Great value music player
Written: Feb 01 '05
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Pros: Good sound and features. Lightweight. Cool paint job.
Cons: Needs belt clip, volume dial instead of button.
The Bottom Line: This is one of those music disk players that makes you wonder why anyone forks out $400 for an iPod.
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| tmm2112's Full Review: Philips eXpanium EXP303 Personal CD Player |
This is one of those music disk players that makes you wonder why anyone forks out $400 for an iPod. No, it won't hold 10,000 songs, but when you can burn your own mp3 disks that hold something like 150 each or just play commercial CD's all at a price of $50, then a $400 option is not as attractive.
Good features
Formats - MP3, CD, CD-R, WMA
Shuffle, program
Bass boost
vibration stabilizer, return to music on upset
Thin & light
Cool metallic paint that changes color at different angles
Comfortable headphones
Good battery life - 10 hrs on AA
Overall, the lightweight feel and good performance and sound quality make this a very usable device. The paint is very cool, though this doesn't really affect the performance of the device. I was quite surprised at the comfort and sound quality of the headphones supplied. They are light enough and comfortable enough to wear while jogging.
Poor Features
Volume control is two buttons (up/down), when a dial would be much more easy to control.
Needs a belt clip that snaps on/off.
Vibration control does work but could be better. I have caused it to skip while jogging (no big surprise).
The tiny LDC display is limiting but still nice to have. It displays the track #, file #, time into current track, battery power and scrolls the track ID information at a very slow pace. You have to be patient.
Time to jump to a new track is a little slow.
There is no on/off button, so you have to remember to press stop when you are done listening or it will just continue to play non-stop until the batteries are drained.
Right now I'm using rechargeable NiMH batteries and they are performing very nicely in the 10 hour range. We'll see long term.
The slim design of the unit has allowed me to fit it into a comfortable waist pack I bought for just $10 at Wal-Mart. This holds the unit safely while I jog. It sometimes results in skips, but usually only once or twice during a 2 mile run. Skips seem to occur more often while playing mp3 disks instead of commercial or burned standard wav files. This is not unusual and I don't typically use mp3 disks while running.
In general, I'd say that if you want to have a wide music selection available to you while traveling but don't want to pay the outrageous $400 Apple wants for their top of the line iPod, you might find this player a nice compromise. You can burn your own mp3 disks and carry 10,000 songs in a small CD pack instead.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50.00
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Epinions.com ID:
tmm2112
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Location: Columbus, MS, USA
Reviews written: 73
Trusted by: 9 members
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