Its now down to $99 - go get it, you won't regret it!
Written: Sep 23 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Listen to music continuously for 10 hrs in MP3 format!
Cons: Minor problems, like songs skipping sometimes. But great overall!
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| aqc0643's Full Review: MPTrip MP3-CD Player |
INTRODUCTION
I've been listening to music the MP3 way for about 2 years now. I bought my MPTrip player about 2 months ago. I didn't want to go out and spend a few hundred bucks on silly products like the Rio MP3 player (and the like) because they can only hold a certain amount of data (on memory sticks) and that they would need constant updating if you want to change the songs in the memory of that player (hooking up via parallel port/USB). So, when I first read about the MPTrip (made by Genica) I was psyched. You must realize that this is first generation MP3/CD player and so there will, of course, be areas that will demand improvement. But, all things considered, if you put a gun to my head and asked me if the $125 that I spent on it was worth it, I would emphatically say "YES!"
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SO WHAT ARE THE FEATURES?
1. Can play MP3s (on CDR discs and CDRW discs)
2. Can play regular audio CDs
3. 50 sec anti-shock protection
4. 500 second recording capability for audio messages through microphone
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SO IS THIS PLAYER FOR ME?
Yes, definitely! The design of the player is decent - by that I mean the exterior has a silvery-gray finish and its made of plastic. The buttons are also made of plastic with a silver finish. Nowhere on the top of the player does it state the name of the manufacturer (Genica). Doesn't look like the company spent too much on looks.
But I guess they didn't have to! When it comes to performance, the MPTrip delivers! The MPTrip comes with an adapter and also works on 2AA batteries. I wanted to be able to use the player in my car so I went to Best Buy and spent $20 on Akron's Soundfeeder SF-100 unit - this unit lets me hook up the MPTrip to the cigarette lighter and also uses (get this!) available FM radio frequencies to play my MP3s - by that I mean you don't need to use those stupid tapes to hook up your CD player to your car stereo - its wireless! It uses your car radio to play MP3s!
Anyway, let me not divulge. Back to the MPTrip. Thankfully, I had read a couple of epinions on the MPTrip before I actually bought the unit and here is a valuable tip for you: when you burn your MP3s onto CDs, make sure that you put songs into directories - I have 40 songs in each directory and the MPTrip has no problem recognizing all of them. The reasoning behind this is that the MPTrip can only read 80 songs in a directory. So what if you don't create any directories at all and shove all 150 MP3s onto one CD? Well, like I said, the MPTrip will only recognize the first 80 songs. Flaw? Yes, definitely. But I can live with putting my MP3s into directories. Why, you ask? Because the positives definitely override the negatives!
The MPTrip is the same size and shape as your regular portable CD player. It doesn't read ID3 tags off your MP3s - by this, I mean that the names of the songs do not display in the LCD panel of the player. It reads songs by file number. So, say the Fugees' "Ready or Not" song was #11 in your list while you were burning the CD, it would show up as #11 on the MPTrip and if you wanted to skip to that song, you would hit the forward button until you came to #11. Does this bother me? No, not really, because I always put my MP3 CD on "Random" and it basically shuffles through the entire CD - that way I don't get used to the song sequence. Of course, in second and third-generation players, looking for the ID3 tag capability will be a must!
The buttons are pretty intuitive, I didn't have to read the manual to figure out how to work this thing. The buttons are very hard, in that you have to really press them down to have an effect. Again, once you hit "play" once, you don't have to worry about this. Also, the eject button is kinda scary - you have to hit it so hard you think you're about to break it! And right when you're thinking that, the lid pops open! Go figure! :)
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HOW's THE PERFORMANCE?
Pretty good, pretty good. The 50-second ESP is great, my player doesn't skip even when you bang on it real hard. The earphones that came with the unit are terrible, I trashed mine the day I got the MPTrip. Head over to Target or any of the big stores and pick up a set of Koss TD-61 headphones for $20 - you won't regret it. As far as the performance of the player goes, it does its job. Sometimes it'll start a song and then abruptly skip to the next song. It only does this maybe once in an hour (my car drives are usually this length) and so its not too much of a bother. Other than that minor flaw, playback capabilities are great.
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TIPS IF YOU BUY THE MPTRIP
1. Use 650MB CDRs (it doesn't perform well with 700MB CDRs)
2. Create your MP3 CD in one shot (one session) - if you don't, you might get data loss and the player won't be able to read the CD you just made.
3. Put your MP3s into directories and don't exceed more than 40 songs in any one directory
4. Get Rayovac's recharger and Rayovac rechargable batteries (I spent $10 on this at Target)
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SO WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN?
Yes, in a heartbeat! Each CD can hold 10 hours of music! I'm giving it an overall rating of 4 because there is still room for improvement (5 would imply that the player is perfect and cannot be improved!)
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HOW MUCH IS IT AND WHERE CAN I GET IT?
It is currently $98 at easybuy2000 - the URL is http://www.easybuy2000.com/store/products/mp3/mp3_discman.html
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WHAT ALL DO I NEED TO BE ABLE TO USE THE MPTRIP PLAYER?
1. MPTrip player (obviously) :)
2. CDR/CDRW drive and discs (I use a Plextor 8/4/32 CDRW drive)
3. CD-burning software (I use Adaptec's Easy CD CD Creator software)
4. Rayovac recharger and batteries (total cost: $10 at Target)
5. Akron's Sound Feeder 100 - for use in car (total cost: $20 at Best Buy)
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DO I LISTEN TO REGULAR AUDIO CDs ANYMORE?
Are you kidding me? :) Why would I? I have the MPTrip!!!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
aqc0643
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Member: Amit Chaturvedi
Location: Washington, DC
Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 5 members
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