Cons: Intel Audio Manager has minimal functionality; Cheap, bulky headphones; poor radio reception.
The Bottom Line: This affordable MP3 player has a large capacity and produces an awesome sound; despite the shortcomings of the software that is provided, this is a good product overall.
dmacioce's Full Review: Intel Pocket Concert (128 MB) MP3 Player
I bought the Intel Pocket Concert several months ago, and for the most part I have been quite pleased with its performance. Some of the factors that influenced my decision to purchase this model included:
- Built-in 128MB storage capacity.
- Affordable.
- No memory cartridges.
- Sound quality.
- FM Radio Tuner.
Some of the shortcomings that I've had to live with since purchasing the Intel Pocket Concert include:
- Size; this unit is not as compact as some MP3 audio players, such as the Sony models. On the other hand, you don't have to shell out big bucks for memory sticks, either.
- Large, cheap headphones. The first thing I did after buying this is get a nice pair of Sony ear-bud style headphones. I guess that's a matter of personal preference.
- The Intel Audio Manager software has severely limited functionality, and sometimes it freezes up altogether.
- The FM radio tuner has very poor reception, and I'm rarely able to tune into the stations that I like to listen to.
On the good side, the sound quality of the Intel Pocket Concert is amazing. There is no distortion, no electronic interference or hissing audible in the background, and every sound is crisp and clear. One of the distinguishing features of the Intel Pocket Concert is that it can amplify the sound louder than other similarly priced MP3 audio players.
Additionally, the layout of the buttons and switches on the unit is convenient, and all of the features are easy to learn and operate. Most of the features can be controlled with just one hand.
The Intel Pocket Concert features 128MB of built in memory capacity, which allows you to store hours of MP3s on the device at any one time. For me, this is plenty of space.
I thought having the FM tuner would be a great feature, but unfortunately, every time I want to use this feature, I'm not able to tune into the stations that I like to listen to. I live in Los Angeles, and there are plenty of local stations, so I'm guessing that the problem must be with the Intel Pocket Concert's reception capabilities. Consequently, I don't use this feature as much as I would like to use it.
The most prominent shortcoming of the Intel Pocket Concert is the Intel Audio Manager. This software has only the bare minimum features for transferring MP3s to the device and deleting selections from the device. Some of the things that are lacking from the software, which would be nice to have are:
- You cannot create or safe playlists with the Intel Audio Manager, which means that every time you want to change the music on your Intel Pocket Concert, you have to copy the songs that you want manually. However, this feature is available in the MusicMatch software that is provided on the CD. Personally, I don't really care for the MusicMatch software, and I think this kind of feature should be available directly in the Intel Audio Manager.
- The Intel Audio Manager does not let you work with Windows Shortcuts. For example, if you have a bunch of shortcuts to MP3 files in a directory on your computer, you cannot use those shortcuts to copy the MP3 files to the Intel Pocket Concert using the Intel Audio Manager. The reason this would be a good feature to have is that it would mean that you could easily create playlists using windows shortcuts, using folders to group the shortcuts together into playlists. I've used this technique for various computer programs that use MP3s, such as WinAmp, and I've found it to be a good technique on my PC.
- If you have a lot of MP3 files in a single directory, expect the Intel Audio Manager to operate very slowly. I made the mistake of trying to open a directory that contained 300 MP3 files using the Intel Audio Manager, and I was stuck waiting for several minutes for the operation to complete.
- Once the MP3 files are on the Intel Pocket Concert, there is no way to rearrange them if you want to change the order. To change the order, you need to delete the MP3s and put them back on in the right order.
- Some times the Intel Audio Manager freezes up, and you need to reset the device and restart the Intel Audio Manager. This seems to happen at random. But, fortunately it doesn't happen very often.
- In general, the Intel Audio Manager software is slow and clunky, and I'm not sure why it has to be that way. The layout of the main dialog probably makes sense, but I would much prefer an explorer type of interface which would allow a faster, easier way to navigate through the directory structure in which I keep my MP3 files. When you navigate to a directory, the Intel Audio Manager appears to analyze each and every file in the directory, whether you want to copy it or not. No doubt, this causes some performance problems.
As I mentioned above, the MusicMatch software is packaged with the Intel Pocket Concert. If you really like MusicMatch, then you will be quite happy that it features a tight integration with the Intel Pocket Concert. Thus, if you use MusicMatch, then you will not need the Intel Audio Manager, since you will be able to do all of the same things (and much, much more!) from within MusicMatch... You can even create, save, and transfer play lists. As for me, I'm not a big fan of MusicMatch, and I would have preferred to see a much better Intel Audio Manager. Undoubtedly this was a cost-saving/outsourcing measure by Intel, and a sweet deal for MusicMatch.
Nevertheless, the Intel Pocket Concert is a great MP3 Audio player, once you get your MP3s onto it. On this basis, I am recommending the Intel Pocket Concert. However, I also recommend that you choose your MP3 files carefully, and in doing so, reduce the amount of time you spend using the software that is provided.
128 MB of built-in memory--over 4 hours of music Digital FM radio with 10 presets Supports MP3 and WMA; upgradeable to support future digital standard...More at Amazon Marketplace
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