Sounds great, less filling!
Written: Oct 07 '00 (Updated Nov 18 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Small and light, belt clip, USB, 64Mb
Cons: Lightweight construction, ungated ports, sucks batteries for xfer
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| moschops's Full Review: Compaq iPAQ PA-1 (64 MB) MP3 Player |
Those who read this review to the end or have read it before will know that I initialy could not get the PA-1 to work with Windows 2000. It seems like I wasn't the only one. Anyway, just when I was about to break down, return my PA-1 and buy a HipZip I discovered from the CNET.com product reviews there is now a software patch available from Compaq that fixes the Windows 2000 compatibility problem. Here is the link:
http://www.compaq.com/athome/support/internetdevices/ipaq-pa1.html
I purchased my PA1 because I wanted to listen to music while I train for a marathon, I just couldn't take any more hours on the treadmill staring at myself in the mirror without some distraction. An MP3 player seemed the most practical solution.
The features of the PA1 that attracted me were a) size (about 2" square), b) weight, c) belt clip, d) 64Mb, e) upgradable software, f) USB connectivity, and damn g) it justs looks good - roughly in that order. Other contenders may be small but only had 32Mb, or were small and 64Mb but had no belt clip. Doh.
The price was a little high but with a rebate (I've yet to discover where this comes from) it should come in at $199. I purchased from Outpost.com, ordering it Tuesday night and it arrived Thursday morning with the free overnight delivery. Yahoo. Instant MP3.
First problem - this product is sealed into its container like a dinosaur egg in granite! There it is small but perfectly formed and damned if it didn't take me 10 minutes to extract. I'll bet a good number of people manage to damage it getting it out as they cut through the extra thick welded plastic box, and then prying it from the jaws of the molded part is wedged into.
Second problem - the brushed aluminum finish is actually just plastic - shame. If it was really brushed aluminum, magnesium or something similar it would have added greatly to the units robustness. But then it might have lasted several years and I wouldn't have to upgrade in six months time, score one for built in obselescence. Combined with the light wieght this gives it a feel of el-cheapo quality that's probably not warranted.
Oh well, it compensates by having nice indigo rubberized grip areas on the sides, easy to use buttons and an easy to read functional LCD display with a nice back light. On the top there is a slider to disable the buttons when its jostling around in your pocket.
Third problem - the USB port is ungated. I like to see ports on devices protected in some way, sprung sliding covers are best. The miniature USB socket on the PA1 is wide open. It is recessed somewhat so I'll hope it never gets clogged with pocket fluff or otherwise damaged.
Fourth problem - the hatch for the media cards (two thumbnail sized 32Mb multi-media cards) is flimsey and pops open very easily, in fact its quite easy to pop the cover off entirely as I did while I was extracting it from the packaging.
The battery cover is more convincing but I'm less worried about batteries (2xAAA, 10 hours listening at moderate volume) getting damaged than I am the memory cards.
Fifth problem - the belt clip screws into the back and you need a coin or large screwdriver to remove it (its designed to use with a coin). I'd have prefered something that could be snapped on or screwed in by hand. Never mind, it seems to work just fine although when not attached to your belt the clip swings free (you rotate the device into place to make it snug).
The PA-1 is supplied with RioPort Audio Manager that supports MP3 and Windows Media formats (plus AAC which I know nothing about) with varing bit rates from 64 kpbs up to 320 kbps MP3 or 160 kbps WMA - ample for my needs. The software looks okay - not as flashy as RealJukeBox or as functionaly clean as some Unix based managers but it looks like it'll do. I hope that RJB will one day support this device though so I don't have to duplicate my play list info between the PC and PA1.
The software installed just fine - its a pretty simple installation with a mandatory reboot afterwards. However it was after the reboot my problems began to start.
Firstly the docs say nothing about what to expect when you plug a USB device into a Windows Plug-n-Play supporting OS. I'm using Windows 2000 and I've used '98 before so I've done it before and know what to expect. Many other users may be experiencing USB or plug-n-play for the first time, the manual should mention this. They don't tell you that you'll get some dialogs popping up. They don't tell you that you should have the install CD handy so Windows will find a driver. They don't tell you that you should always use the software features of Windows to "unplug" or "eject" the device before physically unplugging it, turning it off. You see problems anyway when the device auto-powers off (which you seem to have no control over). After that happens you'll have to do the software eject and then reconnect to make it recognize the device properly. These are not problems with the PA-1, just things that should be documented.
After applying the W2K software patch I found this device works fine with both the supplied software and also the Windows Media Player (v7). One thing to note, you'll need to format the two little cards before using them. Also because it uses two 32Mb cards you need to copy separately to them (as far as I could see) so you may end up with some wasted space if your songs dont fit nicely to fill up both cards. This will become less of an isse when 64Mb cards are available and cheap enough that I'd want to buy two (I somehow think this, and most MP3 players will be obsolete before then!).
