first reasonably priced player in it's class
Written: Feb 12 '03 (Updated Apr 30 '03)
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Pros: Good price, easy to use, expandable
Cons: Slow navigation, RCA support is almost worthless.
The Bottom Line: The RD1080 provides MP3Pro compatibility in an expandable package. RCA heard the complaints of it's customers and responded (eventually) with fixes for most issues.
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| mark1620's Full Review: RCA Lyra RD1080 (128 MB) MP3 Player |
*********-UPDATE-**********
RCA just released MP3PRO support for the RD1080. in addition to supporting MP3Pro, the new update removes the MPY conversion and plays native MP3, MP3Pro and WMA. I am now changing my overall review from three to 4 stars.
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the RD 1080 is a decent player with a good list of features, but some quirks and issues, too.
I purchased mine shortly after it was released last summer and I went several months before I ran into the dreaded system software corruption which RCA was unable to help me with. Fortunately, there is a yahoo support group for the product and they are very helpful and can get you up and running in very little time.
The Good:
MP3Pro support. RCA has finally released native MP3Pro compatibility. Further, the new firmware has nixed the MPY format while maintaining backwards compatibility.
RCA has kindly included other minor bug fixes with the new firmware and really polished it up nicely.
the unit has a button lockout so you can stuff it into your pocket if you don't like the belt clip It's size and weight are good for any pocket. It's durable except for the battery cover which will eventually require a rubber-band to keep closed. Mine hasn't broken...yet.
SD card prices are dropping like bombs over Baghdad and the idea of affordable gig-sized SD cards is conceivable. I'm not convinced that 64k MP3Pro is as good as 128Kbps MP3, but you sure have plenty of options to cram hours of music onto your player.
The Bad:
Battery Life. One review claimed 9 hours of battery life. Let me assure you that you will never see 6 hours of battery life unless you exclusively use the FM tuner and set the volume to 0. That said, unless you work for a battery manufacturer, buy yourself some rechargeable batteries. I suggest the Energizer 750mAh AAA batteries in a four-pack.
The headphones. Why can't they just knock two dollars off the price and not include crappy headphones? Why can't anyone do that? Why not add 10 dollars to the price and include decent headphones?
Skipping through tracks. time consuming. The best you can do if you have lots of songs is to use the shuffle mode. Make sure you use ID3 V2 tags. Version 1 tags are stored at the end of the file and require extra time to lookup. Even with v2 tags, the time to skip between songs is confounding.
Shuffle Mode. It's not as random as it should be. It will play in the same order each time you use it. It appears that RCA has now fixed this bug.
The Ugly:
Low bit rate files.
I downloaded some books from my mp3 audio bible recorded at 24kbps and found that the last two or three words were absent from each chapter. I haven't examined this with the newer firmware.
RCA Support: Take an extended warranty if your retailer offers it! Some users with broken volume controls, after being told they would have replacement units within a few weeks, are finding themselves with a little quite time over the next few months since RCA wont send them a replacement from their prime retail stock.
Scott Adams put it so well in this comic strip:
http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20030427.html
Version 1 ID3 tags. As I understand, version 1 ID3 tag data is stored at the end of the file, whereas version 2 tags are at the beginning. Songs tagged with V1 tags have a nasty little "Please wait...." message. Strip the V1 and make them V2tags and this problem will go away quietly.
Some RD 1080 users have returned their units for the MPIO FL100 or Rio S35. I think they have missed out on a fantastic upgrade.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 129.00
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Epinions.com ID:
mark1620
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Reviews written: 5
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