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Yes, we are back. Please, look around the site for a few reviews and tips about players. If you have any questions or comments, shoot Mark or James a message or just leave a comment under the latest post.

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

When Looking for a case for your player...........

* Just thought I'd post this in case you needed help selecting a case for your device.

When looking for a case for your player, consider these things:

1. What are you going to be using your player for, for a majority of the time? This means stuff like exercise, travel, at home, etc.

2. What is the Quality of the case? When I look for cases I generally make sure the case is sturdy, and that there is not a big gap in between the screen and the case ( I made the mistake of not checking that with my sansa e200, you can see on the post before this in the picture how scratched the screen is from sand).


3. Does is protect the most important parts of the device? (Mainly the screen)

4. Does it have a clip?

5. How does it change the Device's overall size?

6. Finally, does it cripple the player's use? This means stuff like covering up buttons, the hole for the headphone jack being to high off the player for some jacks, mainly stuff that will slow down your use speed.

Review of the Sansa e200 series




Specs:

Dimensions: Width: 1.7 in. Depth: 3.5 in. Height: 0.5
Memory Capacities: 2GB, 4Gb, 6GB
Special Features: Fm radio with presets, Video viewer, User Adjustable EQ.
Supported audio formats: MP3, WMA
Media Transfer types: MTP, MSC
Hardware: Flash Storage, TFT 1.8 in LCD screen, and a Lithium Ion battery.
Weight: 2.6 oz.
Expandable Memory: Yes up to 1Gb, Micro SD.

Out of the box:
Out of the box, you will receive a neck lanyard, a technical support booklet, the Sansa e200 MP3 Player, sandisk head phones (junk), some advertisement papers, extra ear bud covers, connector cord, and some "lil monsta" stickers.

Pictures:














The Sandisk Sansa e200 series, which consists of the e250, e260, and e270 models, were released in January 2006 replacing the e100 series. They are flashed based players, which comes in 2GB, 4GB, and 6GB versions. This player is packed full of features, such as an FM radio, User Adjustable EQ, and Video viewing.

Audio:
The e200 supports only a few formats, they include, MP3, WMA, and windows plays for sure. The overall quality of the e200 is very good. But sometimes there is an annoying scratching noise in the background, when music is not being played. Other than that the e200's sound quality is above par, beating it's competitor the iPod Nano. Along with the great sound quality that the, e200 delivers, it also has a user adjustable EQ (EQ means Equalizer. An Equalizer is a series of settings which control the audio adjustment), which is not super tweak-able, but is better than nothing, and can really make a difference in the player's sound. One thing that disappointed me was the fact that there is only one playlist (called the "go list"). I would have liked to have seen the ability to create and edit new playlists. With my testing, I can get just about 20 hours of music out of it.

Video:
One feature that helped me decide to purchase the e200 was the fact that it supported video. The video quality is not the greatest, but is quite good for the screen size. It can handle up to about 24 FPS (Frames Per Second), which is pretty good. From my testing you can get close to 3 hours of video out of it, but that depends on the brightness of the movie, and other factors.
Video Conversion:
This is where Sandisk really slacked off. The video converter is really fussy, and is the only one you can use to convert video for the Sandisk firmware (This player can also be enhanced with an open source firmware, called Rockbox. We will get to that in a bit.). And don't even think about trying to drag and drop videos onto the e200 because even if looks like it is in the same format, it doesn't work. The converter also chops longer videos ( full length movies, etc) into chunks, which can get annoying. Other than the fact that the converter is kind of a pain, once you have converted the video, it will play at a very watchable quality (This depends, of course on what the quality of the video is before conversion.)

Player UI (User interface) :
The UI on the e200 is quite normal. There is really nothing special to it. The menu is a circle that you use the scroll wheel to scroll around, and choose what you want. On the Menu screen you will find: Video, Music, FM Radio, Voice, Settings, Photo.

Media transfer:
The e200 can be connected you your computer via a Proprietary cable, and media and adding files is as easy as dragging and dropping (with the acception of Videos, you can but you won't be able to view them, we'll get to that in the Video Section.)

Organization:
Music can be organized by Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres, Playlists, My top rated, and recordings. It does not do any special organization section for podcasts, which annoyed me alot, but is not that big of a deal. I like how the player organizes my music.

Videos are organized in a simple list by title, sweet and simple.

Photos, can be viewed in a list, by thumbnails, or a slideshow.

Product Feel:
This product feels quite sturdy, it has a metal backing, and a plastic front cover. It is really durable (once I feel asleep while using it and rolled on top of it, and it is still working like a champ). Another thing that is also a plus on any player, is a user replaceable battery.

