Customer Reviews

Philips/Nike 512 MB Digital Audio Player with FM Radio and 10 Presets

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I've had my eye on this player for ages, but the price was always too high. I was aware of all the negative comments; however, if you read them carefully, the problems people are having stem from the software (99%). Based on this fact, I placed an order for 2 (one for me, one for my partner). Before these mp3 players were shipped, I went to Philips' web page and dowloaded the most recent software which includes a firmware upgrade and a "modified" musicmatch for the player. The manufacturer also knows that the software that was shipped with the initial units was not very useful. They specifically say that "the software that came with your mp3 is now outdated, please download this instead".

So, if you download the software from Philips webpage, it will install a program called "device manager". This program is for "updating" your firware. It also resets your device -if necessary. After the installation of device manager, the installer moves onto "musicmatch". If you dont mind having another multimedia player on your computer, musicmatch should work just fine. However, I've had enough of them and did not want to add another one... so, I stopped the installation at that step without installing musicmatch.

Today I received the units. It's just beautiful!!! I am not going to state everything that has been said here. The accessories are very innovative and well-designed. The sound is great!

Now going back to the issue that everyone is having: the software. First thing that you need to do is to start "device manager" program, then connect your player. The device is recognized and the "update" button is now clickable. Upgrading the firmware takes about 1 min. After that, all you need is windows media player. The device will be listed under windows media player; now you can drag songs to a "sync" area and transfer it to the device. That simple! You just have to be sure that the device you are syncing is named "nike+philips". Because, there will be another one called "flash". That one is for using the unit as a storage device. The sycnronization is not just a "drag and drop". In Windows Media Player, the songs are converted to a format that can be read by the player. Dont panic! It does not take that long... Transferring mp3 files from 1 full CD (192 bitrate) took around 3-4 min. That's it!!!

Bottom line: great mp3 player with wonderful design and accessories. The animation of the text on the screen may bother some people (not me). The price is just great!

I have been using the Philips/Nike PSA250 for about a month. I have had absolutely no problems with the mp3 player, and I am more than happy with my purchase. I love the 512MB capacity, its durability, the no look ability to operate the mp3 player on the run, and the player's easy to follow menu options. I know that there are a lot of complaints regarding the mp3 player, but I found that just by following the onscreen menu, I didn't need to even read the directions.

With that said, this is the point in the review that will let you decide if the PSA250 is really right for you. The PSA250 uses Musicmatch Jukebox as its software for downloading mp3's. Depending upon your perspective of using Musicmatch will pretty much make your decision easy as to buying or not buying the PSA250.

I haved used Musicmatch for 2 years now and I subscribe to its premium service, so for me, buying the mp3 player was a no brainer. I have used other Philps/Nike mp3 players in the past which also utilize Musicmatch and I gave them high ratings too. When the player arrived I had read all of the poor reviews of the PSA250, but I also noticed that the major complaint was with its software, not the player itself. Evidently Philips/Nike read the same reviews because they now ask you to download an updated version of its software and firmware from its web site. My advice, don't download any of their software or firmware for that matter. I stayed far away from their old and new software/firmware. I did not download anything from them. If you are currently using Musicmatch on your computer, simply click the Portable Device button. This will take you to a web site that will list(with pictures if you get confused)the correct device plugin needed to operate the PSA250. THAT IS ALL THAT IS NECESSARY TO OPERATE THE PSA250. Forget about Philips/Nike and utilize Musicmatch's plugin.

If you decide to buy the PSA250 and you are not currently running Musicmatch on your computer, I suggest going to the Musicmatch website and downloading the free version of Musicmatch. I believe 10 is the most up to date version of Musicmatch. DO NOT get or use the Musicmatch version from Philps/Nike. Once you have the free version of Musicmatch up and running, follow the same steps as I outlined above to download the correct device plugin. Musicmatch will allow you to create and download playlists, artists, or even use drag and drop. It is very easy to pickup how to operate Musicmatch.

