Customer Reviews

Transcend T.sonic 840 4 GB Video MP3 Player (Black)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Length:: 6:47 Mins

A short review and basic how-to on the Transcend T.sonic 840 4G player. Good and bad points, plus update suggestions.

The T.sonic (the 8GB, black version) is my 12 yr. old's first MP3 player and, so far, he is happy with it. I would say that this little player is worth about what I paid for at one of Amazon's one-hour specials.

I will first summarize what I got for my money and then I will have some closing thoughts where I will explain my rating.

- The contents -
The little box includes the player itself with a rechargeable battery (up to 22 hours of music playback or radio play on a full charge claimed) inside, a protective silicone skin, neck lanyard, a multi-lingual manual with the English section being 6 or 7 very small pages, the headphones, a USB cable and a mini disk that has an extended version of the manual plus a video file conversion utility, a slide show maker and some utility that is supposed to password-protect files that one would save on the device.

There is NO charger. The expectation is that the person who owns the player will use a computer to charge it through the USB cable. For those of us who don't carry a charged laptop next to their MP3 player, I found that a Blackberry charger works. I suspect that other independent USB chargers work as well.

- Design, ergonomics -
The player itself is not too bad looking. The screen is small but bright.
The interface is basic and anything that's a bit more 'complex', such as organizing a playlist can be difficult to execute.

- Features -
Computer interface:
Any file can be loaded off a computer by simply connecting via the USB port, at which time the player becomes a 'removable drive'. .mp3, .wma, .jpg, .txt and other file types can be simply dropped into the 'drive' and they will be played or displayed as appropriate. Given that the device looks like a drive to the computer, one can create folders to better organize content.

Music player:
Play is adequate but accessing your favorite song once you have hundreds is a different matter. I am repeating myself but the fact is that the interface and ease of use leave a lot of room for improvement.

Photo display:
Pictures are displayed off a separate menu and, like the songs, can be difficult to organize. It can take 5 to 10 seconds to display a 4MB file. I have little doubt that, had I reduced the size/resolution of my photos, they would have been displayed a lot quicker but I didn't feel that the user was 'expected' to convert dozens or hundreds of picture files prior to loading them on the player.

Voice recording:
It works and the 'voice activated' trigger is useful. If one takes the time to meaningfully rename the voice files, they could become meaningful records.

Radio playing:
20 FM stations can be preset on 20 'channels' and one can listen to a preset channel or seek a station not yet saved. The controls are a bit awkward but this is becoming a 'constant' observation already. An interesting feature is its ability to automatically scan the spectrum and assign stations to each of the 20 channels. It's a nice idea but, in my case, the same stations were assigned to 3 or 4 channels and some of the stations 'found' were nothing but static hiss.

Video:
I did not test it yet and it's not something that we are going to use. My son wanted a 'music player'. To play videos we have big screen TV's and laptops that do a much better job. I will enter my impressions here, once I have a chance to test it.

E-book:
Yes, it opens text files but one must be irresponsible to attempt actually reading a book on a postage-stamp size screen. We only have one pair of eyes and they don't get any better.

Clock:
Apparently, this model was not meant to be sold in the US. When setting the clock, you will find that the 'Pacific' time zone is labeled 'United States' and 'Eastern' seems to be called 'Venezuela'. Daylight savings time is available as an option to check but, who knows when that kicks in, since my time zone is 'Venezuela' now.

File storage:
I suppose this is a possibility but, with 8Gb thumb drives available for about $10, it would be a waste of MP3 player to actually attempt to use it as a file storage device.

- Performance, quality -
The player is overall slow. It is slow to respond to commands, slow to display large files, slow to turn itself on or off.

The quality of sound is acceptable and the basic (as in cheap) ear buds could be easily replaced with something better.


To conclude, this is something that my first born is likely to use for a while until he manages to impress me (good grades or some new belt color in Taekwando) into getting him something better. It's also a good way for him to get used with the concept of an MP3/gadget.

