Customer Reviews

Philips/Nike 256 MB Solid State MP3 Player

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I don't know what product the first two reviewers were using or how tech-savvy they were, but I am more inclined to agree with the other two. The Philips/Nike MP3Run is a solid performer that successfully integrates an MP3 player with an onboard electronic coach to help you with your workouts. As a distance runner who loves to have tunes to train to on long workouts, I found this product hits the spot.

I first read about it while stationed as a soldier in Iraq and bought it a few days ago on this site after being home a week. I set it up in two hours last night, calibrated it on a track this morning, and ran my first workout it with it this morning. It was wonderful to hear my favorite tunes, occasionally paused by a lady's voice through the headphones who gives your distance, time, and pace on each mile (or on-demand at the press of the feedback button). Wow! That's impressive. When I got done, I not only had a great workout to some entertaining tunes, but I found out the true distance of my usual Saturday morning circuit that I've been running for four years. Truly impressive device! I RECOMMEND IT FOR SERIOUS RUNNERS!

Set-up: MP3Run comes wih a foldout setup card, that if followed, step-by-step, makes the installation and setup a breeze. One small complaint on setup - the arm band. No instructions were given, so I included a user uploaded picture for you. The two velcro ends don't attach to each other, but rather fold back on the ends around the rubber container loops.

SDM and Calibration: Worked flawlessly and was spot-on accurate. When I hit 440 yards on the track, the calibration distance read exactly 440 yards. So, the shoe pod (called the SDM) and the unit synch well together.

Player: Easy to use, menus are intuitive with mostly left and right button pushing. One small improvement would be having the selected screen stay on a little bit longer rather than flicking back to Music Mode after 5-7 seconds. Otherwise, I don't see why the others were complaing. Believe me, there are players out there that are nightmares usage-wise when compared to the MP3Run.

DMM Software: Easy to use and almost too simple. A bit limited, but works well. Once again, I don't know why the complaints. I had my songs loaded very quickly. And, BONUS, it can play WMAs, which are much smaller than the IPOD's AACs. I bought an IPOD Shuffle this past week too. I like it, but I prefer working out with the MP3Run. So, my user tip, convert your MP3s to 112-128 kbps WMAs and you'll have lots of room for songs on your player, enough to easily run a marathon with. And the MP3 will "shuffle" your playlist like the IPOD Shuffle does.

Headphones: I like the swing-around arms that hold the ear buds in place, but the buds themselves are HUGE. I'd get a different set of earphones. I like my Sony phones, because they have a volume control wheel right below your neck, which reduces the amount of reaching across your body to the unit for volume control.

Price: Like I said, I bought the MP3Run and the IPOD Shuffle (1 GB version) and the Run was only $10 more than the Shuffle. So, why people were complaining about the price is beyond me. Good value for the money!

NOTE: See my photos of the SDM, arm band, and workout display. Have fun and enjoy MP3-Running.

NIKE AND PHILIPS HAVE FINALLY MADE THE PERFECT MP3 PLAYER!!!

If you want an MP3 player that is more than just an MP3 player...than this is the player for you. Not only can you play 4+ hours worth of MP3 music, but you get FM radio, 12 hours of battery life (i wish my mini iPod would give me that, haha), a strobelight for when I run at night, and on top of all that...a SPEED/DISTANCE/PACE monitor that hooks onto your shoe and is 100% accurate!!! This device has taken the thinking out of my running. No more calculating in my head how fast I need to go to maintain my pace or wondering how far I have actually run, because this player tells me in my ear as I'm running. SO COOL! All this, and I haven't even mentioned the form-fitting headphones that connect around your ear COMFORTABLY, or the 100% shock proof (not my iPod either), cool design that fits onto your arm (and doesn't move) and only weighs 2 ounces!!! Only complaint is that it's USB 1.1 and not 2.0, but this is by far the best MP3 player on the market right now for athletes who run, BY FAR!!! EVERY RUNNER SHOULD HAVE ONE OF THESE TO RUN WITH!!!

I recently bought the mp3run about three months ago. I was a little hesitant after reading the mixed reviews, but I thought I'd take a shot at it. I'm glad I did. I'm training for my first marathon this September and the mp3run has made my runs thoroughly enjoyable.

Calibration is fairly accurate with the factory settings. It allows you to custom calibrate around a 400M track if you so desire. Several reviews were negative on the software component/uploading of music. I haven't found this to be a problem. The rechargeable battery is nice. Fit is comfortable around the arm. Headphones that come with the player are fine. Pedometer sensor that is strapped on the shoe is so lightweight I don't notice it. I've run in rain with this thing on and it hasn't skipped a beat.

The only disadvantages I've encountered is that 1-you can't run to the radio if you are calibrating a run and 2-sometimes the on demand distance button won't give readings. To offset this second problem, I've set the device to give me readings at every mile. You can chose auto feedback at distance intervals or time intervals. That information is nice. It tells you how far you've run, your total time running, and the current pace at which you are running.

I am planning on continuing my running in the future. After my marathon, as a gift, I'll probably get me a garmin 301 forerunner for my distances, heart rate, pace, etc. I'll still strap on my mp3run for my tunes, however. Happy running.

Just do it!

