- Small, lightweight digital audio player--size of a pager
- Supports MP3, WMA, and AAC--upgradable to new formats
- Bundled software makes it easy to organize and play music
- Shuffle/repeat functions, backlit LCD screen
- Fast USB connection
Technical Details
Product Details
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Product Description
Amazon.com Review
Compaq's Personal Audio Player PA-1 has most of the features one looks for when buying a portable MP3 player--a compact design, backlit display, and 64 MB of expandable memory--but unfortunately comes up short in sound quality. The sturdy little player measures only 2.7 by 2.1 by 0.8 inches and comes with all the software and cables you need to start transferring MP3, WMA, and AAC files right away. It can run for more than 12 hours on a pair of AAA batteries under ideal circumstances and comes with a handy belt clip for listening on the go. The solid-state design uses no moving parts, meaning that it won't skip when jostled and it's less susceptible to breaking if dropped.
The backlit LCD scrolls the track number and title of the song that's currently playing. It also shows the volume level, battery strength, and selected playback mode (regular, shuffle, or repeat). Dedicated volume buttons on the front can also be used to change the bass and treble levels, or you can choose the jazz, rock, or classical presets. We didn't notice much difference between these modes and used either the default or custom settings for most of our songs.
Overall, the sound quality from the player didn't match the crispness displayed by the best players we've tested, and the flat bass response was particularly disappointing. It's hard to notice with the wimpy earbud headphones that come with the iPAQ, but it's immediately apparent when a more capable set of headphones is connected to the device.
The PA-1 comes with 64 MB of memory, but it's split into two 32 MB Multimedia Cards (MMC). This makes managing music far more involved than it would be if 64 MB of contiguous memory was included, because each card must be filled separately. Although the product uses a USB connection to communicate with the PC, transfer rates were a little sluggish. It took more than six minutes to fill one of the 32 MB cards, but reformatting a card to make room for more music took only a few seconds.
Overall, the PA-1 is easy to use, its expandability is nice, and it would be a good choice for those who listen mainly to pop and other types of music that don't rely on deep bass lines. --T. Byrl Baker
Pros:
- Plays WMA and AAC files in addition to MP3 tracks
- Memory is expandable
- Excellent battery life
Cons:
- Included headphones have virtually no bass response
- Overall playback quality is somewhat flat relative to the best players in this price range
Amazon.com Product Description
The iPAQ PA-1 digital audio player is light and compact, about the size of a pager. It includes two 32 MB MultiMediaCards (MMC) for 64 MB of total memory, for about an hour of near CD quality audio. It supports the most popular audio formats, including MP3, Windows Media Audio (WMA), and Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), and it can be upgraded online to support future formats.
Player functions include shuffle, repeat, and an equalizer with rock, jazz, and classical presets. It features an LCD screen with backlighting.
The PA-1 downloads at top speed from your desktop PC via a USB connection. The desktop software also features one-touch access to the iCAST Web site so you can easily search for music downloads, Internet radio, and entertainment news and reviews. Software on CD-ROM also helps you customize your music selection.
The PA-1 comes with a USB cable, two AAA batteries, earphones, software on CD-ROM, and a belt clip. This player is covered by a one-year warranty.
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great player overall,
By
This review is from: Compaq PA-1 iPaq Personal Audio Player (Office Product)
Just got this player a few days ago and everything worked perfectly out of the box the first time out. Downloading is fast and easy and fairly simple to use/ However, the Rioport Audio Manager they ship with the player could be better. It only allows you to copy 50 mp3 files before you have to pay their "nominal" fee; otherwise, it provides unlimited recording in Windows Media files. It's a bit slow too.So I just copy my CD's using Real Jukebox (I can get rip rates up to 8x at 96kps, which is a lot faster than Rioport) and transfer them over. That has sped up the process quite a bit and I can still fit 28-30 songs onto the memory cards. Just a note: since the two cards are 32 megs each, if you have 2 megs left on the first card and a 3 meg song, you have to record it onto the second card so you won't ever really get 64 total megs. I took the player jogging with me and it worked great--it's especially light so I could just clip it onto my shorts with no problem. If you are a runner, this is the player to buy. I am extremely happy with it so far.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If only they'd had these things years ago...,
By Eric Strong (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Compaq PA-1 iPaq Personal Audio Player (Office Product)
After I made up my mind that I wanted an mp3 player, I got on the internet to do my research and ended up going with the Compaq iPAQ. So far it's proven to be a great investment. It's light years better than any portable cassette player I've ever had. It's small, it looks really cool and like all the other reviewers say, never skips. When I read what people said about how hard it is to get it out of the plastic wrap, I arrogantly assumed I would be smarter than all of them and get it out in no time but the exact opposite was true. That thing is in there almost to stay and extracting it without damaging it takes a sure hand, 15-20 minutes of your day and a lot of patience, but it is possible. The pros of the unit, as I see them, include: the RioPort software that comes with the unit is easy to use. If you can click a mouse, you can load music on to the player. Just make sure you follow the instruction manual that comes with the player. Downloading music on to the player can be done quickly, the available bass and treble output is good, and the push-button controls make it next to impossible for the player to get turned on accidentally. The importance of this will be clear once you realize the size of the player's appetite for batteries, which tops the list of negatives. Battery life is not all it could be and Compaq's claim of 10 hours is, at best, inaccurate. Using the player solely to listen to music, five or six hours is about the best I've managed. Also, unlike a cassette deck for a home stereo, the mp3 player has no recording levels to set. That means that during playback, the user must adjust and readjust the volume. Also, the port into which the USB cord is inserted remains uncovered, potentially allowing who-knows-what to get in there. Anyone who is fussy about their toys will likely find this a little distressing. Potential buyers will be interested to know that the player's memory cards do not both have to be the same capacity for the player to work. Right now one of my player's cards is 64MB and the other is 32MB. The larger cards are pretty pricy. Anyone in the States who wants to buy bigger cards might want to take advantage of the stronger American dollar by purchasing their cards through a Canadian retailer. If you want a web address e-mail me at snowdog47@home.com. I should also mention that this thing can really play loud, if that's what you're looking for, I have never needed to turn it up as loud as it can go. The player will also let you use other headphones. I use the ones I got for my Walkman a few years ago. For some reason when playing music, wav files from CDs I scanned on to the computer's hard disk sound a little tinny, like someone is ringing sleigh bells in the background. MP3 files, gleaned from a popular online file-swapping service which is currently under seige in the courts, sound crystal clear, like listening to a CD. If you're looking to replace a cassette player, like I was, with something more portable and with better sound, this is the way to go.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Product....but,
By Travis Bickel "vesser" (Fort, Lauderdale, FL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Compaq PA-1 iPaq Personal Audio Player (Office Product)
This is the first MP3 Player that I have bought. So far this thing has been great. The sound is great, the portability is great. There are a few things that I did not like thought. One, the battery life that they advertise is not right. It sucks up battery life like you would not believe when you are downloading music. Compaq, on their site admits to this. It is not SO bad that you have to change batteries every time that you download. But it is a good idea to keep some on-hand because you are going to need them. Second, the software that was included was very buggy on the install. I use Windows 98 with all patches and service packs and had a tough time getting it to work. I had to Install it, then uninstall it, than reboot and let it see it again and BAM. Works every time now. Also for you guys with Windows 2000, well..... They don't include the software on the CD..BUT it is available on their web site and works great (I use Win2k also, same install deal) So in this humble author's opinion. Good: 1. Great Size 2. Great disk space 3. Great sound Bad 1. Buggy software 2. Battery life 3. A little on the step side. (Money) 4. The headphones could be a better make
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