Customer Reviews

Alienware AW8835DAP 1 GB MP3 Player

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Received the CE-IV for Christmas and I was so glad to see it. I couldn't wait to play with it. I have found several things that I thought everyone should know before purchasing this player and returning it like I had too.

PROS: Great sound. The SRS WOW HD is wonderful to hear through any headset. The display is clear and crisp whit a smooth scrolling of two easy to read lines of ID3 text. The SD/MMC memory slot is located in the battery compartment under the back cover. The supplied headphone sounds equally as good in the earphone port or the line-out port. Two different outputs for the earphones located in different places is a big plus for me; especially because they both can be used simultaneously for two people to enjoy the great sounding music.

CONS: The case face and back are PLASTIC with an aluminum band around the circumference of the player, which is misleading because the product description details the player as aluminum. I am returning the player for this next simple but important reason, which is USB 1.1 compatibility ONLY and NOT the 2.0 as advertised. It takes a full 30 minutes to upload songs to this player. Yes, I have a USB 2.0 PC and read/write rate is painfully slow. I could burn a CD and play it on another device before this thing is ready to go. I tried to find a new firmware version for this player to update the v2.521 file transfer software on the player but the Alienware support site is a NIGHTMARE for anyone who did not buy something directly from them (i.e. Amazon). I cannot even view what my firmware is supposed to be on the Alienware site. I'm not counting on them to come to my rescue any time soon. There is NO support for folders or play lists, which would really help search through 500 songs one by one. There is no capability to add or delete FM radio station programmed channels. The only method to add a preset channel is to use the auto program function then go back and reassign those channels to the stations you want manually. The big bummer for me is that the upgradeable SD/MMC memory slot only recognizes up to 512 MB cards. Now I cannot add my 1 GB SD card and double my available memory but without folder support I guess this keeps me from going insane trying to find one song in a thousand.

Alienware has really disappointed me and let me down with this player. I hope that they can fix these issues soon because they are still the only high-end manufacturer that makes an MP3 player with extendable memory capabilities (even though its only 512 MB).

I cant help but love this thing, it has simple controls, looks awesome, holds enough, and these are the best earphones ive ever had. DO NOT get this if you are going to be rough with it. The plastic on the face cracks easily in the cold im sorry to say, but i still love this player.

I just picked one up from Fry's, the 1 GB model for $100.

The pros:

Long battery life, ability to use an SD card to increase capacity (1 GB built-in and plus I am using a 1 GB SD card), good price, because it uses a single "AAA" battery I don't worry about having to recharge it, SRS sound, great headphones, light weight, easy to use buttons, two headphone jacks, no problems uploading via a standard USB cable, good display, built-in FM radio tuner, built-in mic.

The cons:

Feels cheap, fingerprints really show, no rechargeble battery, no handle, no case, no way to attach a lanyard, gray-scale display, much buckier than a Nano, and because of the way it is built, it is susceptible to lint and dust.

I like it but I am not sure that I want to keep it. I think it is a lot of bang for the buck but I really looks and feels cheap!

Ok, the thing is plastic. Still, the SRS HD sound is AMAZING. It uploaded things just fine for me. I haven't had a problem with the EQ button. Controls are pretty simple, especially compared to others I could mention (Iriver T series, for example). It locks easily, which is nice. The included headphones are nice, especially given the relative junkiness of the ones Ipod, Creative, and Rio all provide. It's WMA compatible, and it works with Audible as well.

This is my first foray into flash players, but I have now owned 3 different hard drive based players and had serious problems with all of them. This one is the most resiliant to bumps and drops (I keep it in a neoprene case from case-logic) of the players I've owned. I recommend it if you want to be able to delete music on the fly, play a decent amount of tracks, and have a level of control over how they sound.

I bought this unit for my son after his brother read about its superior sound. A little hard to compare because it doesn't work at all. Never did!

I've been trying to get my money back for 3 months. After 2 days on the phone, all they gave me was long distance toll number to call. After quizzing me to make sure I knew how to install a battery and turn it on, I was given an address in St. Louis that I must send it to at my expense. I specifically asked for a return number. The rep assured me that they did not use them. Their facility wouldn't accept it.

It sat in a St. Louis Post Office till February waiting for them to pick it up. I was later told that I had listened to a inexperienced customer rep. I mentioned that it was the exact same address listed for returns on their website! Here's the best part. They denied my return because I didn't return it within 30 days.

I have resent it, again, at my expense to their Fla. facility.

Still no refund, no explanation.

Player looks really good, is nice and small. headphones are really comfortable they sound great. FM is good. Recordings with Mic sound really good. The one thing that really disppointed me about this player is that according to the manual that comes with it, it only support SD cards of up to 512MB, which they don't specify in the description of the player. I really liked the idea of being able to use SD cards, but 512MB is pretty disappointing!!, when other similar players support up to 2Gb. SD slot is under battery compartment which would add unnecessary wear on the battery cover and it will probably break easily.
This player comes with Headphones only(white with some silver), and nothing else, no software, there is a charger available for it you have to purchase separately.

I bought it because I have an Alienware computer and have been very happy with it, this has been a good player but not on the same level as their computers. It playes MP3s, it has been durable, will it change the world or set the bar... no, but it was fair price.

I thought Alienware had something great with this player. I was wrong. Out of the box the player operated fine at the inital start up, but when I tested the EQ button the player shut down. This did not happen each time I pushed this button, but enough to warrent me returning to the vendor (not Amazon). I tried Alienware support but received no response, tried again in 24 hours, still no response three days later (disappointing).

Sound from the player was great, FM radio worked good. I did not try the SD expansion slot. Plastic case will become a problem, I could see the battery lid breaking after repeated use. This player was made to be thrown away at the end of it's (short) life.

I would not recommend this player for purchase.

If the product works properly then it is probably ok, but not in the league of an IPOD. Like all Alienware products it is far more style than substance.

But if you need tech support - watch out! They will do everything they can to convince you it's your fault even when it never worked properly in the first place. They will try to talk you through getting it to operate properly, but they will do nothing that costs them money to fix it.

I remember having this mp3 player like 4 years ago. it only lasted me 2 months and i barely used it. 1st the headphone jack completely died, only one ring made contact. 2nd the mp3 player itself died magicaly soon after. I hated that u cudnt scroll thru ur music, it was as useful as a shuffle. dont waste ur money on this. go buy a creative mp3 player. who in their right mind buys an alienware mp3 player. to my defence i was like 13 and thought it wud scroll making it a pretty good mp3 player as long as it worked. cheap piece of cr*p.