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irock! BLiNG 200D MP3-CD Player with FM Tuner

irock! BLiNG 200D MP3-CD Player with FM Tuner

List Price: $109.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Solid performer
Review: I won't go into the specifics; you can read those elsewhere. Instead I'll give you the pros and cons as I see them.

PROS:
- This puppy will read multisession CD's. This means I can burn 10 MP3's on one CD, then go back later and burn 10 more, and so on. This is a BIG plus for me. I don't have to burn a full CD everytime I want to add a couple of songs!
- Built-in battery charger. I dropped a couple of NiMH batteries in it and I don't plan on ever having to buy batteries for this device again. There is some weirdness to recharging, though - read on.
- Backlit display.
- Easy navigation though MP3 tracks. You can search by album, song or artist, and navigating through multiple folders is easy enough.
- ESP (Electronic Skip Protection) that will prevent skipping during all but the most violent of shocks. 120 seconds for regular CD's, 45 seconds for MP3 CD's.
- Battery life - I get about 10 hours from a set of AA's (with ESP turned off). I think this is more than satisfactory. Expect 7 hours if you always use the ESP feature (it's not necessary to have it on at all times, I would only use it if I'm walking or jogging).
- Wired remote - pretty handy. The remote also acts as an FM radio, which works very well and has excellent reception.
- Price - VERY reasonable for all the features this unit has. By the way, if I didn't mention the feature here, that means it performs as advertised.

CONS:
- No resume function. This stinks if you want to listen to audio books. If you shut off the player, it will remember what track you were on, but it will NOT pick up from the point you left off - it goes to the beginning.
- Charging oddity - if you want to use rechargeable batteries, the manual suggests you charge them while the player is on and playing a CD. That seems weird to me, and it might cause unnessessary wear and tear on the mechanism. I should be able to just plug it in overnight while it's off and it should charge. The manual says you can charge while the player is off, but it will take "a very long time." How long is that?
- Turning the ESP feature on and off is not accomplished as it states in the manual. I had to figure it out on my own.
- SLOW scrolling speed on the display. ID3 information is displayed, but it has to scroll across the LCD, and it takes forever.
- Less than speedy seek times. Not bad, but not great either. It takes about 6 seconds for the player to find a song when you navigate the CD. If you let the CD play through, though, it's fine.
- Portability - you'll want a fanny pack or a backpack to carry the main unit around in, if you plan on travelling with this unit, since it has no belt clip. The remote unit is supposed to have a belt clip, but:
- Mine didn't come with a belt clip for the remote. Not sure if it's an oversight or what.
- This isn't really a con, but I will mention it here; if you like your music LOUD, the iRock Bling might not have enough oomph for you. I find it to be plenty loud with a decent set of headphones, but I know some people need to have ear-shattering levels, which this unit doesn't provide. I think most of you would be satisfied with it, however. I guessing it's on par with other portable units of this type.

In conclusion, this is a nice little player that works very well and does what it's supposed to do. Its price and multiple features more than make up for any shortcomings. I can heartily recommend this player to anyone except hardcore audio book fans, who will want to remember that this unit cannot resume.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Volume SUCKS
Review: Its like having a Porsche that can only go 45. Allot of great features in this product as long as don't need to hear the music.. the main thing is that the VOLUME [is horrible]... so low that you can't hear the music if you are in the gym or anywhere there is outside noise... I mean .. this thing is bulky to begin with so I figured it would at least have a good sound boost to it .... WRONG !!!! Low volume....unless you are in a very quiet library i would stay away from this....


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