MP3 Reviews

The Zune 120 is the third generation version of the Microsoft MP3 player. This MP3 player review will give a glimpse of what to expect from this product.

The Microsoft Zune 120 GB MP3 Player features

The Microsoft Zune 120 is a remarkable upgrade compared to its predecessors. It has a 3.2-ince LCD screen, impressive navigation and controls, podcast support, FM radio, built-in composite video output, and wireless syncing. It’s a level up of the already nice wi-fi features of older Zune models.

The downside of Microsoft Zune 120 compared to other MP3 players

Before, the Zune came with awesome earbuds, but these are no longer included in this version. Likewise, several of Zune’s new music features are useless without the Zune Pass, which isn’t free. Also, battery life is so-so, while the casing is prone to scratches.

MP3 player rating for Zune 120

Zune 120 can stand on its own two feet when it comes being a unique and usable MP3 player. Plus, 120 gig of memory is a lot and can whet the appetites of those people with an ever growing playlist.

You can judge MP3 players whether they are fuckin' trash or a real blast by virtue of their sound quality and hard drive capacity. Other MP3 players could hold up to tens of thousands of songs with a 40 GB. My Creative Zen Touch, which has a comparably smaller storage space (20 GB) won't make me envy chiquitas who use the iPod for listening's sake. It's as damn bright and bubbly, and practically useful for all things digitally musical.

So what gives? The Zen is, at first glance, a rich dude's luxury, but with all the glamor attached to it, it's completely worth every cent. You could plug it anytime to your computer with the USB 1.0 and transfer personal music files (.wma and .mp3) pronto. It comes with a CD-ROM containing the manual, in a box where the USB lead, carry-case, earphones, and charger are already squeezed in. Zen is a bit too heavy compared to other MP3 players, but the weight does make you feel like you're fuckin' holding something that won't break in case you're in the mood to chuck china.

Does 20 GB cut it? Absolutely, if you're used to listening to digital music during the "megabyte era". A healthy dose of playlists and randomized tracks are easily navigable in the Zen. Watch out for your thumb before it swells, since you'd be working with the touchpad like those in your Toshiba notebook. Everything's perfect? What could be the Zen's dirty secret? I'm a full-blown Windows dissenter, so how can I transfer files with the Zen when it fuckin' doesn't go with Mac and Linux OS?!

Want to hear exciting news? MARINA, the Podcast Award winner, together with Kamen Entertainment Group, Inc., launches MARINA’s High-nrg Fitness Audio Workout Center. It is the first fitness and exercise center based online. The program works by downloading "Mix & Match" audio workouts in MP3 formats in to iPods. MARINA features different MP3 combination downloads for workouts like weight loss, body sculpting, power walking, relaxation, and stretching. MARINA composes and performs all music and work-outs in the program. Putting it in a popular medium increases its chances of having a wide market to promote a healthy lifestyle.

I think that this is a splendid idea, especially at this point in time when people are too busy to squeeze fitness regimens in their lives. MARINA also eliminates the common excuse of gym time being expensive because its MP3s don't even reach the one dollar mark. The fitness center don't even have the standard membership fees. All users have to do is to switch their MP3s on and move. Music has been used for exercises throughout the years. I think that it is about time to make it a bit more personal. MARINA's MP3 work out system is the perfect combination of music, entertainment, exercise, and a healthy lifestyle. I downloaded mine; I encourage you to do the same, and move to MARINA's beat.

With the dawn of the age of mp3 players and iPods, more and more people are drawn to listen to non-stop music on the bus, in the car, while working out or just while relaxing at home. Music can have positive effects, but stuffing your ears with earphones at full volume on an everyday basis can deteriorate your hearing. Studies have shown that earphones create a sound that is nine decibels higher than that of regular headphones that cover the whole ear. Nine decibels are about the same difference of an alarm clock to a lawn mower. A quarter of the listeners between 18 and 54 years old are listening to music at levels that could potentially cause long term hearing loss.

Loud music from mp3 players produces sound waves that damage the hair cells in the cochlea, a part of the ear which transmits sound information to your brain, which can lead to loss of hearing. Prolonged exposure to sound higher than 90 decibels can cause long term hearing loss, and most mp3 players have the technological capabilities of reaching 120 decibels, equivalent to an ambulance siren. Signs that you're playing your music too loud are that your player is over 60% of the maximum volume, you can't hear conversations that are happening around you, other people can hear your music or you find yourself yelling or talking loudly to people nearby. You don't have to stop listening to your mp3 and iPod because I bet you wouldn't, but just don't abuse it.

