Rating: 
Summary: Compare and contrast the hard drive against flash memory...
Review: Okay. Here is a write up, that I did, on the comparisons/contrasts on MP3 players. Mainly, the Harddrive versions (I.E. Rio Riot/Apple IPOD -both of which I own) and the flash memory type... (I.E. Memorex 3642 Mp3 Player, of which I own as well).
What prompted this little jaunt (of which you may send to as many people as you like) My (expensive) Apple IPOD died during a sync last month. Just me copying files over to it, and the battery ran out of juice. I would have not attempted to copy music had I known the battery was low, but the battery read FULL STRENGTH. Anyhoo, I called Apple, they said return it for maintenance.
I did. Sent it back.They returned it, still broke. To my suprise, there is only a TEN DAY return policy. TEN DAYS. I did not realize this at all... and will not ever buy another apple product. So, after a month or so of messing around trying to find another MP3 player... I decided to go with a flash memory MP3 player, the ones that use memory sticks. SO, here are the pro and cons of these devices. Pro's for the Memory Stick Mp3 players -Cheaper. WAY CHEAPER than Hard drive types. -If you go into music match and file convert to MP3 Pro and shrink the size of your MP3 to like, say 3o percent... you can really make a good Kompression. Example. My Memorex MP3 player has 32mbs of memory on board. It is expandable to 256mb. 32 mb will basically let you put one cd's worth of music. It is easy to put music on and off of them, due to your computer reading the USB as just another hard drive, so you drag and drop to put on, delete them to take them off. But, after you shrink your files to MP3 Pro 30 percent, you can put twice as many. So, basically a 256mb chip will allow me to put 208 songs on my little less than palm size MP3 player. And it wieghs like 3 ounces. - More on memory. These little chips are the size of the upper part of your thumb, at least my thumb anyway. They come in 128mb, 256mb, 512mb and even though there aren't any MP3 machines out there to handle them YET, you can even buy a 1.5gig thumb size chip thingy. Considering the size of the chips and the shrinking kompression I told you about earlier, I could shrink my whole KOLLEKTION down to 10 of those 1.5gig chips. At the current shrink rate I am at 5 DVD's, which are way bigger and more fragile than these little chips. - Not as fragile as hard drive type. You can drop one of these chips and not scratch it. I wouldn't stomp on one with my foot, nor get one in water, but they are encased in plastic. Ruggedish. - Batteries last for like two days. There isn't much going on here, no moving parts, no laser or hard drive to put power to. Most of these flash Memory types have a single AA battery. I use a rechargeable type, so we are talking very low cost here.
In comparison to the hard drive types, where you will get a solid 8 hours of playing, this really whupps up. - Size. Small. Very small. Mine is three inches by three inches. A square. But, you can get smaller ones. And the memory chips that go in them are the same ones you use for your camera. And you can put files on them. If you want to put a word doc on your memory chip, you can. Your Mp3 won't recognize it, but it is nifty storage. COMPARISON/CONTRAST - Size does matter. In the case of hard drive Mp3 players... lets face it, you can, if you so chose to, put a library of congress on these monsters. They are the caddilacs of the hand held devices, and guzzle batteries like gasoline. But when it comes down to it, size is the only thing they have going for them. I don't mean to downplay the hard drive types, but don't drop them, don't shake them, and after shelling out $499 to Apple you might consider insurance. Apple doesn't care about you or your apple after 10 days of ownership. - Price/Komparison. IPOD ran me $499 bucks. My memorex MP3 player ran me 45 dollars. The 128 memory chip runs you 50 bucks. Owch. There really isn't a comparison to the two. The memory stick Mp3 players just kick butt on this issue. And, you get MORE than a ten day return policy, since you buy these things at Target/Wal Mart etc... So, that is my review in a nutshell
Rating: 
Summary: Good product, but doesn't last
Review: I got it as a gift, but thankfully the giver was smart enough to get a waranty. This thing will fall apart fast. The lifespan of the headphones is 1 day, no more. Then the OS goes. The thing crashes every one in a while, but aside from that it is VERY good. It has a large amount of space, some what confusing, but logicly made controls, and a strong body. I want to see an iPod fall multiple times and show no dammage. It is large, heavy, not very aesthetic, has technical difficulties, and the volume doesn't go too loud. It is problem prone, but a great thing. Get it with a warantee.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for about a year
Review: Generally, I liked my Archos Jukebox 10. The operations were fairly logical and it was easy to transfer files and create playlists. I use the product almost exclusively at the gym. On or about the one year anniversary, I experienced trouble with the sound quality. There is an echo in the background. This happened out of no where. There was no precipitating event. The most disappointing fact is that I contacted ARCHOS technical support both via email and by telephone and NO ONE has gotten back to me. Let's face it customer service has become an oxymoron. If the batteries have worn out, I also wouldnt know where in the world to get new ones because they arent available on their website or Amazon's, where I purchased the product. This was been a very frustrating experience!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great for Books on CD
