Customer Reviews

Nextar MA933A-2B 256 MB Digital MP3 Player (Blue)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been through 2 of these things, which I purchased as a low-cost MP3 player to help give my nice 60gb iPod Video a break from use during outdoor activities like walking or hiking -- A mistake. Sometimes it pays to actually spend some money and get something that will last, and I will never purchase merchandise made by Nextar ever again.

Within an hour of having the first player I put down my jacket with the player in it's pocket on my desk. I did not throw it down or anything, and when I removed the player from the jacket pocket it's playback window had shattered into hundreds of bits of glass. I returned it to Amazon & they replaced it without question.

The second player arrived with defective headphones, and rather than stick Amazon with a 2nd dead item I asked Nextar to simply replace the headphones via the "customer service" page at their website. The headphones probably cost the company about a nickle to make, and yet their response emailed back to me about 10 days later was a notice that I would need to call their "customer service" hotline and speak with a "customer service" representative about the problem and what sort of support might be available, and that I would need to have documentation of proof of sale before any "customer service" support would be offered.

So being the sucker I apparently am, I simply purchased a different set of headphones and got on with my life. The unit functioned as expected (with some reservations, see below) until yesterday when I switched it on and one of the audio channels had died -- not a headphone malfunction but within the unit itself. My estimation is that since the replacement had arrived I used the thing less than a dozen times, and tomorrow it will be returned for a partial refund, which I should have done upon getting the replacement with it's dead earbut. More fool me: I will never purchase Nextar products ever again.

One other peeve was that the listing info for the product states "COMPATIBILITY WITH MAC OSX". This is a crock. Macintosh uses a different kind of file name structure than Windows and whenever I would put songs on using my Mac (in both OSX 10.3 and classic 9.2.2), the unit would read the first track and then shut down with an 'ERROR' bulletin on the screen. The only way I was able to transfer songs onto the player and have them work was by using Virtual PC. The player was also strictly bare bones, with no kind of user software to create playlists or designate playback order: You simply loaded songs onto the player and listened to them in an arbitrary playback order based on the MP3 ID tags. I had meant to try fooling around with editing the tags to perhaps create my own choice of playback order but the thing has died before I had time.

To sum up, this player is pretty much only useful for Windows users who don't necessarily need to hear their music in both ear buds & have no aspiration towards creating their own playlist mixes. Tomorrow it is being returned to Amazon for a partial refund -- I will not waste my time dealing with Nextar's "customer support" team -- and I will find myself a player that I can count on to work for me and not require high maintenance attention to it's basic functions. Nice job.

When I bought this player, I kind of gamble because of the price -trying to get something for nothing, but I was wrong. I'm able to download music from from my personal cd collections as well as selections I downloaded from the net. It's a cinch to operate and user friendly format for the most inept consumer. The only substandard function is the headphones, so I just upgraded to a pair of Sony's plugs, which enhanced the sound greatly. You can't go wrong with this mp3 player.

This player doesn't work with Windows Media Player. This player works by dragging files in Windows Explorer so any protected content WMAs will only cause a format error. If you are only playing songs you took off your own CDs then this player should work fine, but if you have any music you've downloaded from a Napster type service then you are out of luck.

I am giving this little player five stars because of its value to cost ratio. This unit 1) Supports ALL MP formats plus WMA and WAV 2) Has multiple equalizer settings (seven band) 3) Has multiple playback modes 4) Can serve as a voice recorder 5) Has visual picture menu 6) Has ID3 tagging (which displays as the song is being played) 7) Displays song lyrics if the LRC file is downloaded. Plus other features - all for $16. The first thing that you need to do when you receive this player is throw away the "ear bud" headphones - they are worthless. With a nice pair of bass/digital headphones, this unit has a startling beautiful sound. The volume is adequate, but not exceptional loud. That's probably because if the amplification was louder, you would have to put a new battery in every thirty minutes. Plus, they probably do not want to get sued for damaging your hearing. If you want it loud, plug it into a set of powered computer speakers - yes, that works. I'm already happy with this thing. If it lasts for a year, I'll be REALLY happy. Check out the other colors that this player comes in. The red one is very attractive.

This MP3 player I bought for my oldest daughter as a Christmas present. So far (1 week) it's worked great! She didn't turn it off after playing with it for the 1st two days in a row, so the AAA batteries died of course. I read the manual, and learned how to maneuver thru the menu choices. It now turns it off by itself in 5 mins. every time when she's done listening. The 3rd battery has lasted for several days now. It uses just one AAA battery.

The sound quality is very good, but she uses a set of headphones instead of the ear pods that came with the unit. Headphones sound MUCH better with all MP3 players. Just buy a light-weight pair, and they'll work fine. The menus are easy to learn, and new songs are easily added via your PC's USB port. This player appears to be well made. Ours hasn't been dropped (yet), so I can't inform you of its durability. The control buttons are nice & sturdy.

I would give it 5 Stars, but we haven't owned it long enough yet to see if it'll last.

The Bottom Line:

I'm going to buy another one as a birthday gift for my other daughter.

This is a great little inexpensive MP3 player IMO...

I bought this for my husband for Christmas. He uses it at the gym. Great for the money. Easy to download songs. Sound quality from ear buds is not great, but he swapped out the headphones from his CD player. I have "borrowed" it so many times for walks, that I am finally breaking down and buying one for myself.

Wanted something inexpensive for the little one. He loves listening to his own music and can run it without a problem.

honestly I expected for the player to be below par for the price, but was delighted to discover I was incorrect. Definately one for the working class, otherwise I couldn't afford it.

Cute, reliable, compact and easy to use. The only thing I did not like is that it is not compatable with Napster.

If you use the WAV setting on recordings, this little unit is very nice as a podcast recorder.