Virgin Electronics VM-500 5 GB MP3/WMA Player with FM Tuner

by Virgin

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000C1AVZ6
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #140,453 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Combining ease of use with an attractive aluminum skin, the portable Virgin VM-500 MP3/WMA player offers a great way to bring your digital music collection on the road. The player, which measures a mere 2.23 by 3.78 by 0.62 inches (W x H x D), sports dedicated power, home, and volume buttons, along with an intuitive music navigator that lets you select specific tracks, browse by artist or title, or choose a setting. The built-in software is also more straightforward then previous incarnations, but now includes a number of bonus features, such as Virgin DJ, which plays the songs you just loaded or your top 20 most-played selections by genre, along with a "lost and found" function that reminds you of songs you had long forgotten. And because of the generous 5 GB of storage space, you have room for more than 1,200 songs or 80 CDs--more than enough for the average road trip, and far more than many competing models.

In addition to playing both MP3s and WMAs, the VM-500 also includes a built-in FM tuner, so you don't have to carry a second device to catch "Car Talk," morning news shows, or other public and commercial programming. Another nice bonus stems from the dual headphone jacks, which let two different people listen to the same tunes at the same time--a favorite on long plane trips. To load songs onto the VM-500, simply install the included music management software onto your PC (requires Windows XP or 2000), then browse for your favorite music by artist, album, song, or genre. Once the songs are loaded, you can select from the built-in playlists, including "most played," "never played," "highest rated," "recently played," and more, or you can create your own. And while the current song is playing, you can still view details about other songs, access the song rating, or change other configurations.

Additional features include a built-in equalizer that lets you customize the sound based on your listening tastes (rock, pop, jazz, etc.) or whether you're listening through headphones or portable speakers; repeat and shuffle playback modes; a backlit display for low-light conditions; and a clock that includes the date. The VM-500 even offers a Virgin Quiz "name that tune" game to kill time; the faster you pick the song, the higher your score.

The device comes with a set of earbuds, a travel bag, an AC adapter, and a USB 2.0/1.1 connector cable for synching the music.

What's in the Box
VM-500 MP3/WMA player, earbuds, travel bag, quick-start guide, user's manual.

Product Description

Virgin Electronics VM-500 5 GB MP3/WMA Player with FM Tuner

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Should not be this hard to use, January 31, 2006

By 

D. Conner (Allentown, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Virgin Electronics VM-500 5 GB MP3/WMA Player with FM Tuner (Electronics)

I was so excited to get this MP3 player, but have had several problems with it. It keeps freezing up on me which once caused it to overheat and then I LOST all the songs I had painstakingly put on it. I have used it two times since I purchased it at the beginning of January 2006. I did not have a hard time putting the music on, it is just time consuming. When it works, it works well.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mostly disappointing, March 3, 2006

By 

Yakfish (La Canada, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virgin Electronics VM-500 5 GB MP3/WMA Player with FM Tuner (Electronics)

Well, it's small, has reasonable battery life and sound quality, and it's low-priced. And it often works correctly for me. But it has some major disadvantages:

1. Virgin Electronics is defunct, so there is no tech support for their products, and no updates of any kind will be offered. And this thing could USE some updates...

2. It doesn't support playlists. It has some kind of stupid "DJ" function that you'll find mostly useless.

3. The FM radio is also useless. For the first few seconds it's used, while the backlight is on, it sounds fine. Then, when the backlight turns off, a continuous, very noticeable hiss overlays the audio.

4. You can't just copy files to it - you have to sync it through Media Player or some other software. It's very picky, and sometimes the synced songs don't play correctly. Other software often doesn't work with it.

True, it's a 5GB player for a low price, but in the end you'll find yourself just that much farther, financially, from something you would have really liked.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars GARBAGE X 2, October 5, 2006

By 

CW (Chicago burbs USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Virgin Electronics VM-500 5 GB MP3/WMA Player with FM Tuner (Electronics)

Ok.... I bought one of these as a refurb thinking that it was a great bargain... hey 5GB for less than $100 what a deal. Once you get the hang of loading and working with the Windows Media Player its not a big deal to load. Unfortunately after it begins locking up and not recognizing songs (which requires a drive reformat and reinstallation of the songs) you get really good at it. Had it for about 4 months before it stopped even recognizing the HD and no longer worked at all. I thought maybe the reason was that I had bought a refurb so a new one had to be better... right?

So I stupidly bought a brand new one.. again less than $100. This one has now begun the lock up and reload problem within 2 months of reciept and I just recently got the "not recognizing the HD" message. I am in hopes of getting it to work but for right now its just an expensive paperweight. I am 0/2 with these players so I don't believe that they are worth the shipping it takes to send them back. Beware of this product!