From my experience of both software products I think I'll be sticking with the Windows Media Player, I feel more confident that it'll be going places and getting maintained in the future.
To the sound - this device sounds great to me. At the 128kbps MP3 level I copied over some of my favourite Groove Armarda tracks and listened with pleasure. The ear buds supplied are very good quality and the volume obtainable with them seemed more than adequate - I ended up listening in a quiet room at around 5 (max is 10). So I think, from my experience of MP3, this device has no reproduction issues - its just down to how good MP3 or WMA compression is for your favourite sounds, so YMMV.
The only bug bear I have is that the battery life seems very limited - maybe my first batteries from the box where already low but they disappeared from three bars, to none and to auto power-off much faster than I would have thought. The manual warns that USB download of tunes will suck down your batteries and to use a fresh set. Why? Couldn't they have arranged to suck down some USB power while writing the tunes?
Anyway, I'll update this with more accurate information on battery life when I have collected it.
*** Original gripes about lack of Win 2000 support, kept for prosperity ***
Secondly after getting everything installed, the device correctly showing it was connected to the computer (a three prong icon in the display - nice) and the computer correctly recognizing the PA-1 USB device, I'll be damned if I could get any music onto it. Every press of the buttons to download music resulted in the unpleasent bong and a message saying the software could not connect to the device.
After reading the manual some more I find a note saying you must ensure its connected directly to the computer without a USB hub as it has problems with "some hubs". No indication of which ones. On further investigation I find that my Toshiba laptop has an internal "root hub" supporting to connections (even though only one is externally visible). So I think its this internal "root hub" that is the root of my problems, I wonder how many other computers have a similar problem - Compaq really need to be more specific about compatibility and make it clearer that it cannot be used with some hubs - like in the stuff you're likely to read before purchasing! Or it could be a Win2K problem, or a driver problem, Or it could be something else.
So I've fired off an email to Compaq support and I'll see what they say! I hope the problem can be fixed with software otherwise this cute-but-silent little MP3 puppy maybe going back to the pet store real soon...
One final problem: the specs say the PA-1 is upgradable. I couldn't see anything about how that happens. Only the RioPort software is upgradeable via the Internet - perhaps it has a way to put new software on the device but there is no mention of that.
For now I'm giving it a 3 star rating. Watch this space for more info.
*** Update: 11/10/2000 ***
As someone has pointed out my purchase price of $199 isn't obtainable without a rebate that you can only get if you buy a Compaq computer as well. I didn't realize this at the time of purchase - and have not been able to get the rebate (at the time I purchased it was NOT clearly indicated that this rebate wasn't automatic, Outpost may have changed their site since then). Also I've had changed my recommendation to "No" until (and if) I ever get it working (still not working - I'm waiting for Compaq to do something about their screw up with Win2K USB support). I had previously assumed most people would read the review and draw their own conclusions before blindly following a yes/no recommendation, neither really did it for me. Remember at the time my review was the only one around - I figured some information was better than none.
*** Update: 10/10/2000 ***
Having sent a very detailed description of my problems, and my hardware and software configuration I got this curt and non-human response:
Dear Compaq Consumer,
Please note that Compaq supports Windows 95 and 98 for the Presario series home computers and cannot provide driver support for any other operating system. This includes Windows NT and Windows 2000. While you may be able to find specific drivers for operating systems other than Windows 95 and 98 on the Internet, those drivers have not been tested, and are not supported, by Compaq. In addition, Microsoft will not support dual boot configurations with Windows NT, nor will they support the installation of Windows NT on a computer not included on the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). The HCL is available at the following site:
http://www.microsoft.com/hcl/default.asp.
Ordinarily I'd say "Doh" and kick myself for not seeing that it says I have to have Windows 98. But Compaq scores very low in my books for:
a) taking such a narrow minded support attitude - like how many people do they think buying this will actually have a Compaq Presario? What about all those people with Windows ME, don't you support them?
b) giving such a reply when they clearly admit to problems with "some USB hubs". I hate it when people choose to ignore salient facts and specific questions just because there is some other issue that is probably 99% irrelevant. Cas in point - I didn't have any problems with any of my other software when upgrading from Win 98 to Windows 2000 and W2K is a far more reliable and forgiving OS than 98 ever was. Compaq - are you going to blow off every Windows ME user when they have problems too?
c) Wetting my appetite with a great product and then disappointing me so badly - damn it, as Mark Knopfler would say "I want my M-P-THREE!"
d) having such impersonal support. Just because you reply by email doesn't give you the right be seem like a robot that doesn't care. Sure you get a lot of support email but I'm doing you a favour by not actually phoning up and bugging your people for half an hour. Hey I even took the time to visit your online site first, read your FAQs and join your support forum (it doesn't have a section for internet devices, only computers - better fix that!).
If anyone from Compaq reads this I'll be happy to forward you my original email in the hopes that you can help me with some better suggestions or even just information about what I could do to workaround the problem (or at least be sure it is my internal hub). Thanks!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
moschops
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Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 4 members
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