Home > Consumer Reviews > Transcend T.sonic 850 8 GB Video MP3 Player (Black)

This MP3 player originally interested me because I have 5.5 generation video iPod and although I use it all the time, there are some features it's lacking. This little player on the other hand seems to have them all and in a compact form.

I'll start with the FM Tuner since this has always been a big complaint of mine. Yes with the iPod there are accessories that would allow me to receive FM, but it is at an extra cost that I do not think I should have to pay especially with the original near $400 price tag. The Transcend T.sonic 850 8 GB Video MP3 Player (Black) has it standard. I was easily able to preset my favorite stations and it also allows you to record songs from the radio to listen to later.

Another nice feature is the voice recorder. I use the one on my cell phone quite often, so having an extra one has come in handy. It's great for making shopping notes or reminders to set appointments.

The lyric display was something new for me too. It did not work for every song, but it did show many of them and although I don't necessarily need the lyrics, I could see this as being a nice feature for the teenage group.

Because I wanted to test out every feature I did load a movie (after converting it to .mtv) a e-book and some photos. They all worked, but the screen size in my opinion is much to small to truly enjoy on this player. Maybe it was just me though, because my 14 year old daughter thought it was great!

Some other items that are worth noting:
~ Lightweight (1.7 ounces)
~ Comes with USB charging cable. (I have this and it allows me to charge it in my car too Lenmar Charger with USB Charge Port for iPod (White))
~ Comes with neck strap and headphones (I prefer these ones Sennheiser MX55 Twist-To-Fit In-Ear Stereo Headphones, but you may be fine with the ones that are included.)

Will I give up my iPod? No. Will I use this in addition? Yes. For me this player has performed beyond what I would expect for the current price. I think that if you are looking for a first time MP3 player for yourself or a teenager, this should fit the bill.

Just received this and will give first impressions with more details as I keep using it. Overall, 3.5 star.

It lists, MP3 player (mp3 & wma), radio (20 pre-set FM stations), voice activated recorder, video (mtv), photo (JPG & BMP) and e-book (text) as options. It contains: basic earphones, neck strap, mini USB, and software CD. It has a 2 year warranty which is nice. It notes 22 hours of music and 2.5 hours of video - I will verify this and let you know.

It is a decent player for the budget minded. The internal graphics look dated but a great place to cut costs. Once connected to your PC, it lets you drop and drag files to the device. It also provides for a neat feature that makes it a digital lock for your notebook once unplugged and set to the USB mode. If someone else tries to use it, "busted" flashes on screen. You can set this feature to a time release just in case you lose the T.sonc 850 or it breaks.

The video only allows for mtv format but the included software allows for avi and wmv file conversion. Just be prepared for a wait while it does the job.

The photo allows for popular formats and easy to use. The quality is not top grade but good enough.

The screen is 1.8" so I'm crossing e-book of the list. There is no way this feature will be functional for me.

My major complaint is the lack of expanded memory. You can get a Scandisk player in the same price range which would be a better option. This player is great if you are looking for a lot of bang for your buck and don't mind a drop in quality.

Having been an iPod owner for some time now and the anti-thesis of an Apple worshiper I decided to give this little guy a try (I think the fact you have to use iTunes downloaded songs on iPods or go through the trouble of burning them to use other devices is horrid).

Pros:
The FM tuner is nice but given I rarely use local radio (on the account I'm using a device that stores all my favorite songs) it wasn't all that appealing to me. If you're a radio lover though you're bound to like this feature.
You can read ebooks (if you happen to bring along your reading glasses (the screen is tiny)).
Movies and photos can be displayed.
The item acts as a voice recorder (one of the best features).

Cons:
I think its Ugly - while I'm no device snob I feel like I'm carrying around something from the early 2000s when I hold this. Even the first gen iPods look better in my opinion.
It only has 8 GB of storage for a fairly sizable cost - seriously, Apple can get away with charging insane amounts for the smallest amount of data but this isn't an Apple product so I expected more.