The Archos AV 500 is the Jaguar of portable video recorders. It is set to impress with its sleek brushed-aluminum casing, a slim profile, and a 4-inch very sharp widescreen LCD. The audio capabilities are flawless, but the real value video recording and playback features are the best in its class. A 30GB model comes at a direct price of $499.95 while the 100GB version comes at $699.95.

It comes with an armful of accessories including two gold-plated A/V cables, a leather carrying case, an infrared emitter cable, a USB 2.0 cable, a USB On the Go cable, a TV docking pod (required for video recording and controlling external devices), a very full-featured IR remote, and two double-A batteries. There is a remote which works with or without the TV Docking Pod which you can use to control the unit since the AV 500 also has an IR sensor on it.

The AV 500 breaks the mold of Archos product's history of less-than-intuitive controls. Navigation is split between a four-way rocker with a center select button and a set of four buttons just beneath that for contextual menus, and all are located on the right of the screen, providing a clean analog interface, though we wish the contextual buttons were a bit larger or separated more. The simplicity and professional-look of the main menus make browsing files a breeze.

I am very much sure that his new technology will surely make all the MP3 lovers out there drool. As of the moment, you can stream MP3s to your personal high-tech TiVo with the aid of a computer. But there may be a time when you can forget about you PC. Michael Roberson, the genius guy behind MP3.com and Lindows, has another venture called MP3Tunes which will allow you to upload and store you music collection to their servers. It will then enable you to access your music via virtually any device: web browser, PDA, EVDO laptop, GPRS phone, and now even TiVo. This MP3Tunes application for TiVo will work for Series 2 and above. However, it is currently in beta stage.

Another interesting feature to watch out for is that the technology will automatically select the correct file type and bit rate based on the device you are accessing the service with. For example, when accessing from a GPRS phone, it will stream in 32 kbps and select a compatible file type based on what your brand of phone supports. It already sounds pretty cool, so I can only imagine how audiophiles will go frantic on its release.

I got to try this Zen VisionM last weekend when my cousin came by the house for a visit. I must say it's a great Apple iPod alternative. It was the 30GB model which has the finest color screen I've ever seen on a portable player.

For $330 the VisionM has great sound, although audio codec support is a bit weak--with support for MP3, WMA, and WAV, but not for AAC, FLAC, or Ogg Vorbis formats. The player still works nicely with PlaysForSure subscription services such as Napster. It also carries an FM tuner/recorder and a voice recorder. Doing more than playing music, it supplies a raft of options for photo and video viewing on the unit's beautiful 320-by-240-pixel screen. It supports enough video codecs to keep video enthusiasts happy, and an included dongle lets you link the player to a TV.

The player's touchpad interface, at the default sensitivity setting, will allow you to move through lengthy lists of artists and albums with just a few quick flicks of your thumb, though landing on a specific selection was sometimes challenging. But comparing to the 30GB video-ready iPod, the VisionM is about 1.5 times as thick, and you need a dongle to charge the player and sync files to it. Its MediaSource application needs work, especially when matched against Apple's slick iTunes. But beyond that, VisionM can be appreciated.

My friends and I went out two days ago when we chanced on this particular MP3 player. It's the Sansa e100 Series MP3 player which provide high-quality digital music playback with sophisticated navigation and expandable memory at an affordable price. You can add up to 2GB of additional storage space with the SD slot for more MP3, WMA (including secure WMA content), and Audible audio file formats. It has surprisingly good sound quality and even with the bundled earphones, the sound quality is better than the ultra and gets decently loud without any noticeable distortion. Unlike the ultra player, Sansa e100 can play songs by artist, album, genre, year, new music, and spoken word - either alphabetically or in random order (called shuffle in the option menu).

The player seems to last much longer than the ultra since also uses one AAA battery. The backlight on the LCD and the size and quality of the LCD screen itself is much better than that of the ultra. It uses USB 2.0. as compared to the ultra player which only use USB 1.1, and this makes a huge difference in file transfer time. But my friends were disappointed that it cannot make its own play lists directly and it has no FM voice recorder. But you can check it out for yourself if you find it more superior than an ultra player. I guess it all depends on the feature that you're particularly after.

While on the subway two weeks ago, this Chinese-looking guy beside me was listening to his mp3 player. When I saw him holding it in his hands, it got my curiosity. I asked him what model his player was, and he told me, in perfect English, that it was the Samsung YP-Z5.

