equaliser setting for different types of music, they seem to work well without adding any distortions. I have been using a pair of Beyer Dynamic heaphones to test, not tried the supplied ones yet.
I have noticed how tolerant it is towards the power you give it, 5-30v up to 1A, look at most players and it is 4.5v and something like 500mAh. you have a wide variety of charging sources because of this, you can plug it into the mains electricity, using the supplied firewire cable, or charge from a firewire or USB2.0 port.

Had a request for some pics, so here ya go. Let me know if there is a specific picture you might want.

http://premium.uploadit.org/sidneylopsides/DSCF0047.JPG
http://premium.uploadit.org/sidneylopsides/DSCF0048.JPG
http://premium.uploadit.org/sidneylopsides/DSCF0049.JPG
http://premium.uploadit.org/sidneylopsides/DSCF0050.JPG
http://premium.uploadit.org/sidneylopsides/DSCF0051.JPG
http://premium.uploadit.org/sidneylopsides/DSCF0052.JPG

Use it for entertaining last night, had friends over for a bbq, I had forgotten to charge it and it was going for around 6 hours, and then forgot to put it back on charge after, and there is still some life in it. An hours charge gives you around 80% battery life, it takes a full 4 hours to get to 100%.
I've had ago with some games, the breakout style one, parachute and solitare, but the best is the music quiz. This one plays you a ramdom 10second part of a ramdom track, and shows 4 track names on screen, you have to pick the right one as quick as possible. It takes away the wrong ones slowly, making it easier so you get less points. The only thing is it doesn't record your high scores
The main menu is customisable, you can turn on or off different options, if you are going to use the alarm alot you can make it quicker to get to, simple but good idea.

Latest: 05/09/04

I have now used the supplied headphones and found them suprisingly good, quite clear and full sound. Still gonna buy some better ones though. The sound quality is still suprising me, which is a good sign. I have now worked out a couple of other things in the menus, the playlists are made automatically, 90s music, most played etc, but you can make you own on te Pc or make an "On the go" playlist, this is nice and easy. You also have a couple of tools while just listening to a track, if you are on te now playing screen, press select and the progress bar changes, now the tounch wheel works as a scroll to any point in the song, press selec again and it takes you to a 5 star rating system, I like this lots, as it can use this to create a favourite tracks playlist.
I cleared out all the duplicate tracks I had on my pc and now have a much tidier iPod, this is a goos thing to check if you have a messy file system like me...
The belt clip supplied is very strong, it holds on very well, but can still come off, as I have discovered, getting off my bike I cuaght the headphone lead and it flew off, it was only clipped to my trousers (which it tells you not to do :p) it bounced a bit on the brick path, but didn't take much damage. Dent on the clip housing, and one at each end on the left corners, I feel that most others would not have fared as well. The main thing that helped is the single piece of aluminium used to make it, leaves nearly nothing to come aprt or break.
The battery is better than you realise really, unless you are going away for a week. It lasts a few days of 30min to an hour a day of listening with no charging. The main thing is that it charges from the USB 2.0 or Firewire, so you don't really notice it if you update the songs quite often.

I am really liking this little thing, most of my mates now prefer them the the full sized bigger brother, seems better somehow.
It is harder to justify the cost since the 15GB came down, but it feels better built, is nicer to hold, looks excellent and does everything the others do, but smaller.
I recommend it!

Sound 5/5 - Just excellent!
Build 5/5 - It's taken quite a drop...
Ease of use 5/5 - Intuitive
Battery Life 4/5 - Good if oyu aren't away from home for more than a few days
Value 3/5 - you can get 3x the capcity for nearly the same price, but it is bigger..

The new iPod G4 is only £189 for the 15GB, £219 for the 20GB and £299 for the 40GB

[NumptyScrub]

Hideously old Creative Nomad Jukebox 6Gb

What I got in the box (this was years ago):

1 x Nomad Jukebox (called the DAP Jukebox here in Blighty ;) )
1 x Mains lead (also charges the batteries when plugged in)
8 x AA rechargeable (unit takes 4)
Driver disk with player/upload software (now uses iTunes)
Plastic bag thing you can carry it in

Looks

...like a CD player. Seriously, it's the same size and much heavier (newer units may be lighter due to advances in HD technology). Not something you can clip on a shirt and go. 140 x 127 x 38mm and a shade under 400g (nearly half a kilo) according to Creatives own spec sheet. The display is a nice size, and backlit, and the design is stylish enough that you can (nearly) forgive it the size.

Usage

Actually nice and simple, once you have everything uploaded. The old PC software allowed you to create and manage playlists on the unit, as well as upload the music, and both the software and the unit itself support searching and arranging by mp3 tag info (Artist, Title, Genre etc.) so if you have taken the time to add this info to your mp3's it can greatly simplify finding a particular track (this may sound gimmicky to anyone who hasn't used a Gb sized player before, but 6Gb is over a thousand mp3's at average compression). Now uses iTunes, so if you're familiar with that then you're already set.

Actually using it to play tunes is simplicity itself, just pick a playlist (or single track) and hit play. The keylock feature (which has a physical switch for on/off) helps protect against accidental button pushing and the built-in amp delivers enough output to run a decent sized set of headphones at possibly dangerous (for your ears) levels. Battery life is so-so, managing 2-4 hours depending on your chosen volume level ;)

The unit supports mp3, wav and wma out of the box, with alleged upgradability for other format support. Haven't seen one appear for ogg yet though :rolleyes: It also supports useage as a portable file transfer system, but obviously will not attempt to play files saved as data (and I am unsure whether you need iTunes or whatever installed on the target machine too, or if it properly reports as a USB removable storage device, since I've never used that feature).

The inclusion of EAX is more a gimmick than anything else. Sure, listening to the Prodigy with "echoey inside a pipe" effect sounds like great fun, but it quickly becomes passé. As a by-product it does mean you get lots of parametric EQ options to help balance out iffy recordings though. Moot point really.

Overall

A lovely bit of kit at the time, but it is probably overshadowed by newer, smaller, lighter options on the market, not least of which are the Nomad Jukebox Zen products (which are a sensible size and available up to 60Gb). If you don't mind the size then there are now 10Gb and 20Gb options of the original housebrick available.

(mine stopped being used when I changed cars for one with a 10-disc boot changer, there seemed little point using it from that point on. Until then it was a constant driving companion :D )

[Deathdevil]

Packard Bell audiokey 512 MB

In the box :

- Packard Bell Audiokey (no? really?)
- Usb - cable (about 1 meter)
- Earphones (they have one of those neck-hanging things on it. But they are to short to have it in your pocket and listen to it. So I'd avice to buy new ones)
- 1 AAA battery

Use:
Since it is very small, The buttons are close together but after a while you get used to it. On the top side, earphones-plug, menu, rewind and forward underneath hold button and volume buttons. The usb-connection is worked in with a top that can be taken off. But it's made perfect so that it doesn't fall off in your pocket. And next to the screen (which is very small, so all info is small too) the play, stop and pause button. I haven't found a way to skip CD's, that I find rather strange, I've read the manual, but found nothing.

The menu is pretty easy, preferences, settings, etc etc. you have a selection of 6 equalizer modes (I use Rock or Xbass).
If u use it twice u've completely figured it out, so really easy.

There is no software in the package, only for windows 98 users. So it's using the normal select and drag interface.

Overall:

Good sound quality, easy to use and very small. Uses 1 AAA battery and plays for about 11 hours.

