Creative Labs MuVo TX 256 MB MP3 Player
See it at Amazon.com for $95.00Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First (4 out of 5)The Mighty Muvo
This is a great and tiny alternative for those who think other MP3 players are too expensive, big, or complicated. As a Mac user using System 9.2, this couldn't be easier to use. Even without the battery (only needed for playback), the tiny unit plugged in right into the USB port and came up instantly on my Mac without having to install anything; true plug & play! This also makes sharing songs with other people easy (assuming you want to risk the wrath of the RIAA, not that I'd ever do it of course). Windows users will probably have to install the enclosed software. Then it was simply drag and drop. This makes updating it so easy! This is especially useful when you just want to hear individual songs. It will hold folders of songs like if you want a whole album, but unless you preface each track with a order number (01, 02, 03, etc), it will play the folder in alphabetical order. It has a decent MP3 display for song titles (not artists). Also, the included headphones are crappy but the sound is very good if you replace them. And yes, there's a slight buzz when the backlight goes on for half a second, but if you don't make any adjustments while playing you'll never hear it like during a workout. Also, the single AAA battery lasts 11 hours which is also replacable, unlike iPods which you have send the whole thing back. It holds 4 hours of music in non-compressed CD quality (a minimum 128kbs), which is plently of non-repetetive music for the commuter, excersise enthusiast, or pretty much anyone. It can hold more in a more compressed format, but you'll lose some quality in sound. It includes most of the major playback selections like normal, repeat, and shuffle play for the whole player or folders. No programming feature, but that can be fixed by making a folder on you computer of songs and tranferring it to the Muvo. It also doubles as a voice recorder or for holding any small non-audio file. For the very minor problems it has, this a very simple machine that really delivers.
(4 out of 5)great little player
I've had this mp3 player for a few months now, and I am extremely happy with it.
Pros:
- Very small and lightweight
- No cables or software necessary
- Easy to load; you just drag and drop
- Easy menu navigation with intuitive GUI
- Has all the necessary features (random, repeat, set it to skip certain folders, etc)
- Doubles as a flash drive
- Arm strap and/or belt clip are great when you're on the move
Cons:
- Wide design is hard to get into the USB port on my HP at work (fits perfectly fine in my Dell at home)
Overall it is a wonderful product and I am very happy with my purchase.
(5 out of 5)What a great little player.
I just got my Muvo TX today. So far I would have to say this is a great little player. The USB flash drive configuration is very handy. I didn't even install the enclosed software. I just plugged the Muvo into my USB port and dragged my MP3s over to the player. Took about 2 minutes to transfer about 175 MB, and the transfer was flawless.
My capacity has been in the neighborhood of 50 songs (MP3 format), though some of mine are pretty long live tracks, and most are encoded at 160 bits. So, you can probably expect to get more songs on your Muvo with average length tracks and 128 bit encoding. The Muvo is absolutely tiny, which I love; not much bigger than a pack of gum. The menu system is intuitive, and the blue backlight looks cool. I'm running my Muvo on a rechargable NIMH battery, and battery life appears to be excellent. I've played with it half the night and it still reads a full charge. With two decent rechargables you should have no problem keeping the Muvo running continuously.
The only downside I can see is the included earbud headphones, which have pads that are too large to fit comfortably in my ears. Sound on the OEM headphones also seemed tinny to my ear. I was a little disapointed with the sound quality until I changed headphones. But when I plugged in a pair of cheap Sony headphones, the improvement was dramatic. I now have no complaints on sound.
Compared to the MP3 players I've had in the past (read: Rio), the Muvo is a vast improvement. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.
(4 out of 5)Tips for using this player
This is an excellent small mp3 player. I was looking for something to use while I'm on the treadmill. Thus I did not need the huge capacity of a hard drive player like an iPod, and I was concerned about the durability of the moving parts inside--not to mention the non-user-replaceable battery you'll find in an iPod.
For exercisers this player is quite nifty. It is the size of a small pack of gum, so you can easily run while carrying it in your hand. It is equally easy to place it in your pocket. The controls are very well thought out: a small wheel zips forward or backward through your tracks and also navigates the menu. Two buttons control the volume.
Using the player with any computer is easy, as there is no software to install assuming you're using an operating system with built-in USB support (Windows XP qualifies.) Just plug the player into a USB port and it shows up on your computer as a drive. You can drag individual tracks to it. You can also drag entire folders, and then the tracks will be organized when you play them back.
Battery life has been superb, and I've found no need to use rechargeables with AAA batteries being so cheap. If the battery indicator is low when I'm heading down to the treadmill, I just bring an extra battery with me.
I find 256MB of memory to be quite generous. I only need enough to last me the 40 minutes or so on the treadmill, and 256MB is plenty for that. I'll fill it up with music for use over three or so workouts. When I get tired of that music, re-filling the player is easy.
If you buy this player I have a few tips for you. First, though Windows Media Player has a feature allowing you to "sync" the player to load it up with tracks, I have found that this feature will not organize the tracks into folders. Therefore, they will play back on the player in a jumbled order rather than one album at a time. If this bothers you, just use Windows Explorer to drag the tracks by the folder over to the Creative player.
Second, the included headphones are awful. The cord for one ear is longer than the cord for the other ear, for reasons I don't understand. Further, if you are a runner, they will fall out of your ears. I quickly replaced the headphones with better ones.
Third, if you are a runner, the headphone cord will pick up static electricity as you run. All the bouncing of the cord generates electricity. This can deliver little shocks to your ears. It can also travel into the player, producing odd glitches. To prevent this problem I simply use a safety pin to clip the headphone cord to my shirt, keeping it from bouncing so much. You could also run it inside your shirt (especially if you wear tight shirts.)
Fourth, sometimes the maximum volume may not be quite loud enough. A great solution for this is to use "volume leveling" software. Such software allows you to boost the volume of your tracks and also to equalize the volume so one track is not louder than the other. A good free program for this is called MediaMonkey and you can download it. After using this I have plenty of volume for all my tracks.
So the only things keeping me from giving this player five stars are the poor included headphones and the low maximum volume. Those things are easily fixed, though.
(5 out of 5)Don't pass it up
I decided to purchase this mp3 player after giving heavy consideration to the iRiver and iAudio players. My primary reason for picking this player was that at the time that I bought it, Amazon had it at a special sale price of $82.99. That's less than how much you have to pay to get a 128 MB iriver or iAudio player.
I received this player a couple of days ago and have been playing with it since. I didn't install the software but plugged the player straight into my Computer and uploaded songs. My computer unfortunately doesn't support USB 2.0 so the transfer was slow, so I would recommend that you check if your computer supports USB 2.0 or not. If it doesn't, the MuVo NX is a cheaper alternate option. I uploaded my songs in folders since they are organized in albums. I was able to fit 3 full albums and 10 more miscellaneous songs, mostly ripped at 192kbps. I feel that the LCD screen and the controls are a bit too small, but I was able to get used to them and did like the scroll-wheel feature.
The MuVo is feature-packed. It provides standard repeat and shuffle features, has a customizable equalizer, a voice recorder, the ability to skip from folder to folder, and set various screen options. The sound was excellent when I set the equalizer to my liking. I listen to a lot of bass-heavy music, so I cranked up the bass, and even using the included headphones the music sounded great. The included ear-phones did sound decent and sounded better than comparable stock-headphones. I'm still waiting for my Senn PX100 headphones to arrive.
Overall, this is an excellent little player. I was amazed at how small and light it is, and it is extremely convenient to carry it around. I would definately recommend this.