I was looking for something that offered the utility and ease of use of an iPod-Mini without the extra cost of the Apple name. I looked through several of the hard-disked based smaller MP3 players and after comparing prices and features, I settled on Dell’s Pocket DJ MP3 player.

So it was that my partner once again got a new electronic toy before I could. However being the technologically inclined one, I was the one who had to set it up, get it running and make sure it worked after he received it as a gift. Plus I’ve managed to work it out so that I can take it to work a couple of day’s a week, as I had passed on my older MP3 player to my brother.

Pocket DJ Basics

The first thing I noticed when I opened up the box from Dell, beyond the nice shine of the aluminum case, was just how small the Pocket DJ is. It’s just over 2 inches wide, about 3 ½ inches high and only about ½ an inch deep. It literally fits in the palm of my hand. Plus it only weighs in at just over 4 ounces, so it’s heavy enough that you’ll know you’re holding it, but not so heavy that you’re like “ugh, this thing is heavy.”

The next thing I noticed – the display screen and the navigation buttons. The screen is a little more than an inch and half (1.63” to be exact) and the main method of navigation, is what Dell call’s a “roller barrel,” that allows you to scroll and select in the various menus on the Pocket DJ. It’s harder to explain how it works than it is to use, but basically you can scroll up or down with the barrel and when you want to select something, you press that same barrel and it clicks on your choice.

Beyond the roller barrel control are five other major control buttons. This includes three long slender buttons beneath the barrel that allow you to play/pause, rewind/skip back and fast forward/skip ahead. On either side of the barrel is a button. The one of the right is a ‘home’ button that brings you back to the home menu whenever you push it and the one on the left is a ‘back’ button that brings you back to the previous menu you were in when you push it.

Along the top of the Pocket DJ is the headphone jack, the USB/charging port, the power button and the volume control buttons. On the back of the player is a lock switch that lets you lock all the buttons on the Pocket DJ to prevent any accidental button pushes (really nice when you carry it in a pocket, a bag or are at the gym).

In The Box…

The Pocket DJ comes with an AC adapter for charging, a USB 2.0 cord and ear buds. The buds are nothing special, but they do fit comfortably in the ear and produce decent quality sound. Audiophiles will want to replace them, but for everyday use, I see no problem with these ear buds. Beyond a quick-start ‘guide’ there is no in-depth manual that comes with the Pocket DJ. For extra help you will have to refer to Dell’s site and the online manual for the Pocket DJ.

Technical Details

The Pocket DJ’s 5 gigabyte hard drive can hold somewhere in the neighborhood of 1200 to 2500 songs, depending on the type and the size of the music files. It can read both MP3 files and Windows Media (WMA) music files. This is a hard-drive based player – so all the cautions with other hard-drive based players are applicable here. Don’t drop it or jar it repeatedly because you can cause the hard drive to malfunction.

The player has a lithium-polymer battery pack that can be recharged. Each charge can theoretically last for 10 hours of playback, but real world playback seems to be on the order of 8 or so hours. The amount of time you spend navigating on the player and how often the backlight is on directly effects the battery life. The more you just turn it on and play the songs – the longer the battery will last between charges. Charging to full-strength via the AC adapter takes about 3 hours and a full-charge via USB when the Pocket DJ is connected to your computer takes about 2 ½ hours.

The Pocket DJ connects to your PC via a USB 2.0 connection (backward compatible, but man, that would be wicked slow). Transfer rates are quick – somewhere between 6 and 8 megabytes per second, depending on the amount of data you are transferring.

The software with the Pocket DJ includes Music Match Jukebox 9.0 and Dell DJ Explorer. There is also an installation program that installs the Pocket DJ’s drivers on your system. The Pocket DJ only supports Window’s PCs.

The Software

I don’t understand how such a good little player can be saddled with such horrible music management software. Music Match Jukebox is just a hard to use, clunky and horrible way to manage and build your digital music collection. Unless you already have an older version of the software installed and like to use it, I’d suggest sticking with what you probably already use (even Windows Media Player is easier to use and understand), or getting yourself another music management program (Winamp is great, as are several other programs). While, Music Match can rip, burn and organize digital music files on your machine, but I’d be willing to bet most people will find it more trouble than it’s worth. Honestly, I wouldn’t even bother installing it (you are given the option).

Luckily the Pocket DJ doesn’t require Music Match – but you do need to use the other software in order to correctly load MP3 files onto your Pocket DJ.

Dell DJ Explorer is a worked up version of the typical Windows Explorer program. You can navigate through the files on your machine and drag and drop them onto the Pocket DJ. When you click on the Pocket DJ in DJ Explorer – you see a rudimentary music management screen that gives you a run down of the albums you have on the Pocket DJ, along with the artists and the songs themselves on the device. It’s not the snazziest way to manage your files – but it is easier than using the Music Match software and in general is a quick and easy way to start filling up your Pocket DJ with music.

