Home > Consumer Reviews > Phillips EXP301 CD/MP3 Player

I have tried other personal CD players with CD-MP3 playback, and most of them just do not work. But Philips EXP30117 eXpanium is working perfectly. The only thing you have to do is to organise your mp3 collection properly (different albums in different folders) and burn them! The major advantage of this machine is that you can easily browse your collection. Not with the song names, but with album/track numbers. Now I am listening an MP3 CD with 127 songs, from 7 different artists, and I can easily find what I am looking for. {Tip: print the folder information and use it as a CDinsert} Sound quality is very good, and I just do not have to carry 7/8 CDs with me, but just one.

I have a large collection of CDs and I often listen music on my computer, thus I convert most of my CDs to mp3s. I bike everyday and listen music outdoors. I do not like to carry a lot of CDs with me. But I like to carry a lot of songs from different artists. So a normal MP3 player with limited memory is no good for me. Other players with huge harddisks, like Creative Nomad, are expensive, and you have to transfer your collection to that player. Well I have a lot of MP3 CDs. So I would not be happy to reload them to my computer and then to transfer them to such a device. Best solution, is to find something that can play my MP3 CDs as well as my audio CDs. The solution is Philips EXP30117 eXpanium. If you have similar listening habits, it is the best solution for you as well. You can travel with a lot of albums with very few CD-Rs. Good for holidays, for parties etc.

Philips EXP30117 eXpanium has a nice 45Second ESP so that it does not skip when I am biking. I do not know if it is jog-proof, but I do not think so...

The only bad thing is the battery consumption. In the MP3 mode it can easly swallow two VARTA Longlife batteries in 3 hours (I suppose in normal CD mode it might be longer). You should use Alkaline Batteries (expensive solution), or just buy two/three sets of rechargeable batteries.

Anyway, if you are planning to buy something other than Philips EXP30117 eXpanium, go and read the reviews, some of them are really bad-I mean really really bad!

Why do you want this one?

* Plays MP3s up to 999 songs per disc!
* Works with CDs, CDRs, CDRWs, and even DIRECT CDs!
* Batteries last 20 hours - no kidding! (2 "AA" Duracells)
* Scans Forward and Backward through CDs AND MP3s too!
* Starts playing in a few seconds - not minutes!
* Best Anti-skip I've ever tested. In fact, I can't make it skip, period!
* 2 modes of Bass Boost!
* 9 playback modes: Shuffle, Shuffle All, Shuffle Repeat, Shuffle Repeat All,
Repeat, Repeat All, Shuffle Program, Shuffle Repeat Program, Repeat Program!
* Comes with AC adapter!
* Get car kit for only (a few dollars) more! (order the model 303)
* Has Off/Resume/Hold functions!
* Program mode holds 50 of your favorite tracks!
* Has belt clip for jogging, etc.!
* Best sounding ear buds I've ever put in my ears! (comfortable too, very unique design)
* Plays all formats: ISO9660, Joliet, Multisession, UDF, MP3s (from 32 to 320 kbps, plus
variable bit rate files), and ACC!
* Automatically silences data files! (will not damage your ear buds, or your ears, Bud! :-)
* Headphone jack doubles as line out! (set volume level to `8' to equal line output levels)
* Plays enhanced music CDs!
* Conserves batteries with auto-shut-off after 90 seconds of inactivity!

What more could you want?
My question is: Why would you want a different one?

I had previously used MP3-CD players by Rio Volt and also by Philips (model EXP 201). They both used to experience some skips when I took them for my daily walk. But this one didn't skip even a single time. Even without ESP on, I can use it for hours without fear of annoyance of skips... Also, the battery life seems to be better on this machine than the other two. The buttons on the previous model were too soft, so even slightest accidental touch could trigger them. But this model has more livable touch. (Of course, there is a 'Hold' lock to prevent accidental actions, but setting that lock every time is no fun. I am happier with the new model.) Also, the display is easier to read. True, the display still lacks a backlight facility for night time reading, but that is livable. Also, the display still is only numeric. ID3 tag display is still reserved for the higher models. But for this low price, I cannot ask for anything more. My dream has come true. Now I am planning to discard all my cassettes in favor of MP3-CD's. One more advancement of this model is that it supports UDF. Now I can store files with DirectCD, giving me an additional flexibility, which was denied in the previous model. The look and feel also have improved. The belt clip that was included was superb too. Just like the old cassette players, I can hang this new 'walkman' on my belt without needing a fanny pack. I intend to buy a couple more for my family members. Thank you Philips for a sound product, finally that I can count on using...

Philips Expanium EXP301
-------------------------------------
+ Takes everything. CBR, VBR, various bitrates.
+ Fastest startup times I've seen on any MP3 CD player yet. Under 3-5
seconds for all discs. Just like a regular CD player! Controls are fast
and responsive - just like you'd expect and know from any regular
Philips audio CD portable. Song to song & folder to folder navigation
is as quick as you can press FF/RW and can be done blind. FF/RW within
a song is instantaneous so you can easily review audio books and
language lessons easily.
+ Sensible number-only folder/track navigation. So sensible that you
don't even regret not having ID3 tag display at all after a few hours of
use. Just press the Next/Prior Folder or Next/Prior Song buttons to
navigate all the folders and songs on your CD.
+ Solid battery door latch.
+ Analog audio level dial! Perfect adjustment of audio levels quickly
and easily w/o any trouble at all.
+ Cute orange LCD display. Clear and easily readable at most angles,
easy to understand.
+ Beep when any button is pressed can be turned on/off.
+ ESP can be turned off to lengthen battery life.
+ Even better shock support than prior 45 sec. Philips regular audio CD
portables.
+ Belt Clip to attach player to belt included.
+ Three level battery remainging meter when on. Nice, you'll know when
your 20 hours are up.
+ Nice pearl white cover with orange LCD color.
+ Battery door on outside.
+ A complete printed manual.
+ works, just like a regular CD audio portable player. Fast, quick,
convenient everything.

- Resume feature doesn't work if you leave unit off for longer than a few minutes. Goes back to the first song =(
- No ID3 tag support. Still, despite how nice it is, would be nice if
they had put it in. But I'm not really missing this right now.
- Kinda funky earbuds with a dimple to help direct bass into your ears.
Okay, but odd looking, not the most comfy. Works.
- Noticable background hiss when DBB bass boost is turned on on MP3
discs. Might as well just leave it on the default setting.
- No backlight.

I bought this for my son, who plays tennis for his college and travels extensively. This unit is perfect for him. It's highly flexible--it works with CDs, CDRs, CDRWs, and even DIRECT CDs. It's powered by 2 "AA" batteries which provide substantial playing time.

The unit is rugged. Given the way he tends to treat his equipment, throwing it into and dragging it out of tennis bags which in turn are thrown around a lot, he should know. This ruggedness also is evident in that my son tells me that this unit has the best Anti-skip function he's ever experienced.

The unit Comes with AC adapter and a very good car kit (order the model 303) which is easy to use and works well. This is important to him as, apparently, a lot of the school vans they travel in have no CD playing capabilities. (Ah, the hardships our kids must endure!)

Finally, he really likes the ear phones. They have a unique design that is both comfortable for long use and provide excellent sound reproduction.

This kid went through about 15 CD players in his last two years of high school and has had this puppy for as long as any 5 of his previous models combined.

If that's not value, what the heck is?

A great buy!