(update 8-1-2007)
It is still running (me too). I reloaded the firmware a couple of times and finally go the voice prompts to stop chopping. I redid some accuracy testing and found that accuracy of the distance measuring can vary a lot. Even after trying to adjust the device at various settings, I got different distances which seemed to vary with the speed I ran. After some research (personal and webposts), I believe that up to 10% error rates are common with any of the accelerometer based running devices, including Nike + for the ipod. As long as the philips device keeps working, I am not going to get another accelerometer based device. Perhaps when it finally dies, the gps-based devices will track satellites better and include music. Hey Apple, build this stuff into the IPHONE!
Wouldn't that be cool!

(update 4-23-2007)
I still have mine (nearly two years). Something happened to it a few months ago (sweaty workout?) and it froze up until the battery ran out. Recharged it and it still works, but the voice prompts are all chopped up. I will probably soon get an ipod nano with runner kit. This device was the best thing around when it came out, but it has definitely become obsolete. Don't buy it unless you can get it for under $30. I've looked at some gps based products, but they are too pricey and there's no mp3 built in. The GPS products promise more data and graphs, but I doubt the reliability of the data because of the difficulty of getting enough reliable satellite data to track hill running.

(Update 9-11-2006)
As most of you know, Nike has abandoned Philips for Apple. The new device is an add-on to the ipod nano. Anyone who has not already bought the philips player would do better to buy the ipod nano setup. Not only is the interface light years ahead, you can probably count on better tech support. I just bought a nano setup for my wife, but I'm still keeping the philips/nike model as long as it keeps working (had it for over a year now).
The only reason to buy the Nike/Philips player would be if you got a great deal (< $40).

Cons:
*Poor interface.
*Low volume (try a different headset---improvement)
*Java software is incompatible with current Java machine--the dmm software that uploads running data and graphs it won't work unless you are running a compatible version of Java.
*Philips tech support (I think the guy I had also troubleshoots toaster ovens)

Pros:
*The pedometer function is accurate out of the box.
*Takes the boredom out of logging workouts.
*Appears to be designed for hard sweating workouts -- My previous 2 MP3 players were done in by sweaty workouts.

Verdict:
Until somebody comes with a better pedometer/mp3 player (this is the only one out there now?) at a reasonable price (< $150), I'm keeping mine. Unless you're a serious runner and can put up with the interface and can troubleshoot on your own, you should probably wait until the next version of this device comes out.

I was concerned after reading the reviews below that the software would be horrible and I would regret my purchase. I have found, though, that this is the best purchase I have made in a long time.
It is fantastic to have stats on demand and the software couldn't be easier! I come home from a run and plug it in - 1 minute later I can see my entire run graphed by distance, pace and speed. I can see where I stopped at stoplights and where I sprinted. I can look at past runs and tell how much I have improved. When I run at night, there is a strobe light for safety. I have found the stats to be extremely accurate and the on demand feedback is genius. I even think that the headphones that were supplied are the best headphones I have ever owned and I have tried many many sport headphones.
I am so happy with this product! I feel spoiled to have such an amazing gadget for such a low price.

I purchased this for my wife for Christmas. She'd had her eye on it for a while and was thrilled to tell me that I would be the one who would program it and load the music. Oh Joy! This was my first foray into the world of digital music players and I can only hope that there are easier systems to load. It took me a few hours to get music files transferred over. But other than the set up problems, this has proven to be a neat little gadget. I'm very satisfied with the sound quality and my wife loves the combined funcionality of the MP3 player and the speed/disctance/pace monitor. I just don't look forward to the next time I have to load music or create a playlist...

I have to agree with just about everything everyone's said. The software for the mp3run is horrible. It looks like they farmed the UI out to the lowest bidder & got exatly what they paid for. It doens't work with macs (even running windows under Virtual PC), so that's a negative. The software is klunky & transferring songs is tedious, made even more so by the fact that the connection is USB 1.1 It only holds 256 megs of music/data, which is very poor in this age of 1 gig flash card players & 60 gig hard drive players. The sftware took a long time to setup & get working.

However, once you get everything set up, it's great. The distance tracker seems pretty accurate to me & it's nice to have everything in one package. Uploading to your computer & the nike website works flawlessly & the player is sturdy & does it's job well.

If you are serious about running & can stand the problems in setting up the computer end of things, this is a great player.

This is a great unit that works as promised. I was concerned because I had read several reviews that mentioned problems (volume too low, slow transfer rate, etc). I'm happy to say that none of these are true. The volume is sufficiently loud for city running, the milage counter is very accurate, and it's both easy and fast to transfer songs over using the Nike-Philips software (don't even bother messing with the included Musicmatch software!).

This was the perfect MP3 player for the intended use. Very easy to use and durable. Uploading/arranging songs very easy with the included software.

I bought this in Dec of '04 as I run a lot and thought it would be cool to track distance / pace / time. The sensor fell off my shoe as I was running only three weeks after I bought it. The mounting braket is in new condition and has not loosened up. It is a bad design.

I called Nike to get a replacement (after all, I barely used it 10 times!). They told me they do not sell the sensor as a spare part. They gave me an RMA number and asked that I send it back to their warranty / repair center to get a replacement. They sent the box back to me as is without even putting a note on it.

Another note is that the sound volume on it is too low (I had other models before which were fine).

My recommendation: Go buy a real MP3 player. Don't waste your money on this one.