K-Byte 128MB MP3 USB Storage Recorder - S 320 Black

Rating:
Summary: Cool looking product
Review: I got this as a freebee from Staples (Buy a Palm Zire, get this free). Its true the manual is in babblefish english, but you really don't need it (Even the label on the machine calls itself a 'Voicerecoder". The machine plugs directly into the usb port. It seems to transfer kind of slow, but it does what it should do. The headphones are cool, you wear a lariat and the headphones are built into the lariat. The only problem is I have used it for about a month the the right channel has gone out. Also, unless you have big ear holes, the earbuds won't fit in your ears.

I listen to old time radio and audio books exclusively. I LOVE the fact that you can stop it and it will start right back up where it left off, even when powered off. Also, it can get loud enough for me. These are two things that have made me return players more than once (Lyra, Sony MP3 Walkmans, Newer Rios)

Pros
<ul><li>Cool looking
<li>REALLY smart earphone design.
<li>Starts up where it left off
<li>Loud (it goes to 20)
<li>Good battery life (takes 1 AAA)
<li>People notice it, its almost like having jewelry or something.
<li>Backlit so you an see it in the dark.
<li>You can fast foreward within a track. (You can't rewind beyond the start of the track though - say you missed the last 5 minutes of the previous track)
</li></ul>
Cons
<ul>
[...]
<li>The FM transmitter doesn't work. Requires firmware upgrade, which is unavailable.
<li>After a month the headphones broke. Can't fine a replacement anywhere I looked.
<li>Earbuds don't fit your ears, hurt after a while since you have to strech your ear canal to make them stay.
<li>Design tries hard, but its confusing first time and hard to use without looking at it.
</li></ul>
I hope this helps. This is about a 30-40 dollar player. When they get to rev 2, I think it would be worth 50-60 dollars easy.

Rating:
Summary: TERRIBLE PRODUCT
Review: This product is terrible. Let's get started with my complaints: I purchased it from Target through Amazon. This product is from "K-Byte" but has no customer support, no company website and NOT even a PRODUCT NAME on the player, manual or box it came in. The manual was not written by a fluent english speaker and does not make any sense. This product is not supported by Windows 2000 or Windows XP, although they claim it is "plug and play"- it is most definitely NOT. This product does not play FM radio without some form of software upgrade. You can connect the player, but it is treated as a USB Mass Storage Device by Windows 2000 and Windows XP. That means you can put MP3s on the player, BUT the player CAN NOT upgrade its software. There is no software or driver available for this product- I would have found one by now if there were. This is a cheap knock-off mp3 player that IS NOT worth the money. Also, the necklace-headphone cord broke after 1 day of use. I hope Amazon and Target will discontinue the selling of this item. Get any other Flash MP3 player than this one.