Link: USBMall
Was waiting forever for some of my usual shopping sites to get the ultrasmall Sandisk Cruzer Mini USB 2.0 or the
Philips MP3 Keychain drives.. gave up and got the MP3 player model from USB
Mall. They have the the Melodistik Light for $59.99, openbox with free
shipping.
Long short review follows:
Basic stats: 128mb, USB 1.1 (should work on USB 2.0 ports), About 3.75" x
1" x .75" dimension (same size as a USB Cigardrive, but a little thicker).
Thought this was a good deal, compared to the USB Mp3 player on Compgeeks or
the new Philips Keychain drives from J and R. They are about $129-150 for
the same size in mb.
Pros: MP3 and MP3/Pro. Sound quality is not bad for MP3 Pro, not as good as
CD obviously, but MP3 Pro lets me put about 4-6 albums on the player and
still have room for my files. No other "keychain" sized MP3 player I can
find has MP3/Pro support. MP3 quality is surprisingly good, as good as my
old Rio. Volume can be turned up surprisingly loud.
Uses replaceable AAA Nimh battery (600mah included). Put in a Kodak 700mah
instead, about 10-15% longer play time. Battery charges when device plugged
into USB port. 6-8 hours real playtime, and AAA batteries can be stashed
anywhere.
Cons: No LCD, only two controls (power and a push/jog button - push to play,
skip forward tracks, jog left/right for volume.) Best used to play back
your custom mix playlists or albums, cannot skipback, only forward. No WMV
support, though why anyone would want to use WMV instead of MP3 Pro on a
128mb device is beyond me.
The headphones they include are not too great, they use the integrated
lanyard/earphones design. The phones are a 2.5mm jack, so you will need to
get a pair of phones with 2.5mm plug, mod a pair or use an adapter. I have
been using a cheap paid of Aiwa earbuds with an adapter, sound about 50%
better than the supplied phones, and will prob sound even better when I mod
the plug to 2.5mm gold-plated. Will try with my Sennheisers when my wife
gives them back to me.
The device is thicker than most USB keychain drives, still fits on a
keychain, wouldnt want to try to put it in my pocket while wearing a pair of
tight jeans though.
Also only includes lanyard, so no way to connect to a keychain out of box.
I used a spring coil keychain fob from a set of hex keys (the cheap sets
that have 6-10 hex keys attached to a ring, with a spring coil at the end of
each key). A quick twist of the needle-nose pliers and the coil from one of
the smaller hex keys is perfect.
I am not sure if it is better to have a bigger unit with LCD in the long run
(the full MelodiStik or another make), but I mostly listen to albums rather
than a mix of songs, so I am willing to give up some functionality for
something that fits in my pocket. Also, the bigger LCD units look like they
would have a hard time fitting onto many USB ports, this one fits in that
slightly awkward angled front USB port on a Dell Dimension.
Overall, a nice implementation of the mini-MP3 player at a great price.
Only things I would change would be to add a hold button, include a keychain
connector, a belt holster (a mini-flashlight or multi-tool sized one should
work), and use a 700mah or higher battery.
Was waiting forever for some of my usual shopping sites to get the ultrasmall Sandisk Cruzer Mini USB 2.0 or the
Philips MP3 Keychain drives.. gave up and got the MP3 player model from USB
Mall. They have the the Melodistik Light for $59.99, openbox with free
shipping.
Long short review follows:
Basic stats: 128mb, USB 1.1 (should work on USB 2.0 ports), About 3.75" x
1" x .75" dimension (same size as a USB Cigardrive, but a little thicker).
Thought this was a good deal, compared to the USB Mp3 player on Compgeeks or
the new Philips Keychain drives from J and R. They are about $129-150 for
the same size in mb.
Pros: MP3 and MP3/Pro. Sound quality is not bad for MP3 Pro, not as good as
CD obviously, but MP3 Pro lets me put about 4-6 albums on the player and
still have room for my files. No other "keychain" sized MP3 player I can
find has MP3/Pro support. MP3 quality is surprisingly good, as good as my
old Rio. Volume can be turned up surprisingly loud.
Uses replaceable AAA Nimh battery (600mah included). Put in a Kodak 700mah
instead, about 10-15% longer play time. Battery charges when device plugged
into USB port. 6-8 hours real playtime, and AAA batteries can be stashed
anywhere.
Cons: No LCD, only two controls (power and a push/jog button - push to play,
skip forward tracks, jog left/right for volume.) Best used to play back
your custom mix playlists or albums, cannot skipback, only forward. No WMV
support, though why anyone would want to use WMV instead of MP3 Pro on a
128mb device is beyond me.
The headphones they include are not too great, they use the integrated
lanyard/earphones design. The phones are a 2.5mm jack, so you will need to
get a pair of phones with 2.5mm plug, mod a pair or use an adapter. I have
been using a cheap paid of Aiwa earbuds with an adapter, sound about 50%
better than the supplied phones, and will prob sound even better when I mod
the plug to 2.5mm gold-plated. Will try with my Sennheisers when my wife
gives them back to me.
The device is thicker than most USB keychain drives, still fits on a
keychain, wouldnt want to try to put it in my pocket while wearing a pair of
tight jeans though.
Also only includes lanyard, so no way to connect to a keychain out of box.
I used a spring coil keychain fob from a set of hex keys (the cheap sets
that have 6-10 hex keys attached to a ring, with a spring coil at the end of
each key). A quick twist of the needle-nose pliers and the coil from one of
the smaller hex keys is perfect.
I am not sure if it is better to have a bigger unit with LCD in the long run
(the full MelodiStik or another make), but I mostly listen to albums rather
than a mix of songs, so I am willing to give up some functionality for
something that fits in my pocket. Also, the bigger LCD units look like they
would have a hard time fitting onto many USB ports, this one fits in that
slightly awkward angled front USB port on a Dell Dimension.
Overall, a nice implementation of the mini-MP3 player at a great price.
Only things I would change would be to add a hold button, include a keychain
connector, a belt holster (a mini-flashlight or multi-tool sized one should
work), and use a 700mah or higher battery.
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