RCA Lyra 128 MB MP3 Player
[Archived in $0 - $100, Audio, Over 65 MB MP3 Players, Products, RCA]
Manufacturer: RCA
Price at amazon.com:
Used & new from $65.00List price $119.99
- 128 MB built-in memory stores up to 4 hours of mp3PRO encoded music
- MP3 and WMA playback, and mp3PRO ready
- External SC/MMC slot for expandable memory
- 2-line LCD display
- Comes with a sports armband, e.clipz headphones, and USB cable
Product Description:
Average Customer Rating:
Comment: Not the most gorgeous, but I love it Rating:
My husband wanted to get me an MP3 player so I finally decided on this one because of it's itty bitty size, clear cut design, button placement (I have acrylic nails and those 4-way joy stick buttons can be a nightmare!) and enclosed carrying strap/case. I love it. It's easy to put songs on and operate. My gripes are that it stores the songs in the order it wants, not how you want them or put them on so I usually listen to it on Random. I tried numbering the tracks before their name when I loaded them but that didn't work. I haven't used the expansion slot yet because I only load about 2 hours worth of music on at a time. The carrying case is boring blue but comfortable and it needs a plastic window because you can only get to the volume buttons (on the side) easily. Sometimes I try to Skip and instead I Pause because I'm pressing through the fabric at where I think the button is. Lastly, I don't like the battery life indicater. I use rechargeables so cost isn't an issue but after one song on a freshly charged battery the indicater goes down to half and stays like that for a long time until it finally just turns off.
I don't use the provided headphones because I love my 12 year old Sony's. I do recommend also getting a Belkin transmitter (about $30) so you can play it through your car stereo.
Comment: Very impressive performance at under $100 Rating:
Having been a "holdout" for the last couple of years at getting an mp3 compact unit, my resistance finally folded when the cost of the RCA Lyra dropped under $90.
Like many here, I researched several different players and decided upon this one for two simple reasons:
1) Sound quality of RCA products that I have purchased previously. RCA does a terrific job of audio fidelity and this unit is terrific at rendering the highs/lows and everything in between.
2) Expandability through the use of SD cards. Most mp3 players that are under $100 do NOT have expandability, and this one does through the use of secure digital cards. Since my digital camera also uses this media, I already had a card that could become dual purpose.
I've had the unit for over one month and it works just as advertised. It is recognized as an external hard drive by my Dell Windows XP computer - no special software needed, just plug and play - and I can drag Windows Media files directly into the unit (via USB port) or onto an SD card and insert the card directly into the Lyra. The music starts without any other configuration.
At 128 bit rate, the unit (without an additional sd card) holds about 30 songs of average length. I then used my computer to convert some cds to the WMA 64 bit rate and was able to increase the number of files on the basic Lyra (again, without any additional memory) by about 60%.
I've since added a 256 mb sd card (I would recommend Panasonic, since they are made in Japan - not in China, which has quality control problems) and now my unit holds well over 120 songs - about 7 hours worth in a unit that is about the size of three AA batteries side by side.
Amazing.
In terms of battery life, one AAA battery - which is all that is needed - lasts about 6 to 7 hours. I particularly like the supplied arm band carrying strap...perfect for walking, hiking, running. I use the unit every day to exercise with and it has significantly increased my pleasure - when listening to music tracks one forgets about the time and effort when you are out walking or jogging.
I've ALREADY gotten my money's worth and I think that if you're in the market for this type of unit, you'd be hard pressed to replicate the quality of audio, the size, and the expandability with anything other than this Lyra.
A terrific little gem that EXCEEDED my expectations - which were fairly high.
Comment: Customer Service is not a toll free number Rating:
I know my situation probably is a rarity, I hope! But within a day the player had started acting up. The player simply turned itself off. I had checked the troubleshooting and it stated the only reason the power would go off is if the battery was low; that wasn't the case - I had used the battery that came with the player and also purchased a new battery, that didn't resolve the problem. Next suggestion said to reset the player, I did, that didn't solve the problem either. Well the next suggestion was to mail it in; however, I didn't want to give up that easily. So I formatted the media and upgraded the firmware - that too didn't work. I then called customer service - the number a 1-560 number, I was told was not a toll-free number, I had waited about half an hour at a cost to my own- only to receive a script out of the manual.
The RCA Lyra sports a stylus design, I wouldn't mind having this player strapped to my risk during my daily run. The player's memory can be expanded via SD memory card - at a cost of about a hundred dollars for a 512 MB SD card. I wouldn't purchase the Lyra for memory capacity. The player itself cost a hundred dollars, add in a 512 MB SD card and the total comes up to two hundred dollars and you only get 640 MB. It would have be much better if you purchase an IPod at $299 ($269 for students) you get 15 GB (that over 23 times more memory for just 69 dollars more ) or a IPod Mini, a perfect combination portability and hard drive, for $249 ($229 for students) and 9 times the memory at 4 GB.
If you have no desire to add memory to the player, as I do, this player is probably most economical for you. However, if you want to add memory, I would highly recommend you go straight to IPod or IPod mini or other MP3 player with a hard drive, instead, to get the most bang for you buck.
The player comes with MusicMatch whic is a pretty decent software. Installation was a breeze and loading songs were relative fast and easy. Now only if the player would work! I have sent the player back to RCA at my own expense. This player has given me more headache than it's worth. If given a second chance I would not purchase this player again. I don't I'll purchase any else from RCA either. This is the only company I know that does not have a toll free number for it's customer service. RCA SHAPE UP!
Posted at November 11, 2003 06:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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