Customer Reviews

Philips/Nike PSA220 256 MB MP3 Player

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

It is really made for runners:

-- You may attach it to your arm or waist with the included bands and holder.

-- It has a bultin stopwatch, which however only offers start and stop; no lap timers or anything advanced.

-- A builtin flashlight (can be switched off) makes you visible during night runs.

The device plays MP3 (even VBR) and WMA files with good quality.

If you switch it off during play, it resumes at exactly the same position, within the piece (which is nice).

All in all I really like it.

However, I really dislike the included software; you dont even have a chance to assign a name to your playlists.

Probably the situation will improve, if (and when) Windows Media Player 10 gets support for the device ...

In the meantime I have written a free linux software to load this player, that can be downloaded under

www.yabasic.de/toPSA220.htm

(This is possible, because the device usese the free and well documented database sqlite to store its playlists.)

regards, Marc-Oliver Ihm

I am so mad right now I cannot believe that you people cannot write a program that works on you psa220. I had you DMM and it wouldn't load mp3's. I went to their website ( http://www.nike-philips.com/product_support.jsp?lang=en_US&product=MP3psa220) and did everything as it suggested. Now the problem is even worse.

I AM A COMPUTER PROGRAMMER. I know for a fact the people didn't even TEST the damn software. There is no excuse for you to not have a program that can load an mp3 file onto an mp3 player. It is as simple as 1) driver 2)write a LIST command 3) write a WRITE. I am running Windows XP. So there's no way its my OS. This thing could load everything except mp3 and I don't even think the new download can even copy burned cd's.

I want tell the programmers (i use that term losely) to stop working when they are drunk. I will NEVER IN MY LIFE BUY PHILLIPS. If they can't write a program for this piece of crap why anybody in they're right mind buy something more complecated from them.

I wanted a flash drive music player when i workout in gym or jogging or playing, i was looking a Sony n/w player but landed up in this Philips-Nike PSA220 in a descent deal.

I have been using this since May 2005,

The first thing i get furious about this product is its software (they call it DMM).

Dis Adv of this s/w

1) You cant drag and drop

2) This is a Java s/w and its interface is so dumb

3) Not so user friendly

4) If you think, you would use the PC regularly to upload songs to this, then better dont go for this (You need lots of patience to work with this s/w)

But other than the s/w side, the player is sleek, with a different spherical design (ofcourse its eyecatchy), sound quality is good,

esp i should comment on the headphones (man they've designed it so comfortable and so different , i luv 'em)

the usability of the s/w in the player to play songs and make settings is really nice and with minimal no. of clicks.

If Philips-Nike could upgrade their s/w for usability, then no doubt that this will strike the market high.

This product has been great and worth the price. Once I bought the psa220, I downloaded to the updates from the website and read the instructions and have had NO problems. Downloading music onto the MP3 player is easy, deleting and replacing songs is easy.....excellent product. The armband is comfortable and the stopwatch works great. I haven't had the need to use the radio, so I don't know about that. The headphones work well and has good sound quality (I'm using this for exercise, not for a home theatre experience).

Overall, a good product worth recommending.

I am quite happy with the purchase of this MP3 player and cannot understand people's problems with the software. To specifically address others' problems (that I can remember):

I am using Windows XP and have absolutely no problem loading songs onto my player, both MP3 and WMA. I also have no problem copying from CDs that I have previously burned as well as commercial CDs that I have bought.

I can drag and drop titles just fine from my files with the software. I have also had no problem assigning my own name to playlists that I create.

I was up and running and loading songs within minutes of installing the software.

It's a great piece of equipment for the price.

Its better than the ipod. I had the first generation ipod but the battery died on me. I had to spend about $50 to replace it. A few months ago i lost it. I wanted a cheapper mp3 player and this was one that met my category. Its durable strong and easy to use. It also comes with good headphones

First of all let me say that the design of this MP3 player is very nice - the hardware is thoughtfully designed and the built in stopwatch and strobe light are great for running.

The 1 star rating is because of the software - MAC users beware! The box clearly states support for MAC OS 10 but the software that ships with this player is archaic! It is very non-intuitive and extremely buggy. I had multiple software freezes, system freezes and never successfully downloaded a song. I'm baffled as to how Nike/Phillips actually released this to the public. After 4 hours of fighting I finally gave up - NO gadget should be this frustrating to get up and running. Returned the item and got an iRiver instead and had it fully up and working with downloaded songs in <20 mins

Sorry Nike/Philips, I really wanted to like this product but you need to go back to the drawing board on your software.

Ive owned all of the Philips/Nike mp3 players...not because I need to have the latest and greatest but becuase they kept dying on me. The software was a pain to use (especially since im using itunes now which is VERY EASY).

The only reason I stuck with the player is because I bought the extended warranty from Best Buy (if you buy this player you NEED the warranty) and they would replace it with a newer model.

I made the switch to the ipod nano a year ago and havent looked back. Do yourself a favor and avoid this player like the plague. Phillips and Nike no longer have a partnership due to the poor performance of this player.

DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. Phillips has changed the operating system so that it relies upon Musicmatch Jukebox for file maintenance. The problem is that the basic Jukebox program and plug in don't work. So, once you upgrade the firmware and software, you are left with a very expensive paperweight. I assume that all is corrected if you pay Musicmatch for an upgrade, but I am unwilling to take the chance for a couple reasons. First, the unit should work fine without forcing me to buy separate software (or they should disclose this fact so a purchaser can figure this into the total purchase price). Second, fool me once. What happens if I upgrade and the thing still does not work. All in all, Nike and Phillips should be very embarrassed. This device worked fine until they screwed around with the software so as to allow people to purchase and download songs.

As a runner, I thought this would be a good purchase. I even took my un-used Ipod back before opening the Ipod because I thought this item would be better -- I was WRONG! During my first run the product fell on the concrete and never turned back on again. Philips would not replace it because they said I "misused" it. Philips demonstrated extremely poor customer service and I found no help when I contacted the seller from Amazon. Don't waste your money on this or any other product from Philips!