Rating: 
Summary: NEX ia vs Rio S10
Review: I received the NEX ia from Amazon. It was hard to get a connection with the PC. Usually took about 3 tries. It did not like re-chargeable batteries. The Joy stick started sticking. There was no service number to call in the U.S., only an e-mail address that returned answers after one day with simple minded questions to a question that got me nowhere. The manual was very poor. I sent it back. The user interface of the unit was fine except for not being able to monitor NIMH battery levels. Their support by email only was unacceptable.
Rating: 
Summary: Functional and feature-rich player plus portable storage
Review: I received this item as a christmas gift and was surprised at how small it is. It is slightly heavier than the RIO 35S player or the smaller ones but note that this has a tad more features than the other ones. It comes in at approx 3 ounces without batteries. With batteries, it still a bit lighter than more cellphones and smaller, too.PROS:
1) Can act as storage for other files. It will just show up as a removeable drive in XP without driver installation much like most Digital cameras. Drag and drop ease in storing files unlike some MP3 players that cannot do that 2) No proprietary software or drivers. The disadvantage of players like RIO's is that you have to use their Jukebox software to transfer music. This forces you to have the software with you when you need to bring it to another PC to load MP3s. 3) Firmware upgrades. I just received my player and I immediate upgraded the firmware with ease (drag and drop!) and got new features instantly after I rebooted. 4) Compactflash storage. The cheapest of all portable solid state storage and most expandable ones. It can accept Type I/II and Microdrives allowing it to take up to 2 GB of music --- READ: no skip music unlike the hardrive based ones like IPOD, or the other JUKEBOXes.
5) Feature rich: Shuffle, 5 EQ controls + 1 custom EQ, large display, and automatic sorting. CONS:
1) Flimsy controls. Felt like they were saving a little bit on the components.
2) Compactflash loading slot - They should some kind of mechanical door for the CF slot because like other people said, it feels like it's a bit too flimsy and could break.
3) USB 1.1 slow transfer --- way slower than USB 2.0 which is why I'll end up buying a USB 2.0 Complactflash reader writer for less than ten bucks.
4) Manual - I wish they had put more stuff in the manuals for people that are less technical. Overall, This player is solid, very easy to use, light enough for me to buy an armband and hook this up with so I can run with it! Hope this review helps.
Rating:
Summary: Was defective right out of the box
Review: I recieved the MP3 player for Christmas, and it worked fine, untill I tried to hook it up to my computer and discovered that the USB port on the player was defective. 97% of the time, the player wasn't even recognized by my computer, rendering it useless. Test the player on your computer before anything else and make sure that it works!
Rating: 
Summary: Nex Ia portable player
Review: I wanted something different, and I thought saving a few dollars would be a good idea as well so I ordered my Nex ia for $69.00 back in August. When it arrived about 2 weeks later, a smaller carton, which contained the unit was rolling around in this huge UPS shipper. I'll bet it took a good beating on it's voyage to the east coast.
I loaded the unit with a 16 Mp CF card that was left over from a camera I put some music on it and tried it out. I heard music play, but the navigation didn't work. I couldn't get the controls to do what they are supposed to do. It would scroll between all the menus but I couldn't access them. After the attempt of trying to call their service hotline (which happens to be Hong Kong and a 13 hour difference)I returned it asking for a replacement, which they said would be sent immediately. I did this on August 26th.
By Sept 21st, I was getting tired of waiting and sent an e-mail to their Customer support. A reply was received within an hour saying that the new unit is being rushed 2-day air. It turned out to be a 4-day crawl. When I received unit 2, I was pretty excited. I bought a 512 Mb CF card, installed it and loaded a bunch of music on it using the supplied USB cable, which took forever. When it was done I fired it up and I got nothing. I tried to load the card using a reader (much quicker), but that did nothing either. I put the old 16 Mb CF card in and it played fine.
It was back to Customer support with me asking them to take it back. I received an e-mail saying they would supply me a UPS shipper within two days, but in the meantime, did I try their firmware update because they've used plenty of 512 cards via a reader with no problems. My big question is how come the unit doesn't arrive with the latest firmware, and why was I sent to a completely different website for the firmware update?!? How would I have known one was required when there is no direction as to where one needs to find the information?
Well, I finally got the unit working. It plays fine, but has some operational quirks. BTW, the raido is garbage at best. A real waste. It cost me a ton of time and under $200.00 total for half a gig of music. It was $69.00 for the player, $100.00 for the card and $15.00 for better headphones.
