Rating: 
Summary: Light and Easy and Stable
Review: The product is light and easy to use, which it is an important thing for technologies.
It was easy to set up, really basic things, Batteries included.
The installation of the SW was easy as well, I only suggest that after the first reboot you plug and unplug the PA1 from the USB port if it seems like it is not recognized.
In the end my wife and I use it to run and it is really amazing
BUY IT!
Rating: 
Summary: Great and ideal
Review: I was looking for a small mp3 player that would travel with me and have the memory to hold enough of my songs. This can hold about 15 full-lengthed songs, sound quality is amazingly good considering its small size, and it is virtually so small that I forget that I'm wearing it. It has a belt clip that just attaches to you and lets you walk off with it. It's ideal for uses up to an hour and a half, due to memory limits, but its expandable memory provides the capability of holding more, should you desire it.
Rating: 
Summary: JUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Ok I wrote a review before this, its under Andrew J Azzariti. I just couldn't remeber my account info. Ok Here's the deal, yea when this MP3 player worked it seemed to work OK. I ended up having to send it into compaq ( no, they wouldn't pay $7.00 s/h ) because not only did the screen die it would make my batterys leak! So it took 4 months to get back ( long time huh? ) when I got it back they didn't send my belt clip back, than they wanted to charge me $7.00 for another one, I said screw it. So it was a good as new, they sent me a refurbished unit though, wich now won't load songs from the computer, so I am stuck with 20 of the same songs. Also they finish since I recived it in june has demolished so it looks like junk, wich it is. Compaq support sucks, the Mp3 player is horrid if your warranty runs out. Let me explain the warranty part, I sent in my mp3 player wich had 7 months on the warranty left, since they sent me a refurb unit I got screwed and got a 90 day warranty, making me eat anything that goes wrong! I talked to everyone at compaq and they said there is nothing they can do!
Boy oh boy am I Irate. Frankly I would give this 5 stars if compaq sent me a new one, but they didn't and this truly isn't any good. I would try a Nike mp3 player ( not backlit though ) or something diffrent.
Irate Compaq Pa-1 costumer~!!!!!!!!!!
Andrew Azzariti
Rating: 
Summary: No good
Review: I bought my first Compaq PA-1 over a year ago and am now waiting my third. The same thing keeps happening... after some use the player will not recognize the usb connection to the computer, thus making it impossible to write new tracks. This is horribly aggravating, but not nearly as bad as the support for this product. As with any tech support, the tech's tend to know less about the product than I do. I would not recommend this procuct unless you want to keep sending it back to the manufacturer.
Rating:
Summary: Clearing up some misconceptions
Review: Overall, I am quite happy with the Compaq player but I think there are a number of misconceptions in the postings here. Misconceptions:
1) Using Windows Media Player: You can definitely use Windows Media Player v. 7.0 and higher to download files and format media MMC cards. There is no specific button to format the cards in WMA but the formatting is done automatically when you try to download your first files into the card. The only problem I had is that the first time I tried a transfer, the process died in the middle of downloading the third file with a "Server error" message. The subsequent downloads have gone without a hitch. It may just have been a time-out triggered by the formatting process.
2) Deleting Files: Contrary to what is stated below, it is very easy to delete files from the player if you want to. In the Windows Media Player, you simply select the file you want to delete in the right hand panel (under the Music on Device tab), click on the pull down delete button and pick "delete" (or something like that, it's obvious), and the file is deleted in seconds.
3) Opening the package: You can open the packaging safely by cutting it with scissors (I used my wife's chicken shears). Just be patient in cutting around each item to create a flap of plastic that you can lift to remove the parts. Don't try to tear the plastic with your fingers and don't use a knife. The plastic is too tough to grab and tear with your bare hands.
4) Battery life: I suspect that people may not realize they are leaving the unit on while the USB cable is hooked up. This disables the auto-off feature of the Compaq and means the battery is being constantly drained while the USB cable is connected.
True Conceptions:
1) Downloads are slow: Downloads do seem slow to me. But its my first MP3 player
2) Segmented memory issue: There are two memory slots and in each needs to be set up separately for downloading. So you first set up a list of songs to load into MMC 1 slot and then wait while the slot 1 card is transferred. You then select the songs for the slot 2 card and then wait while those are transferred. However for playback, the two memory cards function together as a single unit (i.e. songs are numbered sequentially for playback across both memory modules).
3) Control are easy to use: Yes, definitely, they are intuitive and the large play/pause button is a big plus. There is a "Hold" switch which locks the controls in their current position to prevent accidental jostling from chaning your settings.
4) Volume control adjustments: You may need to adjust the volume for some songs to keep the sound level about where you want it. Fortunately, the sound controls are easy to find and change (right under the display and above the large pause/play button.
