Finally, after two straight months of slaving away at work, I was able to go back to the gym. The fourth quarter was over, and I dedicated myself to start working out at lunch again.

This was me on January 1st, but I had been thinking that way for two straight months. I couldn't wait to get back in the gym. I went sporadically, but with two kids and a hard day of work, it's kind of tough to go late at night.

Back at the gym for three weeks now, I have a new toy that I bring with me. It's the new Nike/Phillips PSA 128 Max MP3 player. I was using a portable CD player with 40 second skip and one of those fanny pack looking things that you can carry them in to work out, but this thing is in a different league altogether.

The MP3 player itself is durable, small, and lightweight. It fits in the palm of your hand. The PSA comes with Music Match software that is decent, but really annoying. The version of the software that comes with the player is their regular version, as opposed to the plus version that is an upgrade you have to pay more for. Isn't $200 bucks enough? Shouldn't you get the plus version of the software automatically? Oh well. When you close the Music Match player after you're done with it, an ad comes up asking you to switch to the plus version. Very annoying. However, you can use other media to transfer your MP3's from your computer to the player. I've used Windows Media Player with ease and you don't get the awful pop up.

The player itself comes with a rubber type band that goes on the outside of the player so you can hook up an arm band with velcro snaps to it. In the diagram that I found online of how to wear the player (there are not instructions that come with the player itself), it's supposed to be worn on your upper arm, between the elbow and the shoulder. However, it will fit snug enough on your forearm unless your arms are small. I find it better to use it on the forearm if you are doing anything bicep or tricep related. Otherwise, I wear it on the upper arm as it is most comfortable there.

There are a couple fun additions to the player that are cool by design, but don't work that well. The headphones that come with the player are connected to a long extension line jack that connects into the player. Attached to the extension line are two magnets that are supposed to be worn on the inside and outside of your shirt for stability. On the larger magnet is a small remote control. Very cool idea, but the functionality sucks. For one, the headphones are awful. If you have a head size of a regular person, the headphones won't go around the top of your head. That's fine, I'd rather wear them behind my head anyway. Nope, because of the lack of flexibility of the ear pieces, you can't wear them behind your head. The ear buds keep falling out. The only way I could keep the phones in my ears was to have the head piece under my chin like a football player's chin strap. It doesn't look weird that way and it functions fine, but damn if my chin didn't have marks on it afterward. Since I like to get usage out of my products, I tried using the headphones and remote control magnets for two weeks. A funny thing is that the magnets stick to everything. While putting them on, they stuck to my car keys. While doing bicep curls, they stuck to the weights. I bet if I panned for gold, I could've used these magnets.
After looking like a sick patient with wires coming out of my body, and having my magnets stick to the weights I was lifting, I decided to grab my own headphones that I workout with regularly and just use those. I didn't have a special remote control attached to my chest, but still I'm a happier man since I made the switch.

Since the player is so comfortable, you rarely notice it and it's roughly 45 grams in weight. It's also very durable. It's waterproof for you sweaty people. I swear some people at the gym sweat so much they have to lay down their own sweater to walk over puddles. I haven't yet dropped the player like I've dropped my cell phone hundreds of times, but my guess is that it won't break unless you really drop hard or from the top of a building. It's not heavy, but the metal used to make it feels very solid.

With 128MB in memory, you can add roughly 25 songs if you save your MP3's with 128-160Kbps. It's not expandable, but because it's function is to be a dependable, transportable player, you probably don't need any much more than that. But I understand the questions about the value of paying so much money for a player. The player doesn't skip which is great and the sound quality will be based on what bit rate you save your MP3's. The player comes with one rechargeable AAA battery and the recharger simply hooks into your outlet. I'm not exactly sure how long it takes to recharge the battery fully as I usually do it before I go to bed.

This player is very solid, albeit a little expensive. But if you're a regular gym goer, this is an excellent purchase. It might not spot you on the bench press, but other than that it's a great gym buddy.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 199.99