MP3 Player and External storage
Written: Jan 20 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Robust, inexpensive, good battery life, full featured
Cons: Low LCD Contrast, no apparent US distribution yet.
The Bottom Line: I was simply amazed, the SP-600 is an inexpensive feature-rich, attractive, robust player. It simply lacks marketing and distribution in the US or this would be a worldwide bestseller!
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| mpwa's Full Review: Pontis Electronic SP-600 Portable MP3 Player |
I had been considering an inexpensive portable MP3 player for some time hoping to get a reasonable quality one in the sub $100 range. Until I discovered the Pontis SP-600, the front-runners in my quest were the 32MB Nike or Rio devices.
I noticed several New Pontis SP-600 had been sold on EBay for under $100 with another closing shortly. I quickly performed some research into the device. The first barrier I discovered was that the Pontis site was only available in German (it has more recently added English). What I could glean from my basic German understanding (the pictures helped) and reviews from owners in the UK, this sounded like an excellent unit so I went ahead and bought one.
Worldwide distribution of the Pontis devices were promised but yet to reach any kind of critical mass.
The SP-600 looks and feels solidly made, the large display lacks a little contrast but is lit for low-light viewing. The (4 buttons and a side-wheel) controls for control and song navigation work well including unexpected features such as a graphic EQ makes this a superb device.
The two card slots for SmartMedia cards and CompactFlash can accomodate a 16-512MB CompactFlash and/or a 64MB SmartMedia Card. The basic model is supplied with a 64MB SanDisk CF card, AA Battery and a pair of Ear Buds.
With newer technology CF/SM cards storage space is increased the SP-600 will be able to store more music up to 4GB.
I have to admit to some apprehension after ordering the unit but all concerns were put aside once it arrived I experienced this awesome piece of equipment.
My first pleasant surprise was when plugging it into the USB port of my IBM T23 Laptop running Windows XP. Not only did the device announce it's presence, no drivers were required. With no intervention other than plugging it in, I now had an external CF/SM drive. I simply copied my MP3 files to the "drive"/CF card and was listening to them in seconds.
I pulled my CF card out of my camera and was able to pull the photographs off and put the Pontis CF card in my normal CF reader and everything worked perfectly.
Amazingly I had a LOT less trouble installing the Pontis SP-600 and using it as a CF reader with my XP systems than I did with my dedicated (and not much less expensive) CF reader!
Battery life seems pretty decent with about 16 hours from my first AA.
According to the German website, there are some case color optional extras (the front panel can be changed) for those wanting to "accessorize".
This has to be one of the best "blind" buys I have made in a long time. If you are considering an external CF drive - get one of these instead for only a few $$ more :)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mpwa
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Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 1 member
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