While on the train, he let me try his music player. It looks very much similar to an ipod nano, but a little larger. It was also a thin, rectangular player with a screen and front-based navigation system. His player is a silver one with a 4GB memory which cost him about £170. He said other models come in black and a 2GB capacity.

I listened to some of the songs and I must say it has a very good music output quality. It has a very clever set of visuals for when you move through on-screen menus - they zoom in and out at you as you go up and down the menu structure. Gentle pressure is needed for scrolling through menu options, greater pressure for making selections, and getting the balance between the two is not that easy. Honestly I was a bit frustrated for several minutes because of that, I guess it takes a lot of getting used to.

They say great things come in small packages. That could not be more correct in the case of MobiBLU DAH-1500i. The DAH-1500i is dubbed as the world's smallest digital audio player and it's hard to disagree with that. If you haven't seen one up close yet, the MobiBLU DAH-1500i measures a little less than one cubic inch and weighs just a tad more than an ounce just a little lighter than the iPod Shuffle. I couldn't believe it myself when I saw this for the first time, I thought it was some kind of toy or something.

Despite it's tiny size, it can store 1 gigabytes worth of music file. The quality of the sound produced by this tiny gadget is quite good. Using its default earbuds, the DAH-1500i produced deep bass, strong mids and excellent trebles. However, there are some tracks that play softly using the default earbuds so much so that even if I turned the volume at its max it's still quite soft. When I did that I discovered another great feature of this product; even though it's at its maximum, the unit still has low distortion.

One of my concerns is the longevity of the MobiBLU DAH-1500i's lifespan. Due to it's small size, I though that it could only be used continuously for a short time. According to MobiBLU, the DAH-1500i can rechargeable battery can last up to 10 hours but when I used it, it only lasted for about 9 hours. That's not bad considering the size of the player.

Today, people are living conveniently with modern handheld gadgets; like personal digital assistant and mobile phone. Pocket-size gadgets are very popular due to convenience they give. And, downloading of MP3 music to those gadgets is what many people are crazy about. Like the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP); aside from games, you can listen to your music on PSP.

Sony PSP is a popular multimedia player that one is allowed to play MP4 (video files) and MP3 files. Using a CD ripper, or any software that is capable to convert a file to MP3 format, you can enjoy your sound with PSP. Also, PSP can support other formats, such as WAV, WMA or Attac3. With PSP, you can transfer your files, store movies, and of course, play your favorite games through Wi-Fi or networking.

The launching of Sony PSP had created a big impact to consumers. Indeed, Sony PSP has invaded the world of entertainment. So, after playing your game or watching your favorite movie, enjoy your music with Sony PSP and relax yourself. Especially for MP3 fanatics, PSP is definitely a useful unit for them.

High-capacity, quality digital audio players, and long battery life are the top features in today's MP3 players. With an MP3 player, you can carry your entire media collection, from audio to video, in a pocket size gadget. There are models that give you fancy designs, fine audio with FM tuner, and quality battery.

Cowon iAudio X5L (30GB) comes in small size. It has a joystick for easy navigation. You can check the files, and see photos, too. Also, you can enjoy transferring and watch a video with this innovation. It can support MP3, WMA, FLAC, and WAV. And, it read images from a digital camera.
More so, the audio can be improved with the sound options and EQ settings.

But, this small audio-video player must be plugged in an adapter to attach line-in, AC, and USB cables. The simple control lay-out, and cannot auto sync the sound using a computer. Your video files must also be converted to play on X5. And, the autoscanning for FM radio is absent. However, although there are some disadvantages, it can still beat its competitors.

In our world dominated by technology, a smaller gadget is always better and more advanced in its features. Look at what happened to the sizes of the cellular phones, the radios, the computers. Most of them have become smaller. Now, the sizes of the MP3 players also keep on decreasing. I think this is a good move so that you can people to music wherever they are.

One of my favorite newly-released gadgets is the MuVo Micro N200 MP3 player by Creative. Including the triple A batteries inside, this 33 x 65 x 13mm sized-gadget only weighs 32g. However, the technological features are not sacrificed with its mini size. In fact, it has an amazing memory of at most 1GB. It also comes in other memory capacities such as 128MB, 256MB, and 512MB. This allows you to save more songs on your playlist.

What is so great about this gadget is that it can also play WMA files. As such, you can listen to more songs with different file formats for a long time. One reason for this is its long battery life, which can last for 15 hours.