5) Gap in memory card door: There is a gap of about 1mm between the back edge of the door and the case which could easily allow water in. This unit is clearly not designed to be waterproof. I don't think normal amounts of sweat will harm it but I would not immerse the unit in water.
Rating:
Summary: Nice design, yet a terrible pain
Review: I like the fact that the unit is so small and light, and using it to listen to MP3s is a breeze. However, I highly recommend against buying this player for these reasons: A) While I was able to get the software running ok under Windows 98, getting the player to communicate under Win XP is seemingly impossible.
B) Compaq customer support is useless. I've sent multiple emails regarding my problems with the unit and have gotten no reply from them, period.
C) The RioPort software is very weak in features, and is poorly designed. To my knowledge the player only works with RioPort software.
D) The MMC memory is expensive.
Rating:
Summary: Player's OK, but Customer Service Sucks!
Review: As long as the units works it's OK. Not the best, but not the worst. However when it stops working (which mine did after about 4 months ownership, and use on 3 round-trip flights and 2 trips to the gym to use the stationary bike) after what I would call, not much use it stops working. Why? the batteries would not stay in place, hence no power to the unit. Considering I had not been using it for jogging etc., I would have expected it to last more than 4 months!! Customer service was not very friendly or responsive to a player dying after such little use. I had to pay for shipping and insurance for them to repair the unit. So keep this mind when you think of buying this unit!
Rating:
Summary: iPAQ PA Player - What a Joke
Review: This review refers to the iPAQ PA-2 with USB support and 64MB flash card. I am an engineer, and I could not get this product to function reliably. I spent 2 hours on the phone with COMPAQ technical support, and still no luck. We updated drivers and the MusicMatch Jukebox software (you can either use MusicMatch or latest Windows Media Player, both of which are pretty crappy), to no avail. I tried it on both Windows 98 and 95 platforms, with no luck (although different behavior between the two). Windows Device Manager would not recognize the device reliably, and I could neither format flash cards nor burn songs. The final resolution was that the COMPAQ Tech Support rep. was to send me a new USB cable ("He" didn't know...), which I never got. I ultimately sent the whole unit back to COMPAQ. I do have a 2-USB port interface on my "COMPAQ" W98 Desktop Tower, one of which hosts a MicroSolutions Backpack CD R/RW drive, and I did have to install a USB filter driver patch for that to work reliably. But, I doubt that this was the culprit, and I did not have the patience to try and de-install the filter driver patch and the CD R/RW drive software to see if the iPAQ would work in a vacuum. Don't buy this product!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great portability, but sound quality needs work.
Review: The size of this player is great. If you workout, it's perfect because it has a detachable clip and it's as small as a pager. The cost is about the same for what you would expect from similar players like the Intel, Irock, Rio, and D-link players. The controls are real easy to use, with the play/pause button being the biggest button, it makes it easy break into a conversation with someone quickly. The sound quality is very poor in my opinion. I like a lot of bass and it's turned up all the way with no real difference. My musically interest is primarily Alternative and most of my music is sounds like it's coming from a pc speaker. No really balance of tonal quality, no real distortion either. I hear the Irock player has better quality sound and is slightly cheaper. Features include repeat one/all, shuffle, and adjustable bass/treble. Two slots for MMC cards for a total of 128 MB of storage. Overall a good player, buy it. By the way, don't buy the Sandisk SecureMate, it doesn't work with this player.
Rating:
Summary: Convenient and compact
Review: I wanted a small, lightweight, rugged mp3 player to take jogging - and this fits the bill. I've dropped this thing a few times (mostly when my dog realizes it's time to go running and starts jumping up on me) and it has not been damaged. It clips inside my shorts pocket easily and is so lightweight I don't have to worry about it pulling my pants down during a run. The earbuds are annoying and have overall poor audio quality - I use a lightweight Sony "in the ear" type while jogging and they work much better. I agree with a lot of the other reviews - the download time is a little long with the provided software, but I now use MusicMatch and am happier (you can download a module for MusicMatch to allow connectivity with the iPaq). Since high quality audio is not too critical to me while running, I can use a lower setting ("FM quality" not "CD quality") and get almost two hours of audio on the two 32 MB cards included. This is more than enough for my needs, and I only change out the music every two or three weeks. However, a minor complaint I have with the system is that it is not powered by the USB connection - it drains the batteries while you are downloading songs. To compund the problem, the auto-off function is disabled while a USB connection is detected - so only turn the thing on when you are ready to dowload songs and turn it off as soon as you are finished. If you connect it and leave it on while you are working on the computer setting up playlists, it eats up batteries. I am not a high-tech user - just wanted something simple and reliable, but upgradable if/when new audio formats came out. This is a great device for that.
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