Review: The price was great. The manual is rough, but if you visit their website, they have a great trouble-shooter. Forget their manual anyway and look "rockbox" on the net. There is EXCELLENT s/w to load into the unit. It allows persistent bookmarks, which the ipod doesn't seem to support without leaving the power on. I rip books from the library and listen to them on the bus. It's great. I love the open-source approach. The formfactor is 4 stars, the UI is 4 stars, but the new firmware and features pull it up to 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Great Little Player for the Price
Review: This is an awesome machine for those who don't want to pay for an iPod. It holds plenty of music for most people's needs(if theres someone who needs more, they need counseling immediately). It has lasted me a strong year(which is more than I can say for a lot of other small electronic devices)...The only gripe is the earphones: get nice earmuff style earphones instead and the sound quality will be pretty average. Speaking of sound quality the sound quality is not as good as CD players, (bass hogs beware) but you won't find any MP3 player on the market right now that will come close to the sound quality of a CD player, even an IPOD, so its a trade off for the amount of music you can put on this thing. The batteries: they lose charge quick, but I put in my own NIMh batteries, and it holds a charge fine now. The manufacturer however will not accept responsibility for anything that happens when you put your own batteries in. And its not USB 2.0 compatible. Other than that, its great. You just need to excercise a little patience and deal with its little idiosynchrasies(like ANY hard drive, it does not like to be bumped around). Totally worth the money.
Oh and a note: one of the gripes is that you can't change the volume without navigating serpentine menus. The solution for this is: hold down the ON button and push the the plus and minus keys on the arrow pad.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing compared to an ipod but the price eases the pain
Review: I thought like other people that this would be a good Ipod substitue. I mean a direct USB connection is all I ask for. None of the firewire cards that you have to buy in addition with the player. However I was quite disappointed when I actually started to use the Archos. Mine came with preinstalled songs and looked like it was partially opened. After my initial connection to transfer MP3's the jukebox started to sporadically change to a different song. Strange enough the song it changed to DURING other tracks wasn't even on the Jukebox.
Another thing that was deceptive is that I thought it was pocket sized but it can only fit in pockets that are extremely oversized to begin with. There is also an incompatibility with Windows XP and the software on their website isn't that much better.
Not to mention the Jukebox constantly freezes up under very little effort. It is extremely sensitive. I think the person that used their's as a door stop was a more functional use. I will probably call Archos' customer support but I don't have a lot of time to wait on hold. I hope someone comes up with a cheaper more functional Windows type of Ipod, but this just isn't it.
Rating:
Summary: Fragile
Review: I got my jukebox about two weeks ago. I've listened to it in my car and while walking I carry it in my backpack. After two weeks or average use, it broke. I am not pleased.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre at Best
Review: The primary reason I bought this product was that Amazon had it for only $$$ after rebate. At that price the product is a good deal, especially in comparison to the ipod. It's twice as thick as the ipod and quite a bit heavier. However, don't be fooled by into thinking that's it's the poor man's ipod, because there are a number of shortcomings:
- itunes interface works, but it doesn't hide the ".xxxx" files when browsing.
- the USB interface is incredibly slooooow.
- my unit had some visual defects
- the documentation, s/w, and website are not kept up to date. It's as if the product was discontinued.
- when it's hooked up to USB it doesn't turn itself off. It also doesn't indicate the batteries are dead during the transfer of files. You just get errors. Reasons to buy:
- price (possibly)
- size, although bigger than the ipod, it's smaller than the nomad. I gave it 2 stars based on price. If it had been more, I would have rated it a one.
Rating:
Summary: decent harddrive mp3 player
Review: good points:
stores tons of mp3
rechargeable battery
get the wired remote (i use the player much like i would a car cd changer only with lots more music)
cost $200 less then the 10gig ipod bad points:
heavy (can not really be used as workout player)
not easy to navigate thru songs (so select folder you want to play before you driveoff see above)
can be quirky at times (use norton disk doctor and speed disk every so ofter, this helps alot and makes changing folders much much much faster)
Rating:
Summary: pretty good
Review: The Archos studio is the best value. Compared to the ipod it does the same thing and costs less. If the price is too high for the ipod then i suggest going for this. The ipod is a little lighter and alot more stylish. Cant complain though i get good quality, easy navigation, [weak] manual. To install this thing disregard everything the manual says and just plug it into your PC and wait for the computer to recognize the drive and then put in the cd then follow the recomended options. ...
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