Works as my desktop CD player, but I'm no power user.
Written: Apr 04 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Replaces the CD player I dropped; lightweight, comfortable over-the-back of head headphones
Cons: Very confusing to set up; documentation provides little help
The Bottom Line: I comfortably use the iPAQ as a sit-down-and-listen portable CD player. With few surprises, I listen to bought and burned CD music. Advanced features? I don't bother.
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| willolevin's Full Review: Compaq iPAQ PCD-1 Personal CD Player |
My husband and I received the Compaq iPAQ PCD-1 as a gift from his father. Since he works for Compaq, he got this unit at a deeply discounted price. What a relief!
While I am not the sort of techno-geek who wants to crawl inside every gizmo, I am technically educated (as a software engineer) and I am willing to delve into a manual in order to learn a reasonably complicated device.
That being said, I still want to get something happening straight out of the box. Before reading the manual, I plugged in the AC adapter and popped a new CD (a compilation burned by my husband) in. Adjusting the headphones took a moment as I am a lame old girl who had to realize they go behind my head, not over it. Very comfy that way!
Settled in, I pushed the play button. Nothing happened! Hmm... Dropping the unread manual in irritation, I pushed every button on the top surface of the iPAQ. The backlight goes on each time, but the LCD screen just says "Charging..." Grr. Inspecting the side surfaces, I finally found the "universal picture language" labeled power button--you know, that symbol that looks like a straight line coming out of a circle. A letter Q! I would love to see the word POWER printed next to it for clarity...
Powered on, I had no problem getting a CD playing. The sound quality is fine for a non-audiophile like myself. My goal for this portable player is to allow me to listen to CDs while I'm playing SIMS and the game CD occupies the PC drive. Call me old-fashioned, but it doesn't seem worth the effort to download MP3s of all the music I already own in CD form.
I was so frustrated by looking for the power button that I forgot all about studying the manual and just played my SIMS game while listening to my CD. I did notice one song refuse to play, but the same song doesn't play on my stereo. I'll give the iPAQ the benefit of the doubt and assume the problem is with the CD.
As a basic CD player, I enjoy this little device. It looks cool, and I feel youthfully high tech just having something which--one assumes--could do so many fine things. Unfortunately, I don't have the energy or the drive to explore all of those nifty features.
Since that first day, I have navigated easily through the on-screen menus without trouble. I can set up shuffle mode or adjust the equalizer without hassle. This device works just fine for me.
I wouldn't recommend this to a friend because I know you can get the features I need for a much lower price. I couldn't advise anyone on the features which ought to justify the price.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
willolevin
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Location: North Shore (Mass.)
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Full-time Mommy to one son. Thanking God for the best husband ever. Aspiring novelist.
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