Creative MuVo Micro N200 512 MB White (70PF121200008)

Rating:
Summary: Small, but ineffective. Size does NOT matter.
Review: Although I love the size and plug-and-play simplicity of this player, I can't stand the way it works. A perky customer support person at Creative told me that it was not designed to support "playlists." What that means is that you cannot control the order in which songs are played. So, if you are making a workout mix, you can't put the fast songs first and then cool down songs. You can't listen to albums in their entirety or intended order. You can't control anything about the playback experience. So if you don't mind having Hayden and Hendrix mixed together, this is the player for you. But if you want to experience music how the artists intended to be experienced, or how you intended when you made the mix, then steer clear of this one. You will either be disappointed, or very frustrated as you change all the song names in your music library to "a" "b" "c" so that it will play as you want it to. Bummer.

Rating:
Summary: great
Review: excellent mp3 player. extra small and light. just drag mp3's over with or without folders. i like that it uses AAA batteries. one problem i had is it stopped responding, but after firmware update it works perfectly.

Rating:
Summary: No more cassette tapes!
Review: I bought the MuVo N200 for one thing: to digitally record hours of radio. It's the best-priced gadget I've found for the task. No, it doesn't have an AM tuner, but it has line-in. Now I can collect and archive various radio broadcasts without the time limits or analog conversions of cassette tapes. The memory will hold 12+ hours of 96-bit MP3 recordings, and the battery is said to last about that long, so I could record all night if I needed to.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Value
Review: I got this MP3 player for Christmas and have been using it ever since. It was recomended to me as an alternative to a RIO MP3 player because of the storage space to cost ratio. You can store a whole lot of data in 512MB and I have yet to even come close.

This item is about the size and weight of a disposable cigarette lighter. It fits easily into a pocket, but can also be worn on the provided arm band or clipped onto a lanyard. Battery life is long and only one AAA battery is used to power the player.

Its small size makes it unobtrusive during a heavy workout and the arm band's material doesn't slip off your arm when you start to sweat.

One of the nicest features is the fact that you don't need any software to use this product. It comes with a disk, but it's installation is optional. The player plugs into a USB port and files are transfered by dragging and dropping them into the player. You can easily set up folders within the player so that you listen to only the songs you want, rather than every song stored on the player.

The sound quality is good and I haven't had a problem with the backlight creating a buzzing noise (although others have).

I do have a couple small problems with the player. The first is that it doesn't come with a good instruction manual. The instructions are very short and vague. I figured most of the features out on my own using trial and error. The recording feature isn't very good, luckily I wouldn't use it for recording stuff anyway. The built in microphone isn't strong and putting your mouth close to the mic means you end up hearing more breathing than anything else. Songs within folders can not be put in an order other than alphabetical (that I know of). Play options are alphabetical or random. You can't set an order of your own. Also, the display doesn't give enough information about the song.

Like many other portable music systems, the headphones that come with the player aren't great. They don't stay on when working out, so I had to buy better ones for that purpose.

In the end, the player is a great deal. It has tons of storage space, compact and well put together and is ideal for someone with an active lifestyle.

Rating:
Summary: Quality Tiny Player
Review: I received the Micro as a gift after suggesting it to someone else. I'd done a *lot* of research on MP3 players, and this one fit exactly what was needed--small, flash-storage, not too expensive, good quality. After playing with it, I have to admit the research paid off. The sound is great, the controls are easy to use, there are lots of options, the accessories are just what you need and the price is nice for how much they packed into it.

To answer the biggest questions I had before getting one....The FM works. In fact, my wife seems to think it works better than her car stereo. We had no problem picking up a radio station 70+ miles away (of course, that's in flat ND). The included software does rip CDs without a problem, though the method for transferring previously stored MP3 is rather awkward. It does *NOT* accept songs directly from iTunes. You'll need to be...creative...to get that to work (iTunes downloads in MP4 and protects the file). The thing is tiny and can go pretty much anywhere. The protective case is a frosted white material (plastic/rubber/silicone) and covers most of what you want covered, but none of what you don't want covered. Line-in and microphone are there and work, but aren't exceptional. The earbuds sound okay, but are pretty big and will probably need to be swapped out. Oh, and the dark blue version is a nice navy color.

The only things I'd consider changing (beyond the size of the buds) are giving it a replaceable USB-rechargable battery and making the volume buttons feel just a bit more solid. Really not much of an issue though.

If I was going to buy another MP3 player for this price, there's no doubt I'd buy this one again. Only thing better would be a 1GB version. (Mine will be moving around alot, so I don't want a non-solid-state (iPod-type) player.)

