Forget the Ipod... Dell has something better!
Written: Oct 01 '04
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Pros: Longer battery life, cheaper than an Ipod, and just an all around great product.
Cons: Must ship the device to Dell when replacing the battery.
The Bottom Line: This is the way to go for someone wanting a player with plenty of space and want a cheaper way out.
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| freebird91's Full Review: Dell DJ (15 GB) MP3 Player |
The battle for the best MP3 players are amongst us and to be quite honest I see Dell the most overlooked option by those wanting an Ipod. Dell and several others have released their own version of the high capacity MP3 player in the passed year or so. The Dell DJ (Digital Jukebox) comes in 2 flavors, a 15 Gb and 20 Gb storage. Depending on the bitrate and version of music you store it can pack around 3,500-4,000 songs. The DJ supports both wmv and mp3 formats, and supposably it can play songs downloaded from Napster, Itunes and the other music services out there. I have'nt checked into this yet since I own a huge CD Collection and just rip from those.With a collection of over 700 albums this is a nice gadget to save me from loading the 5 Disc Changer. You can purchase a package that will hook your DJ up to any home stereo system and play right over it, or if you want to take it on the road, an adapter is available for your car radio.
Anyways more about the Dell DJ, I own the 15 Gb model, I spent a little under $200.00 on this when I was thinking that was plenty and less expensive. The 15 Gb costs $199.00 and the 20 Gb will run you $279.00 (unless you catch a sale like I did and pay $179.00). The DJ charges 2 ways, though the USB cable or a regular plug in charger (I'm old fashioned and prefer the wall charger), it takes about 2-3 hrs to charge depending on how low your battery is. When charging the DJ, you will need to charge it for at least 6 hours, so I let it charge while at work, so I'm not sure if it took that long or not. There is one catch about the battery by the way... you MUST send it to Dell to have it replaced when it goes bad, if you open the unit up trying to change it yourself, the warranty is void and you are screwed. I've heard the battery has a good run time, but I will have to see this for myself. When it comes to hearsay, I'm kinda skeptical about certain things until I witness it with my own eyes and ears. The software to transfer the music is MusicMatch, a lot of people cannot stand this program, I agree it's rather bloated and bulky looking. If you own MusicMatch already, you will have to uninstall it and use the one that comes with the DJ (yes I know this is a pain). I tried running the one I had and came across errors and unfamiliar files when transferring so I said screw it and uninstalled it and installed the one that came with it... no problems whatsoever (go figure).
I was told you can also transfer music through Windows Media Player, I'm not a big fan of that so I never gave it a shot, but heard it does work if you refuse to use MusicMatch. The earphones provided are halfway comfortable, depending on how you like yours to feel. These are the earbuds that insert to your ears, if they had something to hang over the ears, they would work out great and prevent them from falling out. The weight is something you may want to stay away from if you jog, it weighs 7.6 oz, 4.1” tall and 2.7” wide in size.The backlight is a nice blue and nothing irrritating, you can adjust the time you want it to be lit up (I have mine at 5 seconds). Some other features are the built in EQ, I'm not big on bass and such and to be honest the sound is just fine without it on. You also get a nice case to clip onto your belt or pocket (older versions didn't support this from what I've been told), it's nothing fancy but does protect the DJ and works great for me. Like I said, if you're a jogger, this may not work, the size is rather much for that unless you don't mind that.
Here is what you get with the DJ...
* USB Cable
* Standard plug-in charger
* Installation CD with MusicMatch, Dell DJ Explorer, Drivers, Users Guide and Getting Started Guide (in PDF).
* Carrying Case
* Earbuds
* User's Guide, and Getting Started Guide
The controls on the DJ are nice, not touch sensitive like the Ipod, and not so tiny that you have to press hard either. The buttons are well planned out, you have a home button, a forward and back for tracks, and a back button for the menu along with the standard play/pause button. The volume and power are on the side, a button lock is located on the top (where the headphone jack and USB port is also located) and the plug-in charger jack is located on the opposite side. You can purchase a docking station for the DJ if you would rather have something stable for it to sit in when you're charging it or not using it at the moment. I may consider a docking unit later down the road.
The navigation on the DJ is easy to understand, you search by artiist and then have a choice to see tracks all at once or view albums (if you load more than one album by that artiist). You can play one song or you can play the entire list, as well as shuffle the entire playlist (album or entire tracks stored). I feel like I'm forgetting to add something, but for the most part I think I covered everything in the longest review that I think I've written the entire time I've been a member of Epinions.
In a nutshell, the Dell Digital Jukebox is about as close as one can get to an Ipod, but without spending a lot of money. Although the Ipod is coming down in price, I still say that it's overrated, high praced, and just a phase. So if you are like me and feel you can have something else besides an Ipod, and not worried about the size, then the Dell Digital Jukebox is for you.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199.00
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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Epinions.com ID:
freebird91
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Location: Illinois
Reviews written: 151
Trusted by: 29 members
About Me:
Just a midwest guy with a love for music, Corona beer and Kevin Smith films!
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