This model's several shortcomings would normally earn it a 2-star but the not-so-high price pulls it up into the 3-star territory. I view it as a 'disposable' gadget and, as such, it can be considered a 'good buy'.

To be fair, my little guy would give this 5 stars without hesitation. He is very happy with what he got and, if he's happy, I'm not unhappy either :).

I ALMOST got a bigger iPod, but I didn't feel like spending so much on it. I recently got an 8G card for my camera made by the same company and was super cheap but good. There was an advertisement in the package for their other products, including this mp3 player. I decided to look this up, looked great but had no reviews. I had to search the web like crazy to find a review. All I found was positive, but I didn't find much.

In any case, this thing is GREAT! The sound is great, it's small, pretty user friendly, and it's way cheap for what it does. I only bought it to play songs (for the most part), so that's all I've tested out. I have it connected to a pretty cheap set of travel speakers right now, and it's still great. I am so incredibly impressed so far!

And I do have an iPod shuffle already, but I just use it to run. The sound on this thing is MUCH better than the shuffle.

If I could give it more than 5 stars to factor in the value, I would!

I consider the deal I got on this MP3 player a pretty good one. I purchased it from one of the Amazon Gold Deals the other day and saved $26 on it. I would not pay full price for this thing.

It plays mp3s so I have yet to figure out if I can get some of my iTunes music on it but I mainly use this to listen to lectures and podcasts and such, which are usually in mp3 format, so it works for me.

It has an FM radio which is nice if you need a portable FM radio- it works well and has good reception.

The voice recorder works nice as well.

Converting videos to the format that's compatible takes quite a while but the quality ends up being just fine- though the screen is very small.

The controls are fine but not very handy.

This would be a good gift for a child or someone like me who just wants to listen to something while driving and doesn't want a $100 iPod.

The Transcend T Sonic 840 4 GB Video MP3 Player (Black) is fully loaded with features in an all metal, compact body. Combined with an attractive mirrored finish, this power packed dynamo offers a brilliant multi-line display via a 1.8" high resolution LCD/TFT screen. The image quality is quite vivid and well framed without distortion. Coming out of the box, I would highly recommend immediate laminate protection to keep the front of the device free of scratches.

Navigation is primarily through the on board 3 phase wheel control which easily allows access from one function to the other. As with all MP3 systems and depending totally on the area of reception, the FM radio has been kind of hit and miss. With the help of the customizable equalizer, music downloads are surprisingly crisp.

The T Sonic 840 brings a lot of bang for the buck with these key features;

- FM Recorder

- Video Player (.mtv)

- E Book Reader (txt.)

- Digital Voice Recorder

- Customizable Equalizer

- Preset 20 Station FM Tuner

- Photo Album (jpg/bmp format)

- Karaoke Style Lyrics Display

- Real Time Clock (Displays local & world time)

- Music Player (MP3,WMA,WAV,WMA-DRM10) formats

- 13 Language User Support (For Song/Artist Display)

Whether you're a Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows user, this device is compatible to all three operating systems. For music service subscribers, its a no go with Napster but operates with some hiccups included with Rhapsody. While it does download music files in their entirety, one glaring issue that keeps the Tsonic 840 from receiving a 5 star rating is that it does not download play lists.

The sweetest feature is the voice-activated recorder. It gets high marks on the Cool Meter for it will automatically begin recording when it registers a sound and pause itself when it can't detect noise. In a quiet space it is one gem of a feature.

Powered by a rechargeable Li-ion battery, non stop music play logged in at a little over 20 hours. So much for the 30 hour lifespan. Accessories include the industry standard but comfortable earphones, neck lanyard, mini USB type A cable, zip string carrying bag and software CD.

Overall, the Transcend T Sonic 840 4GB MP3 Player is a cornucopia of features that value conscious shoppers will find hard to resist. However, with its inability to format and deliver playlists its three stars at best.

The Transcend T.sonic 840 is an adequate MP3 player, and a decent FM radio tuner. The other functions on the device are pretty much a waste of time and space.

