Great product, except for software
Written: Jun 16 '03
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Pros: Small, light weight, simple controls, long battery life, extras, many different formats
Cons: Software VERY HARD to use and has bugs, check-in and out annoying
The Bottom Line: If you are computer savvy, and don't mind working your way through some hard software, than buy this product.
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| leopard850's Full Review: Panasonic E-Wear SV-SD80 (64 MB) MP3 Player |
The SV-SD80 panasonic mp3 player is a great piece of equipment. In terms of the size and use of the electronic unit itself, its awesome. Its the software that comes with it, the software which downloads the songs from your computer to the piece of hardware is where panasonic has failed miserably.
First the pros:
This thing is so small you will not believe it. Panasonic has done a great job at designing every part of the hardware, the battery, the memory, the LCD screen so that this unit is less than 1 ounce. Let me say that again 1 OUNCE!! You cannot feel this thing in your pocket or notice its even there when you are wearing or carrying it.
Second, the controls are very simple and easy to use. I have a degree in Computer Science with a specialty in user interfaces, take it from me, Panasonic did a lot of research in the design and user-friendliness of the actual design.
The battery life is unbelievable. Other mp3 players require AAA batteries you have to buy over and over again. This one gives you a small battery which looks like a stick of gum which gives you 10 hours of play time. Its also rechargeable with a special cradle supplied by panasonic.
There are lots of goodies which come with the player as well. First is a nice protective case with a belt strap on it so you can attach it to your pants or belt. This case also allows you to put a AAA battery in to which adds another 40 HOURS!! to the play time. The combiniation of the internal battery, and this external battery add up to 50 total hours of play time, thats huge when compared to the other players.
Finally, the only good thing about the software is that it allows you to change the mp3s into different formats. There is the standard mp3 format, and there is also something called ACC, which is a similar compression. I can't tell the difference.
Now the cons:
The worst thing about this product is the software. First, you cannot get the software anywhere other than from what comes with the box, or from Panasonic (who will charge you again for it). I haven't lost my CD of the software, and I hope I don't, otherwise, I'm screwed.
The software is a plugin which works with Realplayer Jukebox, which is a horrible enough program as it is without this plug-in getting in the way. In order to get a song onto your little player you have to do a couple of things. First, you have to plug in the Panasonic memory card reader into your USB port. Second, you have to take the memory card out of your mp3 player and stick it into the reader. After the computer recognizes your card, you than open up Realplayer Jukebox. After that takes 10 minutes to load you you have to "check-in" the mp3's you want download. Finally, you select the ones you want to add, put them in the order you want, and hit "begin transfer", and about 45 minutes later, your done.
I know it sounds cumbersome, AND IT IS!! To do an entire card full of songs (64MB, which comes with the player) leave yourself at least an hour. And about 5% of your mp3s will either not encode correctly, or Jukebox will just freeze (hooray for windows and realplayer).
Overall, I felt that the size, weight and simplicity of the actual player outweighed the horrible programming with downloading songs. Choose the ACC at 64kbps for your encoding, you can get up to 35 songs on your 64MB card, which is good enough for me.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300
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Epinions.com ID:
leopard850
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Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 1 member
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