Olympus m:robe MR-100 (5 GB) Digital Media Player

Pros: Design, appearance (all-black front panel), sound quality, capacity, unique-factor, touch panel, price
Cons: No longer supported, proprietary software required, car usage possibly difficult/dangerous

Camera giant Olympus decided to jump into the portable MP3 player market with the release of two MP3 players in January of 2005. Poor marketing and lackluster support spelled the demise of both players in late 2005, less than a year after they were ...

Pros: Cool Factor, Price, Weight, Dock, Functionality and size. Did I mention it looks cool!
Cons: Volume needs immediate upgrade (still weak). No case. Software sucks (like Ipods software)

My son just purchased this fine little unit at Radio Shack for $130 and it comes with a $30 Rebate. This could be the coolest 5 GB music player out there. I decided to take it for a test run. I was very impressed. Now if you look in other reviews you ...

Pros: Stylish, Inexpensive, and different
Cons: Bad software, bad equalizer, battery life could be better

I picked one of these puppies up at Radio Shack for $100, and I couldn't be happier. I see people walking around all the time with iPods, and now I chuckle about it. They paid over twice as much as I did for something very similar. If you want an ...

Pros: Sexy little player. Good sound quality and volume levels.
Cons: Low end ear-buds. No carrying case.

After several weeks of use and having to constantly answer questions from gawking IPOD mini users, I can say that this is a decent little device that, so far, is well worth the money. I carefully considered an IPOD mini, Dell DJ and Zen Micro before ...

Pros: Size, looks, weight, and ability to use.
Cons: No case

Size: When I was looking at this in a catalog, I thought it would be the same size, or maybe a little smaller than the regular iPod. When I got it, I saw how it just like sat in your palm, and the texture of it is very smooth. (This sounds weird, doesn't ...

Pros: Sexy design of the m:robe. It has Great Language support, Sidejack to catchtheplayer
Cons: No FMRadioButBesides didn't we start using MP3Players toget away from theRadio to begin with??

When I decided to get my m:robe it was a tough desicion with all the MP3 players that have emerged on them market, but the m:robe had several features that lured me to it. First off it is by FAR the BEST looking MP3 player out there, it's like the ...

Pros: sexi design
Cons: Small annoying functional problems

My M-robe came highly recomended by a radio shak employee and i have no regrets. It is definately a great design and i get asked "what kind of ipod is that?" all the time. Lighter than most mp3 players in its price range and its quite durable. Mine gets ...

Pros: Well-built, sturdy, good looks, neat touchscreen
Cons: limited power-wimpy volume- Windows Only for now

Well, my experience from Olympus is based on their exceptional microscopes and imaging reputation. So, when I began to cave in to the i-pod/MP3device craze (my train commute is a total of 3 hours per day!)and saw they had delved into the market, well I ...

Pros: Design, build quality, size, capacity, BLING.
Cons: Output volume (huge flaw), software is pretty campy, no Mac port, "beta" quality firmware

I hate to flame this product, because it is stellar in many ways, but The M:robe 100 is a mystery of engineering due to a HUGE oversight made in regards to the output volume. The aesthetic qualities of this player far surpass the iPod in every light. ...

Pros: Looks great, relatively easy software to use, good battery life, better than any ipod nano!
Cons: Software instructions could be a bit more detailed, ear phones are'nt the best

Excellant MP3 player would recommend it to anybody and cheaper than most of its rivals and it looks great too! Overall am made up with it

Pros: Cool design, backlight, relatively easy to use, weight
Cons: Volume(!!!), no FM radio (it would be useful), software

It has great quality of sound but volume is way too low, can't sit on a bus or metro without hearing ppl even when the volume is max! It definitely has to be upgraded, I guess it's no fault of the headphones!

Pros: Non-intuitive menu system. 'phones could be better.
Cons: Great sound with proper 'phones. looks, size, weight, battery life. Build quality.

This is my first "real" MP3 player (had a "Shuffle" but 520mb just isn't enough.)

It's great! Good battery life, good sound quality - if you replace the provided buds with something that gives greater volume. I love it!

Bit of a messy menu system, but not really a problem. The bundled PC software is basic but fine (can't understand all the gripes about it.) I love it!

Pros: A lot of space and it looks cool, the red screen
Cons: The glass front gets scratched up easily

I have one of these and it's easy to use. Every time I use it in public someone either asks me where I got it, compliments me on it, or asks to see it. It's definitley a very reliable mp3 player.

Pros: looks, sound quality, price, build quality.
Cons: low volume, learning curve for interface and software is long.

This is a nice unit, very well built and provides good sound. Looks very nice also.
The user interface is easy to use and is reliable.
There are a few things I do not like. It is difficult to switch from a specific album to random mode and back again. The sequence of 'button' presses is non-intuitive and complex. You think you've done it and then find you are still in album mode and have to go through the whole thing again.
I also dislike the fact that it turns off when you in pause mode for more than a minute and takes some time to start up from cold.
The manual is quite poor.
The volume is low. The player stays on full volume all the time. Even then, if there is back ground noise you can't hear it - like when walking down a busy city street.
The software is okay, but doesn't allow much user control. Unlike PDAs, you can't sync it just by putting it in the cradle. You have to remember to turn it on, even though the display lights up when it is docked. Weird.

Pros: Good feature set, and one-of-a-kind styling. Good battery life. Good sound quality.
Cons: Accepts mp3 files, but only rips to WMA in included software. No Mac/Linux support.

Bought from Radio Shack for $129 with $30 rebate. I figured I couldn't beat the price, and the feature set is just right. Some folks (myself included) had a problem with low headphone volume, but there's a flash upgrade available from Olympus that (IMHO) corrects this problem. I _much_ prefer the styling over the competition. I also like the ability to use the device as a USB hard disk. There are no aftermarket accessories, but Olympus sells the usual assortment of Silicone rubber skins, wired remote controls, and leather carrying cases. My player has the Seagate ST1 microdrive which has good shock resistance.