Lexar MPC-231 JumpGear MP3 Digital Music Player for JumpDrive Sport (No Memory Included)

by Lexar

Product Details

Product Manual [1.39mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001CFSX6
• Item model number: MPC-231
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)

Product Description

LEXAR MPC-231 -- As a JumpDrive Sport user, you'll definitely want this fun, functional accessory. The JumpGear MP3 plays your favorite music stored on your JumpDrive Sport. Package includes earbud headphones, 2 AAA batteries, manual

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

95 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Starting to love it..., October 25, 2004

By 

LJak (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lexar MPC-231 JumpGear MP3 Digital Music Player for JumpDrive Sport (No Memory Included) (Electronics)

I got this player from amazon a month ago.
I have a Dell Jukebox 15gb too. So my comparisons would be based on that and clarify some other reviews on this website. I try not to repeat saying stuff in other reviews.
* This player uses a directory tree structure for navigation. So you can have any subfolder in the folders.
* You can have data files in the same folders as the music files or in seperate folders. These data files won't be recognised by the mp3 player, hence reducing the hassle of having to find out "playable" files.
* The sound with the stock headphones was good (better than the dell player)
* You can't get a better deal for an mp3 player as of now. I got a 1gb mp3 player for less than 100 bucks!!! The only competitor is Sandisk but they don't have a 1gb usb drive. But that player looks better.
* You want to FF a song (Keep press the FF button)
* You want to jump to the next song (press the FF button once)

Things not explained in the user guidelines.
* You can add 1 bookmark to each file. The way to do this is not described in the user guidelines. ITS NOT IN THE MENU either. You have to keep pressed the volume button for a few seconds till the bookmark menu pops up.
* To go to a bookmark - Play the file and then keep press the FF button, it will find the bookmark.
* If you are inside a menu and want to return to the main screen - press the play button once.
* If you are inside a menu and you want to come back one step out, press the REW button.
* To power off the device, keep the play button pressed until the shutdown screen comes up.

Temporary feedback......
Now in between I get an error message saying "jumpdrive not inserted" or "searching root directory" . I will come back and edit this and remove these lines once I get some answers rather than just post a bad review about this. Thanks

Update on the above problem : The customer service told me to format the jumpdrive once and see if the problem comes up again. I didn't format it yet as I didn't face the problem after that day.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars bookmark problem, October 9, 2004

By 

Steve - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lexar MPC-231 JumpGear MP3 Digital Music Player for JumpDrive Sport (No Memory Included) (Electronics)

It's a great little device for simple MP3 playing.

***Earphones***
The earphones are metal, very good quality, and sturdy. They fit snug enough to stay in my ears for jogging, but their nice, solid weightiness seems to give them enough momentum to come out during bouncing activity for some people. They should have made the plug L-shaped instead of straight so that it doesn't stick so far out from the unit.

***Strapping It Down***
There is absolutely no place to clip, strap, or string the device to secure it, so pressure on the earphone plug is a potential problem if kept in a pants pocket (pressure and bumps could make the connections in the jack come loose). But if your pants pocket is roomy and not tight against your thigh, it is not a problem. I have bumped it a few times and it is still a very study jack and plug. For the adventurous, a hole could be drilled in the plastic port for a string (necklace).

***Bookmarks***
A bookmark is set by pressing and holding the volume knob for a second, which isn't in the instructions. The Lexar's bookmark function only works for the first 6 MB of audio because that is its memory limit when loading a file. For example, a voice MP3 (32 kbps quality) can be bookmarked anywhere, but it only works for the first 30 minutes (30 minutes is 6 MB at 32 kbps). The fast-forward goes at a rate of 15 minutes per 1 minute of holding down the fast-forward button. The button is very firm and I can barely hold it down for a minute without having to change fingers. It's a barely-tolerable situation for audio books, unless you break the files into 6 MB files using an MP3 splitter - do a web search on "mega MP3 splitter" to find a free program that will split large files. If you want to read books from the internet, Textaloud is the program to convert them to big or small MP3 files. Reversing will not start at the end of a file. For bookmarks within the first 6 MB, you have to wait 5 seconds after pressing play before the bookmark can be found because it takes 5 seconds to load the 6 MB. It's finished loading when the green light stops flashing.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Greate idea, can't beat the price, September 23, 2004

By 

audiobookfan "audiobookfan" (Mount Prospect,IL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lexar MPC-231 JumpGear MP3 Digital Music Player for JumpDrive Sport (No Memory Included) (Electronics)

The idea of this MP3 is great, memory card and player are totally separate, so you can upgrade either. It servs as a MP3 player and a portable drive at the same time, no cable, no software needed.

One note, you do need to use a software like Media player or MusicMatch to export a playlist to make sure the tracks are played in the desired sequence. Otherwise it plays the tracks based on the time of the track file, it may not be what you want.

The price of this MP3 player is unbeatable, I paid about 100 bucks for this and a 512MB card, if you buy other flash MP3 you can not get 128MB. Yes the display is small, and it does not have any bell and whistle, but it gets job done. It is best suitable for audio book listening because of the simple menu, for music it is not as easy to navigate as Rio but still OK. For the price it is a no brainer.

Now the bad things:
1. though you can make bookmarks, they are for each file, you still need to navigate until you reached the track to use the bookmark, there is no way to jump from the beginning of a play list to the bookmark directly.

2. the case for the jump drive exposed a big portion of the card so it looks kind of bizarre, I'd prefer there is a cover and do not mind to pay a few bucks more.