How’s it work?

The time it took me to get the Pocket DJ out of the box, to the point where I was listening to music was probably somewhere in the order of 10 to 15 minutes (not counting the initial charge time for the device). The Pocket DJ requires an initial charge of several hours to completely charge the battery pack (if you don’t do this, it might not ever charge fully in the future and you’d be starting with degraded battery life).

Setup was straightforward after the charging was complete. Before connecting the Pocket DJ, you install the drivers off of the CD and then when you connect the Pocket DJ, your computer should automatically recognize it. During the driver installation you are also able to install the Music Match Jukebox software the DJ Explorer software.

The DJ Explorer software lets you quickly get your music onto your player – just drag and drop. I did this for several albums and the transfers were all quite fast – I got over about 150 songs in less than a few minutes.

I disconnected the USB cord, plugged in the included ear buds, pressed the power button (start-up takes a second or two) and was soon navigating through the main menu. I quickly found how to play music randomly and was soon playing the music I had just uploaded to the Pocket DJ.

The volume comes preset at about the middle of the volume range on the Pocket DJ. I cranked it up and found, much to my surprise that the Pocket DJ can really pump out the sound. At the highest volume setting – it was too loud for me. I have it set just beyond the middle when I’m playing it – and it’s more than adequately loud enough to drown out the train noise and all the other noise around me when I’m commuting.

Once that was done, I pressed the ‘home’ button to get back to the main menu – where I saw that there were plenty of other options for me to fool around with – including the ability to manage playlists, browse songs, choose equalizer presets and more.

However, in reality the best part of the Pocket DJ is the fact that someone without any interest in all of these options can basically pick it up – push play, and be off enjoying thousands of songs with almost no effort and practically no technological knowledge. That was especially important for my partner – the more foolproof, the better for him.

Real World Use

While he’s been using the Pocket DJ at the gym, I’ve had a chance to take it along with me on several commutes on the subway and around Boston.

In the case of the gym, I had gotten him an arm-band holder for the player so he can wear it on his arm instead of trying to find a pocket to hold it in. He’s absolutely loved it – he straps it on – pushes play and he’s off to his random collection of music. I even caught him wearing it home and listening to it in the car (I know, I see a car stereo adapter in the near future).

Me on the other hand – I sit quietly on the train with the Pocket DJ in my jacket pocket or in my bag and I tend to scroll around finding various songs that interest me. The navigation on the Pocket DJ is straightforward (though not as smooth as on an IPod) and generally I’ve found it to be easy to use. My one complaint would be that the navigation really requires you to see the screen – so you have to pull it out of your pocket or bag to change any settings or move around with your songs. It’s not really a big deal – just a minor distraction with the Pocket DJ.

The aluminum case on the Pocket DJ can scratch quite easily. It’ll stand up to wear and tear, but the case will show that wear and tear. To combat it, as part of the arm-band holder, I got a small case for the Pocket DJ. This gives it some extra cushioning if you drop it and prevents small scratches and nicks on the case. Especially considering you want to protect that little hard drive inside, a case is practically a necessity with the Pocket DJ.

Sound quality from the Pocket DJ is quite good on the included ear buds. Like I said, the volume has a large range and gets quite loud and sound quality – while nowhere near what you’re going to hear from a good stereo on a CD, is adequate and better than most other MP3 players that I’ve listened to. Whether it be in the gym or on a train, you should be able to hear and enjoy your music.

iPod-Mini Replacement?

I don’t know about this – the interface of the Pocket DJ isn’t as slick and smooth as the iPod interface and the navigation is slightly more cumbersome. However, the Pocket DJ is about $50 cheaper ($70 in my case because I got the Pocket DJ on sale for $179), offers an extra gigabyte of storage and offers equitable levels of utility and ease of use.

I would consider it a worthy contender – though people with their heart set on the IPod will probably be disappointed, simply because it’s not an IPod.

The one big failing of the Pocket DJ? The included Music Match Jukebox software is cumbersome, confusing and clunky – and makes music management if you don’t have any other software, hard and awkward, especially for people unfamiliar with digital music. The Dell Explorer software solves some of these problems, but only offers basic file management capabilities and has no options for ripping CD’s.

Final Thoughts

At the base price of $199, Dell’s Pocket DJ is really a great deal. You get a solid MP3 player with 5 gigabytes of storage space, a fairly intuitive interface, and an easy navigation system. On the other hand, the included digital music management software has a lot to be desired.

But if you can live with it, or have replacement software, even this problem isn’t much of a hurdle.

While the Pocket DJ isn’t an IPod killer, it offers a great alternative for people who don’t want to have to pay for the Apple name, but don’t want to sacrifice quality and ease of use in their MP3 player.

The Pocket DJ shines in its own right as an MP3 player and should satisfy just about anyone.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 179
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection