Bila anda termasuk pengguna yang hanya menginginkan hiburan dari lagu-lagu MP3, maka 2 produk ini--Cryptonix Solar MP3 dan Superdisk MP3--bisa dijadikan pilihan. Superdisk MP3 tidak membutuhkan tombol On untuk power. Begitu earphone dicolokan ke jack, pemutar MP3 langsung menyala, cukup simple! Sedangkan pada Solar MP3 player pengguna harus menekan salah satu tombol sentuh yang ada yang juga berfungsi sebagai forward/vol+.

Perbedaan lain kedua pemutar, selain pada desain juga baterei yang digunakan. Cryptonix Solar MP3 menggunakan baterei solar cel, yang proses pengisiannya bisa memanfaatkan sinar matahari, sedangkan Superdisk MP3 hanya menggunakan USB komputer untuk pengisian baterei.

Cryptonix Solar MP3
Pemutar ini berbentuk kotak, berwarna hitam, sangat ringan dan berukuran hanya 40.3x40.3x10mm--membuatnya pas digantung di leher dan tidak membebani pengguna.

Operasional pemutar ini menggunakan tombol sentuh. Untuk mengghidupkan hanya perlu menyentuh salah satu dari 4 LED yang ada, namun sebelumnya anda harus mencolokan earphone ke jack yang ada.

Di sisi atas Solar MP3 terdapat 4 LED menyala ketika earphone disambungkan, hanya 2 yang bisa digunakan sebagai tombol operasi (power/forwar/vol+ dan backward/vol-), masing-masing yang terletak di ujung paling luar. LED biru merupakan tombol backward dan mengecilkan volume, sedangkan LED merah paling pojok adalah tombol forward, membesarkan volume dan sekaligus tombol power.

Berdasarkan buku manual, kemampuan baterei solar cel sanggup bertahan hingga 9 jam. Proses pengisiannya, selain menggunakan USB komputer juga dapat memanfaatkan energi matahari, yaitu dengan menghadapkan bagian depan player ke sinar matahari.
Kualitas suara Solar MP3 cukup bagus, tak lepas dari penggunaan earphone stereo berkualitas dan tidak menyesakkan rongga telinga.

Superdisk MP3
Tak ada hal yang unik pada MP3 player ini selain LED di salah satu ujungnya menyala begitu earphone ditancapkan ke jack sehingga anda dapat mendengarkan lagu-lagu MP3. Guna melengkapi fungsinya sebagai pemutar MP3, pada salah satu sisi disediakan 2 tombol, yaitu : forward/vol- dan backward/vol+.
Bentuk Superdisk MP3 mirip kebanyakan USB flash drive, perbedaannya Superdisk MP3 mampu memutar lagu-lagu. Dengan kapasitas 2GB, anda bisa menyimpan hingga ratusan file MP3 dan WMA.
Superdisk MP3 menggunakan penutup USB port. Di bagian dalam dari penutup itu terdapat pengait yang terhubung ke bodi Superdisk MP3, tujuannya adalah agar penutup tidak lepas.

Performa yang ditampilkan Superdisk MP3 hampir sama dengan Solar MP3--audio yang dihasilkan earphone cukup baik sehingga bisa menjadi teman hiburan anda.

Spesifikasi Solar MP3
- Format musik : MP3, WMA
- Kapasitas Memory : 2GB
- SNR : >=90dB
- Earphone output : 5mW(L) + 5mW(R)
- Audio Frequency Response : 20Hz~20KHz
- Baterei : solar cel
- Dimensi : 40.3x40.3x10mm
- Harga : USD 30.5

Spesifikasi Superdisk MP3
- Format musik : MP3, WMA
- Kapasitas Memory : 2GB
- SNR : >=90dB
- Earphone output : 5mW(L) + 5mW(R)
- Audio Frequency Response : 20Hz~20KHz
- Baterei : Li-ion
- Harga : $21.5

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Don't tell my wife, but I love you

I don't really need to say what an awesome MP3/media player this is, as there are a metric ton of reviews out there that do that already. I want to focus on the usability of the player.

I'm going to split this up into two parts. Part one, this post, will deal with the player itself while part two will deal with the player and its integration with the Rhapsody software.

