Read my review THEN you can buy it
Written: Mar 31 '01
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Pros: Good sound, cheap, fast download, Voice recording, telephone-number storage
Cons: Outdated software. Flimsy Battery lid. Competes with other parallel devices
The Bottom Line: Without competition for that price. Especially when you are also looking for voice recording.
Included software doesn't work. But there is a reliable software in the Internet.
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| vpinion's Full Review: Best Data Products Cabo MP-64 MP3 Player |
When I checked the reviews here at Epinion and at Amazon I found always two extreme opinions. Those of the people who got that thing to work, which were very positive, and the other ones which were not so friendly about it, because they didn't get it to work...
Considering myself as professional computer user I ordered this thing hoping that I belong to the first group and get it to work...
Here we go:
Installation & Software
Sure, as an advanced user I don't read manuals anymore, just a waste of time. I remembered that some reviewers mentioned that it is easy to forget to click on "File" "Connect" once you have the Cabo-Desk-software (1.0.5) and the Cabo connected. Otherwise you might be tempted just to to drag the files from your harddisk into the Cabo window. Looks tempting and would make sense, but you have to "connect" through the file menu first.
After doing that and dragging a few songs to the Cabo the transfer started flawless to my surprise. Then at the 4th song it was stuck... The Cabo could be revived by opening the battery compartment for a second.
The four songs were there, but I could only listen to the first 15 secs of the first song. After trying a while around without any effort I decided to read the manual ;-) ... oh, well.
I found out that prior to the first use the memory has to be initialized. Thats easy, so I connected the cable again and tried to connect. No chance. Tried and tried... nothing.
Then I tried my desktop computer and it connected and I was able to initialize, but not to download.
Hm, time to check the web for updates. At www.bestdata.com is a little newer version and also the software of the jazpiper, which is the original unit before it was rebadged by bestdata. Update no.1 (1.0.6?) didn't work, the jazpiper is the identical software (V. 1.0.10) with a different logo also didn't work. Then located the company of jazpiper: Mediaforte (Netherlands .nl) in the Internet and found the following link http://www.mediaforte.nl/jazzpiper/support.htm#pc Here is the version 1.1.11 which worked immediately and I didn't see from now on that error message anymore. This is a summary of a one hour fight. In between I tried some hardware settings. One faq recommended running your com-port at 378, IRQ7, DMA3 and ECP, but I guess that is not so important.
Hardware & Operation
After you are done with the software the rest is VERY pleasant. Sound is good, headphones could be better, but I guess many people have some good headphones in a drawer somewhere.
I am producing Foto-CDs (foto-cd.com) and have real sounds on those CDs which my Nikon 950 can not record. Therefore the voice-feature is one of the reasons for buying this player. Recording voice astonished me, the quality is very good, it would record me talking 5 meters away. Opposite to a tape recorder, you don't get the sounds of a tape-motor recorded. Voice-files are recorded at 32kbps, but maybe stereo, which wouldn't make sense. Why you ask? If you download music recorded at a normal 128kbps stereo, you can put 1 hour into the Cabo. Voice can be 4 hours, but at 32kbps mono it should be 8 hours that could be fitted. Still good, 4 hours is anyway plentyful and if you like you can still expand the player with a 32 mb Smartmedia. And when you compare it with a crappy RCA Voice recorder at Bestbuy that costs $59 and has only 4/8 Mb, then this is awesome!
Some people say the DSP (Rock, POP, Classic) is not good, but I am anyway not using it. Whenever you find that the sound of unit (this is also valid for a stereo component, diskman ...) without DSP is not good, it is usually you headphones or speakers that are crap. Well thats my two cents.
Operating the buttons on the device is easy, the manual is here really (:-) ) not necessary.
Download-Speed
0.98 mbps on an Dell Inspiron 3800 notebook and 1.120 mbps on a Athlon K7/850 Desktop (both systems ECP enabled).
Tanslated for the beginner: Around 35 seconds per song.
That is almost as fast as USB if not even the same speed, since USB is UP TO 1.5 mps. My parallel ports are anyway vacant, since I have printer and scanner on USB-ports. If you have other parallel devices then this might be an annoying fact about the Cabo, because you will always have to change the cables or buy a switch, or better a USB-printer, which you can almost get for the price of two printer-cartridges of your old printer.
Quality
Most parts are good enough. A little bit scary is the battery door that seems to be a little weak and on the other hand it has a strong spring. This requires some force to close it and at the same time some feeling not to break it. Be careful with that and you should be fine.
The headphone jack connects sometimes only one channel and you have to push and turn a little to get the music stereo. But that might also depend on the headphones you are using.
Both not reason not to buy this unit.
Beginners Startup guide
1. Buy the Cabo, don't touch the CD that comes with it.
2. Download the jazpiper 1.1.11 from mediaforte.nl
3. Install the jazpiper
4. Connect the cable to Cabo and PC
5. Click on File-Connect
6. Click on initalize internal memory
7. Drag you songs down to the cabo, wait until downloaded
8. Be happy with the Cabo
Sounds easy? Is easy! But only if you do it this way!
PS: Price is after $50 rebate, 10% coupon and 5% discount
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 80
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Epinions.com ID:
vpinion
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Location: Virginia, USA
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
I have a computer hotline with emergency service and I am also selling computer hardware.
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