Compaq Goes Compact with the PA-1
Written: Jan 22 '01 (Updated Jan 22 '01)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Portability: |
 |
|
| Battery Life: |
|
|
|
Pros: Size, 64 MB (two 32 MB MMC cards), USB, Allows upgrades to play future formats
Cons: Horrible product packaging, USB drains battery, Support, Uses expensive MMC cards
The Bottom Line: A great little MP3 player if you can figure out how to take it out of the bullet-proof packaging without damaging the unit.
|
|
|
| isong's Full Review: Compaq iPAQ PA-1 (64 MB) MP3 Player |
AT FIRST GLANCE:
I’d been using my trusty Sony cassette walkman for over a decade for my workout routines. I also own a portable Sony CD player, but it’s pretty big and also has the tendency to skip during my workouts. I was amazed at how compact this unit was when I received it. I read some reviews on it here on Epinions and on CNet.com and I felt that this would serve my purpose well.
The unit measures approximately 2" x 2.5" and is accented by metallic buttons and an LCD screen. The rubberized blue grips on the side may not make this MP3 player very appealing to all, but it sure does give it some personality. When turned on, you’re greeted to a bluish-green glow and the words "Compaq iPAQ".
THE GOOD…
Size: This MP3 player is very small. I'd say it’s about the size of a pager and very easy to lose. I actually placed it on my bed one morning and spent hours trying to find it. That night, I found it by almost sitting on it.
Sound Quality: Amazing. The sound is awesome. I try not to copy over any MP3s that are below 128 bits, but just for kicks, I copied a 64 bit MP3 file onto the iPAQ and it didn't sound as bad as I thought. It was actually pretty good. The supplied earbud headphones are pretty good, too. I'm not a fan of earbud-style headphones, but these are probably better than some of the more expensive headphones I've tried. I'm the type of listener that likes to spare their eardrums to avoid hearing loss. I never cranked up the volume past 3. The PA-1's volume goes from a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the loudest). There is a dramatic jump in volume between 1 to 2 and 2 to 3.
64 MB of Storage: Compaq packs two 32 MB memory media cards (MMC) with this player. Instead, I wish they supplied us with one 64 MB card. Since the iPAQ player has two memory card slots, it's capable of future upgrades.
Preset Equalizers: Rock, Jazz, and Classical are the settings available. You can also choose your own setting by adjusting the bass and treble by using the '+' and '-' button which is also used for adjusting the volume.
Playback Time: Compaq states that their unit is capable of 10 continuous hours of playback on two fresh AAA batteries. This may be true only if you’re playing the device at a moderate volume, as higher volumes will deplete the batteries much faster.
Ready for the Future: Not only can it play MP3 files, it can also play WMA and AAC files and is ready for the future, as available software can be downloaded from the Compaq website and loaded onto the device so that it can be ready to play other type of files.
USB Connection: Nothing frustrates me more than having to wait. Downloading the MP3 files onto the iPAQ from your computer doesn’t take much time because it utilizes a USB connection instead of a serial or parallel port connection. Some devices use firewire (IEEE 1394) which drastically improves data transfer, but until this technology is widely used and affordable, USB will still be sufficient.
Play Modes: And lastly, the iPAQ allows you to choose from a few playback modes such as 'Shuffle', 'Repeat All' and 'Repeat One'. Not a lot of options but they're ones that I use quite often.
…and THE BAD:
Build Quality & Design: I'd expect a Compaq product to be fairly well made, but the very first PA-1 that was shipped to me was defective. I thought that the batteries provided were old, so I put in a fresh set. It still didn’t work. Luckily, the second one I purchased worked. Second, the battery and memory card lids are very poorly designed. It’s easy to break them off and lose them.
Battery Life Doesn't Live up to Standards: Just to see if the device would play for ten hours, I set the volume to '3' and set the play mode to 'Repeat All'. I put in a set of fresh Duracell Ultra AAA batteries and set my stopwatch. From start to finish, it played for a total of 8:20:44 (hours:minutes:seconds). I'd assume that if I put the device through a combination of uses such as shuffling through songs, downloading songs from the computer, and adjusting the volume, I would have drained the battery much quicker.
Screw-on Belt-clip: Well, this is a good and bad idea. It's a good feature because it provides a way for you to attach the device on your clothing when you're jogging or working out. But when this belt clip partially blocks the battery compartment from being opened, it poses a nuisance. Every time you need to change the batteries, you'll need to unscrew the belt clip to open the battery lid. To some, this may not be much of a problem, but to me, I think it's something Compaq should have put more thinking into.
Plasticky & Cheap Material: At a glance, the PA-1 looks like it's made with top-grade materials. Once you see it up close, you'll be disappointed at the fact that what you thought was aluminum, is actually cheap plastic. It's one thing to use cheap plastic, but it chaps my hide even more to find that the pieces didn't even match up tightly. In other words, the fit and finish was very disappointing.
YOU CAN USE IT IF... you can get it out of the packaging. When I got the Compaq PA-1 player in the mail, I was so anxious to open it up and use it. Let me tell you, it took way more than a pair of scissors to get it out! Once I cut the edges of the thick, plastic casing and peeled the cover away, my ultimate task was to get the MP3 player out. It doesn't look that hard, but due to the fact that forcing it out may cause the memory card cover to break off makes you think twice about pushing it out. After about five straight minutes of frustration, I was thinking about chucking it out the window because I was so angry. Such words as, "I'm never going to buy a Compaq product again!" was said numerous times. If anyone spent less than a minutes with the opening process, please let me know.
SUMMARY:
I think MP3s are great. Now that there are so many portable devices available that enable you to carry your musical collection anywhere, it's only a matter of choosing which one suits your needs. For people who need a simple, compact device that will allow them to listen to their collection of music on the run, the Compaq PA-1 MP3 player will do the job. The MP3 player package comes with a set of AAA batteries, USB cable, RioPort music library software, Microsoft Windows Media 7 software, earbud headphones, user manual, and warranty card.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 159
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
isong
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Ingi
Location: Beaverton, Oregon
Reviews written: 58
Trusted by: 178 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.