Rating:
Summary: The BEST MP3 Player Money Can Buy Right Now
Review: I received this MP3 player for Xmas, after doing a TON of research, and this product is sublime. I got mine for a mere $119 on amazon, new, and the shipping was free.

The sound quality is excellent, thought what people are saying about the white earbuds is true (can hurt after awhile.) But once you get over that initial pain in your ear, the pain definitely goes away as you will be listening to sweet tunes. The sound quality is definitely exceptional. To use the line in feature, all you need is a stereo with a CD player, pop the CD in, press record on the MP3 (with the included cable attached), and you can go take a shower or do whatever you need to do, and the MP3 player will AUTOMATICALLY space each track for you! So you don't need to sit there and press record for each track. And I agree with the others, that the FM radio is top-notch. Stations come in nice and crisp, and it even has a preset feature.

As far as the design, it is FLAWless. NO SKIPPING. Ever. Impressively, it is very very tiny, mine is orange, you can adjust the LCD screen for a lefty or a righty, and the solid color selection is the frosting. This little bugger is an intuitive DREAM because eventually, you can slip it into your pocket, and you can adjust volume, change folders/tracks or swith playing modes while it's STILL in your pocket! It's THAT easy to use. Very intuitive and you will catch on quickly. It also scrolls the song titles and artists, which I appreciate very much. The USB 2.0 cable that comes with it delivers seriously lightning fast transfers. And as far as flash space, I can easily hold 10-15 albums on it. I know that you can record from the FM radio, but I have yet to figure that out.

The only minuses are: I would trade it for a 1 GB version in a second. And when the LCD screen is on, there is a very slight buzzing, though you can only hear it if you are in bed about to go to sleep, and even then, it goes away after 2 seconds and it doesn't bother me one bit. I have to say that if you buy this product, you will NOT be sorry. I carry it with me constantly and use it constantly. So far this player only received excellent reviews, so you should get one. It is the cheapest and the best. And even if you don't consider the price, it is STILL the best flash MP3 player ever.

Rating:
Summary: Great for audio books
Review: I was looking for a flash mp3 player that would work well for audio books. I had briefly thought of buying the new Apple Shuffle, but realized that it really wouldn't suit my purposes well (who'd want to accidentally hit the "Shuffle" button in the middle of War and Peace?).

This one is excellent. I signed up for Audible, and downloaded a couple of books. The cool thing is that if you start to listen to one track, and then flip to a different one, it remembers where you were on the first track -- very cool. I was able to listen to my Wodehouse book, and pass it on to my bored 8-old to listen to an interview with Lemony Snicket, then flip back and pick up my book right where I was.

It's very small, and the nice holster clips easily onto my jeans pocket. With 512MB, it has plenty of space -- I've already put about 9 hours worth of material on it, and barely made a dent in the available space.

The only complaint I have is that while it has a place to slip on a lanyard, it does not come with one. A fairly minor complaint. All in all -- a great player.

Rating:
Summary: Stop looking and start enjoying this player...
Review: If size, sound quality, and overall function are your priorities, then this is the player for you. I bought this player after weeks of contemplating and researching. Here's what I've found after 2 weeks of use:

Pros:
Size (smallest I've seen)
It has better sound quality than i-pods and ALL other flash-based players. There are multiple pre-set equalizers in addition to a 5 channel custom eq. After all, this is made by a company who makes premium sound cards!

Easy set up and use. Despite what one reviewer said you can put tracks on in order, you just have to understand how to use the program. The wheel for scrolling around the player is brilliant.

The belt clip/case and armband are very well designed and seem very durable.

The headphones are good, especially when compared to other (more expensive) players that barely attempt (i-river, i-pod, etc.).

Now for some cons:

Price, I paid $139.99 at Circuit City. I realize you can get it a little cheaper and it is competitive against comparable players but... if I didn't need the small size and reliability of a flash player for working out I would've spent another $100 or so and gotten a hard drive based player.

As previously discussed the volume button seems a little chinsy. (but at least everyone's is consistantly loose suggesting that there are no problems with quality control)

The software is a little invasive, it wants to be your next Windows Media Player, but is a feeble attempt. The default settings can be changed so it is strictly a support device for the MuVo.

That's it, if you are looking for a flash based player, this is definitely the right choice. I give it a 4.5 for the price thing but there is not option for that.

