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MP3/CD Players Reviewed
nd writes "It seems the MP3 CD players (previously thought to be complete vaporware after literally years of delays) are finally starting to hit the market. IGN has posted a review comparing the Mambo-X vs. MPTrip. Both players are discman-like in appearance, and play CDR/CDRW's containing MP3 files."
The first thing I noticed when I opened it was the EUROPEAN AC ADAPTER. Thanks, you jerks. I'm pretty sure that I'm a freak accident on their part, but still - what a kick in the pants?
I've played several MP3-filled CD-R's in it, haven't tried any CD's or CD-RW's, yet. The first I tried, I had made the stupid decision to fill the CD with MP3's, all in one directory (all from the same band - why not?) It can only play the first 77 songs in the directory, of about 120. So, don't do that.
Then I discovered that there's a Next button, but no Previous button. I can't go BACK one song. (I think I might be able to, by hitting Preview twice in a row.) The buttons are kind of crappy, but they work just fine. The Play / Pause button is the smallest one on the thing. The rubber feet on mine are of different heights, so it doesn't sit level. The ear-buds are kind of sucky, but they're not that bad. So what? Buy another pair, and you're good to go.
But, it does play MP3's from a CD-R, and it sounds good. AND it DOES NOT SKIP. I've done the "shake and bake" on it, while listening, and no audio degradation. I also dropped it on the floor, hard enough for it to open the case and drop the CD-R on the floor, but it still runs just fine.
All told - imagine a $40 CD player. Yeah - seriously - that bad (except it sounds good - it's just chintzy material, bad design, etc). Then, make it play MP3s off of CD-R's (and supposedly CD-RW's). And that makes all the difference! =) Mine is definitely worth the $115 I put in it. I can run with it, and have a LARGE selection of random music to listen to. And I can have a nice on-the-plane distraction (my ENTIRE music collection in a 24-CD-R case). So, just ignore the crappy quality, and enjoy the hours of good-sounding tunes, and you'll be fine.
When some respectable company finally comes out with a good-quality model, I'll undoubtedly buy it, even at twice the price. I want a Previous button pretty badly. And an LCD that actually shows the ID3 tag would be REALLY REALLY nice. (Also being able to use a Playlist would be very nice.)
Final review : 3 out of 5 stars. Does what it's advertised to do - PLAYS MP3 CD-R's, and seems like it's not going to break or otherwise fail. It just doesn't have ANY bells or whistles that you'd expect. NONE, okay? It just PLAYS, it doesn't do anything else!!! Oh yeah - I've had it for 28 hours, and it's already got MASSIVE scratches on it's crappy gold surface from carrying it in a backpack with CD-R's in their cases. =(
Education is the silver bullet.
I got the Genica mp3 player (http://www.genica.com/MP3-CD.htm)a month ago... and this player looks exactly like and has the same exact features as the MPTrip, so I'm assuming that they're the same manufactured item being sold by different companies. I've had the opposite impression of the reviewer: I had no problems song navigation and not having track names (what do you expect for $100?), but sound quality is pretty bad. The best mode is normal (all the rest really are bad sounding), but even then the sound is extremely tinny. The only reason it doesn't bother me that much is because I use it in my car with one of those cassette adaptors and I can adjust my car's equalizer to even it out. But I wouldn't recommend it to those who are gonna use it with headphones.
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The skip protection is terrible, both for audio cds and mp3s.
Finally, I have problems with it reading cdrws. The best part of having one of these is the ability to burn a cdrw, and when you're tired of those songs, just erase it and burn more. I have an HP cdburner and some high quality maxell cdrws, and a great deal of the time when I turn the thing it on it says it can't find any files, and then the times when it can find them it has trouble playing them. It'll play them with lots of skipping (not due to the player getting banged around, it just has trouble reading the files). It's really frustrating when you turn it on to listen to some music and it tells you it can't find the songs.
Here's a cnet review: http://electronics.cnet.com/cgi/crunch/FReview2.a
Maybe I should try to return mine...
He said, "You'll be able to tell your grandchildren that you helped assemble the first NT supercomputer," and I cringed.
Aiwa makes their CDC-MP3 and Kenwood has their eXcelon Z919. These are in-dash head units that play mp3s on cds, like these, but have been available for awhile. Not too expensive (well, the Aiwa isn't), and pretty sharp graphics.