August 1, 2008
H2O Audio Case for Ipod Nano mp3 player
The H2O Audio case for Nano keeps the player completely dry, and the control set works admirably. Also, it's not nearly as pricey as previous H2O Audio cases.
The required headphones are sold separately, and as is typical for underwater units, they're not terribly comfortable and don't offer superior sound quality.
Nano owners who want to take their trusted player for a splash in the surf or a dip in the pool will be well suited by the H2O Audio for Nano.
H2O Audio Marine case For digital player;
MP3 Player Compatibility: IPod nano;
Product Type: Marine case For digital player
[more]
Posted by pajaro at 9:04 AM
July 31, 2008
Samsung YP-S2 pebl mp3 player
Samsung's YP-S2 (also known as the S2) is a screenless, diminutive MP3 player, the $39 S2 has 1GB of flash memory and some other features, including a button for editing playlists on the go and gym-friendly earbuds.
At 1.7 by 1.6 by 0.7 inches (HWD) and a pebble-esque 0.5 ounces, the device has smooth contours that call to mind the ZEN Stone. A color-coded light on top of the S2 tells you what the player is up to Blue stands for repeat-all mode, green-to-blue-to-magenta means random, and magenta signifies that the S2 is running through a playlist. The controls are on the bottom panel, with each button serving different functions depending on how long you press it and what mode you're in. Power and play/pause occupy the same button, volume up and down buttons double as add-song-to-playlist controls, and there are skip forward and backward buttons as well.
The S2's earbuds stay in place well enough to qualify as gym-friendly, and the cable has an integrated neck strap, as well as a loop for a lanyard. Not everyone will love the around-the-neck design of the earbuds (they look a bit like a necklace), but you shouldn't have any trouble keeping them in place, whether you're working out or just commuting.
Less convenient is the fact that instead of using a cable, the computer connection is achieved with a small adapter that connects the player's 3.5mm headphone jack to your PC's USB port. Folks with crowded USB areas may not like having it there, since the player may block other ports on your computer while it charges or loads content.
The S2 offers support for WMA, MP3, and OGG files. Though this isn't an overwhelming collection of formats, I am glad to see that the Pebble plays nice with OGG tracks. Of course, the lack of a screen means no photo or video playbackâthe Pebble is simply a music player.
As befitting a simple music player, creating a playlist is a snap. When you hear a song you want to add to your playlist, press the "+" button (in repeat or random modes) and it's added to the list. Switching to playlist mode immediately starts the device playing tracks you've selected in this way. Obviously, we're not talking about managing a bunch of different playlists here, just one that can be created easily. In other words, it's a handy way to create one subset of your music for one specific mood or purpose, like when you're feeling emo, or for when you need a boost to keep you jogging.
There's not much use in obsessing over this device's audio quality. While the included earbuds don't sound great due to a lack of bass presence, they're a big part of the player's design. Replace them with a better pair and you'll likely lose the ability to wear the S2 around your neck. If you don't mind losing this gym-friendliness, however, the recently released Ultimate Ears Loud Enough and Radius Atomic Bass Earphones are decent $40 'phones.
Don't plan on marathon listening sessions with this player; its battery life is as low as its profile. Samsung itself rates the S2's battery life at a modest 13 hours of playback. My test results were even less impressive. I got 9.5 hours of playbackâdisappointing, but comparable to the ZEN Stone's roughly 8 hours of playback time.
Which is better, the ZEN Stone or the S2? It depends on what's important to you. If price is the key factor, the ZEN Stone is available for less (as low as $35). But for just a little bit more money, the S2 has its cool button for switching play modes and creating playlists. The S2 looks a little snazzier, too. In any case, either player is a better buy than the 1GB iPod shuffle, which sells for $50 and brings only iTunes-friendliness to the table. If you're not locked into iTunes and need a solid, cheap gym player, the S2 and the ZEN Stone are both very good buys.
[samsung]
Posted by pajaro at 4:07 PM
Creative Zen Krystal MP3 Player
This teeny (57 x 37 x 10.8mm, 22g) ZEN 'Krystal' packs 4GB of storage, a neat iPod-esque minimalistic design, Blue OLED display, FM tuner with 32 presets, voice recorder and stop watch. The Krystal is already fitting competition but the addition of a pedometer capable of tracking speed and distance in the same way as the iPod Nike+ add-on certainly breaks the mould. For the diet conscious there's even a calorie counter.
