Please READ before buying!!!!
Written: Mar 08 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
| Portability: |
|
|
| Battery Life: |
|
|
|
Pros: Small and extremely lightweight
Upgradable (hopefully)
Great Sound
Cons: Packaging
Headphones (Minor)
Memory door (Minor)
The Bottom Line: Despite minor complaints, I could not find anything better. Amazing size and sound.
|
|
|
| mark603's Full Review: Compaq iPAQ PA-1 (64 MB) MP3 Player |
I recently was in Hong Kong, which electronics are released prior to the US and was amazed at the various mp3 players. So much that I had to have one. So upon returning home, I began my shopping only to discover some of the models they offer aren't available here. So this is what I found. One, Sony while the smallest and most attractive are to be avoided at all costs. Their memory is proprietary (meaning only works with Sony). Second, they have copyright protection built into their system, which prevents you from doing everything you want with your mp3's.
That led me to the next most attractive and small one, Compaq. Upon reading the other reviews, my first thought was what a bunch of whiners. Everyone complained of the packaging. NOW I SEE WHY! I'm not exaggerating when I say I broke a new pair of scissors opening it. The plastic is stiffer than a credit card and the accessories are weaved through various bubbles within. The actual player is molded into the plastic and you damn near have to surgically remove it, or break it trying. Compaq's website heralds this anti-theft packaging as a bonus.
The player itself is negligible in weight and easy to use. In fact I reccomend not even installing the provided software, RioPort (It's not necessary). All you need is Windows Media Player and the provided USB cable. To tell you how easy it is, I've yet to open the manual. Of course I'm a man, so manuals are like asking for directions (just a waste of time). All you do is plug the cable in, open WMP 7.0 and click on portable devices. It finds it and you start transferring, just like files. The only snag was formatting the cards to begin.
THINGS I LIKE ABOUT THIS PLAYER. One, Easy to use. Two, Small, lightweight, and attractive. Three, the sound out of these headphones is remarkable for clarity and bass. Lastly, the price. I bought my from a reputable dealer on eBay for $175 including shipping. Plus compaq offers a $50 rebate.
THINGS I DISLIKE ABOUT THE PLAYER: One, the memory door is chincy and could easily be broken. Just remember that while opening and closing and hopefully no problems. It looks easily replacable, so breaking it doesn't really scare me. Two, they say its upgradeable, however as of this post it DOES NOT accept 64mb MMC cards. The maximum capacity is the 2 included 32MB cards. Which holds about 6-7 songs each. I personally spoke with a compaq rep, who says he also has one and is anticipating the software upgrade to be available before april 2001. I hope he's right because 2 hours of music goes by fast. Third, the earphones while beautiful sounding are BIG. You have to force them into the earsocket, and when your done my ears hurt from the stretching. This is a whiner complaint, in that they sound is worth it. Fourth, the beltclip is useless. It swivels like these new cellphone holders. However, if your wearing lightweight shorts, jogging, or something active, the clip isn't very secure. These are all minor complaints and wouldn't affect my decision to repurchase this great toy. Instead, just suggestions for the compaq people to keep in mind for the next generation.
So, all in all I would reccommend this player over anything on the market. Hopefully with two 64MB cards upgrade available soon, you will have 4 hours of escape. Thanks for reading.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 175.00
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
mark603
|
|
Member: Mark R
Location: Savannah, GA
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 2 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.