Philips 512 MB MP3 Player Key Ring
Average Customer Rating
(3.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(2 out of 5)Neckstrap is a piece of garbage
I've been a MP3 enthusiast since about 1998, when it first started becoming popular. I've owned 3 previous MP3 players, 2 flash based (Samsung yepp and visual land), and 1 hard drive based (Ipod). I tend to use the flash based player for exercising, since they are more rugged and can tolerate the constant movement. I got this player because it has a larger storage space and I like the fact that you can charge this on any computer through the USB port. The built-in lith-ion battery is also a major bonus.
However, after using it for about 1 month, I encountered several design flaws that renders the player virtually useless for my purpose. Most of the flaws revolve around the neckstrap control, and some revolve around the player itself.
Here are my lists of complaints:
1. The player WILL NOT WORK unless you have the neckstrap. The neckstrap serves two purposes: it acts as the controller and pipes the sound to a mini connector at the top. You can't turn it on/off, no control of volume, and the connector on the mp3player is a specialized 3/32" connector instead of a standard 1/8". This prevents you from plugging a headphone directly to the player.
2. The neckstrap is very large, containing a huge button for play/pause/on/off, and another connector for the mini plug. In addition to (#1) it makes the player useless without the neckstrap. This completely defeats the purpose of purchasing a small player if the control is about 2x volume of the player.
3. MAJOR DESIGN FLAW: the neckstrap is NOT WATERPROOF. I took it out to do some jogging, and basically the sweat from my neck will soak through the nylon strap and cause some electrical shortage. This causes two malfunctions: a) the controls will start acting crazy as though they are constantly being pressed, meaning the volume could get very loud/soft and you constantly skip songs, b) the audio connection eventually degrades and you start hearing strange stuff coming out. Now, if you read through the manual very carefully, Philips does admit at the end of each language section that the neckstrap is not designed to be waterproof (which also means it's not sweat proof). What is the point of getting an expensive flash-based mp3p layer if you can't even sweat in it? I admit, it only failed when I went jogging for 2 hours on an 85-degree day, so if you are just going through some light walks it's probably fine.
4. Controls are lacking: you can skip songs forward/backward (to the next file), turn volume up/down, and play/pause. That is ALL. I have loaded songs into the player several times, and to date I still can't figure out how it arranges them. This is fine if you just listen to music, but I enjoy listening to audio books and NPR programming. The player completely screws up the order of the audio file, and the inability to fast-forward within a file makes it useless for listening to long programming. For example, I often listen to 1 hr long program. Sometimes in the middle of the program I would be interrupted and have to press pause. This causes the player to shut off after about 10 seconds of inactivity. When I finally restart the file, it would play from the beginning of the file, and there'd be no way for me to fast-forward to the part when I pressed pause.
5. The USB protector cap is very flimsy and fragile. I cracked it after about 1 week of pulling it out and popping it back in.
The good:
This player is not all bad, although the problems with the neckstrap and controls totally overshadows the good.
1. Recharges extremely quickly, I'd say in about 1 hour. The battery last for about 4-5 hr of continuous listening.
2. Relatively small and light.
3. Ease of use: no program required if you are using win2000 or winxp, just plug it in and it shows up as a disk drive.
4. Besides the USB cap, the magnesium shell makes the mp3 player seem very rugged. I think the material is the same as the exterior used by IBM ThinkPad.
All in all, I would not recommend this to anyone. The novelty of the neckstrap wears off when you realize that it doesn't really work all that well. If you only use it to play music in the office or during light workout, you might be able to get away with it. If you want to use it for audio books, listen to long programming, do any form of aerobic exercise that induce sweating, THIS IS NOT THE PLAYER FOR YOU.
The price you pay ($159 retail) and the limitations, you might as well get a hard-disk based mp3 player. You get a bigger drive, and you can't go exercising with either players.
(3 out of 5)Get the 005 Model Instead
This model (the 006) has limited remote control (stop, start, pause ONLY) and the remote control is the only method for controling the playback. There is no volume control anywhere! There is no way to skip tracks either forward or backward on this unit. If you accidentally turn the unit off the wrong way you must start at the beginning of your audio files again. Additionally the USB is very picky. Although it would charge on the front USB ports on my less than year old Dell computer it would not allow me to download files that way. On the rear USB port I was able to both charge the unit and download files. The Philips Key Ring model 005 takes care of most of these annoyances because it has a more feature rich remote that allows you to control volume and skip around your audio files. Ironically that model costs less.
(4 out of 5)You can go track to track and adjust volume
Ok-I bought this and was very concerned because I read reviews saying you could not go track to track, and that you could not adjust the volume. When I opened it, I couldn;t figure it out (not one of my brightest moments) so I contacted Tech support at Philips who told me that in order to change the volume or go track to track I needed to buy a 50 dollar remote.
I then looked at the neckstrap, and on the nylon in bubble paint was ...>>... and ...<<..., the other side had ...+... and ...-...
I then realized that all you have to do to go track to track is push the neck strap, and the same with the volume.
Other than that, the sound quality is fine and it is very fast to download songs.
(5 out of 5)Highly Recommended, for everyone
Philips have come out with an awesome product here! It is really small, and looks really cool, the style almost at the iPod level. So far i have hardly turned it off (and havent needed to charge the batteries yet either) It connects to your computer like a normal usb flash drive, and all u need to do is drag and drop files in.The 128 mb allows to hold about 25 songs or so, so almost 3 hours of music. ANd the batteries last for 5-6 hours. You charge the device using the usb port, just leave it in till the led turns off, and u r sorted. THere is also a way to charge via a triple a battery which fits into the device and looks like it is part of the player itself. THere is no screen on the device, which is a small pity, but i knew that when i bought it, but it is nice in a way as u no longer need to worry about naming tracks etc. THere is an led which is useful, but not quite as good as a lcd.
You control via a neckstrap with the controls built into the fabric, which looks cool, and works well. The earphones plug into the back of the strap, on your neck with a short wire so everything looks neat. THe head phones give out a good volume and high quality.
A suggestion to any one who gets this mp3 player, dont bother with music match it is useless, just use windows explorer adn your old mp3 converter.
Overall, highly recommended
but there are a few nitpicks that philips shud fix for their next version: Put at least a play button and volume buttons on the actual device. Get rid of music match, its useless. Shuffle and repeat would be nice as well.
Also, if u have read any of the other reviews that there is no volume, or fast forward, dont bother reading further, as these customers evidently have a brain the size of a rather small pea, the controls are easy to find on the neck strap.
(1 out of 5)Battery life is terrible
I purchased this item a month ago and if you only need to listen to audio for 3 hours at a time, it's OK. I guess my sour attitude is related to the disappointment; the unit is really well built...both light and sturdy. The concept is interesting, but is executed poorly. If you take the time to fully charge the internal battery, you might get an hour out of it. Then take a newly charged battery and place it in the battery pack and you might get another two (this is far shy of the 6.5 and 10 hours promised). And if you want the unit to listen to audio books, it will prove frustrating. If you pause for more than a few seconds, it will turn off; leaving you to start the chapter or the book over. Whatever...I'm moving on to something else. You might think twice before wasting your time on this one.