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iAUDIO CW200 256 MB MP3 Player with FM Radio and Voice Recorder

iAUDIO CW200 256 MB MP3 Player with FM Radio and Voice Recorder

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What I've been searching for
Review: I love this MP3 player! After a year and a half, or so, search, i finally made my MP3 purchase, and went with the iAudio CW200 256 MB. What sold me was the glowing reviews, sound qaulity of FM radio, and the price for the 256MB size. The order came within a week, always a joyous occassion when it arrives days before expected.

Not being one to read through every little word in a manual before using a new purchase, I was able to easily figure out the basic navigation within a few minutes. I'm still progressing to the higher capabilities of this little dynamo, and am referring to the easy to read manual for reference.

Sound quality for MP3s, FM radio, recording from FM, and Voice recording is excellent. The white case it comes with is also pretty stylish, compared to so many boring black cases being used.

The reason why i waited so long to buy an MP3 was because it always seemed as if no machine was perfect. Either it played great Mp3s, but had bad FM reception, or it had decent reception, but the navigation sucked, and on and on it went. The other thing was that i originally wanted one that worked with Mac, and that was small enough so that I could run with it. Well, this doesn't work with the Mac, so I just have to use a PC. What did i want...the world? In the end, I am extremely happy with this choice and highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love it.
Review: I've had the iAudio CW200 for about 6 months, and I'm very satisfied with it.

Favorites: The two-jog-wheel design is perfect for one-handed operation (even through the material of my pocket when I'm working out) and it's loaded with options that are easy to get to and configure. I also like the feature that allows me to record FM radio; the other day I heard an interview on NPR with one of my favorite bands, and I recorded it (while I was running!) and e-mailed the file to my buddy later that day. The voice recorder, though at fairly low sound quality, is still plenty sensitive enough to be used for recording lectures or meetings. And you can tinker with the EQ until you get just the right sound for your music. I also like that it takes just one AAA battery which lasts for maybe 6-8 hours of continuous use. Cons: The earphones fall out of my ears. So I bought new earphones. Also, though I'm happy with the 128MB version, you may want to spring for the 256; this player sounds so good that you'll find yourself wanting only to listen to higher-quality 128kbps mp3 files, which tend to be a bit bigger. Enjoy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome
Review: Received this as a gift, been very pleased with it so far (1 month), so I thought i'd pitch in some of my views:

Pros:

1. Long battery lilfe. The Duracell AAA that came with it lasted me 4 days of listening (two hours a day on crowded subway).
2. Great functionality and many options. It has preset EQ and you can also set your own. Groups songs in albums so you can skip tracks easily. FM works fine.
3. Software is easy to use. Very clean, intuitive, explorer-style look.
4. Small and looks cool.

Cons:

1. The casing is metal-looking, but is actually plastic. To me, it feels too light without the battery.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Alternative to IPod + RECORDING
Review: Fantastic product. Cheaper, smaller, lighter than IPod, plus FM radio and recording. I've already used it to record radio programs and listen later skipping the commercials--like TiVo for radio. Great if you listen to specific programs daily (NPR, Howard Stern,etc)

One complaint: the buttons are a bit tiny and clumsy--sometimes hard to navigate on the first try.

Otherwise: FANTASTIC.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great sound, user-friendly, and ultra-lightweight!
Review: I've never owned a portable MP3 player before, so I was kinda anticipating that this would take a while to learn how to use. Man, was I wrong! The device is so intuitive I only had to glance at the manual twice and I was well on my way to sonic nirvana! I actually timed myself, just for the fun of it, and it took me only 5 min from opening the package before I was listening to my first MP3.

The PC program interface (JetShell) is user friendly too: just a drag and drop affair. It allows you to convert CD music to MP3 at bitrates ranging from 32 kbps up to 320 kbps. There's also a VBR conversion option and it ranges from 96 kbps up to 192 kbps. With JetShell, you can add, remove, and change order of files with ease. You can also set EQ parameters and FM presets in a dedicated menu, then zap them into the device!

