Memorex MP3-CD player for 89.88 at Target

[phoenixstar]

Thanks for the review wje! I was considering getting one of these things, but I too noticed the cheap looking construction on the item. Your review convinced me to stay away for a just a bit longer. I do appreciate it..

 

[DMage]

I dont know it sounds like a good player, apparently theres 2 releases of this, since the first batch released had defects. Check out www.mp3.com's hardware message board. Search for memorex. I am gonna pick one up tomorrow and will post a review.

 

[Tung]

it looks quite nice on the target ad hehe

 

[DMage]

Heres the other forum in Hot Deals reguarding this:

Other Forum

 

[JackMDS]

It gets very confusing.

Here is a quote from: tkdkid, as appears in the second thread.
==================================================================
Pros:
Looks to be well constructed, light and small.
It has a random play feature which grabs random songs from all directories on the disc.
Reads ID3 tags just fine. The info scrolls while the track plays.
Directory navigation isn't very difficult.
Very good sound reproduction, bass boost works very well.
Price! Don't buy the genica if you can get your hands on this one.
45 second ESP. It won't skip..I shook it like crazy and it kept on playing.

Cons:
Can't adjust the contrast on the lcd screen.
I couldn't get the search function to work. It seems that it wants the first few characters of the track name, not just any word in a track.
The button layout is weird.
Can't figure out how it orders the songs in the directory.
If a file doesn't have an ID3 tag, it just displays the first 6 characters with the '~' and a #. It doesn't just scroll the whole filename like winamp.

Overall:
It's a great device in my opinion. I just need to play with it a little more to figure out the specifics of how it works...well and make sure all my mp3z have ID3 tags.

End of Quote
==================================================================

It seems that the main problem is not having a big LCD.

I doubt that for this price we will see Multi lines LCD in the near future.

 

[Geneman7]

yes! the player at target includes everything you need. The cassette adaptor ac adaptor and also the car dc adaptor. so there is nothing else you need to buy, except batteries if you plan on moving around without your car.

 

[wasssup]

This blows. I bought two at Amazon.com (with the coupon) making it $170 shipped. Thought i'd eGay one (they were selling for $160 before stupid target advertised it for $89), now I don't see them going over $100, if even. Aaaaargh...there goes my $10 MP3 Discman.

 

[Tung]

Buy this mp3 cd player, if you're not fully sastified with it, u can return it within 90 days.

 

[unclebud]

dood, dat's really dishonest
edit: you should change that so you don't get modded chief... jus lookin out

 

[Tung]

ur right unclebud

 

[grimas]

I picked one up yesterday and was pleasently suprised with this unit. Granted it probably wouldn't survive a drop of more than a foot or two but I think it's a hell of a deal for $90 when you include the cost of the car adaptor kit and the AC adaptor. I bought this specifically for road trips in my Suburban and it sounds great (compared to the factory stereo in it). I have an Apex DVD player hooked up to my home stereo system so I haven't tried running this player through "good" speakers but I do like the ID tags that I don't see on my Apex.

I did notice that Target didn't have too many of them in stock - tons of regular CD players and only 2 of the MP3 ones...

I did notice in the manual that the battery will last 6 hours if you turn off the ESP.

 

[DMage]

I picked one up at target. Its nice, has good sound when playing the mp3s. Two problems I had from the start...it has a wierd hissing noise when not playing a cd or when a mp3s really quiet (or the volumes set to low) and it skips a lot on certain mp3s. My model number is MPD8505CP (no A at the end as some people at mp3.com said they have) and it was manufactured September 2000. Is this one of the original screwy models? Can someone post the model number and manufacturing date if your unit does not have these problems? thanks.

 

[blahsome]

I got one yesterday and have been using it in my car since. I couldn't get it to skip on local roads, but it did skip a couple times on an interstate freeway. Brief pauses, I'd say rather bearable.

I'm happy with it for now. I'll return it only if there's a much better one with the same price coming soon. The car adapter is definitely a plus! I was ready to buy rechargeable batteries for it.

Oh, yeah, my model is MPD8505CP (SUFFIX A). I don't know whether this is a newer model.

P.S. This unit has got the most ugly user interface I've seen. I mean, whoever designed these buttons really need some HCI classes.

 

[youDIEjoe]

Here is my .02 worth...

Picked one up here in Los Angeles at the Target in Culver City. PLENTY (10+)on the shelf when I went by this evening at 6:00.

So far my VBR Xing Encoded files work quite well, as long as they do not exceed 192kbs, even then they will play, but not with any consistency. So best bet to encode at 75% or lower (50% being 128kps)

Coming with a car power adapter, cassette adapter, AC adapter and headphones....it's really hard to have something bad to say about a unit under 100 bucks. I would imagine from all the posts I have read about this unit they must have had an initial shipment of units that were a bit buggier than the unit I picked up. The only other unit I have messed with cost 120 bucks more (Phillips Expandium) and didn't have ID3 support and felt as cheap if not cheaper in construction. So price and features wise I don't think you can do much better. And with a return window of 90 days at Target you have PLENTY of time to put your 90 bucks through their paces and decide for yourself.

yDj

 

[cejay]

What is the range that this unit will play.. 128k.. etc.
I have some audiobook stuff that is 32-64k
will it work?
Also.. will this ONLY play cdr? or cdr and cdrw..
Which unit is better.. 'A' suffix or non 'A' suffix..
looks like there are both out there floating around.
cj

 

[HYMAN]

I plan to go out and get one of these. Batery usuage will be no problem. I use rechargable alkaline bateries. They drain, i pop in two new one and recharge the drained ones.

 

[DMage]

I am guessing its better to pick up the suffix "a" model of this. It must be the revamped version. I am going to hang onto mine for about two months and then exchange it before the 90 days are up. I will let thier products run through and hopefully they will restock with the newer revision.

