You get what you pay for, and then some.
Written: Aug 09 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cost (100$), ability to listen to MP3-CDR's, Ni-Cad recharger
Cons: Medium quality, no ID3, Instructions, bulky
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| Sarv's Full Review: MPTrip MP3-CD Player |
This may be one of the most overused phrases, but it holds true with this excellent product. You see, right now, the big thing is the Rio, Nomad, and Lyra, all great MP3 players, but all limited in one way: the amount of music they can hold. 64MB equals about 20 songs recorded on high quality 192kbps. Also, per MB, the cost for a MP3 player is fairly expensive. So why not use the cheap, readily available, well known product: the compact disc recordable. Cheap at 99 cents a disc, you can have over 150 songs at your disposal, per disc. So for 1/64 of the price of 32MB on a memory stick, you get 650MB. Thats where the MPTrip discman comes in.
A lonely beginning
Its lonely at first, being the only one out there. Everyone mocks you, saying how you're simply first generation vaporware, and to wait on the next best thing. A lot of us did. We knew about the MPTrip, but waited for something better. That something better was supposed to be the MamboX. It didn't work out: long delays, and a final product that was shoddy and cheap, and cost twice as much as the MPTrip. Other companies are releasing CD/MP3 players, but they're off on the horizon, while the MPTrip (and its exact replica, the Genica) are here now, at a fraction of the future cost of these far-off 2nd generation beauty's.
Whats good?
How bout $100 bucks to start. You can't get much for a 100 dollars these days in the electronic world. Good reason for it, too: good stuff ain't cheap. Cheap stuff ain't good, or at least, not great. The MPTrip fits this mold, sort of. If you pay $100, you're gonna get $100 worth of a CD player. You could pay more, and get more (with the MamboX, not so). This MPTrip, however, has much to offer to overshadow the cheapness of it. For one, it plays MP3's, and it plays them well. It has a 50 second anti-shock system that works like a charm. I stood around today, while writing this, and shook it fairly violently, and it didn't skip.
Also, it works well with Ni-Cad batteries. You can use them with the AC adaptor to charge it when its not in use. Other regular players might have this option, but this is the first portable CD player of any type I've purchased, so I wouldn't know.
The sound quality is pretty darn good for a 1st generation player. I hooked it up to my car stereo, and it sounded (depending on the quality of the MP3) just as good as a cd player in the car. Not the best, but not too shabby (don't expect Bose, and you'll be satisfied, trust me).
EasyBuy2000 are the sellers of this product, and they offer very good, quick service. Ordered it on the first, got it a few days later. Very polite when I talked to them on the phone, and quick about getting back to me with questions through e-mail. Not bad for a little known company.
The Bad
First, when you open the box, you'll see the instructions. Then you'll blink, then start laughing at what you read. Here is an excerpt: "During the charging period, the LCD will flash till stop flashing, the batteries were re-charged. When you playing MP3 or cd..." It goes on, and is mostly just laughable, but understandable. This isn't a hard product to use, you don't need instructions. Put in headphones, hit play, and enjoy.
Its also a bit bulky, but to me, it looks a bit more solid this way. I would like it if it were lighter, and slimmer, but I'm not too hard to please, and most of the time, it sits on a tray in my car.
The product isn't made out of high quality metal, or plastic, parts. The buttons don't give a snappy response, but still work well enough. The case doesn't open unless you push pretty hard on the open button, and the play and stop buttons are hard to find (they're little dots near, but next, to each other).
The LCD display does not support ID3, and just gives you track numbers. At 140 songs, this can be a pain, unless you happened to watch the burn of the CD, and remember where each song was. However, on a long trip, 140 songs (more with more CD's) will not give you much of a chance to hear a song repeat. When recording, you shouldn't do a multi-session record, cause only the first session will register on the MPTrip. Lastly, the batteries don't last more than 4-5 hours. Get Ni-Cad, or get a 12V adaptor if you're gonna use it on a road trip, or just go to Costco and load up a crate of the 2 AA batteries you'll need to power this little monster.
And this is the bottom line...
If you got 100$ to spend, want to listen to a lot of music, and have a CD burner or the ability to get CDR's with Mp3's on them, the MPTrip discman is for you. If you're not picky, and are willing to accept the good for the bad, and just want something cool and fun, its for you. But, if you just don't know, and are worried about the fact that its not a solid state medium, by all means, stick with the 64 MB you could also get.
BTW, the older versions (A through C) of the MPTrip were hit and miss, a lot of lemons among the good units. If you purchase a unit after reading this opinion, you'll be getting a Version G, and they've been pretty much perfected with little to no problems. If you hear or read of problems, this is probably the case of an early version lemon. EasyBuy2000 is happy to help you if you do find a lemon, it seems, as they'll send you a new on ASAP.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Sarv
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Member: Erik Sarvela
Location: Medford, OR
Reviews written: 49
Trusted by: 15 members
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