I had been looking around to buy a cheap , but known brand and easy to use mp3 player for dad. most of the players were either too small for dad, or too expensive. this one is just right! Highly recommended if you have a good pair of headphones and an sd card lying around.
Price :2,200Rs
Unboxing
supplied accessories:
quick guide
Usb data cable
CD(win 98 driver + user guide + firmware updater )
earbuds
alkaline AAA battery
player
more details:MSI --- >> IA
Also check out the attatched RMAA test results:cool2:
dont mind the distortion figures.. they're probably because i had to rip the wav file to a 320kbps mp3
Setting it up
It has a built in 256 MB , and an SD card slot :hap2:
add the battery,transfer some music, and you're set to g
n the connectivity front, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack, and thankfully, a mini usb port(not anything proprietary). that is a plus . transfer speeds are okayish. the built in memory and sd card show up as two drives. no drivers needed for xp, drivers for 98SE included in CD.
looks /ergonomics.
58 (W) x48.5(D) x 13.5(H) mm
slightly wider than the transcend t sonic, but the display gets to be correspondingly wider, and also bigger and separate buttons, which my dad wanted. there is a menu button, a play/ pause button, and next and previous buttons. the volume controls are on the side , so you cant see them in the pic
usage
plays: mp3, wma , also records wavs
output : 10mW
first off, it has to be said, the stock headphones SUCK :-[ .I've heard a bunch of crappy stock headphones, but these are absolute POS. not even a slight hint of bass. treble is okayish though. threw them away and tried on a pair of buds that came with my panasonic discman. marked improvement in sound. still problems hitting the real deep bass( all saints - pure shores intro for example) punch is okay , especially for trance and rock though. good clarity for the mids (when playing celine dion/ pavarotti -i love you then i hate you- classical preset enabled). it sounds very good when i plugged it into my soundcard for testing... but then again, thats not what it should be used for!. back light is not enabled by default though. had to dig around in settings to get it. volume levels are adequate (but seem to distort a bit at max levels ). the FM tuner is a bit weak though, and there isn't a mono/stereo indicator.. once it catches the signal, its quite good sound though. there are a few eq presets, which i did not even know existed till i read the extended manual on the CD :ashamed: Normal, Pop, rock, classical. Rock suppressed the mids , while classical accentuated them. pop made everything sound bad
. the player hiccups when you skip tracks... not good:no: Biggest drawback, no folder navigation :|
. in the ergonomics department, the big separate buttons and the wide screen LCD display get major points for usability, especially over the transcend, in which i found both the bottom round button, as well as the ones near the screen a bit inconvenient to use . the fit and finish is also awesome!
warning(about firmware) : I'd seen at The TT review that some people tried to update the players and fried their players. either way, the new firmware is just a bugfix for some obscure glitches, and i wouldn't risk it
conclusion.
with the stock headphones, i would give it 1/10 :bleh: ... no seriously(even my walkman wannabe LG C 2500 Pwns it here !)
the sound quality of the player alone , otherwise is good for a 6.5/10(almost as good as the transcend, but not there yet)
fit and finish and features rate an 8.5/10:clap: (the buttons , display, and SD card slot help here)
buy if you want something branded and cheap, and have an SD card already. replacement earbuds an absolute necessity. also high on ease of use. large and easy to use buttons and display (unlike the tiny ones in this price range)
Price :2,200Rs
Unboxing
supplied accessories:
quick guide
Usb data cable
CD(win 98 driver + user guide + firmware updater )
earbuds
alkaline AAA battery
player
more details:MSI --- >> IA
Also check out the attatched RMAA test results:cool2:
dont mind the distortion figures.. they're probably because i had to rip the wav file to a 320kbps mp3
Setting it up
It has a built in 256 MB , and an SD card slot :hap2:
add the battery,transfer some music, and you're set to g
n the connectivity front, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack, and thankfully, a mini usb port(not anything proprietary). that is a plus . transfer speeds are okayish. the built in memory and sd card show up as two drives. no drivers needed for xp, drivers for 98SE included in CD. 
looks /ergonomics.
58 (W) x48.5(D) x 13.5(H) mm
slightly wider than the transcend t sonic, but the display gets to be correspondingly wider, and also bigger and separate buttons, which my dad wanted. there is a menu button, a play/ pause button, and next and previous buttons. the volume controls are on the side , so you cant see them in the pic
usage
plays: mp3, wma , also records wavs
output : 10mW
first off, it has to be said, the stock headphones SUCK :-[ .I've heard a bunch of crappy stock headphones, but these are absolute POS. not even a slight hint of bass. treble is okayish though. threw them away and tried on a pair of buds that came with my panasonic discman. marked improvement in sound. still problems hitting the real deep bass( all saints - pure shores intro for example) punch is okay , especially for trance and rock though. good clarity for the mids (when playing celine dion/ pavarotti -i love you then i hate you- classical preset enabled). it sounds very good when i plugged it into my soundcard for testing... but then again, thats not what it should be used for!. back light is not enabled by default though. had to dig around in settings to get it. volume levels are adequate (but seem to distort a bit at max levels ). the FM tuner is a bit weak though, and there isn't a mono/stereo indicator.. once it catches the signal, its quite good sound though. there are a few eq presets, which i did not even know existed till i read the extended manual on the CD :ashamed: Normal, Pop, rock, classical. Rock suppressed the mids , while classical accentuated them. pop made everything sound bad
. the player hiccups when you skip tracks... not good:no: Biggest drawback, no folder navigation :|. in the ergonomics department, the big separate buttons and the wide screen LCD display
get major points for usability, especially over the transcend, in which i found both the bottom round button, as well as the ones near the screen a bit inconvenient to use . the fit and finish is also awesome!warning(about firmware) : I'd seen at The TT review that some people tried to update the players and fried their players. either way, the new firmware is just a bugfix for some obscure glitches, and i wouldn't risk it
conclusion.
with the stock headphones, i would give it 1/10 :bleh: ... no seriously(even my walkman wannabe LG C 2500 Pwns it here !)
the sound quality of the player alone , otherwise is good for a 6.5/10(almost as good as the transcend, but not there yet)
fit and finish and features rate an 8.5/10:clap: (the buttons , display, and SD card slot help here)
buy if you want something branded and cheap, and have an SD card already. replacement earbuds an absolute necessity. also high on ease of use. large and easy to use buttons and display (unlike the tiny ones in this price range)
. charge was reduced to about two blocks in a few hours.i suppose a 2nd mobile battery would be a good solution, but this one sounds better than my mobile, and i can now read ebooks AND listen to music on the move :hap2: