Well, Christmas time is over for another year……..and , I bet, we all spent more than we had intended to.
This year, I decided to get the wife something slightly different. My wife
is a bit of a technophobe, so it’s usually something non-electronic for her.
However, due to her deciding to go back to college, I thought I’d have another
go at persuading her not all technology was bad.
I reckoned upon getting her an MP3 player, so started searching the shops for
something suitable. This quickly became a very tiresome task. Now, I know, it’s
hard for staff to keep up, but surely someone somewhere in the large shopping
chains could arrange for assistants to learn even a little about their products.
If I hear storage being confused with memory one more time, I’ll scream!!! Storage
is NOT memory, MP3 players have storage, the memory requirements are seldom
mentioned……..if at all.
There are 3 major types of players. The latest is the “flash” player. This
is a USB device with the storage contained in the flash (surprisingly enough).
There is also the CD player that can handle MP3. I already have one of those
and was looking for something smaller and more robust than this. Lastly there
is the portable “jukebox” type, such as the I-Pod.
I learned quickly that to get my wife a “flash” player would take a helluva
lot more money than I had planned for……….some are quite cheap, but how many
songs are you going to put on a 128mb player………I was hoping for a LOT more storage
and, although available are extortionately priced at present.
Jukeboxes are more reasonably priced for the size of storage. I wanted to avoid
the I-Pod. Something that automatically linked to I-Tunes and synchronised with
your P.C. sounds wonderful until you remember DRM (digital rights management).
My shopping dream was rapidly turning into ashes. I’ve made the remark before
about only a very few stores having most of the merchandise and this is one
of the types of present that belongs in this category.
I cut my losses and prevented more angst by heading home.
On the Net, however, it’s a different story. Mp3 players are not a novelty
but are big business and there are loads of online stores to get them from.
All types are represented and prices vary considerably. I ended up at “Advanced
MP3 Players”
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk
One of the reasons
was, apart from the catchy name, it was a fairly local company, being based
near Edinburgh. It also had an extremely
large supply of players of all types and was very reasonably priced (this means
within my budget). Their site is nicely laid out and there are simple ways to
get in touch with them. Not least of these is a telephone number where you get
to speak to an actual person and not a queuing system!
Browsing through their players, it became apparent I’d end up with a “jukebox”,
a hard drive based player. Getting to this conclusion was easy using their “select
the best player” option. Storage and compactness etc more or less dictated this
for my price range. I ended up buying the Xclef HD-500.
Just a few more words on the company I bought from and then I’ll get to the
hardware. Buying, once I had decided on the player was also easy. The usual
HTTPS page and details entered and the order was on its way. Once ordered, you
quickly get back the confirmation email and your order number, although I always
print this off from the web page anyway.
The next day, I went back to the site as the mail explains that you can track
your order………
Tracking is a very nicely implemented idea and it is easy to check that your
order is on its way. It even allows you to track if the courier has despatched
it and where it is.
My Mp3 player arrived the next day and I had absolutely no problems with their
system. I recommend you, at least, visit their site if you decide to get yourself
an Mp3 player.
Ok, now on to the player…………
I chose the Xclef for a couple of reasons. The player is made in Korea,
my company exports to Korea
and I know extremely well how tight their quality standards are. This seemed
to me to be a plus. The storage on this particular version of the device is
20Gb. Yup, that’s really 20GB………more than most of us had in their computers
up to a couple of years ago……..
The Xclef as sold by Advancedmp3players has 3 options from 20 – 40 GB. I should
point out that there is only about £50 difference from the 20 to the 40-gig
version.
Moving files into the unit is a breeze. Simply plug into the USB port on your
computer and away you go……..
Xclef states that you can store about 5000 – 8000 songs. The player also can
play WMA, just in case you fancy a change from plain old Mp3’s.
The display is a small LCD on the front of the unit (160 x 105). It comes with
a built in microphone and tuner. Battery life, depending
on usage, is from 10 – 22 hours per charge. The battery is a self-contained
lithium Ion pack, so should do for apprx. 2 years before it starts to lose charge
ratings.
The unit itself is a small silver coloured device slightly larger than a packet
of cigarettes, although slimmer. The actual dimensions are 129(H),81(W),22(D).
The menu system used is a breeze for anyone who has ever used a computer and
even the wife finds it easy. There are popup systems on the menu to get you
to the tuner area , just for instance.
The unit comes with a charger, USB cable, line in cable, earphones, carrying
case, manual, and a CD (for Win98 drivers).
Sound quality is excellent and volume controls are on the front of the unit.
Nice range to the volume as well. There is a 5-band equaliser on the unit with
five pre set EQ’s as well as a customisable one, just in case you don’t like
the presets.
I mentioned the built in mic and this is used to allow you to record memos
and the like. The line in cable allows you to input music directly to the unit
without the need for a computer and you can select quality as well, ranging
from 320 – 64 kb/s. The tuner section has twenty presets you can use as well
as manual tuning. You can, of course, record directly from radio as well………..
One of the other things it can do is read text files……..simply copy a text
file into the unit and you can read it on your journey ….
It’s also a handy way of transferring files to your friends. Copy a file of
any description, then plug into your mate’s computer
when you get there and it’s done. With a 20Gb lump
of drive, it means you can transfer whole ISO’s or DVD’s if you wish this way.
The USB supports usb2.0, 1.1, and 1.0 so it shouldn’t be a problem.
The unit also has the capability of getting its firmware upgraded. There is
an area on the unit’s drive reserved for this (it’s marked firmware, just for
the intellectually challenged). I have already tried this out as the Xclef site
had an update for the unit.
Simply download the file, and then copy into the firmware drawer. On the unit
getting powered back up, it shows itself updating……….easy!
I’ve tried to be as quick as I can about this unit, but I could go on for a
while yet.
It really is a veritable little treasure chest of goodies, and each day shows
its versatility. The wife is beside herself with it…I copied a couple of gigs
of her favourite music onto it……… and the battery charge life is impressive.
Build quality is excellent as I expected and it looks like becoming one of
the all time best presents bought.
Have a look at the Xclef site and see for yourself at http://www.xclef.com
By Ian Urie
