Rating: 
Summary: Hit and Miss
Review: Ordered one of these from Pogo directly, 0402. Ended up returning it. The line in jack was a little tempermental, which created static if you move the cord at all during recording. I also found the recording process a little confusing.This is a nice piece of technology, as a recorder. You can take a source, like old cassettes, patch from the cassette player to this device, and make MP3's. The gripe I have is that the MP3's made this way aren't quite as good as those made with better equipment. If you use software and a laptop computer, for example. This unit is tiny, which is an advantage in some ways. But it's also a little too small to be a good recording platform where you have some space. I don't think the MP3 player provides quite enough information. You can't see the names of tracks, for example. The sound is OK, and it certainly has a generous amount of memory. You can add 128 megs of SmartMedia to get a LOT of memory. But now you really need more information. I'm looking at the Creative Labs Nomad and the Archos units, which also record. They're much bigger, but hopefully get everything they can out of the source material.
Rating: 
Summary: A great MP3 Player...
Review: This is the first MP3 player that I have bought, and am very, very happy with it so far. The machine's basic operation is pretty straight forward. I was not able to operate it right "out of the box" without reading the instruction manual, but once you learn how to use the handful of buttons on the device, it becomes second nature. The "graphic equalizer" really just gives you a choice of a few different "music types", like rock, jazz, classical. You can't actually adjust the frequency response manually, just so you aren't confused. Everything seems to sound best in the "rock" mode, since it provides a bit of boost on the bass end. The volume doesn't go quite as loud as I would like, but perhaps some of the MP3's I recorded were not done at a high enough volume though. The software that comes with the RipFlash is VERY basic. Don't expect it to rip CDs for you. You will need a different program for that. It really just gives you a simple way to drag and drop files from the CD to your hard drive, and vice-versa. Transfer speeds to/from your PC via the USB cable are incredible! You can move over a dozen songs via USB in under a minute. The RipFlash also has a tiny, built-in speaker, which is nice if you are just checking to see what track you are on. Another nice feature is that when you are recording through the line-in jack, you can monitor the "recording" via the headphones. Cool. It would be really nice if the RipFlash had some kind of backlit display. It's LCD screen is very difficult to read in low-light situations. All in all, this is a great little machine, especially for the price. The ability to record via line-in, as well as through the built-in microphone make this item very unique, since it can bypass all known copyright restrictive software and act as a sort of Dictaphone machine. It will operate in the "VOX" mode for that type of application, and will even reduce the bitrate to your desired level in order to save storage space. A must-have gadget!
Rating:
Summary: Wow! Versatile little unit
Review: I admit I bought this for the ability to do digital voice messages, so the fact it was an MP3 player was just a bonus. In terms of digital messages - it is fantastic! Sounds were as clear at 6ft as 1 ft - and only got louder when I put my mouth practically over the speaker. I could even hear the cars outside my building - the sound was that clear! Let me also mention from the outset - the tech/customer support for this product is fabulous. This will be of particular interest to non-Americans looking to buy this product! I was very impressed as support nowadays can be very hit and miss, and Pogo Products defintely rank up there with one of my best experiences for support. As an MP3 player, I suspect this needs a few refinements - but for the price, it was great and the amount of memory was fantastic. Its probably better though if you download MP3 files from your computer though, then catching songs from CDs onto the unit itself - unless you do have a line out plug on your CD player (I did not). The sound was also MUCH better using ordinary ...earbud headphones than with the sleek-looking but tinny earbud headphones... I tried taping some of my cassettes, but unfortunately, did not have a line out feature (which they recommend using) on my cassette player and thus had to use the headphone plug. Although every single snap crackle and pop on my aging cassettes was faithfully recorded, there was occasionally - on some songs only - some electronic sound distortion. I couldn't work out if it was the RipFlash unit or the cassette player I was taping from. Certainly, when I uploaded the songs to my computer and switched from the supplied headphones to my ordinary bass-enhanced headphones, the music was fine. However, I think the quality of sound coming out of your cassette player is important and clearly the RipFlash is a bit sensative to preprogrammed equalizer settings on the cassette player! Also found out that if you increased the bit rate beyond the standard 128 kps and tried sampling from the headphone jack, the amount of static recorded increased significantly - is that why there is a 128 kps limit on most MP3 recordings?! Had no problems downloading MP3 files from my computer, although you kind of have to stack them in one folder for transferring across. Also had no problems uploading and then renaming the MP3 files to something I would recognise rather than their file name. The only other tip I would give is when deleting files on the RipFlash unit, instructions say hit the play button - you need to hit it twice to delete a file... The display changes to something that looks like Er yin - and it took me a while to work out that this wasn't an error message but "erase yes/no" Hitting the play button a second time to confirm file deletion was necessary - but not spelt out anywhere in the instructions... So, I guess it depends what you want this for! If you want it for digital messages (email your loved ones a personal voice message...) or recording sounds on the fly then this unit is explosively brilliant. If you want to use this exclusively as an MP3 player/recorder, then you may want to look around a little more for something that is exclusively an MP3 player. However, I think I got great value for money and will be keeping an eye on future products from this company!