The first thing I did when I turned it on was to start the radio, because I hadn't loaded any files on it yet. It immediately popped up a message requesting me to plug in the headphones. Weird... so I checked the device and the manual, and found that in fact this device does not have a speaker.

Okay, I'm not going to get really great sound out of something like this. But my Zen Stone has a speaker, and I do use it. (Mostly for audio books where sound quality isn't that critical.) So I was disappointed to find that I had to use headphones with the T.sonic.

Once I had the ear buds in (and I really dislike ear buds, but didn't want to spend time digging for headphones), the radio sound was quite adequate. I loaded some MP3 files onto the device, and again the sound was quite good for a device of this type. Navigation through folders was pretty easy.

I really wanted to see how video would look on a screen this small. Then I got another unpleasant surprise. In order to play a video on the device, you have to convert it to their proprietary "MTV" format. Ugh. So I installed their conversion utility and ripped a DVD to my hard drive. I converted one of the VOB files from the DVD and copied it to the T.sonic. The video was pretty blocky, but better than I expected. But... there was no sound. I tried the MP3 and radio to make sure the ear buds were plugged in right, then back to the video. No sound.

So I converted the DVD into a couple of file formats that the T.sonic said it supported and tried to convert them to the MTV format. Whatever format I tried, it popped up a window saying that the import had failed, and that I needed to go find and install some video codecs first.

Okay, that's pretty bad software design. If a conversion programs needs codecs in order to work, I expect it to come with those installed. Better yet, I expect a device that claims to be a video player to be able to use some of the common mobile video formats without an additional conversion.

Overall, this is a pretty disappointing device. I'll probably keep it as an MP3 player, because it has more storage and a better interface than the Zen Stone. But they would have done better to have left the video and other features off. They're just too much trouble for a barely acceptable picture on a tiny screen.

For the price, this is an excellent entry level product. It will not compete with the Ipod or Zune, but for those who simply want to be able to load up a decent amount of music in it, this is an excellent option. The screen is much smaller than my Zune, so perhaps I'm biased, but I found it a bit hard to read. Transcend tries to pack so much information into the display that it all ends up very tiny and very cramped. Users are quite limited in how they can choose to listen to their music (playlists and genre are not supported, for example). The voice recorder is a nice option, as well as the ability to record radio, but I have yet to use that feature personally. It is annoying that music play stops when viewing pictures, as most players can do those functions simultaneously. Overall, if you're looking for a compact, durable player (it's a metal case and quite heavy, but I was pleased by the quality of the casing), this is an excellent choice. If you're looking to replace an Ipod, you'll most likely hate it.

When you take the Transcend T.sonic 840 out of the package, the first thing you'll notice is the heft. This player feels rock solid.

And first impressions are good: the interface is reasonably intuitive, and there are a lot of features. Overall I like this little player a lot, but have some reservations - so you may have to do a cost/benefit ratio of your own to decide if this is better for you than an iPod or Zune.

PROS: Drag and drop simplicity for adding media (using either a Mac or Windows machine). Music sounds good. Very bright, colorful display. Radio reception (FM only) is surprisingly good, and you can pre-program up to 20 stations. One-touch sound recording for making memos to yourself. Pictures and video look good (though see my comments in "Cons"). Lots of useful functions easily available (personally I was delighted to find a "sleep" mode so I could listen to music when going to bed, and have the player automatically turn off).

CONS: Videos must be converted to the odd ".mtv" format using the included software (I tried another program, but the Transcend wouldn't read the files. Note that there appears to be NO software for the Mac which can convert to the .mtv format). The software has very little documentation, and no options for changing settings. It does, however, produce reasonably watchable videos. However I couldn't find any way to convert an entire movie for viewing, instead needing to limit myself to short clips only. Disappointing. And while pictures display quite nicely, creating too large a catalog of pictures seems to make the Transcend choke. Granted, I may have been pushing too hard to put in a library of 5000 pictures...but there was no way for the Transcend to cope with it. Additionally, the "scroll wheel" on the side of the Transcend is used to select tracks or move between selections on the menu; it works fine for that, but you can also depress the wheel to act as a mouse click. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it sticks...and I worry that eventually something will break. It's the only mechanical flaw I can cite in an otherwise well-engineered device.