Confirming accelerometers are indeed cheap as chips, the Krystal also comes with games based on motion sensor technology including 'Catch & Dodge', 'Dice Roll' and 'Hurdle Race'. If all this is sounding a little exhausting however just settle down on the sofa and relax safe in the knowledge its proportionately large 10 hour battery life shouldn't be letting you down any time soon.
[link]
Posted by pajaro at 2:02 PM
July 31, 2008
Speedo Aquabeta Waterproof Mp3 Player
Speedo has announced it will be teaming up with iRiver and releasing the Aquabeat Waterproof MP3 Player. Designed to endure a depth of up to three meters, the Aquabeat is available in three stylish colours: black, lime and pink. It also has 1GB of storage and can hold up to 250 MP3 files or 500 WMA files.
The Aquabeat can be used with an arm band or can be attached to your swimsuit. Other features include:
- Playtime up to 9 hours.
- Waterproof earplugs.
- The ability to float for easy retrieval.
- Ergonomic buttons that allow ease of use while swimming.
- A simple playlist editing software.
- The ability to easily recharge through the USB port on a PC or laptop.
[speedo]
Posted by pajaro at 12:01 PM
Archos 705 WiFi Portable Media Player
With a relatively large size and weight, the 705 is better suited for the road traveler rather than the average user, who might prefer a more compact solution such as the Archos 604 player.
However, users who enjoy watching videos on large screens will be pleased with the Archos 705 WiFi Portable Video Player with its 7-inch widescreen display. This unit came with a 80GB capacity, which allowed us to carry fifty full length movies or more than 15,000 songs.
Eliminating the need for buttons, the 705 has a touch screen interface for menu navigation. Using the touch screen was intuitive and reduced our need for the supplied stylus.
Watching videos on a 7-inch screen on the go certainly made the experience much more engaging. The videos we watched on the 705 were sharp and detailed. In our battery tests, we managed to catch a full movie lasting 2.5 hours which left the battery life indicator with a single bar remaining.
The 705 is capable of MPEG4, AVI, WMV and DIVX playback but for an additional cost, you can opt for a plug-in for H.264. Using Windows Media Player, transferring media files from the PC to the device can easily be done via drag and drop.
While the 705 offers an adequate amount of audio options such as equalization and bass boosting, the volume playback by the 705 was very soft in comparison to an audio player such as an iPod. Even using the speakers did not help much.
Beside music and video playback, the 705 allowed us to surf the Internet with a built-in Opera browser using Wi-Fi. During our testing, the device handled browsing well but the lack of a physical QWERTY keyboard proved to be the 705's weakness. The touch screen keyboard is quite troublesome to use and it can never replicate the ease of a traditional keypad.
[full review]
Posted by pajaro at 10:14 AM
July 30, 2008
iriver Volcano T7
The iriver Volcano T7 is iriver's latest entrant into this field, coming in 1GB, 2GB and 4GB capacities. The 4GB version can be found for just $98
The T7 has an integrated USB plug so you can plug the player directly into a PC without wires.
The player itself is lightweight but feels rugged. A decent, if small, blue dot matrix screen displays loads of info.
Most controls reside on the face of the player beside the screen. Supported formats include MP3, protected and unprotected WMA, OGG and ASF.
There's an FM radio with a recording function though, and podcasts can be automatically downloaded and synced using T7-compatible software from Podcast Ready.
The T7 offers a generally bright sound, although with weaker bass compared to some other players in this category.
In comparison, Creative's Zen Stone Plus offers a deeper, warmer sound quality that was preferred by numerous people in the office. Adding some custom EQ within the T7 to emphasize the low end of the spectrum helped, but overall, we felt it was still sonically the inferior performer.
Still, an integrated microphone enables you to record voice in WMA format, at a range of bit rates. The highest quality--128Kbps--gives decent results, and the microphone seemed pretty sensitive. As long as you're not more than a couple of meters away from the voice you're capturing, taking notes from the recording, for example, shouldn't be a problem.
[full review]
Posted by pajaro at 8:02 PM