Home > Consumer Reviews > Lexar MPC-231 JumpGear MP3 Digital Music Player for JumpDrive Sport (No Memory Included)

I got this player from amazon a month ago.
I have a Dell Jukebox 15gb too. So my comparisons would be based on that and clarify some other reviews on this website. I try not to repeat saying stuff in other reviews.
* This player uses a directory tree structure for navigation. So you can have any subfolder in the folders.
* You can have data files in the same folders as the music files or in seperate folders. These data files won't be recognised by the mp3 player, hence reducing the hassle of having to find out "playable" files.
* The sound with the stock headphones was good (better than the dell player)
* You can't get a better deal for an mp3 player as of now. I got a 1gb mp3 player for less than 100 bucks!!! The only competitor is Sandisk but they don't have a 1gb usb drive. But that player looks better.
* You want to FF a song (Keep press the FF button)
* You want to jump to the next song (press the FF button once)

Things not explained in the user guidelines.
* You can add 1 bookmark to each file. The way to do this is not described in the user guidelines. ITS NOT IN THE MENU either. You have to keep pressed the volume button for a few seconds till the bookmark menu pops up.
* To go to a bookmark - Play the file and then keep press the FF button, it will find the bookmark.
* If you are inside a menu and want to return to the main screen - press the play button once.
* If you are inside a menu and you want to come back one step out, press the REW button.
* To power off the device, keep the play button pressed until the shutdown screen comes up.

Temporary feedback......
Now in between I get an error message saying "jumpdrive not inserted" or "searching root directory" . I will come back and edit this and remove these lines once I get some answers rather than just post a bad review about this. Thanks

Update on the above problem : The customer service told me to format the jumpdrive once and see if the problem comes up again. I didn't format it yet as I didn't face the problem after that day.

It's a great little device for simple MP3 playing.

***Earphones***
The earphones are metal, very good quality, and sturdy. They fit snug enough to stay in my ears for jogging, but their nice, solid weightiness seems to give them enough momentum to come out during bouncing activity for some people. They should have made the plug L-shaped instead of straight so that it doesn't stick so far out from the unit.

***Strapping It Down***
There is absolutely no place to clip, strap, or string the device to secure it, so pressure on the earphone plug is a potential problem if kept in a pants pocket (pressure and bumps could make the connections in the jack come loose). But if your pants pocket is roomy and not tight against your thigh, it is not a problem. I have bumped it a few times and it is still a very study jack and plug. For the adventurous, a hole could be drilled in the plastic port for a string (necklace).

***Bookmarks***
A bookmark is set by pressing and holding the volume knob for a second, which isn't in the instructions. The Lexar's bookmark function only works for the first 6 MB of audio because that is its memory limit when loading a file. For example, a voice MP3 (32 kbps quality) can be bookmarked anywhere, but it only works for the first 30 minutes (30 minutes is 6 MB at 32 kbps). The fast-forward goes at a rate of 15 minutes per 1 minute of holding down the fast-forward button. The button is very firm and I can barely hold it down for a minute without having to change fingers. It's a barely-tolerable situation for audio books, unless you break the files into 6 MB files using an MP3 splitter - do a web search on "mega MP3 splitter" to find a free program that will split large files. If you want to read books from the internet, Textaloud is the program to convert them to big or small MP3 files. Reversing will not start at the end of a file. For bookmarks within the first 6 MB, you have to wait 5 seconds after pressing play before the bookmark can be found because it takes 5 seconds to load the 6 MB. It's finished loading when the green light stops flashing.

The idea of this MP3 is great, memory card and player are totally separate, so you can upgrade either. It servs as a MP3 player and a portable drive at the same time, no cable, no software needed.

One note, you do need to use a software like Media player or MusicMatch to export a playlist to make sure the tracks are played in the desired sequence. Otherwise it plays the tracks based on the time of the track file, it may not be what you want.

The price of this MP3 player is unbeatable, I paid about 100 bucks for this and a 512MB card, if you buy other flash MP3 you can not get 128MB. Yes the display is small, and it does not have any bell and whistle, but it gets job done. It is best suitable for audio book listening because of the simple menu, for music it is not as easy to navigate as Rio but still OK. For the price it is a no brainer.

Now the bad things:
1. though you can make bookmarks, they are for each file, you still need to navigate until you reached the track to use the bookmark, there is no way to jump from the beginning of a play list to the bookmark directly.

2. the case for the jump drive exposed a big portion of the card so it looks kind of bizarre, I'd prefer there is a cover and do not mind to pay a few bucks more.

First of all, I have an iPod, but don't like to exercise with it as I'm always afraid it's going to drop. I have an iRock 520 which I love - it's light and sounds very good. But it requires proprietary software and a special USB cable. And with an additional SD card, it only has 192 MB.

So now I have an MPC-231 - and to go with it, I purchased a 1 GB JumpDrive Sport. Here's what I think:

Good points: pretty light (2.6 oz. with batteries). It's plastic but pretty well built. Takes up to 1 GB jumpdrive Sport, I encode stuff for this at 128, so it holds a lot of music. Uses AAA batteries instead of proprietary battery. And of course, it's only $40.

Bad points: Jumpdrive sport is a bit loose when installed, but that should not be a problem. Headphones that came with unit are pretty bad. Buy a better pair of earbuds. EQ function limited, no extra bass or loudness control.

Did I mention that it is only $40? Combined with the 1 GB Jumpdrive sport at about $80, I have a 1 GB MP3 player that also holds other files which I transport back and forth to work and needs NO additional hardware or software.

This sounds like a winner! Good job, Lexar.

Sometimes the most useful things are the simplest ones, and this little guy fits that category. The controls are simple and straightforward, the buttons are rugged rubber, and the battery life is exceptional if you turn off the backlight. The earbud headphones that are included are sturdy but may lack a little in reproducing bass sound; I plugged in a larger pair of Sony headphones that I use on my computer and the sound quality from this guy was equal to listening to MP3s on my PC. I could fit about 50 songs on a 256MB card, which is enough to last me a week before I want to change them. And reloading songs from a PC is *so* easy with the USB technology. Make no mistake, this isn't an iPod, but it's very small, easy to use, and very practical.