7/10, I'd give it a 9 if it wasn't for the earphones (which really suck.) and being unable to skip between CD's. (Might change if I find a way. :p)

[pebble_rebel]

What you get in the box:

mp3 player obviosly
earphones
usb 2.0
case
rio running installingy thingy (never used it)
variety of wall plugins (charges via usb)

Looks:
Pro's:This is a gorgous mp3 player. I can not emphasise that enough. Sleek and shiny like a beautiful car. This is a very stylish gadget. None of the mini's fridge impressions or the mini zens squareness. Metal around the sides and on teh back (like an apple) but proper high quality metallic grey plastic on the friend. None of that multi colour namby pamby here. silver like all good things. The screen sits in teh middle framed by metal and when something is pressed the back light lights up the screen with very groovy red lights appearing behind the RIO logo and control buttons.
Con's: Not sure about the depite grippy grey rubber on the sides though.

9/10
http://img133.exs.cx/img133/2055/riocarbonbacklit8yx.jpg

http://img145.exs.cx/img145/6568/done37bn.jpg
Usage:
Pro's:Excellent in this department too. It is really well built, solid with out being heavy or light enough to be blown away by wind, its strikes a good balance. I havent dropped it, but i reckon it would survive them fine. I chose not to use the supplied software and just used the sync function on windows media player 10. Before i knew i could leave the player for 10 mins to download everything i have. On returning i took out the USB, leaving it to whir and genarally sort its self out. Options can be accessed by using a small button on the side. you have a wealth of options alvery easy to work your way around using the perfectly sized for way ring and selection button. It works it self very version. Using this option you can find all the music you want with a variety of options, or just select "Play all" where it will automaticallymove stuff around. you can also check how much storage is left.
http://img138.exs.cx/img138/7662/dscn11001cx.jpg
You can see in this picture (apart from my excellent taste) the screen has all the information youd want. you can also press the large button in the middle to flick through several things (eg time and date, equibilutiony modey thingy, size and file type). Sound quality from the supplied earphones is very good, really rich and clear, although i probably will get some nicer ones. The battery life is pretty good as well, box says 20 hours, but in practical use at an audible level i reckon its nearer to 15-16 hours. It plays mp3 and wma's,i dont use anything else but i guess it plays most things or not. It also appears in my computers, so it should have potential to be a portable file transfer system.
Cons: There sadly a few. Firstly there is no physical hold button. to do it you have to delve several layer of options to do it, and i really cant be bothered. you also cant make playlists manually either, but i never do this anyway as i cant be arsed. You can though make them on windows media and transfer them onto the player.
Finally, the case. Although not being badly made it has no window to allow you see the screen or pause or move through tracks. You can add them yourself though.
http://img147.exs.cx/img147/3047/done52nd.jpg
You can add them yourself though.
http://img142.exs.cx/img142/9678/img22555im.jpg

7.5/10

Overall: This is an excellent option to the sensible (when compared to the ridculously large apple ipod) mini ipod. For the extra 10 quid you:
Dont look like a trend follower
You get a extra friggin GB
Get a smaller mp3 player
You get a mp3 player that sits in your hand better.
If it wasnt for the stupid noexistant hold button this would be perfect. But it isnt and a perfect player is made ill just have to stick to flicking through the options and attack the case with a knife.

8.25/10
unless your indie
10/10

[Lewiji]

Philips Micro Audio Jukebox

In the box :

- Omg, could it be the mp3 player?
- USB cable
- Earphones; iPod esque ear"buds"
- Neckstrap (looks quite nice, but I'm not gonna go around wearing it ffs)
- Manual
- Driver CD
- Side stickers to customize the look

Use:
Quite a nice sized player. It's not so small you can't press the buttons, but it's sizeable enough to fit snugly into the palm of your hand. (pic doesn't do it justice but my cam is rubbish so i've included a manufacturer shot)

http://www.xebsoftware.com/images/mp3.jpg

http://www.powernetshop.de/auktionsfotos/357776.jpg

The player cost me £80 for the 2gb version, which is cheap compared to other mp3's and has enough space for my rapidly changing musical tastes.

Sound quality is excellent, quality standard that you'd expect from Philips (their speakers are amazing from experience). Only niggle is that I think they try to get you to use their headphones as other headphones seem to be quieter so you have to turn the sound up, thus shortening the 12 hour battery life.

Batteries aren't replaceable but it's only £10 to get it replaced. Charge time is 2 hours from empty to full.

The software supplied uses digital rights management-meaning you can use it as a removeable hard disk, but if you drag and drop music onto it it won't work, it has to be "signed" by the program, which is a shame as it isn't very well designed. It's a Java application that seems to slow and clunky for it's own good-but it's functional, and that's what matters.

The player doesn't have on the go playlist editing which is a shame. You can choose between playlists, artists, albums, genres and all tracks. The menu button brings up options for shuffle/repeat, dynamic bass boost, sleep timer, equalizer, > key shortcut (for easy access to shuffling, bass boosting or extra track info), backlight/contrast options, auto shutdown, language, information about space free etc and restoring orignal settings.

There is a hold button that locks the keypad, and a source button which quickly swaps you from anywhere in the interface to the current track or front menu. The volume control is on the side above the hold button, which gives easy access to volume control without having to take it out of your pocket-the hold button has a "bobble" on it that makes it easy to distinguish from the source button below it.

The screen is pretty small but big enough to fit everything you need on-not that screen size matters. Most people predominately use an mp3 when they don't want to see a screen.

It plays MP3 and WMA music. The up and down keys are touch sensitive-you can press lightly to scroll one track at a time, or push fully to scroll more at a time (or when selecting a playlist/artist, a letter at a time, it shows the current letter in a box for ease of use)


Overall:

Great sound quality, good battery life and great price. Small screen and quiet without philips headphones but functional none the less. Curvy simplistic design makes it easy on the eyes, but not as much as the iPod.

8/10, a lovely cheap player, great quality, only let down is volume and playlist editing.[/QUOTE]

[pebble_rebel]

My mp3 player pawns lewji's!!!111 :p

[Cjw]

Apple 40gb ipod

Box contains

Ipod
Dock
Earphone
Firewire cable
USB 2.0 cable
Ac adapter
Software and driver gubbins
Getting started booklet

The player itself is very stylish as with alot of apple's products.Nice curvy edges, very simple design without being cluttered with buttons.Kinda midway-its not small but then it isn't overlly big either.The back of the ipod is very prone to finger printage and needs wiping every now and again.Screen is nice and big with a rather snazzy light blue backlight.Even the AC adapter looks pimpin!

The clickwheel is a treat to use and isn't over sensitive in the slightest.Works well if you have a large collection as you can scroll through it very quickly by moving your finger over the clickwheel quickly.The click wheel is also very usefull if you need to quickly turn the volume down while a song is playing for any reason.

Menu's move fast and fluidly and music self organises itself when you copy it over from itunes.Everything is well organised into its own seperate menu.Lots of detail and nothing is overly crammed onto the screen either.

Sound quality is top notch.Supplied headphones have rather good quality but for obvious reasons i wouldn't wear them in a crowded public place.

The games are very basic as you would expect...something to do if you get say, bored on a train i guess.

One of the main cons is a lack of easy battery replacement.This is something that has been sacrificed for style and is abit of a shame really, though i have heard good things about there replacement service.

