Review 2 of 4
Price Paid:
$370.00
from J&R Summary: This product is a great concept not followed through. I bought the combo with camera, USB2.0 cable and flash card adaptors. It does store photos OK, but the adaptor is ill-fitting to my compact flash cards, and the adaptor won't go on without excessive force. The camcorder function is an absolute waste of time, forget the fact the microphone is on the other side to the camera, so unless you want to provide running commentary yourself, the audio won't be of much use.
The case has gaps all over it - I can't see the thing lasting very long once dirt, dust and humidity get throughout the insides of it. It has a dinky little rubber cover for the centronics connector, which will get lost the first couple of months you own the thing. The menu system is clunky, and the buttons used to navigate it are awkward - why they didn't put a shuffle dial on the thing, I'll never know. The audio it records via the inbuilt microphone is pathetic - there are all kinds of digital noise imposed upon it, and when the hard drive writes to the disk, that gets recorded in sensaround.
If you want to view your photos, the interface to do that is a pain. Despite the fact it takes 2 to three seconds to display a photo of 2MP anyway, the awkward menu system makes it a chore to do any housekeeping. They might as well not have supplied the junk headphones with the unit, as if you want any better than AM radio fidelity, you'll get a pair of Sennheisers.
I have been ignored by their customer support, funny since they claim to strive for complete customer satisfation. Even if their support system was as good as they claim (or even existed, for that matter), supporting a lemon would probably put them out of business quite rapidly. So Caveat Emptor.
All this being said, it does do one thing, and one thing only well. That is, a MP3 jukebox. As long as you plan your playlists and directories well (on the PC) - it will give you satisfaction in this area. The audio controls such as bass boost, treble etc. are good, and with a good pair of 'phones - are well matched.
I would heartily steer any person considering this unit seriously, to forget it. Even if you consider the lemon laws, and the protection they give you, you just don't need the grief. Strengths: MP3 Jukebox Weaknesses: Everything else it claims to do... Similar Products Used: Ipod Customer Service: Absolutely non-existent
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