Overall, I like this little player quite a bit and will enjoy using it...but it lacks the style, sophistication, ease of use, and versatility of the more expensive players. Then again, it costs significantly less too...so consider your needs. If you're mostly into playing music and watching the occasional music video, or enjoy FM radio or find yourself needing to record voice notes, the Transcend may be a good option for you.

Well, I bought this from Amazon after reading the reviews on it here, and it's great so far.

Sound quality is great; it comes with earbuds, but I have not used them yet as I did not know they came with the product, so I bought a pair myself. I have it loaded with a decent amount of music. It goes fairly loud, which is good, but I had to adjust the EQ to User and raise the bars appropriately to my taste. This MP3 player does display the title names of songs and such, and has an explorer-like fashion (similar to windows, on the computer). It does not sort by artists or genre, like an IPOD; but instead by folders and filenames.

The voice recorder works good too. I've recorded some voice with it in my pocket, and its audible (not sure if you tried to record a lecture from across the room with it in your pocket, have not tried yet). But you can hold a VERY fair amount of voice recording at the highest quality on this thing, I think I read that it was 32 hours on highest quality for the entire 4 GB. Lowest quality was about over a hundred hours. And for voice, you don't really need quality.

The Radio is nice, all works well. Whats cool is that you can use the recorder to record the radio, very neat indeed.

The pictures section I haven't delved heavily into. I don't think the picture quality is top of the line; that, and its like a big rectangle...so ratios may be scrunched or out of proportion. I put two pictures of my lady on here, one of them turned out fine, and the other was a little scrunched and hard to see detail; but its nice to have the feature. I'm sure if you got the exact proportions down and scaled them on the computer you could, but too much work for me; its an MP3 player.

I'm not a video person, so I haven't bothered with that.

So, functionality; You plug it up, and when it loads up in Windows Explorer on the computer, I just create a folder with the artist name, then another one in there with the album name, then dump the tracks in there. Not as complicated as it seems. Also, I think I should add, is if you want your music in order (by track numbers), you'll have to put them in the filename of the MP3 if they're not already there. It doesn't read the ID3 information when you browse through the explorer (but it does in the player when it plays the song...). That is a big hassle for me, and to save you the hassle, I'd like to point out that there are programs that can automatically do this for you. Best to put your song filenames like this (track number - title). This MP3 player is still definately worth it though.

It also has some great features for people who listen to spoken things, like audio books, or learning a new language; there's a feature where you can change the speed your listening at, to half time, or 2x, etc. Will work with any music or recordings you have on there, which is awesome.

The only other downside is; and I think this is just me... There is a rubber-like cover over the MP3 mini-USB port on the bottom, and that thing is like, impossible for me to use my fingers to pull it back so I can plug it up. The rubber not just covers the port, but goes INTO the port, so its very protective. There's an indentation, but my fingernails aren't long, so after trying to open it for about ten minutes, stubborn as I am, I give up and get a guitar pick or a pen to get under that damned thing. Which I guess means its made good, and does a good job at protecting the port from spills or whatever. :)

So, overall, I think its the best MP3 player i've come by yet.
Battery life is great, too. The only way to charge it is to have it plugged to the computer, but the battery life will last pretty long. You could listen to it for two hours, turn it off, let it sit for three days, turn it back on and play from where it was paused/turned off last time, and still have full battery. I've had it almost for a month now, and I am very content with it. User friendly, easy to use, loads of features and goodies. If your looking for a good quality, average priced MP3 player, this is the way to go.

--Kevin

At first I was skeptical over the cheap price. However, this was one of the best decision ever. I have now on my hand a 4gb MP3 that does everything. It can play, on top of music files, videos, radios, pictures, and ebooks(which is a huge plus for me!) I love the design and easy use.