I-BEAD 128MB MP3 Player
Average Customer Rating
(4.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(5 out of 5)I-bead MP3 Player Review
This mp3 player is everything I was looking for AND MORE. I wanted something small, easily carriable for the gym and when cycling with outstanding sound quality and long battery life.
The i-bead is a tiny MP3 player (roughly 8x2x2cms) with outstanding sound quality and an easy to use graphical interface.
As well, as playing MP3's it can play WMA files so you can store twice as much music on it with not much loss in sound quality and comes with a radio and a voice recorder (about 9hrs worth of voice recording).
What gives the i-bead the edge over other competitors is that it is rechargeable (a 3hr charge lasts for 14hours!!) and doesnt require any drivers or cables to run it. You just pop it into your USB port and it appears as a removable drive on your PC charging whilst it is connected. The USB plug is moulded and hidden on the actual player itself but comes with an extension cable if you are not fortunate enough to have a front USB port.
Transferring music (or any data files) is very quick indeed (about 2mins for 60songs).
As with most things there are bound to be one or two bad points:
1) The headphones that come with it are quite short and 'squareish' and sometimes fall out but I bought a pair of Koss 'The Plug' headphones and the sound quality, comfort and bass is the best I've ever experienced. However, saying that the supplied headphones are in a handy 'necklace' arrangement so you can carry your i-bead around your neck when training.
3) It doesnt come with a charger, you have to charge it through your PC but one is available separately if you wish to travel.
2) Often, when files are being uploaded to it it will say that the file is corrupt and not upload it. The machine will then not turn on and you will have to format your i-bead with the provided software and start all over again. I found this VERY frustrating!
The way round this is ingenious - the i-beads firmware is upgradeable with new updates coming out all the time to solve potential problems. I got the new firmware of their website and I have had no problems with it since - also, the firmware added gave it a few quirky animations and extra features to give it more appeal when using it. Also, if you have a particular unencountered problem, you can inform them and they will try and produce a patch for you to solve it.
4.) Not expandable. Unfortunately the capacity is stuck at 128MB with no chance of expandability. However, there is a 256MB version due out soon apparently.
A very well thought out product with not too many problems which cannot be easily solved.
BUY IT NOW!!
(5 out of 5)very cool, very small, very good!
Well, you've seen the picture so you already know how cool the i-bead looks. Add to that excellent sound quality and the option of WMA encoding (WMA files are about 40% smaller than MP3 files of the same quality, which means 128MB acts more like 213MB) and the i-bead looks even better. My fav aspect is the inbuild rechargable battery: recharged through you PC's USB port. So no battery cost, no hasslesome rechargers. My Win2000 system in the office had no problems handling the i-bead without the need for any new software, though my win98SE at home needed a simple driver installation. At least it plays on win98, unlike many other mp3 players. Overall, I'm well chuffed with this, as you can no doubt tell! A big thumbs up!
(5 out of 5)Does everything it says on the box
Had mine a few weeks now and am very pleased with it. This is the best sound I've ever heard from a personal player, even with original phones. The battery life is superb. Great value for money.
(5 out of 5)Fantastic Value!
This first offering by a Korean manufacturer which only started up last year holds great promise.
Being a novice to the world of MP3 and digital audio, I felt slightly daunted by the plethora of gadgets available. My wish list included a minimum of 128MB of memory, which could preferably be used to store data as well as music. I also wanted an FM tuner to listen to the news while on the move. All this had to come in a bite-sized package that wouldn't be too obtrusive.
The iBead 100 fulfills all the above criteria, with the added bonus (?) that there are no AAA batteries to fiddle around with - the 37g (just under 1.5 oz) unit charges it's inbuilt lithium ion battery by simply plugging into your computer's USB port. So far I've come close to the manufacturer's claim of 14hrs on a 3hr charge.
It is small enough to fit into the palm of your hand, but you would probably want to dangle it around your neck with its cleverly designed strap/earphone combination.
I really like the super clear indigo-blue backlit LCD dislay which makes navigating around the iBead's menu system rather intuitive. There are only four controls on the unit: a play/pause button which also doubles up as the on/off key and a recording button which also serves to playback a selected segment - apparently good for language learning! Not only can you record off the radio, you can tape voice messages as well!
The main user interface is a forward/reverse "jog" key which does everything from "select" (by pushing the key in) to adjusting the volume. The final control is a "hold" key which essentially locks the other keys (except the on/off button!)
When all else fails, read the manual, which is comprehensive, although rather quirky at times! But a good effort at getting the message across.
The really cool bit is that you can actually upgrade the operating system of the unit by downloading firmware upgrades from the manufacturer's website. My unit came with version 3.021 installed and I was immediately able to upgrade it to version 3.061 as soon as I'd got home!
The sound quality is pretty good (it even has various equalizer settings you can choose from , depending on the genre of the music you listen to!) Cranking up the volume does drown out the noise of traffic even in Central London at rush hour!
(5 out of 5)Just how technology should be!
Concur with everyone else. Actually got the 256MB version but same unit. Installs with no work at all (XP), you can be loading up songs in minutes; no need for the manual! Necklace earphones are great although if you want to go running it might bounce around on your chest a bit. User interface is nice and simple and clear once you spend the five minutes working out what the buttons do (OK, maybe one quick read of the manual!).
Radio function really tops it off; maybe lots of others have this but for me it's an added bonus and with the fact it can take so many songs, this is a fantastic little useful device.