That's my 2 cents. Take it or leave it, but that's what I did and what worked for me and I have had no trouble with my Nike mp3 player. Oh, by the way, the headphones that come with the player are a joke so I suggest an upgrade there. Booya......


***Important Update*** - Yahoo! has just purchased Musicmatch. Yahoo intends on switching existing and new customers to their own software, Yahoo! Music Unlimited. Therefore, the PSA250 will not be able to continue using Musicmatch for downloading mp3s. Based upon this new revelation, I would recommend not buying the PSA250......

The best thing about the PSA250 is the excellent build quality - durable metallic casing and rubberized buttons - much better than the cheap plastic most other MP3 players are made of. It also has a built in rechargeable battery (lithium, I think), which is nice. FM radio, bass boost and strobe light are all great features as well.

Unfortunately, the software interface is so horrible as to be nearly unusable. Seems like Nike/Philips spent all their R&D money on external construction then slapped together some truly slipshod software as an afterthought. While XP does recognize it as a removable flash drive (meaning you *can* drag and drop MP3's directly onto the unit via Windows Explorer), the PSA250 does not natively read the MP3 format. Ironically, the PSA250 is an MP3 player that does not play MP3's.

You have to load your MP3's using the Nike/Philips Digtal Media Manager (DMM) program that, uninvited, loads itself into the background every time you boot up, hogging system resources and aggravating people like me who hate software bloat slowing down their computer.

DMM starts by creating a database of all the MP3's on your computer (takes a long time if you have gigs of music like I do), then translates your MP3's into a proprietary format that the PSA250 can recognize. Also, the software only reads embedded IDv3 information, not filenames, which means it will probably report many of your MP3's as "No Title Found" if you ripped them from CD's you own. This all turns out to be a very long and frustrating process, especially when all you want to do is add a couple songs to your playlist before going on a morning run. The DMM interface is also ugly, with none of the style of the PSA250 itself.

I'm no engineer, but I do custom system building and am no stranger to working with various electronic devices, from Pocket PC to configuring complex wireless networks. Even for me, using the DMM software has been such an upsetting experience that I simply leave the PSA250 sitting on a shelf gathering dust while I go running in silence. The crazy thing is that if Nike/Philips had just made the PSA250 to read and play MP3's natively, there wouldn't be any need for a separate software interface and you'd have one heck of a product. This seems to be a problem with many other Nike/Philips products.

The PSA250 looks and feels great, but spend your money on something you will actually use.

The goods: Good look, easy to operate, built-in battery, go-along with the belt with remote controls. Impresive backlight screen. Better sound than Ipod Shuffle.

The bads: Difficult to set-up on the computer for the first time . Took me 2 hours install/reinstall/retry to transfer music from PC to the player. In the end it works fine. Remember to download the latest software. Larger/heavier/thicker then conventional MP3 player on the market.

Conclusion: Good for those atheles who sweat alot. For the normal guys jogging, go for the smaller/lighter one.

I did not have any trouble with software, although I find the software extremely annoying. I think many people are having trouble with the software because for some reason Phillips decided that it should change your refresh rate, among other things, when you run the software. I don't understand why the standard Windows "drag & drop" wasn't good enough. My main trouble with this item stems from the hardware itself. The volume adjustment is way too sensitive; you press the button slightly and it makes a very huge difference. I'm not too certain if the "Shuffle" settings do anything at all. The instructions are sparse and fails to mention what some of the more dubious settings (like DBB) does. The waistband remote buttons are extremely sensitive also; a slight touch is more than enough to activated an unintended control. I purchased one from Best Buy and 45 days later, I had to return it because the waistband remote stopped working. The one it was replaced with has some issues with the waistband remote also, and I am considering exchanging this one as well. Philips has a bad reputation for making "innovative products." It seems that "innovative" to Philips means making things more difficult than they need to be in order to call themselves "original." On the plus side, it is a very durable unit, while finicky & sensitive, the waistband remote is a good feature, for some that is. The strobe light is welcome as well. After an initial depletion & recharge cycle, I am getting about 12 hours of playtime. On my first unit, the earbuds were very tight (in a good way) and stayed place in your ears during the most vigorous sprints. On the current unit, they are loose, but that may be able to corrected with a little tightening. Back to "innovative;" Instead of commonly availible mini phillips head, or mini allen, Philips decided that a mini torqx head was the ideal solution for the fitting in the hearbuds. It's hard to find a torqx head smaller than 1/8" in most stores, let alone anyones home tool box. I wish I had purchased another model, but soemone else may like the PSA250.