The Outside

Let's start on the outside. There are two volume buttons, up and down, which are easy to press with your fingers. They are small enough to be unobtrusive but big enough to be easily pressed without pressing them both at the same time. Oddly, they are reversed if you use the player in its default mode (landscape.) To me, not a big deal, but in terms of usability it's a bit silly.

There's a hold button and a power button. There is also a "hot" button. You can assign this button pretty much any function. Mine is set to "main menu," meaning that no matter what I am doing with the Clix, e.g. watching a movie, I can hit this button and I'll immediately be taken back to the main menu. This is great when you're delving into the depths of the sub-menus and you don't want to re-navigate your way back to your original starting place.

The coolest part about the Clix's hard interface is the navigation system. It is essentially the whole faceplate and iRiver call this cunning system the "D-Click" system. Pressing on the top of the screen causes you to go up, the right of the screen causes you to go right, etc. This is great for navigating menus quickly since the navigation system is physically a lot larger than other MP3 players. This means that you don't tend to accidentally press the wrong direction.

I personally love the D-Click hard interface. The only downfall I can think of is if you need to use just one hand to navigate, like a runner would for example, then it is rather hard to operate. Don't get me wrong, this player is tiny, but the navigation interface is literally the size of the player so you really need one hand to hold the player and the other to click around.

The screen is bright, colorful and can be viewed at any angle and this is very important in terms of accessibility and usability. The resolution is truly amazing which means that the fonts are crisp and clear and very readable. Because of the clarity and resolution, the screen appears larger than its 2.2" display.

The Inside

While the Clix is super-sexy on the outside, it really shines on the inside. The D-Click navigation works very well with the firmware interface. iRiver has thought a lot about menu placement meaning that you can watch movies or play music without having to read the manual. The vast majority of functions are only a couple of clicks away. As you would expect, the more advanced features are confined to sub-menus, but the labeling is logical and doesn't leave you guessing as to what the features actually do.

Essentially, everything on the Clix is customizable. In my opinion, this is one of the major selling points of the player, as it has been in previous iRiver products. You can customize everything from the sound of the player (by using the pre-loaded or custom EQ) to the structure of the menu system. My favorite feature, however, is the customizable themes.

Unlike other MP3 players, the Clix 2 has a fully customizable interface. Firstly, you can simply change the fonts used by the player. Just hook the Clix up to your computer and drag'n'drop a TrueType font of your choosing over to the iRiver. Ta da! The player now uses that font. This is great for people who have problems with their vision as certain fonts are easier to read than others (e.g. Arial is a great easy-to-read font.) This is an excellent accessibility feature.

Now, this is where things get very interesting. The Clix interface is actually built using Adobe Flash Lite. This means that there are a wealth of themes that can be downloaded from the Internet and transferred to the Clix (again, a simple drag and drop.) The variety of themes out there is amazing. From fully animated star-fields with planets, comets and moons to simple stylish neon menu systems, there really is something for everyone. But guess what? If you're a dab-hand at Flash design, you can make your own themes using Flash Lite and use those!

This intense customization experience aids usability on two levels. One, it is practical. People have different preferences about what works for them. By allowing customization of the sound, menu structure and look and feel of the interface we can be certain that users will find something that works for them…something that is perfect.

Two, customization promotes engagement. Just knowing that I can make my MP3 player unique to me and my needs makes me feel good – it makes me bond with my device because I know that it is configured just the way I like it. By doing this, iRiver has made the MP3 player personal and that makes me want to use it.

I'm also intrigued by the notion of a portable player that works with the service. The portable player would be filled with music based upon your preferences and would automatically be updated when the player is able to access the service via WIFI. Nice. No need to add music yourself, update playlists, etc.

When I listen to music I am typically doing so in one of two roles. I am either digging for some good nostalgia tunes, or looking up something new in one genre or another. As I mentioned before the way I listen to music seems to fit the slacker.com model.

If the portable player isn't enough they are also planning to compete with the Satellite set.

I did a search for Roger Clyne and hit 'play' which results in a station of like artists. I don't think slacker.com did a bad job of building the station especially considering that Roger Clyne does not fit any traditional genre very tightly, but mixes into many of them. The screenshot below is the result of what has been playing for the last hour or so. Pretty Cool.