[zero defex.]

iPod 20GB Version

In the box :

- Apple 20GB iPod
- USB cable & Firewire Cable
- Official iPod Earbuds
- iPod & iTunes Data CD
- Manual

Use:

A lot of people are prejudiced about the Apple iPod for many reasons. Too big, too expensive, makes you a target for thieves, etc. But a lot of people who say these things don't actually have one and are probably jealous. Some people prefer the iPod Mini because "it's lyk s0 much smalr den da i-pod nomal." But that isn't the point is it? It's designed to hold music. Some people have more music than others, so need an mp3 player that can fit this requirement. iPod does just that. It's sleek, easy to use, and all over shmecksy. It's easy to use, just plug it into either USB or FireWire (Macs only I think) and open iTunes, and away you go.

Of course some bigoted individuals will go "yeh wel da batry dies aftr 5 munths." I've had my iPod 8 months, and it runs like a dream. My brother has the Gen.3 iPod 10GB and it's still running, no problems. The battery lasts 2 years, and if you buy a CD player or MD player, chances are you'll replace it after 2 years. And the batteries cost about £50 to replace. Better than £5 a month on batteries I think... let's see, 10 x 5 = 50, x 2 = 100 + (4 x 5) = £120 on batteries over a 2 year period. Which is £70 more. Hurrah.

Playback is about 95% CD quality or something like that, which is very good compared to some MP3 players I've heard. iTunes uses a special encoding, AAC format which compresses songs even more, most CD's use about 400MB memory, but it compresses them to about 45MB, near 1/10th of original size. My brother's iPod is meant to hold 2 500 songs, but we have 2650 and it's only just filled his up.


Overall:

With a sleek design, incredible capacity and playback, a manual packed with everything you need to know, and brilliant battery life, the iPod is a brilliant piece of equipment, and as much as the nay-sayers throw at me, I can argue back with twice the evidence.

9/10

http://images.apple.com/ipod/images/indexipod_20040719a.gif

[Zen]

Lo all, Im gonna review the creative Zen Micro.

Contents of Box:
1 Zen Micro (in may case black)
1 Charger with a UK socket adapter
1 Headphones
1 USB 2.0 chord for file transfer
1 Battery (2 with the limited edition)
1 Instruction Manual
1 Installation CD
1 Carrying case with a stand/beltclip.

Pics:
A nice face on view of the Zen (in the slight dark):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/thekenyan/Zen1.jpg

The MP3 player next to a object the same size as a bank card:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/thekenyan/Zen2.jpg

Pic of the screen, vey good resolution so you can see the screen easily. I can even see the screen clearley at arms length:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/thekenyan/Zen3.jpg

The top section of the Zen with a USB 2.0 port, a headphone jack and the I/O and Lock switch. Also a small external mic socket just to the left of the USB 2.0 Port:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/thekenyan/Zen8.jpg

Only slightly thicker than the iPod:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/thekenyan/Zen5.jpg

The Battery:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/thekenyan/Zen7.jpg

Zen with the back cover off:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v414/thekenyan/Zen6.jpg

This will be updated as i use it!!

Pros:
The size is great, very pocket sized. However, if you dont want to risk it in your pocket you can attack the beltclip and voila, a nice Zen on your Belt. :D
Very user friendly, extremely easy to use. Its basically charge and go.
Can be charged throug USB port, so if you want it in the room with you when you browse, no problemo, it there and charging!
Comes in 10 sexeh colours (Black, Silver, Pink, Purple, Green, Blue, Light Blue, White, Orange and Red).
You can get firmware that lets you use windows explorer to put files onto the Player instead of using the sucky software.
Battery life is good, can last over a day if it has been charging for a while.

Cons:
the touchpad takes a while to get used to, but after about 2 hours, its fine.
The software sucks, nothing else to say about that. Use WMP 10 or get the firmware or use Windows Explorer.
Radio receptions not great.
Thats all at the moment, but twill be updated.

So overall, at the moment, id give this player a 9/10. why not 10/10? Because theres no such thing as a perfect Digital Audio Player, thats why!

[Bloopo]

Apple iPod 20GB 3G

In the bochs :
- Little white/shiny square thing
- USB cable & Firewire dock cable
- White earphones
- CD
- Manual

Use:
Whilest not being the newest ipod, it still has exactly the same features, notes, calender, alarm, mp3 playing capability (not that you'd ever use it...). The only difference between the 3rd gen and 4th gen is the firware version, the fact that it has a click wheel (which i prefer), opposed to the newer touch wheel that debuted on the ipod minis.

Loading some songs on to it is pretty idiot proof, like most of Apple stuff, maybe a little too idiot proof it lacks a few advanced featues, but ones you would hardly use, and that can be done with 3rd party programs and the like. Once you whack the cable into your computer, you're away, you can have itunes automatically synschronise itself with your ipod (meaning it copies over all the songs, and from then on , your updated playlists), or you can manually copy your songs over to your ipod (dragging and dropping). One of the downsides is that you cant actually copy music from your ipod to itunes (to stop all this music piracy stuff), but it can be easily got around by use of 3rd party software, or locating the invisible music folder when its mounted as a disc.

The menus of the Apple ipod are almost totally customisable, with menus for albums, artists, genre and the suchlike, can be put in the main menu, or one of the many sub-menus. Another cool feature is that you can create 'on the go playlists', by pressing the middle button whilest highlighting a song. The ipod comes with 12 preest EQ setting, but you cna save the custom EQ settings from itunes into the ID3 tags. Similarly, you can keep the times played, date/time played,volume, etc. The games are pretty naff, with thigs you would play on the older phones (brickles, parachute,etc.) My favourite game has to be the music quiz, it plays you a clip of any one of your songs, and tells you to guess the song within a time limit of 10 seconds, gain more points the faster you can do it. It has all the normal mp3 player functions such as loop, shuffle, playlists, and a 'sound-check' option, which allows you to keep all of your songs to the same volume.

The notes feature is also pretty cool, allowing you to store 'notes', of up to 4kb each, this may not sound much, but the system supports basic html, so you can link between multiple notes, so you can hold essentially one huge text file, or an ebook. You can import calender contacts onto the calender, and set alert times to remind you. Also, the alarm clock feature allows you to set any playlist to wake you up at a given time. The backlight also makes a great torch for those late night expeditions to...wherever...

Looks:
Now this is where ipod makes its money. The front half of the ipod is a sleek laminated white plastic, and the back half has a mirrored steel finish. If you don't scratch it,( which is nigh on impossible), you can see your face in it. The wheel on the front makes for easy navigation of all 5000 song files you can fit on the 20gb ipod, although, it can be slightly un-acurate at times. The backlight looks very cool in the dark, and the backlit buttons are a masterpiece. The buttons are mounted on clear plastic on both sides, to allow illumination, but they are still easy to read, even without the backlight on. The ipod is very light, compared to a walkman or minidisc player. Its about the same size as a small-ish digital camera.

Battery Life:
I've never had a problem with the battery life, but ive never used it for more than 4/5 hours. People who use it for longer periods may have more problems. The battery time for the 3g is estimated as 8 hours, while Apple states that the 4g's battery life is a significantly longer 12 hours. Apple have had a problem with battery life indicators since the release of the very first powerbook, and the ipod is no exception, the battery status indicator hasn't been working properly since quite a few firmware updates ago. Sometimes it has hours of juice left when its on zero, some times it magically recharges itself...

Support:
Apple have an extensive knowledge base about all models of its ipod, and releases frequent firmware updates of the newer models, and much less frequently to the old models, such as my 3g. Also an interesting fact is that you can install linux onto it, so that my interest you linus geeks. Although there are no obvious bonuses, only the ability to display black and white images...

