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MP3 (MPEG Layer 3) compression is one of the
best compression algorithms around which allows us to reduce the
size of digital audio files to a small enough size to store many of
them conveniently and listen to them
with very little loss of quality. Most people, will not even
be able to tell the difference between a CD and an MP3 file, but the
difference in file size is huge. A typical full length song
.wav format can take from 40 to 60 MB where as the same MP3 file
will be under 5MB.
Portable MP3 are just starting to become
popular because you can take songs that reside on your computer
(that you own of course), and upload them to the MP3 player so you
can take it on the road with you. The first player on the
market was Diamond's Rio PMP300 which boasted quite a good feature
set and quickly became popular. Later down the line, a few
more companies released MP3 players such as the Creative Labs with
their Nomad player.
Today we'll be looking at the new Pine Technology
D'music Digital MP3 player which sells for a very comparative
$149.99. This player comes with a 32MB built-in flash memory
(and you can buy
an extra 32MB card if you like). Let's continue on and take a look
at this players specs...
Here are the specs for the Pine D'music SM-320V
and F players. (Note we only review the V version in this review, the
F is not yet available):
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- CPU:
10MHz, 8Bit
- Frequency:
20Hz-20KHz
- S/N
Ratio: 90dB
- 24Kbps
- 256 Kbps Bit Rate support
- Output:
Earphone 5mV
- Voice
Record: Max. 2Hours 15mins (with 32MB)
- Portable HardDisk
Function: Users can upload and download MP3 files
and other files
- FM Radio with ACM
function [SM-320F only]
- Internal Charger [SM-320F
only]
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As you can see the specs are very decent,
especially for the price. It would have been nice to have a 64MB
flash card, but then you would be looking at $250 price tag similar
to that of the Nomad. Weighing in a 62g, this player
practically weighs nothing without the batteries, which is very
comfortable when you are out exercising and don't want a heavy
object bouncing up and down in your pocket or on your belt.
The dimensions are also extremely compact, here are some pictures of
the black player:
Front w/Flash card |
Right Side |
Back |
Left Side |
The major gripe I have with this MP3 player and
many others available, is that they still use the Parallel Port for
transferring files. The parallel port is extremely slow, I
would much rather have a USB connection or even SCSI (if it were
available). We'll examine just how long it takes to transfer music
shortly.
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