Dell DJ 15 GB - Great MP3 Player for the Money (but not for jogging)
Written: Jun 29 '04
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Pros: Stores thousands of mp3s, great sound, fairly small, great value
Cons: Not good for jogging, no good cases made for it
The Bottom Line: Highly recommended as a value mp3 player with enough size to hold all your CDs, unless you plan to jog with it.
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| basilisk4's Full Review: Dell DJ (15 GB) MP3 Player |
The Dell Digital Jukebox 15 GB, or Dell DJ for short, is a spectacular deal for anyone who really wants a top-notch, high-capacity mp3 player and is either unwilling to pay a premium for an iPod or just not a fan of Apple products. Both of those apply to me, so the Dell DJ seemed like a perfect fit.
Before I go any further, I should explain something to you about myself. Every year or two since mp3 players came into wide public distribution about five years ago, I once again become convinced that I need an mp3 player. Three summers ago, it was the Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox 6 GB Blue, which was the monster technology of its time. I convinced myself that I would listen to it while I was working that summer as a data entry flunky. I did listen to that mp3 player while working for about two weeks, after which I decided that I would really rather have my $320 back than the Nomad Jukebox.
About a year and a half ago, I noticed that Best Buy was running a spectacular sale on the original Nomad Jukebox's successor, the Nomad Jukebox III. Sure, it was nice, it worked great, and it was a pretty cool little gadget, but having been a poor law student at the time, I ended up re-selling that mp3 player on eBay about a week later.
Fast-forward to Spring 2004. I had recently broken my wrist rollerblading, and had started running regularly as a replacement for lifting weights, which I could no longer do with a broken wrist. Running tends to get boring after the first mile or two -- or, maybe not so much boring as difficult -- and it is nice to have some distraction to keep your mind off how much you want to stop. Like a sign from above, I saw a Dell commercial advertising a price drop on their new Digital Jukebox 15 GB, which was now just $199. After a few days' worth of research and talking myself into it, since I was still just a poor law student (although now just a month away from graduating and with a job lined up to start in August).
The only real problem of consequence I had with the Dell DJ occurred immediately. The software package that comes with the Dell DJ includes some proprietary version of MusicMatch Jukebox, as well as a Dell File Manager. Since I already had a full version of MusicMatch Jukebox which I had paid my own money for and which had greater capability than the version that came with the Dell DJ, I attempted to avoid using the Dell DJ with my version of MusicMatch and the Dell File Manager software, to no avail. The documentation warned that the Dell DJ would not properly load songs without using their exact software, and they were not kidding. I spent about an hour "copying" several CDs of mine which I had ripped into mp3 format onto the Dell DJ, only to find afterwards that although there was an appropriate amount of data on the Dell DJ, it would not recognize any of it as playable mp3 files. This irritated me to no end. After several more unsuccessful attempts, I eventually capitulated and uninstalled my own version of MusicMatch and reinstalled the Dell DJ software in its entirety, at which point the software worked (but was still annoying to deal with).
That little vignette aside, I have little if anything bad to say about the Dell DJ 15 GB. Its file system is easy to navigate, the buttons and controls are fairly intuitive and easy to use, and the sound is excellent. The earphones that come with the Dell DJ are quite adequate, and the player does not take much time switching between songs, even if you have over 1,000 songs on the player and are using Shuffle mode.
Unfortunately, the Dell DJ 15 GB is slightly too bulky and heavy to wear while jogging. Well, this may not be quite accurate -- I did manage to jog 2-3 miles three separate times with the Dell DJ, once in my pocket and the other two times in the DLO Action Jacket for the Dell DJ. When in my pocket, it moved around so much that it was unwieldy and somewhat uncomfortable. The DLO Action Jacket, however, was probably worse than nothing at all -- I ordered it directly from Dell, and it came with no instructions of any kind, including how to hook the arm-strap to the case itself. When I hooked up the armband to the case the only way that appeared feasible, it was always either too tight or too loose. At $40, I expected something a little more useful. It may not be Dell's fault that there does not appear to be any decent case for the Dell DJ 15 GB, but it's still somewhat of a concern for anyone considering buying a Dell DJ.
If you don't plan to jog with the Dell DJ, and you have some actual use for it, it's a great deal. Personally, I listen to mp3s on my computer when I'm in the bedroom (like now), I have digital music channels on the TV in the living room/den, and I have an mp3 player in my car; as a result, the number of times I would actually have any real use for a portable mp3 player that's not suitable for jogging would be few and far between. If these concerns don't apply to you, however, I would highly recommend the Dell DJ 15 GB.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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Epinions.com ID:
basilisk4
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Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 233
Trusted by: 214 members
About Me:
Soon-to-be married 26-year-old lawyer who likes electronics, computers, and cars.
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