Rockbox on the E200:
One thing that I simply Love about the e200 is the fact that it can be modded with Rockbox, an open source jukebox (firmware). With Rockbox you have the ability to: Change/edit/create themes for your device (if you have the know how you can make your own, other wise you can download ones that people share, on sites like Anythingbutipod.com, themes.rockbox.org.). You can also view videos in MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 formats. There is a text editor/viewer, and so much more. So if you want to unleash the full potential of your player then check out Rockbox.org for more info. (Once you have put Rockbox on your player you can take it off at anytime, and while it is installed you can still use the Original firmware.) I Highly recommend using rockbox on your e200. And if you don't have an e200, check out all the other players that you can put Rockbox on, such as :
  • Apple: 1st through 5.5th generation iPod, iPod Mini and 1st generation iPod Nano
    (not the Shuffle, 2nd/3rd/4th gen Nano, Classic or Touch)
  • Archos: Jukebox 5000, 6000, Studio, Recorder, FM Recorder, Recorder V2 and Ondio
  • Cowon: iAudio X5, X5V, X5L, M5, M5L, M3 and M3L
  • iriver: iHP100 series, H100 series, H300 series and H10 series
  • Olympus: M:Robe 100
  • SanDisk: Sansa c200 series, e200 series and e200R series (not the v2/AMS models)
  • Toshiba: Gigabeat X and F series (not the S series)
Conclusion:
Overall this product serves as a great Player for either someone looking for a cheap, Feature packed device, or someone looking to purchase their first player. Over all I highly recommend this player to anyone.

Availability:

You can order this product off of Amazon.com from about $40-$80 depending on capacity.

Monday, September 21, 2009

The Apple iPod touch 3G, My first review.



Okay. Lets start out with the specs:
Display: 3.5 inch Multi-touch widescreen, with a 480-32o pixel resolution
Height: 4.3 inches
Width: 2.4 inches
Weight: 4.o5 ounces
Thickness: 0.33 inches
Size (capacity): 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB
Wifi: Yes
Web Browsing:Yes
Application support (games, etc): Yes
Type: Flash based storage
Touchscreen: Yes
Internal speaker: Yes
Headphone jack: 3.5mm
Battery life: 25.5 hrs audio, 5.5 hrs Video
Video out: Yes, If you are willing to spend $50-$60 on one of Apple's Proprietary cables.
(The simple Review can be found by scrolling down.)

The Apple iPod touch is a great flash based player if you are looking to play games, do some quick googleing, or check your facebook......... If you are strictly and apple follower. But you can very easily find another Portable media player that do all the same things as the ipod touch. But here is the catch, Apple has gained such a cult following, that none of the other players provide the customer with as many applications support, accessories, etc.


The Touch has three dedicate hardware buttons, the sleep button, home button, volume rocker. everything else is touch screen. This can get quite annoying if you want to quick change a song at the gym or anywhere for that matter. So if you are mainly looking to use this device at the gym, while doing yard work, or anything like that, then keep looking around for something else.

The Touch also includes an internal speaker which is nice but it's quality is sub-par. The overall quality of sound from the Touch is decent. It is not the best, but it is not the worst. Along with being able to listen to music, you can also view videos and movies on the iPod's high resolution screen. The Touch's battery life is about 25.5 hrs for audio, and 5.5 hrs of video (these are the results of listening to music, and watching videos only, that means without using other applications or games. Just listening to music or watching videos.)

In of the box, the Touch comes with a Plastic case (useless unless you want to put it on display) , a connector cable to transfer media to the device, a quick start guide, Apple headphones with remote and mic (mic and remote only come with 32gb and 64gb version) (apple headphones are rubbish, so if sound quality is a must for you, keep them for running or exercising or as a back up, and get a new pair)

The Touch's UI (user interface) is quite easy to use. You click on the desired application, use it, when you are done using it, simply hit the home button which will bring you back to the home screen. One of the most nifty apps, I think on the Ipod is the internet browser, it is nice to quick google in the palm of your hand, but with the size of the screen and the inability to install plug-ins, not a whole lot can be done on the web besides, reading, and viewing youtube videos.

Media Transfer. The Touch, like all other iPods, uses the free, Apple made, Itunes. Itunes is a very nice application, which most people use even if they don't have an iPod. If you haven't heard of itunes all it is, basicly is a media player/ organizer for you music, video, podcasts, etc. It can also be used to download music and videos.

The overall build of the touch is great. Holding it in your hand it just feels like a great player. It feels solid because of it's metal casing.

!!SIMPLIFIED REVIEW!!
Overall the 8gb iPod Touch should fulfill your needs for Applications, games, Internet browsing, and Video. If you want more size you can pay more for a 16GB, 32GB, or even 64GB version.One thing that really disappointed me was the lack of expandable memory. If you want to use this play mainly for the gym or running, there are many cheaper alternatives with more space, Hardware buttons (easier to switch song while running, and better audio quality. If want something to toy around on when you get bored, the iPod touch is the thing for you.

I give the Apple iPod Touch an 94/100 based on the topics reviewed in this review.

This Blog is in Experimental stage

This blog is still in experimental stage. We are trying to create a place where you the, consumer can not only get a simple review of some of the latest products but also provide you with a complete and detailed review. So if you are a technologically challenged person you can read a simplified review with all the important info written out for you with our flat out opinoin. But if you are quite tech friendly you can read a fully detailed review with every stinking little detail your techy heart desires. So give us tips on what you want us to do or ideas of what we should do. Help us help you.

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