Accessories:
There are lots of accessories to for the ipod. Theres useful things like voice recordes and cases, are there are not so useful things like FM transmitters, camera picture storage devices, and lasers. Most of the official Apple ones are overpriced, its a fact, but, seen as they are the only people that make some of the stuff, you have to like it or lump it. Some of the cases are absolutely useless, and dont even protect against dust, but there are some gems, like the iarmour, the only way you can drop your ipod from a first story window with it still playing afterwards (and during).

Pros:
+Great looking
+One of the dwindelling number of mp3 players that completely support Macs.
+Support many music formats (mp3, aac, apple lossless, etc)
+Superb sound quality
+Unique interface, making real the Apple 'Think Different' slogan.
+Lots of unique features (cant get enough of the notes).

Cons:
-Click wheel can sometimes get annoying, get less accurate with less battery life.
-Easily scratched/ easily broken, which is a shame, because it looks so great.
-You are now a prime target to anyone that hasn't got an ipod, and even those who do.
-You have to hit the top nav buttons dead on for them to work.
-Cant get songs off of it
-Overpriced, along with most of the accessories.

Conclusion:
The Apple ipod is overpriced, theres no denying that, but it makes up for it in style and ease of use. Whilest not neglecting the people who know what they doing, my Dad can use it. Before Apple even released this, they knew it was going to be a massive success, otherwise it would have been sold for half the price. If you've got more money than sense, this is the mp3 player for you, if you've got my style than brains this is the mp3 player for you, if you want a good value mp3 player, go for something else. This is a revolution, no question about it, you can either join in and let it rocked your world, or watch from the sidelines.

I'd give the ipod 8.7/10

EDIT: Some pics for you to, uh....enjoy...

http://img165.exs.cx/img165/3495/front2kg.jpg
The front of the ipod

http://img200.exs.cx/img200/5766/blfront8jg.jpg
The front lit up

http://img13.exs.cx/img13/5501/buttonsoff9fh.jpg
The buttons on the front

http://img166.exs.cx/img166/1465/buttonson0ns.jpg
The buttons on the front lit up

http://img166.exs.cx/img166/6365/dock7ke.jpg
The dock connector

http://img166.exs.cx/img166/7118/top8pq.jpg
The top

http://img182.exs.cx/img182/3797/back4vz.jpg
The back on the ipod, (yes it really is that shiny!)

[Katie_D]

I'm sorry to do this again but...

Apple 20GB iPod - 4th Gen

I bought this mp3 player this morning, although I've owned a few of them previously. Last time I had one it broke (which is such a great opening for a review) so I went for the Zen Micro, which is undoubtedly the worst mp3 player I've ever have the displeasure of using.

After realising the huge mistake I had made, I went back to the wonderful iPod which I shall review for you now...

What do you get in the box?
The iPod
Charger
Earphones
Firewire and USB cable
Software CD
Instructions


The thing I love most about the iPod is the design and presentation of it. The box is very colourful, showing the silloette iPod style scene, and opens up into two halves, one containing the iPod and the other all the accessories. I was quite disappointed in the fact that you get very few extra accessories with the iPod, and despite the fact that this is possibly the most scratchable mp3 player out there, a case isn't included. The earphones are foil sealed which I adored, and everything has it's place in the box.

Looks 10/10

Nobody can deny that this is a gorgeous little device. It's bright white, pretty small considering the size of the hard drive, and it's very slim. The front shows a medium sized screen with a bright whote backlight, and the back is silver. All holes for charging are on the top and bottom of the iPod. For those who say it's a fashion accessory...they're right. I'm not ashamed to carry this, it looks stylish. I can see why so many people are mugged for them.

Sound 9/10

The earphones included are great, unlike a lot I've used previously *cough* Zen Micro *cough*. I don't think I need to buy any others, although hardcore music lovers may feel the need to. As has been said before, the iPod is near to CD quality, although I feel the sound isn't as perfect if you're in a public place, hence why some people may prefer different earphones.

Usability 10/10

The touchwheel is an amazing invention and so far I don't think any other mp3 players have been able to beat the Apple iPod version. It's easy to use, not too sensitive, and practical. The iPod as a whole is a very easy player to use and I've had no problems navigating around it.
However, the software gave me quite a lot of problems. iPods, originally, are designed for Macs and I own a PC. Although they're still compatible, it isn't uncommon to experience problems with the software and transferring song. iTunes makes things so much harder too, because the iPod will not play WMA, meaning most CD's have to be converted which takes a while. Plus, if they're copyrighted, you can kiss goodbye to using iTunes to do it.

Cost 8/10

For the size of the mp3 player, I think this is good value. A lot of people pay more for smaller mp3 players just because of the size difference but this really isn't that big. It has a huge hard drive which I will probably never use, but I love having it there. It retails at £220, but there have been a few price drops lately.

Rumours

"The battery life is shit"

I have never had any problems with the batteries in iPods. I always charge them up fully the first time I open them, something a lot of people don't do. If you don't charge an electrical product up properly the first time you use it, the battery will lose power. I agree, Apple have had a few problems with the batteries in the iPod, but there is no way 100% of the returns are due to them. Stop blaming the iPod and read the damn instructions.

"The battery will eventually go"

Yep, it will. As with any rechargable battery eventually it will lose power. Apparently with the iPod it's after 18 months. I think it's wrong how Apple charge for new batteries and often it's cheaper to buy a new iPod all together. This was the one thing that put me off, but there will no doubt be people out there who will change the battery for cheaper. It's just a risk you have to take, sadly.

"If I wear it, I'll get mugged"

Well, that just shows how good it is, doesn't it? Seriously, I have walked through DONCASTER with my iPod and I wasn't mugged. Doncaster train station for goodness sake. Do you know how much of a risk that was? I think a lot of time it's people in the wrong place at the wrong time, although the earphones of the iPod really give it away. I suggest hiding your iPod in very public places and not showing it off.

"It's just a fad, I don't want to be a sheep"

Well...iPod must be doing something right in order to be one of the best selling mp3 players. They do have a good ad campaign, it's catchy, it's funky, it's designed for our generation, but a company can not live solely on advertising. Some people buy iPods because of the quality of them. I am one of those people. Although I can't deny I feel a hell of a lot cooler carrying an iPod. Yes, it may be an accessory but it's one of the best I've ever bought. If you don't like the popularity of the iPod, fair enough. If you want to be an individual and go for a different make then so be it, just don't slag off iPod owners while you're at it.

If I were you, I would definitely go for this mp3 player, it's stylish and easy to use, however, I will warn you there have been quite a few returns with iPods. I've heard about 7/10 are eventually returned, but I think this is mostly by people who don't look after them in the first place. I have tried a lot of mp3 players, iPod wasn't my first, but I have no real reason to be biased towards the iPod. I'm just sick of people putting it down and calling it shit because they've had one problem with a faulty one, or they can't afford one themselves.

[Techno]

Sony NW-HD1

This sexy mp3 player arrived this morning, and I am very pleased with it.

Included in the Box
Sony Walkman HD1
USB + Power Cradle
Power Adapter
USB Cable
Carrying 'Pouch'
Headphones
Manual
CD-ROM

Exterior
I love the brushed metal and the circular control buttons in the middle.

On the right you can put a chain through it if you want to hang it around your neck, why you'd want to, I have no idea.

On the bottom, there's two slide-buttons and a port. One of the buttons is like the iPod's Disable button, so you can put it in your pocket without it changing tracks. The other button is for turning off the battery, so you can preserve the life of it, instead of it always being on standby.

The top has Menu and Mode buttons and Volume.