Rating:
Summary: Great player, it's light, works well, has great battery life
Review: This is the player I ended up getting after doing a lot of research. I figured that 512mb was enough, and although 1gb would be nice, it wasn't worth the additionall cost. I wanted a player that had a radio in case I got sick of what was loaded into the player. The radio has great reception, but you seem to have to hold it away from your body for weaker stations to come in. It comes with a little rubbery case that has the belt clip on it if you want to clip it to something (like the included armband or your belt). It also has a spot to attach a neclace on the player itself. See my "customer pictures" at the link at the top of the page if you're curious what everything that comes with it looks like. One of the things about all these mp3 players is that unless you go to a store, it's hard to tell what they look like from the one angle they show you. It's very light (about 1oz WITH the battery inside, 1.5 oz with battery and little rubbery case). I got rechargeable batteries for mine and I've been using it for about 3 weeks, 3 hours per week and it's still going with more than half the battery power showing on the battery indicator. It is easy to navigate the music on the player too. You can skip through tracks or go up a level to skip through folders if you have your music organized in folders. The player remembers where you were even if you switch to listen to the radio for a while and then go back to mp3 (especially nice for books on tape/cd). This seemed to me to be the best flash based player. The only other contender was the Sandisk one, but this has one feature that the Sandisk doesn't have; input so you can record from your stereo or an external microphone. It's easy to use, sounds great. Also, although Creative doesn't list it as Mac compatible, it is. If you plug it into a mac, the player shows up on the desktop as a drive and you can drag mp3 files onto it and they copy to the player perfectly. The only complaint I have is the same one that everyone does, when you push the buttons the backlight comes on for a few seconds and during the time the light is on there is a buzz. Not a big deal, but has to be said. Here are the features that drove me to buy this:
<ul>
<li>Plays mp3 of course
<li>Small and light
<li>FM tuner
<li>record from FM tuner, built in mic or line input
<li>takes one AAA battery (light, easy to find, cheap rechargeables avail)
<li>came with a belt clip
<li>has a display screen (unlike the flash based ipod)

Rating:
Summary: More like 4 and a half stars
Review: This isn't the perfect Mp3 player, but it's pretty good, especially when you consider the price. Overall, this player has more good features than it does bad. It also has a number of features I doubt I'll ever use.

The Good:
- Size - at 512 meg, it's not meant to hold your entire CD library. It's a great player to take jogging. It holds roughly seven or eight full albums. (maybe more depending on the quality of the mp3s)
- File transfer - it's a flash storage device. So to get songs onto your mp3 player simply drag and drop the files from your computer.
- Size/weight - the thing is less than an ounce. (Try holding two AAA batteries, that's how much it weighs with its battery). It's about the size of a lighter.
- Strap and holder - comes with it's own velcro strap and rubbery holder. I-pod charges another 20 bucks for theirs. This player comes with a strap free. Free!!
- Battery - while on the Ipod subject, this player uses one AAA battery. I'm not sure how long it lasts, because mine still has juice, so at least several hours on one battery. So, unlike the Ipod that has an internal battery and costs oodles of cash to replace, this comes with a AAA battery that's cheap and easy to replace (and it only needs replacing on rare occasions).
- Sound Quality - uhhh...it's good and stuff
- Price - Quite a lot of bang for the buck. I've seen players with half the storage sell for the same price. Again: this player will not hold your entire mp3 library, if that's what you want, this player's not for you.
- System compatability - some mp3 players (Ipod again), only work on Windows XP or 2000. This one will work with Windows '98.

The Bad
- Rubber USB port cover - it's flimsy and I just know it's going to fall off. I don't think that'll affect the player, but I'd rather have a cover that worked and didn't fall apart.
- backlight noise - with low volume (25/40), there's a perceptible buzzing noise whenever the backlight is on. Of course, you can turn the backlight off, and it's completely unnoticable when the volume is turned up (mine' usually at 30 or so when jogging).
- Track playing problems - a couple of tracks skip on this player, and other times whole albums would not play unless I transferred each individual track (instead of just dragging the entire album file).
- Ear buds - these furry things annoy me. They're okay for sound quality, but they're a bit uncomfortable. Ipod's are much better. I already had earphones for my old mp3 player, and I use them instead of the ones that came with this one.

Stuff I probably won't ever use
- FM Radio - if I wanted an FM radio, I wouldn't have blown $120 bucks on an mp3 player!
- file management software - even though you don't need it (see file transfer above), the player comes with its own mp3 management software. Actually, I've used this some, and it's better than some (Rio, musicmatch); but it's still pretty useless.
- microphone - The quality is OK, but why would anyone ever want to record their own voice into an mp3 player? Maybe I'm just narrowminded...
- Mp3 ripper - this player comes with its own line that you can connect to a CD player to rip mp3's directly onto your player. If you're looking at mp3 players, odds are, most of your CDs are already ripped.

I have to say, overall I'm pleased with my purchase. It's not perfect, but at the price it performs very well and avoids a lot of the pitfalls of other mp3 players. No it's not a 40 gig player that stores ALL your songs you ever heard. It is a good value, and the perfect player to take to the gym.