In general the device is decent and gets the job done but not what I'd use as my everywhere music player. Perhaps useful if you're in the mood for listening to the radio or if you're trying to record something said that is important. Given it does act as a recorder the device is useful if only for that regard.

However, I wasn't too impressed with the overall item and I'd suggest looking elsewhere if you want a device for just listening to music - it does the job but it's nothing special. If you're looking for a circus of an MP3 player which does a little of everything or if you have money to burn go for this one, however, it has a lot of neat features outside of MP3 playback.

I should caveat this review by saying that I have had multiple iPods, and really like them. I'm not rating this low because I'm an Apple 'fanboy', but because of other reasons. If I could do half stars, this would probably get a 3.5.

First let's go over the positives.
- It has an FM tuner, means you can use it at the gym to pull in the TV, listen to your favorite station, etc. Not found on an iPod (unless you buy the bulky extension that costs as much as this player).
- Voice Recorder. It works really well. The recordings are clear, and supposed (I haven't tested this completely) it will only start recording when it hears a noise, and pause when it doesn't. It drops the recorded .wav files into an easy accessible directory on the device.
- It's small and light. Roughly the size of my 1st gen iPod nano (slightly thicker, but it's shorter). It does weigh a bit less though, mostly because it's made out of plastic (not sure if this is good or bad).
- Included items seem straight to the point. Decent headphones, micro-usb cable, silicone case (better than having to buy one).

Now for the downsides.
- It has mac support, but it's missing out. Because I only have a mac I am unable to try out the windows only features (music manager, video converter). This means I can't even convert videos for it (although there are probably pieces of software that will do it on a Mac).
- The music player. While it sounds good, it's a mess to use. The file browser/playlist functionality seems kind of rudimentary. Sure it works, but I'd love to see it use my ID3 tags on the files, and organize the items by artist/etc. It's already bad enough that i have to manually drag the files on.
- Not expandable. The one beauty of a non-Apple player is you can do anything you want. This usually means taking advantage of micro-sdhc, allowing up to 32+ gbs extra. This one doesn't.

Overall this player does play music, does play videos (but only .mtv formats), but it only does them mediocre at best. Sure it's a decent amount cheaper than the iPod, but I think there are other better small players out there than this one also (Samsung, Cowon, etc). It does earn some kudos for the slick voice recorder, it actually works instead of being a gimmick.

I don't own an iPod, either, so this is truly a new experience for me. Obviously, I can't make comparisons, and this review is intentionally subjective.

The product integrates several media functions: Music, Radio, Video, Photo, Text, and Recording. The quick start manual was of no use to me. The full text user's manual is 59 pages long, and is comprehensive; a very good user's manual.

I downloaded music from Amazon, and also copied some CDs I already owned. It was very easy to do, and took little time to learn.

FM radio is featured as well. It is not streaming or satellite. I found it received signals as well as my stereo. This is my favorite feature. I like listening to the radio, and you can record while you're listening. It's legal, and it's free. Bonus points for this feature.

Video files must be converted to .mtv files. I get an error message every time I try to use this utility; it says I need a firmware update. Windows won't save the firmware update. Nevertheless, I successfully converted and transferred video files. Those must have been fake error messages.

Saving photos is pretty straightforward as long as you have them in JPEG format. You can just copy them.

The slide show converter is a neat little feature, but I found the process a little cumbersome. You have to convert photos to .sls, which should be simple, but took me quite a bit of time to figure out.

The text function could be used to store lists, such as important dates. I won't use it to read e-books, but if I was a child, I sure would. I read books under the covers with a flashlight when I was a child; this would just be a new version.

Other than radio, I won't use this to record. It may be useful to students, especially if they're having a hard time staying awake in class.

You can partition the player into public and private areas, and you can use the player as a lock for your PC.

The screen is very clear and the resolution is good. The sound is also good. I think it's quite good for downloading music and for listening to the radio. The other functions are nice to have. I'll leave to you whether they're worth having on this player vs other players.