Sound
The sound quality of this is amazing, because it converts your mp3s into ATRAC format, which is high-quality high-compression.

Annoyances?
This is a very good mp3 player, but since as I have only had it since this morning, don't take all of my words for it.
One thing which is irritating is the time it takes to convert from mp3 to ATRAC. It took about an hour to convert about 60 songs, so a song a minute. That is quite irritating.
Also, the software for creating your playlists is quite irritating and can be confusing to begin with.

Extras
The only extra I know of is the little remote-control which you plug into the top of the NW-HD1 and you can control it via that, but I haven't got that yet.

Cost
Mine is refurbished so I got mine for £150 from 7dayshop.com, but they're usually about £210 pounds when new.

Overall
The NW-HD1 is a very good MP3 player, but it's downfall is the software it runs on, therefore I give it

8/10

Pictures
http://www.sceptic-turkey.co.uk/images/walkman.jpg
http://www.mp3playersreview.com/img/sony/nw-hd1.jpg
Top:
http://www.tokyoit.com/news/newspage/2004/07/image/sony_nw_hd1_06_1.jpg

[Piedude-KT]

My MP3 player cost me a £17 off eBay, so I wasn't expecting anything special. Here's what I got in the box:

The shiny new MP3 player (blue)
USB cable
Manual
Battery
Tacky FM Headphones
USB flash disc (to use if your computer is below 2000)
http://images.andale.com/f2/105/128/8192012/1099898224375_MP3newbox.jpg

Features:
256mb of music
Voice recorder
FM radio (When used with special headphones)
MP3 and MWA format music
Folders (to select which artist/genre)
7 colour backlight
8 hour battery

It all looks shabby compared to an iPod or Zen Micro, but hey, it only cost me £17. It's nice and light, so I often listen to it around school. It basically does the job and not that much more. It's easy to use, and that's good enough for me, really. Soon I'll be upgrading to a Zen Touch on my birthday, so for now I'm happy with this. http://images.andale.com/f2/105/128/8192012/1106767762669_blue1a.jpg

[Conan-the-3rd]

In short; double the memory of the IPOD for half the cash.

outa the box
Zen Xtra (Comes in 30, 40 and 60 GB models, mine is a 30)
Earphones (Comferatble, but I had a pair already before hand)
AC adaptor
USB2 Conection (works with USB 1, thank goodness)
Driver/Jukebox CD

Features
MP3, WMA playback (Not sure about ACC format, not willing to waste 50p to find out)
Scroll Wheel
Backlight
EAX Music Enviroment Options
Data File Storage
5 hour battery (rechargable)

Basicly, it's an Ipod without a few games and support for Itunes (Oh, what ever shall do? :rolleyes:) at about half the price. (Was about 170 to 240 at the time of purchace)

Basicly, 6 months since I got it and it still works like a dream, throw in Notmad Explorer and I have just about a portable hard-drive.

[Oooh Yeah]

iPod nano, the replacement for the iPod mini.

http://homepage.mac.com/matthewdotcom/flaw/index_files/image001.jpg

specs, photos, shizzle at www.apple.com/uk/ipodnano

STOP READING HERE, THEY'RE SHIT I TAKE BACK EVERYTHING I WROTE ABOUT THESE THINGS, THE SCREENS SCRATCH SO EASY AFTER A FEW DAYS OF BEING IN YOUR JEANS THEY WILL SCRATCH SO MUCH THAT IT IS NOT PLEASANT TO VIEW THE SCREEN ANYMORE, THEY CRACK BREAK AND JUST IN GENERAL THE SCREEN IS SHIT (http://homepage.mac.com/matthewdotcom/flaw/)

STAY AWAY FROM THESE god put it in a case if you have one already, i love apple.. but god they've pissed me off a lot this week, just buy a full sized iPod or some other flash player, hell an old mini would be better, they're piss cheap now.

review.

"1000 songs in your pocket changed everything, here we go again" from the invite of Apple's press conference VIP invites.

this is the smallest screened ipod yet, and probably the smallest colour screened music device out there, this is the cream of apples design, i wont bore you with technical details, you can see them on the site.

it looks great, it does everything an ipod photo does except hold 60gb, it's limited to 2gb or 4gb, if you compare price to space ratio i'm sure it will be the steepest in the buisness, with the ipod nano you pay through your nose to get the best, but not the biggest, this is the most stylish iPod yet in my opinion, and with a range of accesories already in stock at the apple store and it coming bundled with the new version of itunes 5.0 available now for free it's bound to steal the PSPs out of stock headlines from the tech pages.

i love it and will be buying one. £129 or £179 from the apple store, students get a discount. go get one now, or would you rather have the significantly cheaper, but also significantly larger, less stylish and easy to use from cowon, iriver, sony and creative?

[RobW]

I had one like this until someone decided to break it but it was silver and had 128mb of space, same brand though:

http://i.pricerunner.com/prod/486336894s/140x140/Supportplus_MP3_1GB.jpg

I just carry an old portable CD player that jumps easily now.

[drunk_monk]

30GB iPod (Video)
[Sorry for long post]

Yesterday there was a package for me in the post and yes you guessed it, it was two free o2 Sim cards. But let’s forget about that and review the iPod.

http://img455.imageshack.us/img455/8103/box0np.jpg

Inside the box
30GB iPod
Manuals
iTunes and iPod Installation CD
USB Lead/Charger
iPod dock adaptor
iPod Headphones
Micro-fibre Case


iPod
When first taken out of the box the iPod is wrapped in a seal and protective film on the front covering the most fragile part of the iPod. First off like the iPod nano this iPod does scratch VERY easily, to keep it in absolute perfect condition you will need to keep it in the box and never touch any part of it, fingerprints are annoying but if you get use to not rubbing them off with anything (even micro-fibre cloths) then you won't get any minor scratches.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/6782/ipod0hr.jpg

The iPod is really simple to use and the instruction manual is layed out nicely avoiding jargon that some people may find confusing. The headphones are great but i feel the lead for them is a bit short. The charger is nice and compact and is also used for data transfer.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5743/menu6ky.jpg

Video Quality is great and can keep at around 27fps at 600x360. Only bad thing about video is that it drains the battery very fast, Apple say the battery life is around 2hours which is acceptable but not ideal if you are on a long flight.

*Edit - I figured i should let people know a bit more about video playback.

Video is great quality but it is irritating when you launch a video by selecting it in the menu it takes around 5 seconds to transition to full screen and start the video, it may not be a big issue but it would be nicer if the video played instantly. Video also eats up battery life, i was watching an episode of Lost today and when i had finished watching it my battery was only on half level after i had fully charged it, this is probably due to me using a higher resolution of video that the iPods screen is (640x360).

*Edit 2 - Continuing the topic of video - Video Out

My Apple iPod video out cables arrived today (surprisingly in a bigger box than the iPod), plugged then into the TV and connected up my iPod, again it took around 5 seconds for the video to load up. Started playing and indicated this with a big logo at the top left of the screen, first video i played was "Lost series 2 episode 5" which was custom converted using "Videora iPod Converter". Video quality was good but nothing special, video was MPEG4 encoded (not H.264). Next i played "For the Birds", a short movie by Pixar which i downloaded from iTunes, this was H.264 encoded and the video quality was around the same quality as you would get from NTL or Sky, there was no distortion or any signs of blocky picture. Just to let you know i was using a Sony Standard Definition Widescreen TV.

[Mozzer]

Creative Zen
Now before you ask, this is not the Zen Micro, or the Zen Well Big, or even the Zen Kit Kat. It's just Zen. K?