***EDIT ON MARCH 6, 2005***
As it turns out, the 2nd units remote belt was defective also, and I went to return it to Best Buy. The PSA-250 is no longer stocked at Best Buy, although some stores have a limited remaining supply. The Electronics manager who worked with me stated that their particular store has had a lot of returns on the PSA-250 for various comlaints. Although he did not know for certain, the fact that the PSA-250 is still being made and it did initially sell well at Best Buy, & the fact that it is no longer offered by Best Buy, led him to beleive that Best Buy stopped selling it as a result too many returns. At anyrate, they didn't have it anymore so I got an iRiver H10 (5GB; USB 2.0), which is outstanding! I do miss the rugged construction & sturdy wearing characteristics of the the PSA-250, but I don't miss the long load times due to the USB 1.1, and file conversion process. I can load 100 MP3s with USB 2.0 in 6 minutes, compared to 15 minutes or more to load 70 into the PSA-250. If I could rescore this item, I would give it 2 stars.

I read all of the reviews and therefore was warned. I have been a user of the Nike Rio for many years and have loved the design and the bullet proof performance. The bad reputation of the PSA 250 has driven it out of most retail stores, and for good reason at the time. I bought one at the new low price. I'm not at all sorry. The DMM software that is included is junk, don't install. The Philips website has an upgrade for the firmware, download it right away. Music Match software is OK, but buggy. I've been using Windows Media Player to transfer songs, and MM to put them in playlists. It's easy once you the hang of it. It's a great device for runners, with enough memory for ever the slowest marathon!!

I had purchased a few years ago a Nike mp3 player. This was the first unit that they came out with. That player was great and I am still using it while I run marathons. I was wanting to buy a mp3 player for my wife and couldn't decide on what to buy. Since I never had any problems with the original, I decided to purchase the Nike 512. Installed the software. Wasn't all that bad. Using Musicmatch is so simple to use that my wife can even use it. When my original mp3 player dies, I will buy another Nike mp3 player.

Sometimes when you read reviews about a product, it scares you off. I have always had success with both Philips and Nike - and there was enough positive information about the product - so I took the plunge! Simply put: Buy the product and you won't be disappointed! Do the formware update immediately and the rest is a breeze!

Be very patient with the mp3 soft ware and make sure you load all software that comes with player. It will make your life much easier. Very comfortable arm band, enough music to get you thru two or three weeks and great battery life.

I work out 9 hours a week and this player has met all my needs.

I have trashed both an Iriver and a yepp at the gym. This thing is build like a tank. The software isn't the best, but it is very usable for someone with some basic computer skills. The sound is very good. The size is bigger than I was used to, but for a workout player it is great. The bigger size gives you a bigger display and controls. This is much better for adjustments while running. My only complaint is the radio reception. I work out at a gym that broadcast TV channels over the radio and quite often I have problems tuning and getting stations to stay tuned in(no problem with the previous 2). It does get good reception of regular stations. When I purchased this I did not realize it had a recharable battery. At first I was dissapointed, but have really come to like that feature. The battery life is great, and I don't have to carry spares in my gym bag anymore or have the battery compartment pop open in the middle of a run. This is not an MP3 for everyone, if you are looking for a durable MP3 for running or for the gym this is great.