iAUDIO CW200 128 MB MP3 Player with FM Radio and Voice Recorder

[Archived in $100 - $200, JetAudio, Inc., Over 65 MB MP3 Players, Products]

Manufacturer: JetAudio, Inc.
Price at amazon.com: Used from $105.00




Product Features:

• Includes MP3 player, Armband, Belt-clip, Earphone, Battery, Installation CD (JetAudio, JetShell und JetVoiceMail), Manual, USB Cable, and Necklace
• Ultra-compact, fashionable and elegant design with the weight of 1.4 oz and the dimensions of 3.3 X 1.4 X 0.6 inches
• Voice recording capability and FM radio listening/recording function
• Fully compatible with World-renouned MP3 software, JetAudio
• Album directory management function (Album 1,2,3,4 and Voice Album)

Product Description:

Average Customer Rating:

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Comment: My full review of this wonderful player Rating:
iAudio CW200 256Mb review

Pros: Incredible sound ! Light, minimal size but maximal reliability. Intuitive buttons and softwares. 256 Mb means about 90 songs and about 5 hours of continuous music. Voice recording works very well. FM radio works fine. Battery saving: 6h with 550MAh AAA batteries. Comes with all practical accessories. Firmware download. Support and service is great (thanx Francis).

Cons: My opinion would lead to nothing in this category. But I want to stay completely objective: no WMA support and FM reception could be a bit better...

Full review:

I've been now using the iAudio for about 2 months.
I tested only one before this one (the Nike one). I was convinced to buy this player when reading all the positive comments on Amazon...
Now I use it every day in the train and on the bike between my home and my office. This means about 3 hours/working day.

All I have to say is THIS PLAYER IS PERFECT :-)

Sound: the best I've ever heard. Also the clearest. The headphones included give very good sound quality. Basses are deep (it surprised me that so small headphones can give so loud basses) but don't hide middle or treble. I was wondering how it comes. I found the answer by switching headphones, using my Sennheiser (the very big ones). The basses there are too loud so it appears that the player sound settings have been adapted to the included headphones.
30 seconds to change equalizer settings and I had wonderful sound in my new headphones.
Do the test once: try connecting hifi headphones to the player. Adjust equalizer and you'll be surprised...

Size: With a size comparable to a chewing-gum packet, this player is the smallest and lightest MP3 flash player I've ever seen. When running (using the armband) you even don't feel it. Except maybe the headphones wires...

Package and menus: with only 4 functionnal buttons (including the hold button and REC button). The 2 other buttons are 2 jog dials commands (left right push). They're very easy to use and combination are possible to enable shortcurts of commands.
Menus are very intuitive and also very complete.

Voice recording: As far as I tried this feature, it fulfills completely my needs. I recorded a one hour meeting, by just letting the player in the middle of the table. The result was perfect. Even when 3 people are speaking, you can still understand correctly. This feature is ideal for this use (lectures recording or meeting recording)

FM radio: Works fine. Maybe reception could be a bit better sometimes. My main problem with it is reception when I move. For example, in the train or in the car don't use it. Except if the radio station is powerful and if it doesn't change frequency.

Memory: The iAudio comes with 3 different memory sizes: 64, 128 or 256Mb. I personnaly have the 256 version. And I recommend it. I can fill it with about 90 songs in 128kb/s format (CD quality). It means almost 5 hours of continuous music. So it means for me never twice the same song/day ... And using random play order it means that I keep the same songs for a long time without being bored..
A small comment to JetAudio: maybe for the next generation of the player try to include external memory expansions. I think new memory card format miniSD is light and small enough to fit in your player.

Screen: Blue backlight LCD. Very readable. MP3 tags are displayed. You can customize the iAudio logo animation during booting. Displays the battery status, mode, time and title of the song.

Batteries: Again a positive point ;-). iAudio uses 1 standard AAA battery so you can buy cheap AAA rechargeable batteries. For example, I use some 550MAh and they last for at least 6 hours. I bought 4 batteries like this one for about 15$. So with one set, I go for 24 hours...

Software included: Jetshell is the utility that comes with the player. It can be used to directly rip CDs to the iAudio. But its main feature is the maintenance and upload/download of the iAudio. I t also provides access to CDDB to directly find titles of songs. It's also very very easy to use. Transfer is done via USB port. Filling completely the 256Mb takes approximatively 5 minutes. Not bad :-)

Accessories: Another good point. The player comes with all accessories you can dream of. The most useful being without hesitation the white leather carrying case. It protects player against scratches and falls damages. It also provide access to buttons and LCD. It comes with a beltclip. I just got today the armband. I tried it on the bike. It fits perfectly on my arm and really doesn't move at all even when shaking your arm. You can also use the necklace (I use it in the train), it's also very useful.

Firmware download: I told this would be a minor advantage compared to the other players. But no, it's a big one. It seems that JetAudio permanenetly tries to ameliorate the embedded software. The last firmware doubles the FM presets and allows equalizer setting while in FM mode. I hope they will continue to improve it like that.

Support and service: 10/10 . I had some questions and I sent them to JetAudio. It took less than 4 hours to get an answer. An sth really relevant. Also I had a special request for them. They satisfied me completely... bravo ;-)

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Comment: I love mine! Easy to use, no problems, works like a charm Rating:
I had no problem installing the software on my XP machine, and have never found it interfere with other USB devices, or any devices at all. It's very easy software to use, and moving files back and forth from the mp3 player and the computer is easy and fast.

I use rechargable batteries, and seem to get about 8-10 hours of use with them.

The FM reception on this thing about as good as on my home stereo.

The sound quality it pumps out is nice anc clear. It does not have extended bass, but then, no needs really needs that anyway unless they're, well, I won't say, but a normal person who listens to music to hear the music and not just to have their brain hit with extra bass will find this perfectly acceptable. If high volume bass is essential to your musical pleasure, you will want something else.

This unit is VERY light, and small, so it fits in pckets perfectly. The clip on the slipcase is also rugged and strong, and even when clipped to just a fold of cloth, it will hold tightly.

I've carried mine all over NYC, used on subways and trains and walking the sidewalks, etc. I've had no problems with it at all, and am a very, very happy customer.

I did a lot of research on amazon, and this one seemed to have the best overall ratings for the memory size and price I wanted. Amazon reviewers did not let me down on this. It is a wonderful mp3 player, and the added bonus of FM recetion and voice recording is an extra plus.

5 stars and more. Highly recommended.

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Comment: Bundled software converts WMA to MP3 Rating:
I noticed one reviewer's concerns that the unit does not handle the WMA format. I have the CW300 which is very similar except for its longer battery life. Like the CW200, this comes bundled with JetShell, which converts WMA files to MP3s. So, while perhaps not as convenient for playing WMAs, there is a way to do it (by converting to MP3s before loading the files to the player). Now, if the download service requires that you load the WMAs directly onto the player then you would be out of luck.

I'm rating the product 5 stars based upon the similar CW300.

Posted at November 11, 2003 07:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)