The package

What you get.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/MOzzer/collection.jpg

1.The box, with handy packaging. This has the serial no. on the bottom which for some reason is not on the Zen itself.
2.The box cover.
3.A nice velvety carry case. Take your music in luxury!
4.Manual. Looks big until you realise it's repeated 5 times in different languages. The PDF is more comprehensive really.
5.Tells you not to throw out your nice new toy. I thought that was obvious really.
6.USB 2.0 cable.
7.AC adaptor for the rechargeable battery. Has a green light on it. And the plug is shiny!
8.CD with software and PDF manual.
9.Need help? Ring this number that clearly isn't English and waste £££!
10.The Zen itself. Mmm.
11.A sturdy black case.
12.Case part no.1: makes your Zen stand up like so...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/MOzzer/stand.jpg
13.Case part no. 2: a belt clip.

Plus some headphones I forgot to include in that shot.

The Zen

The main event.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/MOzzer/handy.jpg

As you can see, it's a nice handy size, not too weighty, a nice clear screen and a pretty beast too. The buttons aren't the sort that physically move, they're sort of touch sensitive if you get what I mean. This is really best described with the scrolly thing in the middle – instead of pressing it at either end to move up and down, you sort of stroke it in the direction you want, and give it a firm tap to select. It can take some getting used to, but it works well. There's two buttons to skip forwards and backwards between tracks (press and hold to search within tracks), a play/pause button, a button to return to the previous menu, and a button that gives you more options. The front seems to consist of PSP-esque shiny blackness which looks very nice but of course can result in fingerprint problems. Keep your baby safe and clean!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/MOzzer/connect.jpg

This is the top of the Zen, and it has a few useful things up here. Firstly the rocker switch, take it to the left (1) to lock it so you can't accidentally press buttons, or to the right (2) to power on and off. You have to hold it in place for a second or two before it springs back into the middle for the latter option. 3 is your standard 3.5mm headphone socket. 4 is your USB connector. And 5 is for the AC adaptor.

Menus

There are many ways to get about your Zen. The main menu gives you
A. Music Library, where you can select by Playlist, Artist, Album, Genres, All Tracks, Recordings, Bookmarks and DJ. (DJ gives you options like most popular, rarely heard, album of the day and random play all.)
B. Now Playing. From here you can play, pause, skip tracks, change volume with the scrolly, add the current song to playlist and much more.
C.Play Mode, from which you can choose, normal, repeat, shuffle variations of these.
D.FM Radio. You can either manually scan each station or just do autoscan which will detect all of them and assign them to presets. You can name these presets if you want. You can also record from radio.
E. Extras. Date and Time (through which you can set an alarm), Microphone, Organiser (which you can sync with Outlook) and Removable Disc.
F. System. Here find Information like Storage space, number of tracks and albums etc. and Settings like audio, player and language.

Power

The battery is concealed in the back under a screwed cover.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/MOzzer/back.jpg

I have read somewhere a claim of 11 hours battery life but I'm not sure. I guess that depends on how they tested it. It will charge either through the AC adaptor or when plugged into USB. And when it charges, the blue glow round the edge gently pulses. Sweet.

Music

The whole reason for it. Well, I don't have much to compare it to, but I have no complaints. It sounds great using their “high fidelity” headphones (which are quite comfy and look nice):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v161/MOzzer/headphones.jpg

and if you maxed it out then you would probably go deaf. There's some serious power in this thing. It plays MP3 and WMA of course, and stores 20GB of music, while I am struggling to fill 2GB.

Price

From Creative, this is supposed to be £150 new, but for some reason they (Creative Labs themselves) were offering them for £120 including postage on eBay. I snapped this up of course.

Software

Had a few teething problems with this (see this thread (http://www.weebls-stuff.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44008)) but it just about works. You can transfer music with Windows Media Player or the software provided on the CD. It goes quite fast on USB 2.0 – possibly as much as 1 track every 2 seconds, I'm not sure. You can change settings on MediaSource Organiser like the owners name and create playlists, which is quite handy as inputting text on the Zen can be quite fiddly. You can set it up as a removable hard drive with partitions ranging between 512MB and 16GB.

Sumary
20GB storage
Plays WMA and MP3
Oodles of ways to choose your music (playlists, artists, albums, shuffle, repeat etc.)
Excellent sound quality
Looks cool; small and light
Use as portable hard drive
Decent battery life (not tested much yet)

I love it. 9.5/10.

I've also probably overdone it, but I like to be comprehensive :)

[Glitch]

Apple iPod Shuffle

Comes with software, earphones, lanyard, warranty, instructions (pffftt) and even an iPod Shuffle. Isn't that handy?

This comes in two flavours - 512MB (about £50) and 1GB (about £70). It uses portable solid state.

Well the Shuffle is certainly quite minimalist - a lot of people think it's too much so. As for me, I think it's a lovely piece of kit. There are five buttons on the face (Volume up/down, Next/previous track, Play) and on the back there is just a switch to change between Off, Order and Shuffle. Unfortunately the switch can become a little too loose a little too easily, and when you're switching from Shuffle to Order with sweaty hands it's easy to go one too far and switch it off. There is also a battery indicator which uses a little light to show how much juice is left and uses green, orange and red. On top there is the earphone jack and the base is a cap for the USB plug. It's possible to get cables or docks so that you don't have to plug it directly into the USB port. You can lock the buttons by holding Play for five seconds. As with all MP3 players, holding Next or Previous will fast-forward or rewind.

The main drawback, of course, is the lack of a screen. I admit it is difficult to navigate at first, but when you actually use it it doesn't take long to get used to. You can also return to the first song by pressing Play three times. However I think for larger song collections it's probably best to only get this if you don't want specific songs too often.

On the plus side, the Shuffle is extremely small and light, and its minimalist design is attractive. It uses PSS which means it's durable and won't skip. A lot of people use it while exercising and it is very good for portability.

Overall, the Shuffle is good for aesthetics, minimalism, small song collections and those on a budget. Just don't get it if you don't know what your songs are called.

[eleanor]

Zen Touch 40gb

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7273/zen28uw.jpg

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8484/zen11vk.jpg

In the box:

Zen Touch 40gb (how handy)
USB cable
AC charger
Belt-clip carry case
Manual
Earphones
Installation CD

Price:
£229.99 including VAT in the Creative online shop, but I did some shopping around on the internets and got it for £161.92 from Micro Direct.

Use:

The sound quality is excellent, and I think it may even be slightly better than that on the faulty 6gb Zen Micro it replaced (the fault wasn't the sound btw - my Micro just died one day). It's noticeably bigger than my Micro (funnily enough :p) but doesn't feel too chunky.

I've not tried using the supplied headphones but it's probably safe to assume that they're not that great - Creative wouldn't bother shipping the most expensive 'phones with mp3 players.

It comes with 59 tracks already on it - popular classical pieces performed by the Beijing Central Philharmonic Orchestra. I had a good study period today listening to those. ^_^

The Touch is in a brushed metal casing which I'm finding a bit slippery after the Micro's plastic case - makes me a tad anxious when I pull it out of a tight pocket, but this can be easily rectified by buying a rubber skin for it (they are widely available on eBay).

The touchpad is slightly more sensitive than the Micro's, and it's taken me a few days to get the hang of it and stop occasionally sliding past what I want - but I have FIGURED IT OUT.

Battery life is around 24 hours, which beats most other mp3 players.

Software:

The CD includes Nomad Explorer and Mediasource. As I'm used to Mediasource from my Micro, and as I prefer it to Nomad Explorer, it is my file organiser of choice.

