I/O Magic MP3 Player (DR-MP3JK20)

by I/OMagic

Product Details

• Item Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005UKAQ
• Item model number: DR-MP3JK20
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #422,906 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

This has to be the ultimate personal jukebox! The built-in 20GB hard drive can store up to 600 CDs worth of your favorite music and put it in the palm of your hand. You can quickly upload or download songs through the USB port and be on your way. One thing is clear: road trips will never be the same.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jack of all trades, December 11, 2001

By 

tropic_of_criticism - See all my reviews

This review is from: I/O Magic MP3 Player (DR-MP3JK20) (Electronics)

In the four months I've owned this puppy, I've managed to put it through its paces across several different platforms. And there are many good things to report about the Neo Jukebox. But there are a few serious disappointments as well.

First, the bad. Though advertised as "Mac compatible", it is, strictly speaking, PowerPC compatible. That is, it takes advantage of the fact that Macs have the ability to read PC-formatted disks. This is not the same, in my mind, as true Mac compatibility, because it means that you may encounter problems if you change its basic boot information in any way from its factory configuration. Indeed, I have lost all ability to see this drive on my Macintosh simply because I renamed it. Nor can it be reformatted as a Mac disk. Worst of all, the documentation gives Mac users only a cursory inclusion, and the supporting website is clearly weighted towards PC (and, really, Win 9x) users.

It's not that this device doesn't work properly under the Mac OS. It's that it works inflexibly. You can't really change it from its out-of-the-box configuration if you're using it on a Mac, and that's unfortunate.

Another problem: lag time. Navigation through songs on this device is sometimes noticibly slow. It can take several seconds to climb out of one folder and into another--which can be a problem if you intend using this to facilitate any kind of public performance. There's also the issue of organization. It can take you a little while to get all your music in an order that makes navigation faster. Because the Neo Jukebox organizes simply alphabetically, it can be hard, at first, figuring out the best way to organize your files. Importantly, too, this device will play only mp2 and mp3 files. You can store files of any kind, but these are the only it will recognize as playable.

These problems aside, however, there's much to cheer about this device.

It's extremely durable. I've been able to take it everywhere without problems. The included carrying case and hard outer shell of the device itself do a lot to protect it from damage.

It also has a huge amount of space. 20 GB is the standard amount, which is well beyond that of most MP3 players. Even better, this amount can be expanded, later, by buying a bigger capacity drive and slipping it into place. The expandability of this device isn't widely publicized, even by I/O Magic, but theoretically, you could build an infinitely massive library of music--as long as you didn't mind having it divided up into 20-40GB blocks. I could well see this as an excellent way to back up an entire radio station's music library without taking up any more space than a shoebox.

Unlike the problems mentioned above with Macs, this thing works like a dream on Windows-based machines. I've never had the slightest problem getting this thing recognized by Win 95/98SE/2000. Transfers of small numbers of files are very fast, but the initial transfer of all your music from your computer to your Jukebox can be an overnight affair.

However, if you're going to be doing any kind of massive backup, you may find it useful to buy a laptop drive adapter and simply plug it into your motherboard, completely bypassing the USB hookup. This will cut your transfer time to mere minutes. Also, it will allow you to repartition your drive and fully re-format it in the case of periodic problems that eventually befall most hard drives.

Finally, there's the sheer versatility of the Neo. You can use it to port any kind of file. This makes it essentially like buying a jukebox and an Iomega Peerless all in one--at a cheaper price. You can take it running with you. You can plug it into your car's stereo system (with an add-on adapter). You can even run it through your home stereo system. It even comes with a full version of MusicMatch, a powerful competitor to Apple's beloved music management software, iTunes. Long lacking in the Windows enviornment, you'll finally be able to have complete control over your music library with a single interface. In some ways, this included software (or at least its latest incarnation) provide more features than iTunes, including the very useful feature of normalizing tracks. This defeats one of the major problems of digitalized music: songs having widely varying volumes.

The Neo Jukebox is thus a powerful performer with some important limitations. On balance, it's probably the best total solution to your portable digital needs. There are other devices which are better mp3 players for Mac users, or that transfer files faster out of the box, or even that switch between files faster. But there's really not another product that will let you do as many as many different things on as many different platforms--and that come in as sturdy a box--as the NeoJukebox. The only one that currently comes close is Creative's Nomad player, so be sure you take a look at that model when shopping. Mac users should really consider the iPod as well, because, even though it doesn't have quite the same capacity, its FireWire connecftivity and complete compatibility with the MacOS and iTunes itself make up for the lower capacity.

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best one out there!, September 14, 2002

By 

Albert Earle Settle (Ensenada, Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I/O Magic MP3 Player (DR-MP3JK20) (Electronics)

I have owned the NEO Jukebox for over a year now and can now say that I have somewhat mastered the rig! I recently changed the hard drive from a 20gb, which came with the NEO to a 30gb IBM Travelstar. I have over 6000 songs on the 30gb and am quite happy with it. I have an aux. in on my car stereo to which I connected a "splitter" from "The Shack" and together with another "splitter" for the line out (headset) on the NEO I have complete compatability with my Car Stereo. This was the main reason for going thru the exercise of adapting to my car stereo. I now have sufficient sounds for any length trip into the unknown with no more accompanying "commercial" necessities and the unit plays flawlessly. Compared to the "overly advertised" IPOD and the overpriced Archos, I would say there is no competition for the NEO!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Useless player and unhelpful incompetent staff, January 6, 2003

By 

[e-mail] (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I/O Magic MP3 Player (DR-MP3JK20) (Electronics)

I bought this about 1 year ago and have had to send the unit back 6 times so far. Every time I send it back it takes at least 4 weeks before it is returned to me. To date I have sent it back 3 times for the headphone jack (the ... headphones worked but the headphone socket has problems) and 3 times battery connection. The battery connections are very cheap and very fragile. Just putting the battery in could cause them to snap. It has now been over 2 months since I have sent it back and it looks like they have lost my unit. Now they refuse to refund me as I have had it for too long. I have notified the FTC (US consumer protection as far as I can figure out).

The menu system is NOT user-friendly, it regularly freezes or pauses even when just walking with it. The headphones are very cheap (as mentioned). If I could give it negative stars I would, it is a zero out of ten, a zero out of a google. Don't waste your money on this! Burn it,it would bemore interesting and giveyou more gratification.