From First to Worst in Three Short Weeks
Written: Jul 08 '05 (Updated Nov 09 '05)
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Pros: Excellent player, compact, great sound, lots of features.
Cons: Has trouble with some characters, only 1.8 gigabytes space for music. Not durable.
The Bottom Line: Can you fall in love with an MP3 player? I sure did. And now I'm heartbroken that my love died three weeks later.
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| Bruguru's Full Review: Philips HDD070 (2 GB) MP3 Player |
Whenever I’m on the go, I like to take my music with me. Especially when out walking, I like to add my own personal soundtrack to life, and the Philips GoGear HDD Micro Jukebox allows me to do just that. I’ve had other MP3 players in the past, but the more I used them the more I realized I wanted more: more space, more features, and more extras.
And the GoGear gives me all I need, and more. I must admit that I haven’t been so happy with a consumer product in quite some time. The GoGear hasn’t left my side since I bought it a few weeks ago.
I really loved the features and performance of this unit, while it lasted. Sadly, I can't recommend the GoGear for reasons we'll soon explore.
Storage Space
The GoGear offers 2 gigabytes of storage space, enough (they say) for about 1000 songs. Realistically, that number is more like 500 tracks of CD quality music. Your numbers may vary depending on the type of music you listen to and the quality level you select while recording.
Why Not an Ipod?
OK, you say, 2 gigabytes of storage space, big deal. An Ipod comes with 20 gigabytes, ten times as much space. So why not an Ipod? For me, there were several reasons. Primary among these is the fact that 2 gigabytes is plenty of space to store about 40 hours of music, more than enough for most people.
Still, if you get tired of all that music, the GoGear has a built-in FM tuner, something I very much wanted. This is an optional accessory on an Ipod. And then of course there’s price. The 20 gigabyte Ipod will run you about $300, while I bought my GoGear for half that price.
Getting Started
You’ll need to give your GoGear a thorough charging before you get started. The unit has a built in battery and includes an AC charger. One hour will get you an “express” charge of four hours listening time, while a longer, four hour charge gives you ten hours of listening time.
Once you’re charged, it’s time to load the player up with music. A CD is included with MusicMatch Jukebox and a firmware upgrade program that automatically connects to Philips and upgrades your unit whenever applicable.
Adding Tracks
You can load music on to the device via MusicMatch simply by sending tracks to your portable from your library. Or, you can browse your PC and add MP3 WMA files directly. Either way, however, you MUST use music management software to do so.
Windows XP does recognize the GoGear as an external drive, and you can drag and drop files onto your player for use as an external hard drive. This makes it convenient to transfer files from one PC to another. However, music files dragged and dropped in such a fashion will not play on the GoGear.
The GoGear connects to your PC via USB 2.0-1.0 transfer cable. The transfer time is relatively fast, usually taking about 15 seconds for a 5MB file. Still, it will take you a while to fill the entire allotment.
Portability and Durability
The GoGear is very compact, smaller and thinner than a deck of cards. It’s lightweight and sturdily constructed from magnesium and plastic. A clip-on carrying case is included to make it even easier to bring with you wherever you go.
Unfortunately, although I enjoyed all of its features, durability is where this unit just could not hold up. Three weeks into my use, the GoGear stopped working. It just went completely dead and couldn't be ressurected.
Looking through the manual, a warning is given that the GoGear "is not recommended for vigorous exercise. But if you can't use it for a simple brisk walk or jog, what good is it?
Navigating
Power and track selection are all controlled from a series of five exterior buttons. On the side of the unit are controls for volume, hold/menu, and source selection. A backlit LCD display is clear and easy to read. The light will go out automatically after about five seconds (you can change this to 10 or 30) to save power.
Once you start your player up, you’re presented with a menu that allows you to choose between HDD (hard Disk Drive containing your music) or radio. The radio allows you to choose ten preset FM stations, or you can use autotune and the GoGear will automatically preset the ten strongest signals. Mine was never to pick any up, however, even in Atlanta. I had to set them manually, and reception was poor.
Choosing the hard disk allows you to browse all tracks in your library, sorted alphabetically through track title. You can also search by playlist, album, artist, or genre, but these settings will only be as accurate as the information recorded on your MP3 tracks.
A nice little feature is the ability to browse through tracks by letter. Depressing the up or down arrow controls will take you through each letter of the alphabet, allowing you to go right to your favorite tracks.
You can set tracks to repeat or shuffle, and the Digital Bass Boost setting pumps some amazing bass out of a little player. You can choose from a number of equalizer settings, display the menu in a number of languages, and set key shortcuts.
Headphones
The GoGear comes with a very good set of in-ear headphones. They sound fantastic, and really carry some decent bass near the highest volume settings. Volume levels are good, too, and I rarely listen above about 80%.
Annoyances
The GoGear has a few bugs which, well, bug me. It’s difficult to transfer more than one track at a time to the unit through MusicMatch unless you transfer an entire folder. Deleting tracks has to be done one at a time, too.
When I got the unit, I didn’t get my two full gigabytes. About 200MB is assigned to firmware and software. This is the case with every MP3 player I’ve ever bought, but it’s still annoying. Also, some tracks won’t display title in the menu, even if you tag them in MusicMatch. They just show up as “Track Not Found”, though they play just fine.
The player also has a hard time with some characters, too. For example, I ripped two of my .38 Special CDs and loaded them onto the player. MusicMatch labeled the files “.38 Special” plus the track name. The player refused to play them until I went in and changed the file names to 㦒” from “.38”.
Overall
I gave this one four and a half stars initially, though I’m revising to two. The durability issue is a genuine concern if you're a walker or jogger. However, if you just use your player for casual listening, the GoGear might be the thing for you.
Whatever player you use, I heartily recommend the Philips surround headphones .
Other MP3 Players I’ve Reviewed
ipod Mini 4GB
Rio Rave MP2050
Seal SFP150
Philips PSS110 Shoqbox
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 159
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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