Overall:

I have to say it's slightly chunkier than I'd like, but then again I am comparing it to the Micro. As it doesn't come in a box (instead in that plastic casing that you have to cut open) I've had to find somewhere else to keep my receipt, charger etc.

The sound quality is great, and the controls are easy to use (although slightly different from the Micro's). The battery life at 24 hours is also a strong point. The storage is cavernous - I have about 7gb of music on it so far. I doubt I am up to the task of filling 40gb, but I shall try!

[Star Wars Guy]

http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/8981/walkman9lk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

For years, the Sony Walkman has been the dominant figure in the world of portable audio entertainment. The cassette based player was a success in the 80s, and was considered an icon. Of course, in modern times it’s all CD and MP3 players, and the Walkman has steadily transformed to meet these demands. So why then, despite the fact that things have moved on, did almost everyone that was aware of my intentions of purchasing a Walkman assume I was getting the cassette player? The most logical answer would be the impact and popularity of the cassette based Walkman back then, but there is another side to matters – the iPod. Everyone has been sucked into these white, deceitful demons, due to its widespread commercialism and its appeal to younglings, with astonishing popularity. Practically everyone of my age group that I see can be witnessed with their iPods with its matching white ear phones dangling down their sides, which is an especially crude sight when all put together.

After breaking my previous player (it was probably going to break anyway due to its abundant cheapness), a lesson was learnt that it is definitely not wise to kneel on your player. I opted to purchase a brand new, higher quality player but of course immediately turned away from the iPod. I’m sorry, but I really do not want to be seen wearing an Apple fashion accessory and I don’t particularly fancy being mugged for one either. But that’s enough iPod insults for one day, as more pressing matters need attending to – the greatness that is the Sony Walkman.

Straight out of the box, the Walkman’s looks instantly appeal. Its sleekness is very apparent, and its simple structure of buttons certainly comes out as pleasing to both the eye and fingers. Available in a number of colours, I chose to have the more classy looking silver, but I could have chosen from the more traditional black, an inviting blue, a somewhat sickening violet and a rancid pink. Decisions, decisions. In terms of its size, it is certainly tiny, yet not Freddo bar sized like my previous player. Instead however, it is a bit fatter than a Freddo bar, which is perfect as it tucks into your palm rather nicely. Looks wise, providing you have it in the right colour of course, it is right up there with the Playstation Portable, and that is high praise. In fact, put them together and you could be mistaken for thinking that they were genetic brothers.

The LCD screen is another attractive feature, and features a solid clear interface. Graphically, it is not all that intense with its limited colour arrangement (black and white to be precise), but its easy to use navigation systems do work well. Once it has booted up, you are greeted by a mobile phone style home page, with 9 icons to choose from. From here, you can access the various features, such as the main music library, playlists, settings and the now playing menu.

This particular model of the Walkman is available with two capacities, a 6GB version and a 20GB version, a rather surprising leap. The 6GB model retails for around £130, whereas the 20GB sells for about £170. As is evident, the price range isn’t too steep between both models, although I personally went for the 6GB model, for the simple fact that I knew I could never fill up 20GBs worth of music, despite my vast range of music. The pricing was also comparatively cheaper than a few certain other players on offer.

Unfortunately, the walkman does have one critical downfall – Connect software. The software that was bundled with this otherwise high quality player is absolutely atrocious. It is often temperamental, a hassle to use, slow, memory intensive, and a damn right rude bastard at the best of times. Initially it took a bit of time to actually work out how to transfer files to the Walkman, after having trouble locating the “transfer to device” button, which was a separate function outside the main music library. It is very prone to crashing, and I haven’t even tried (or really want to try) ripping an audio CD with it yet, with others supposedly reporting numerous other problems whilst trying to achieve this. Worse still, there have been reports of files actually disappearing from the software which is indeed a concerning prospect. It is a tremendous shame that such low par software was issued by such a high status company as Sony.

The Walkman comes packaged with all the standard equipment you come to expect. Supplied is the usual charger, extension cable, ear phones and connect software CD, with the ear phones being adequate, but lack a remote control meaning that you have to dig out the player each time you need to use it. Fortunately however, the sound quality is very good indeed so it is hard to fault anything in that department. Battery life is definitely a plus point as well, outshining its taller brother PSP at a claimed 20 hours. While possible not quite as long as this I can definitely report that it is a very strong battery life, even after accidentally leaving it on.

Also packaged are a number of additional hardware features, some more useful than others. By utilising the hideous Connect software, you can create separate playlists which is mighty handy if you want to arrange different styles of music together. There are plenty of play modes too, such as repeat and more importantly, shuffle, along with an altogether separate mode called “intelligent shuffle”, which allows you to shuffle your tracks by using the 100 most played songs or sort tracks by year. The main mode that you are likely to visit more regularly however, is the music library which is the database where all music is stored. Access this and various sub options are available, where you can browse all of your music by artist, song or whatever you may desire.

Overall, this is an outstanding Sony product. Its sleek design, easy to use navigation, storage capacities and advanced features contribute to a very pleasant music player. If I had to pick out some problems with the hardware however, it would be that the screen can be somewhat difficult to read in the sunlight and the fact that the surface can become slippery in your palm – I don’t want to see myself break another player after witnessing the Freddo bar become a casualty.

If only the software was as fantastic as the hardware is all I can say.

Looks – Deliciously divine, with a refreshing shape and simple yet effective layout and design. Irresistible, but the slippery surface could cause injury. 9/10.

Ease of use – Simple to navigate, good enough visuals but can sometimes take too long to navigate through every menu or artist. Software could be improved drastically. 7/10.

Value for money – Perhaps hefty for some, but the price tag is a good representation of the quality and prestige of the product. The price range of the two models is questionable however. 8/10.

Overall – Sony have created a fine quality product that will satisfy those seeking a good solid MP3 player. Software problems aside, it is a very good looking machine, with more than enough storage and features that you could hope for. 8/10.

[Dude]

Sony Ericsson W550i

http://www.sonyericsson.com/images/spgd/GPD_21864high_28_0_4000.jpg

One of Sonys walkman phones, this little beast has got 256MB of built in memory, for storing songs, pictures, video, even entire movies! It's so handy I have a free pocket, so I can store other things in the other, instead of having a phone and an MP3 Player. This was the other option from the W800i (carrying on from the K750i) when they were both released near the same time as each other. I believe that the W800i was before the W550i.

The equilisers are as follows: normal, bass, mega bass, voice and treble boost. There is also an option for manual equilisation to break your headphones :p
The sound quality of the speakers is fantastic! It has a bass speaker so doesn't sound half as tinny as its W800i counterpart! It also has sterio widening built in.

The screen is the same size as most colour screen phones, 262,144-colour TFT, 1.8”. The only difference is that you can actually see what's on the screen in broad daylight. This phone has a higher contrast than the W800i.

The rest of the stuff that is built in: 1.3mega pixel camera (with high def video - really good quality), 3D gaming, SMS, MMS, and Tri-Band.

In the box, you get: Changable cases (a white one comes with it, and an orange one), Headphones and Jack adaptor, USB cable, software disk, recharger and a bluetooth headset (depending on where you buy it).

The headphones that come with it aren't very good, I would suggest getting some expensive ones.
The screen can get a bit scratched, but you can get phone tools that allow you to change the screen. You can get them from the website by ordering online. The battery life is great! I have had it on for 4 days, used it as an MP3 for a few hours and it's on 75%.