I should have paid about $65.00 more as I would have gotten a 20 gig player. The Nex ia is mediocre. Their service is lukewarm. I'm actually thinking of placing the Nex Ia in my vice and seeing how it looks slimmed down. I'll remove the 512 card first though.
Rating: 
Summary: Solid MP3 Player
Review: I was given this MP3 player as a X'Mas present. I owned a couple of MP3 players before but I find this NEX IA to have the best sound. It is simple to use and operate. Everything is very self-intuitive. I didn't even need to read the manual. Customer Support was helpful as they responded to my inquiry within 24 hours.
Rating:
Summary: Not impressed
Review: I was not impressed with this item and now must submit to the lengthy return process. The software included did not work, the customer support line was a phone call to HONG KONG and the directions were difficult to follow. Keep shopping, this is not the MP3 player for you.
Rating:
Summary: BEWARE !
Review: I would rate Frontier Labs with a big zero if it were an option, otherwise they get a 1. The MP3 player we bought was a piece of junk. Crashed repeatedly and locked up regularly. Customer service was terrible and no help whatsoever. We ended up with a pricey paper weight; and would never buy anything from Frontier Labs again !!!!!!!!! Make sure you shop around before buying.
Rating:
Summary: Great sound, Nice and loud.
Review: I'm have a hearing loss and this is the only MP3 player that has enough volume so that I can actually hear it. I returned three other brands before I got my first Nex. I lived with a Rio and its poorer sound for a year. I also had an Intel that was OK but one drop and it died. I have dropped the Nex 1a a dozen times at least - the only time I had any trouble was when I dropped it down a flight of stairs and I thought it was dead for sure. It was a good 10 foot drop. It survived, but the sound went in and out. I found a wire that had been wriggled loose and got my soldering iron out and it's better than ever. I use the Nex 1a every single day. I mostly listen to books on it, but the music (opera) I listen to is perfect. I don't use their headphones - I use cheap Sony Fontopia ear buds. I recommend them. Those behind-the-ear headphones stink. With my earlier Nex II, I had a couple of Sennheisser ear buds and they were excellent, but a little more expensive. The FM radio is excellent for me, but I live in Chicago, so maybe that has something to do with it. Things they need to improve: The battery compartment (while OK) doesn't allow me to take the batteries out easily. This is minor, but annoying. The little door on the Compact Flash slot doesn't stay shut. This is minor also. Who cares? I wish they would just dump the Microdrive thing and make it Compact Flash exclusively or Secure Digital. Because they make it for the wider Microdrive, it's a pain to insert the CF card most of the time. They should also try to add a couple more buttons and put them all on the face. You can't grab it well. You grab it by the top and bottom and you mess with the headphones - a bad idea. You grab it by the sides and you hit the button that changes it from FM to MP3. You grab it by the front and back and you hit the track selector button. You need someplace to grab it easily and if all the buttons were on the front, it would be easier. The case, while better still needs work. The case for the Nex II was better, but it had a major flaw in how the clip was attached to the case - they should go back to that case and use an epoxy to glue the clip to the case rather than inserting it and having that small amount of material hold it in. I bought a very small cell phone/wallet with a clip on it that works perfectly and has a nice spot for the remote. Overall, it's excellent. The improvements suggested here are minor (but they still need to be done)
Rating:
Summary: A great player for the technically inclined people.
Review: I've been using this player for half a year now, and, aside from a few quirks, I'm happy with it.
However, this player is not for everybody. Specifically, it is not for people that are incapable (or unwilling) to install a firmware upgrade. The firmware that my player came with was exceptionally buggy. It caused frequent lock-ups, had poorly thought out functions, and experienced problems with lots of MP3 files. ALL of these problems have been fixed in the updated firmware.
However, this player still has a problem - a substandard FM receiver. It has very poor reception, and is almost impossible to listen to while on the move. However, from what I heard, this problem has been fixed in the NEX IA+ (the currently produced player). Another thing that up until now has left me wanting is the Ogg Vorbis support that the company has been promising, but hasn't implemented yet.
In general, it's a solid and a very good sounding player. The headphones that come with it are excellent, and the fact that it is pretty much the only player on the market that uses CF cards makes it absolutely unique.
Rating:
Summary: Great Player, excellent sound
Review: Just got the NEX IA with the 1GB Microdrive. At first I was a little hesitant whether to get the NEX IA or the other hard drive based players. I finally decide on the NEX IA because it is smaller, less expensive and more versatile. I am not disappointed. The fact that I can interchange my memory cards between my digital camera and the NEX IA gives me a lot of flexibility. The sound is great and it looks good too.
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