Audio Logic MP3 Player (MP3102)

Rating:
Summary: Solid entry-level cool on the cheap
Review: I've had my Audio Logic Mp3 player for a year and half now, and I love it. It's not the fanciest mp3-playing gadget out there, but it does the job admirably. It's small & light, perfect for the gym, long walks, waiting in line at the post office, etc as it will fit into any pocket, no matter how small or tight said pocket may be. The expandibility (via smart media card) is nice too. With a 32 meg card supplementing the onboard 32 meg memory, I can fit about 65 minutes of cd quality 128kbps mp3s, and twice that at the lower (but still listenable) quality 56kbps. Battery use is low, and rechargeable AA easy to come by. Controls are pretty basic. "next" and "back" buttons allow you to skip tracks or, held down to skim through a song. A "stop/play/Pause" button also serves as the power button. Volume "up" and "down" buttons adjust the volume level, and a "mode" button allows you to adjust bass & treble, and to select one of the play modes (shuffle tracks, loop all tracks, or just repeat the current track over and over). There's also a hold switch that prevents accidental knocks to the buttons, and of course a headphone jack. A really flimsy/cheap-looking strap attachment is provided, but I got rid of that pretty quick. The display is limited, but functional, similar to a basic CD player. It shows the number and the time of the current track, but not the artist or title. The unit connects to your computer via the parallel port, so I had to switch my printer to a USB to free up that port. It's a little slow, USB would have been better, but it's not bad. The "transfer manager" that allows you to move mp3s back and forth from your computer to the player is very similar to an ftp program and pretty easy to use, if a little on the archaic side visually. I don't have much of an ear for music, so I can't vouch for the sound quality, but it seems just fine to me, especially through better ear phones than the little bud ones provided. To sum up: if you have a free parallel port and don't mind not being able to see the artist/title info on the display, this is the perfect cheap little unit for any situtation where you want a light, portable music source that won't skip as you jolt around.