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing!!
Review: It is amazing what this little MP3 player can do. It's a voice recorder, it's an Mp3 recorder, it's an Mp3 player, and it can also record from your head phone jack on your personal CD recorder. It has 130,000 KB or more memory already installed, but you can also get a Smart Card Memroy card, and add more. It runs on 2 AAA batteries, and the batteries last for 10 hours. It has a graphic equalizer inside it, and it can also randomly choose your tracks, it can play 10 seconds of each track, and it can play each track repeatedly. It can play the tracks inorder, also. It fits into the palm of your hand, and into your jeans pocket. It ias an awesome peice of equipment, and I'm glad I own one. I'm going to buy another for my son, who's 11, for his birthday. This is better than any MP3 player on the market. I totally suggest it.
Rating:
Summary: This player "Rips"
Review: I own this player and it is a VERY great gadget.
It has allowed me convert all my old LP records into MP3's BUT the best thing is that it allows me to bypass the record companies new "copy protection" they put in place to prevent owners of having the ability to copy or make MP3's out of their CD's - with the Ripflash, you can still copy and make MP3's on those CD's :)
Rating:
Summary: One of a Kind MP3 Player
Review: This is the best portable MP3 player if you are interested in recording on the fly. It records voice or from any audio source! And it's small enough to fit unobtrusively in your breast pocket. It has a good batter life and is very stable. The track name doesn't display but that's a minor nit given that most MP3 players don't record from any audio source with a line out. And there are no controls that only allow you to download a file a limited # of times - it lets YOU control what you do with your music. Rip Flash is my top choice!
Rating: 
Summary: Think twice before buying a RipFlash
Review: I purchased a RipFlash Plus 256 MP3 player/recorder in June 2004 to record voice interviews. Major flaws in its construction and in its download software mean you are very likely to lose your recordings. To make matters worse, customer support is very resistant to issuing refunds for faulty equipment (I bought mine direct at Pogoproducts.com). --------------------- Two main problems with the unit make it very problematic for capturing recordings: 1) The software provided (and required) to download the sound files to computer over USB is very flakey - sometimes it works, sometimes does not connect, sometimes downloads only part of the sound file but indicates it is "done." This happens on both of the newer Dell computers that I've tried it on. By contrast, all other devices I attach to the USB ports on these same computers exchange files flawlessly. 2) The RipFlash Plus is able to hold a SmartMedia card and record to it. This would seem to be an alternative to downloading through the USB connection - just remove the SmartMedia card, insert it into your computers card reader, and copy off the files. BUT . . . the ejector button on the RipFlash broke the second time I ejected a card, and appears likely to break on any unit. The ejector button pushes the card out with two very tiny brittle plastic tabs. It takes almost nothing to break one (in my case, just ejecting the card did it.) Then, you can't get the card out, or if you do fish it out, you can no longer position it in correctly without the button in place. Regarding pogoproducts.com customer support . . . when the unit arrived in the mail, I discovered that they had thrown in a "voice activated TV remote" - at no charge, and without any advance notice - a device they don't sell on their site. I can't imagine anything more useless than that so I tossed it immediately. After obtaining an RMA from them and returning the broken RipFlash, they at first tried to charge me a "restocking" fee for the useless recorder. After I put my credit card company on their case, they finally refunded the full amount. Then, they decided they needed to charge me $40 for the throw-away remote that they had sent unsolicited, so they made a new charge on my card for it. You might want to consider the options before you decide to try the RipFlash Plus. Rob
Rating:
Summary: If something's working for you, why change?
Review:
I got this MP3 Player/Recorder for my Dad two years ago. He wanted both a MP3 player and a voice recorder so this product was perfect for him. He often go out walking and want to be able to listen to music while doing so, and sometimes he get a good idea for his work and need to make a note about this. He doesn't trust the concept of mental notes so he always brought pen and paper for this, but paper isn't ideal when the weather is poor - so a voice recorder perfect then.
He still uses this MP3 Player/Recorder on more or less a daily basis, and he is not interested to upgrade to a model with more capacity or features. This one has all features he needs and he know how to use it, and why change just because there is better models when this already has it all?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent compact device
Review: After doing much reading on MP3 players, I decided to go with the RipFlast Plus 128MB recorder. Holds as many songs as a CD, even more if you use .wma (which is compatible with this player). Expansion slot allows you to keep tons of songs on flash cards.
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