Build quality is excellent: feels solid and substantial, yet lightweight. LCD window appears to be real glass crystal, not some cheapo plastic. Belt-clip case has a plastic window to protect the LCD window. Toggle switches are spring loaded and easy to manipulate, even while in the belt-clip case, and they haven't jammed on me yet. The sound? mmm the sound... one word - magnificent! Perhaps the only detractors to the package would be the earphones; they make this awful popping/crunching sound when putting them in your ears.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great player, just needs and expansion slot.
Review: Perfect if you need a small unit for exercising, commuting etc. It disappears into a pocket and I forget it's on me when I am running. I probably needs a HD player too, I'd love to have all of my music on one device.

I use it on the train every day and record some of the weekend NPR shows to listen to later in the week. Overall, it meets my needs, but for the price make sure the features on this player are what you need.

It is very reliable, I have had it for four months with NO problems. I have dropped it several times and it still works fine.

Features:
Radio: Reception is decent, about the same as my Sony Sports AM/FM. Recording does seem to have an impact.

Voice Recorder: I won't use it too much, but it is very sensitive and easy to use.

MP3: Sound is excellent. 4 folders makes it more manageable but, it would be nice to be able to create your own.

Design: Simple and easy but despartely needs an expansion slot. I cringe every time I see how cheap memory cards are getting and I can't expand it. This is the main reason that I can't give it 5 stars.

The leather case is kind of ugly, the ear buds are ok. The screen is a bit small. Battery life is good.

Software: Decent, but far from great. I would rather be able to see the device in Windows Explorer and drag and drop files without proprietary software. The software will not let you upload mp3s to a PC in an effort to avoid file sharing.

Things that every MP3 player should have/be:
1. AM/FM radio - IAudio has half
2. Recording, voice and radio (IAudio has it)
3. Be Small (IAudio is right on)
4. Be expandable (IAudio missed this - Thus, get the 256k - you can never have too much memory)
5. Have an external power supply - so that you can hook it up to your stereo and not kill the batteries. (Not on the Iaudio)

Other players to consider:
Nex iA by Frontier labs - Compact Flash expansion, FM recording and a power adapter, but bigger and feels cheap.
MPIO by Digital Way - Just like the CW200 but has an SD slot

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome MP3 Player (purchased the CW300)
Review: I got turned onto this player from Amazon.com searches. ... It lives up to all claims! It's very compact, but the sound is anything but small. Just incredible. The FM is just icing on the cake. Oh yeah, the voice recording is better than anything I've heard (from small voice recorders). What a deal. And the 1 AA battery on the 300 just goes and goes and goes. Incredible. I did order the optional Sennheiser headphones which I wouldn't recommend. Simply because the ear-bud type phones don't stay in my wierd ears. Anyway, I purchased some Sony behind-the-head earphones that compliment this player nicely and they stay put. My only gripe, it sounds so nice my 256mb version doesent' hold enough. But the software makes it extremely easy to switch music out. Speaking of the software...no issues yet. The software works as advertised with no crashes. One last thing, it's also a tough little player. I've dropped it a few times, with no affect (it was in the supplied case).
Great player. Can't really compare it to other players (I have a Creative Jukebox, which is cool also) but my experience with this one has been great!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Used ones are overpriced
Review: The item looks like it would be a good mp3 player. However, why does it cost more USED than NEW? Just curious.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great MP3 player
Review: I could not be more happy with this MP3 player. Great sound quality, software that makes it easy to convert files and overall a very handy little unit. If you are a runner and like to listen to tunes while you work out, this is a great unit. I highly recommend it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: battery life is disappointing
Review: the reason i purchased an mp3 player was because i run all the time. i like to listen to music when i run. i've always used a discman. that worked fine but it seemed that after every couple of runs i had to replace the batteries because the anti-skip . i went through a lot of batteries real fast.
so i purchased the iaudio.. as advertised it does have awesome sound quality but it also goes through batteries like crazy. i was informed by a friend that to save battery life i had to deactivate the backlight and turn the volume on low. well what's the point of having all these features if i can't even use them,, so now i'm back where i started,,,, buying batteries.


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