Customer Reviews

Compaq PA-1 iPaq Personal Audio Player

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

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.

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.

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

I have been living with this unit for about 2 months now, so I think I've discovered just about all the good and bad about this player.

First the bad stuff:

1) You WILL damage the player and the memory chips just trying to open the box, and you WILL also lacerate your hands with the sharp knife you'll need to cut the plastic.

2) This player does NOT work with Music Match which has been tested as one of the the most error-free CD rippers around. You must use the Windows Media Player to download. Compaq also says in their manual to not download over 160/kbps files, so if high quality mp3 file playing is a priority, dont get this unit.

3) The player failed to play some variable bit rate files I have that play just fine in Music Match and WMP.

4) The volume control is a BIG negative. It wont play softly, and when you do play it softly the sound is very grainy. If you are planning on listening yourself to sleep, you wont get it to play quietly. An analog volume control would have been nice.

5) The bass response of the headphones is inadequate, you'll need to purchase different headphones.

6) The power of the amplifier is too low to prevent clipping at higher volumes.

Now the good stuff:

1) Its small and light enough for you to not know its there

2) No nasty hard drives to skip

3) Good ergonomics and simple to follow menus

4) I can dance with it, which was my top priority in an mp3 player, to be able to rehearse in a crowded studio with my own music.

I recieved this for Christmas and have been hooked since. Overall this is a wonderful piece of electronic equipment, albight a few minor problems. However, considering the infacy of this technology I would have to say this is one of the better buys on the market right now.

It is small enough to fit in the pocket of your jacket, with the headphones, making it great to carry around all the time. The amount of memory is sufficient (I have 16 songs on it right now), while many of the less expensive players simply do not come with enough. The function of the controls are also quite apparant. The Rio software that comes with it is also easy to figure out, unless you are completely unaccustomed to windows programs. Most importantly it sounds phenominal.

A few problems do exist. One: What ever happened to packaging such as a cardboard box and styrofoam? My God...I think law enforcment agencies around the country should begin research tests on what ever the packaging is, as an alternative to Kevlar in their bullet proof vests. Someone is going to loose a finger trying to open this thing. Also, Compaq needs to put an AC jack in the player, so you don't have to waste expensive batteries while uploading songs into it. The upload time is also slower than I expected.

Overall Compaq did a great job with this one, and if they fix these problems I believe they could make one of the best players on the market the best player.

This is my 3rd mp3 player, and this is the best one yet. It is very small and very light. You can barely notice it. The sound is terrific and the headphones are great. The only problem I can see with this mp3 player is the battery life. Not as long as I expected it would be. Also since its so small, those of you that have huge paws might not like the size of the buttons. Other than that, this is a great mp3 player...

I have had my Compaq MP3 for about a month and let me tell you, it is the easiest thing I have ever used. Not only ins the quality good, but so are the earphones that come with it eliminating the need to replace them like most other MP3's. If anyone asked me for a recomendation about a MP3 to buy, I would tell them this one because its sound quality is awsome and it is really easy to use (even the downloading)

This player is great..... The sound quality is as good as it gets, and it's amazing how small the player is. I use it at the gym and when snowboarding, it will never skip and works wonderfully. I upgraded it to 128MB of memory and now I can put well over 50 songs on it.

I wanted a small, lightweight, rugged mp3 player to take jogging - and this fits the bill. I've dropped this thing a few times (mostly when my dog realizes it's time to go running and starts jumping up on me) and it has not been damaged. It clips inside my shorts pocket easily and is so lightweight I don't have to worry about it pulling my pants down during a run.

The earbuds are annoying and have overall poor audio quality - I use a lightweight Sony "in the ear" type while jogging and they work much better. I agree with a lot of the other reviews - the download time is a little long with the provided software, but I now use MusicMatch and am happier (you can download a module for MusicMatch to allow connectivity with the iPaq).

Since high quality audio is not too critical to me while running, I can use a lower setting ("FM quality" not "CD quality") and get almost two hours of audio on the two 32 MB cards included. This is more than enough for my needs, and I only change out the music every two or three weeks. However, a minor complaint I have with the system is that it is not powered by the USB connection - it drains the batteries while you are downloading songs. To compund the problem, the auto-off function is disabled while a USB connection is detected - so only turn the thing on when you are ready to dowload songs and turn it off as soon as you are finished. If you connect it and leave it on while you are working on the computer setting up playlists, it eats up batteries.

I am not a high-tech user - just wanted something simple and reliable, but upgradable if/when new audio formats came out. This is a great device for that.

The Compaq ipaq pa-1 is great. I researched many players before I decided on this one. I actually bought a Rio 600 first but returned it because it didn't hold much music. The Compaq holds over 100 minutes in .wma format on the two 32mb cards. The download speed isn't really that slow - it's a lot faster than burning a CD - only takes a few minutes. I also don't have the same problem with batteries as the other reviewers - I use the Duracell Ultra from a warehouse club and get about 10 hours on each set of 2. The size is great - we took it to Europe this summer and used it while traveling for 5 weeks - the player is small, lightweight and has great sound. Now I use it daily at work. I did replace the headphones... The only thing missing is a radio tuner. Overall this is a great player. Highly recommended.