Over all, I think this is an excellent invention, it does everything, spot on 10/10.

[MrJoe2006]

iPod (30GB version) Black

First impressions of this new Apple product

On opening the box:

I found
*30GB iPod
* Manual
* iTunes and iPod Installation CD
* USB Lead/Charger
* iPod dock adaptor
* iPod earbuds
* Soft fabric iPod slip case

The iPod was in a pplastic cover stating 'Dont steal music' and then after you open that the front is still sealed with a clear plastic coating. It looked very stylish and slim.

After plugging this into my PC it began transferring my entire iTunes library to the iPod whilst it was charging it which in my opinion is a GREAT feature.

Features

The user interface is very simple (I have never had an iPod before) but I managed to use this without a look at the manual - once. The screen is very bright but I dont use the backlight excessively because (as with everything) the battery decreases. The picture quality is also very good.

MUSIC - Listening to music and getting upto 14 hours is great, however the sound could be doing with being deeper instead of just louder - even with the BASS feature on it fails to be as good as some other MP3 players so for heavier music this is not the most ideal.

VIDEO - THe video quality is very good bright picture (which goes for photos too) although when a video loads it does hesitate for a few seconds. And unfortunately the battery decreses quickly (upto 2 hours playback of video)

OTHER DETAILS - This iPod scratches very easily even in its supplied case and with cleaning it with 'micro-fibre' cloths a protective case is required (for screen viewing especially). A good point is the extensive range of accesories BUT a downside to this is the cost of these accesories.

PROs

*High capacity good for most users (also available in 60GB)
*Good Video picture Quality
*Good Photo Picture Quality
*Games to keep you busy while you travel
*Stylish and slim

Cons
*Scratches very easily - You require a case and plastice cover for the screen
*whilst 14 hours for music is sufficient 2 hours for video is poor
*Not enough BASS response
*Expensive accessories


Overall I would rate the following (1-10):

Apperance: 10 - Very Styish
Capacity: 10
Ease of use: 10
Durability: 6
Value for money: 8

Overall: 8/10

Would I reccomend this to YOU?

If you are looking for a audio player and want to see some music videos or a TV episode and can watch it with the 2.5" screen YES this is for you.
However if you are looking for a good video player with long battery life this is not for you.

However
If you want an iPod and have more battery life you can buy a battery life extender for around £79.99 from Apple Store
www.apple.com/uk

What I think apple could do in future

*Bigger Screen
*Better material to prevent scratches
*Better battery life for video

Where could I buy this ?
You could buy this from Apple Stures or online
www.apple.com/uk - current price £219

or alternatively
Currys.co.uk - Current Price £189.99

Warranty
Apple offer a 14-day cooling off period and it comes with a 1 year warranty and if you want you can buy the optional 3 year extended warranty for £39.

Currys - WHen you buy it from currys you get the 1 year warranty + have the option of buying a monthly warranty to protect against everything INC THEFT

I opted for the Apple store Online (in NOV 2005) which was also the cheapest at the time.

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I hope this has been of help to anyone reading it if you require more information please PM me.

[katt]

I just bought the 5th generation ipod 30 GB in white. It is my first mp3 player but i have long been a fan of itunes (and do not understand people who prefer WMP)

I'm not very techy but I will say this :

1. It's very (almost obnoxiously) cute. not much bigger than a credit card and very slender.
2. The scroll wheel is lovely
3. It is so easy to use I did not require a single bit of instruction

The menu interfaces look like the itunes program which is good if you like that program as much as i do.

edit after using awhile: the earphones are awful. They are huge and hard. I must have small ear holes cause they don't fit in mine and pop out all the time.

[esquilax]

Hmm..no posts in here for a while. But that never stops me, with the review of my new (well, month old)....

Apple iPod touch
Yes, it's an iPhone with no phone!

Costs: Around £179 for the 8GB, £259 for the 16GB

Available: Most electrical stores. I got mine from Amazon.

What's inside
iPod touch (I got the 8GB version..more on this later)
Docking lead
Quickstart guide
Earphones
Dock adaptor
Screen cloth
Piece of plastic supposedly for standing it on it's side to watch videos

First impressions on opening & setting up
Removing the lid of my box for the first time, I was quite impressed. It looks fantastic. But also vulnerable, so into the protective case I bought! Connecting to the computer autostarts iTunes. I didn't have iTunes previously, but luckily I'd set it up before now..which took bloody ages. Connecting to the computer and it sprang into life, syncing the music. This process took a couple of hours..but that might just be my computer.

Features
The touch screen: This has numerous advantages. You can navigate pretty easily around the player, especially in music. Handily, when in long lists of songs, you get an index down the side so you can touch to one letter and go straight there (scrolling down to 'T' or wherever manually causes RSI). The on-screen keyboard isn't fantastic, as it's quite small...and when using the player upright, is thin. However, the auto correct facility is excellent, so if you're typing fast and hit a wrong key (or several) it nearly always corrects it for you. Of course, it is prone to correcting things which aren't wrong, which can get annoying.

Wireless connection & applications: This is probably my favourite thing about it. The Touch is able to connect wirelessly to the internet, and comes complete with the Safari browser and is able to view Youtube videos. Safari is fast and can handle a lot of content. Unforgiveably, though, there is no Flash plugin...which does restrict what you can do somewhat (no Weebl & Bob!). Again, the screen size, although you can zoom in and out (and double tap to set the zoom to the width of the text), pressing links is fraught with difficulties at times, especially where there are many small links together (eg. on a forum). The Youtube function is a great innovation, and means you don't need to store so many videos on the device. But again, it is limited. You are unable to view user's pages, and there is no ability to see other videos from the same user (you have to hope it comes up in 'related videos'), and some videos just refuse to play. If you get the software package from iTunes, you can add more applications to the Touch: email - I use mine with Gmail and it's brilliant, no complaints; Weather- always useful, but I couldn't find Southampton on the list of cities; Maps - Google maps, with directions and aerial photos. A great function, and you can also link to your contacts' addresses to go to where they live; Stocks - don't really use this much, but if you have stocks or shares, it may be of use; Notes - Just a notepad, but comes in handy!

How does it sound?
This won't be long, as I'm not a connoisseur of sound quality, but compared to previous mp3 players I've had, the sound is quite a bit better.

Problems
The main thing I regret about buying this is getting the 8GB version and not spending the extra £70 on the 16GB. This is mainly due to my buying so many songs from iTunes that I now have too much music for my iPod. Other problems I've had are minor to me. There is one dead pixel on the screen, which is not really a problem for me, but many of you would find this annoying. And I also found that the Touch doesn't work with certain iPod docks (you get an incredible amount of hissing and squealing). So, always try before you buy there.

So, in summary:
Good
-Looks fantastic
-Wireless connection is incredibly useful
-You can buy songs from iTunes on the go
-Touch screen is very innovative
-Many great applications, and more to come (hopefully)
-Youtube videos!

Bad
-Memory capacity is not great if you have large music/video libraries
-Applications are often limited compared to their PC/Mac counterparts
-Touch has been plagued with screen problems (has hopefully been sorted)
-On screen keyboard is too small

Scores:
Looks: like sex in a digital device: 10/10
Capacity: should have gone for the larger one, but max 16GB: 6/10
Ease of use: takes a while to get used to, but then very easy: 8/10
Durability: I'm scared to remove it from it's case, it's very thin and I worry about it: 7/10
Value for money: more expensive than a comparable size mp3 player, and the extra apps cost £13. But you get a lot: 7/10

Overall: 8/10

Some life in this topic yet ;)