 

[JackMDS]

Finally got one.

Westbury Long Island, they had two (no suffix A). The ?SaleKids: did not know that they have this product in the store, let alone tell me if I can get suffix A.

I don?t know yet the ?ins or the outs? of this gizmo, however it does not seem to have the problems that were reported above. It is MPD8505CP (no suffix), Manufactured October 2000.

From what I read in few reviews of various brand names of CD mp3 players, there are problems with mp3 files. If the files are not recorded in certain ways, with some encoders, they will not replay. (Unfortunately, I can?t find the URL).

It does play: Regular Audio CDs, Copies of Audio CDs, MP3 on CDRs as well as MP3 on CDRWs.

 

[T2T III]

After utilizing this unit a lot of the past four days (10+ hours each day), I'd like to offer the following:

- This unit is still pretty crappy in the construction (thanks for pointing out that the Phililps unit is also cheaply made - I'll avoid that one). This unit, as far as construction goes, looks really cheap compared to my $75 Aiwa portable CD player. My Aiwa seems like the 'crown jewel' compared to this unit - I just wish my Aiwa played MP3s.

- 128kbs is not bad for a MP3 to be recorded / encoded. Do you all really think you'd be able to hear the difference between 128kbs and 256kbs when using cheap headphones? I was using Panasonic enclosed headphones with my player and I thought the sound was very comparable to the original CDs if I were to have been listening to them on my home stereo.

- Battery life: 6 hours seems about right for alkaline batteries. However, I was getting about 8 hours with my NiMH batteries. I don't know if ESP was on or not, because the system doesn't tell you if it's in this mode or not - what a POS display on this unit!

- Skipping: I only noticed one skip during all of the hours that I played the unit. I was utilizing the same 80-minute CD that I recorded @ 8x.

- Pausing: This is still a problem with this unit. Approximately, every 30 minutes, a song will pause for a few seconds, then continue on. This problem seems less apparent with new batteries or utilizing my NiMH batteries and more so as the batteries started to lose their charge.

- MP3 technology: I can't say enough positive things about having the capability of applying 150 songs onto a single CD! Wow! This stuff is great. Utilizing the 'random' playback on this unit, I was never bored with the single CD that I utilized over this lengthly period of time. One would hear more repeats in music on a standard radio station.

- My quest continues. I can't live with this player - even @ $89. I'm going to do some more research on the Pine and D-link units that are out there. I don't expect much from Pine - I've utilized their OEM computer components, and essentially, they were the cheapest of cheap and really a bunch of crap.

 

[cejay]

Doesnt this unit come with the CAR kit?
(car cig adapter.. and cassette adapter?)
wondering

 

[lokitech]

Yes, the units got a car kit, Cass adoptor and power, as well as a ac plug.
FYI...The Miami store has a few unit left on the shelf.

 

[Tung]

u get what u pay for. a cheaply made mp3 player

 

[Bezell]

I grabbed 2 of Memorex from amazon using the MCi and 50/200 coupon. Comes to $10/each. Good for enough for a Office Kris Kringle.

I have been reading the reviews and notice that they don't mention the type of quality of their MP4 CD burns. Could some of the problems associated with these MP3/CD Players be with the quality of CD, Burner, and MP3 tracks? How about CD's burned with a Plextor burn-proof or TDK velocd? I am sure some of the skipping and pauing have to do something about quality of the CD.

Just an observation about reviews and posts.

 

[JackMDS]

I am using this Player for three days. MPD8505CP (no suffix),

Batteries ? It comes with Car Plug. Costco sell AA Alkaline for 22cents a piece. BJ club sells Panasonic NiMH 6AA, 2 AAA, and a charger for $25-$5 rebate =$20.
With such prices - 4hours? ? 6hours? Who cares?

ESP ? The manual states that while playing regular AudioCD you have a choice of ESP on or off, and the display shows it. When playing mp3 it defaults to ESP no choice.

I Compiled a mix of mp3, about 90 files 500MB, (a mixture of Pavaroti, Mendelssohn, and Pop) all files 44K 16-bit audio, mp3 encoded 128K bitrate, and normalized. No directories, all files in one folder.

I burned it on an old crappy CDRW (Hi-Val when they cost $10 a piece), using Plextor 12/10/32. The CDRW played with no problems on my computer Toshiba CDROM. On the Memorex, it was skipping 30% of the tracks, but what ever it played it played well.

I burned the exact same arrangement, and setting on a regular Maxell CD.

The Memorex performed perfectly with the Maxell CDROM, no skipping, and no noise.

The root directory contained, and played all the 90 files (more then the traditional 70).

I have a very expensive Sony portable CD-ROM. What makes the Memorex look crappy is the quality of the Plastic. The Sony looks more shinny, and metallic like, the Memorex looks like an old Radio Shack TRS-80. I don?t know about the quality of the Laser mechanism, and the electronic circuitry, which is what really counts. I really don?t care weather the plastic pigments look different then a Sony that costs more, and does not play mp3.

To use the ?Go to File? system is very cumbersome, however none of the other players have a better system.

So, all in all for the time being I am pleased with my choice.

 

[T2T III]

In regards to the comments about skipping, I only experienced this issue once. The real problem with the player is the *pausing* - about every 30 minutes, mine pauses in the middle of a song and after a few seconds, it then starts to play again. This same issue has been reported by many others.

As far as the construction goes, it's a cheaply made player - I'm not referring to the pigment color of the plastic. I am referring to the quality of the whole device - which I feel is very poor. Plus, the LCD readout is one of the poorest that I've ever seen.

Again, you get what you pay for. Some people will be quite pleased with this device for $89. However, I'd pay up to $150 for something that is made a little better and doesn't *pause*.