austonia
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2002
- Posts
- 3,392
- Likes
- 16
RCA RD2850
> Released 06/2004
> 20gb, 1.8-inch Hitachi drive
> MP3, WMA, WAV support
> Price about $275 online
> approx. 2.5 x 5.25 inches, 7/8 inches deep
> LCD size effectively 1.5 x 1.5 inches
> USB 2.0
> About 10 hours playback
Summary
The Good
+ Gapless playback!
+ Charges through USB
+ File/Folder and ID3-tag browsing (Artist, Artist/Album, Album, Title, Genre, Year)
+ See all files on hard drive not just music files
+ LCD display shows 9 lines, about 17 characters per line
+ In lists, text too long for screen will scroll (fast), lists loop A-Z/Z-A
+ Player can profile it's own contents (build id3 tag dB) completely independent from PC
+ On-the-fly playlist, save playlist as standard .M3U files, name them
+ Mass Storage Complient
+ Small, light, decent-looking design
+ High-quality case included (play-through) as well as car connection equipment included, as well as better-than-average earclip phones (still don't compare to KSC-35's but most people never make it that far!)
+ FM Radio, name stations presets
+ FM radio recordings up to 128kbit, save and name, ID3 tags are auto-populated
+ Strong power output
+ Adequate sound quality
The Bad
- The controller is a 5-way switch (like iHP's nub) and can be picky, often have to hit just right or several times.
- While browsing, The screen auto-reverts to Now Playing after 10 seconds of inactivity. If you then Hit Menu, it doesn't take you back the place in the Browser you were, it takes you back to the list of tracks in that Artist, Album, etc.
- The on-the-fly playlisting is somewhat goofed, can't remove items or re-arrange them, sometimes it appears to be cleared.
- No way to turn off the PowerSave, longest setting is 3 minutes.
- Few buttons means they are context-dependant (similiar to iRiver iHP). Needs more dedicated buttons like for volume and playback controls.
- Easy to hit stop/power button which shuts it off immediately in screens other than Now Playing.
- While browsing lists of iD3-tag catagories, it pauses for a fraction of a second at every new alphabetical letter. It will zoon through 10 things starting with A, pause, zoon through B's, etc.
Other notes
...RCA, how about OGG instead of MP3pro..?
...GUI is functional but so very plain. Not much style.
...Average build quality, kind of plasticky but nice chrome highlights
See about 100 pics in my quickly-made GALLERY
> Released 06/2004
> 20gb, 1.8-inch Hitachi drive
> MP3, WMA, WAV support
> Price about $275 online
> approx. 2.5 x 5.25 inches, 7/8 inches deep
> LCD size effectively 1.5 x 1.5 inches
> USB 2.0
> About 10 hours playback
Summary
The Good
+ Gapless playback!
+ Charges through USB
+ File/Folder and ID3-tag browsing (Artist, Artist/Album, Album, Title, Genre, Year)
+ See all files on hard drive not just music files
+ LCD display shows 9 lines, about 17 characters per line
+ In lists, text too long for screen will scroll (fast), lists loop A-Z/Z-A
+ Player can profile it's own contents (build id3 tag dB) completely independent from PC
+ On-the-fly playlist, save playlist as standard .M3U files, name them
+ Mass Storage Complient
+ Small, light, decent-looking design
+ High-quality case included (play-through) as well as car connection equipment included, as well as better-than-average earclip phones (still don't compare to KSC-35's but most people never make it that far!)
+ FM Radio, name stations presets
+ FM radio recordings up to 128kbit, save and name, ID3 tags are auto-populated
+ Strong power output
+ Adequate sound quality
The Bad
- The controller is a 5-way switch (like iHP's nub) and can be picky, often have to hit just right or several times.
- While browsing, The screen auto-reverts to Now Playing after 10 seconds of inactivity. If you then Hit Menu, it doesn't take you back the place in the Browser you were, it takes you back to the list of tracks in that Artist, Album, etc.
- The on-the-fly playlisting is somewhat goofed, can't remove items or re-arrange them, sometimes it appears to be cleared.
- No way to turn off the PowerSave, longest setting is 3 minutes.
- Few buttons means they are context-dependant (similiar to iRiver iHP). Needs more dedicated buttons like for volume and playback controls.
- Easy to hit stop/power button which shuts it off immediately in screens other than Now Playing.
- While browsing lists of iD3-tag catagories, it pauses for a fraction of a second at every new alphabetical letter. It will zoon through 10 things starting with A, pause, zoon through B's, etc.
Other notes
...RCA, how about OGG instead of MP3pro..?
...GUI is functional but so very plain. Not much style.
...Average build quality, kind of plasticky but nice chrome highlights
See about 100 pics in my quickly-made GALLERY
