Customer Reviews

iAUDIO CW200 128 MB MP3 Player with FM Radio and Voice Recorder

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Let's start with the look: This little music box is so sleek and sexy, you'll want to show it off to all of your friends! With aluminum faceplates, this player is contemporary-looking, small and compact making it the perfect exercise buddy. It has a cool blue backlight with you can set to stay on for a certain period of time. The controls are really ingenious too. There are two levers on either side of the device which make it really easy to control while you are moving (i.e. jogging).

MP3 mode: You can store an average of 35-40 four-minute songs. That's over two hours worth of music! The sound of this thing is unbeatable. Such a small device produces a better, clearer sound than any of my cd players! I've found glitches in my songs that I didn't even know were there.

FM Radio mode: The radio could be improved slightly, but considering the mp3 player's small size, it is still an impressive feature. The headphones contain a radio antenna for the FM radio.

Voice Recording mode: You simply press the 'record' button and start recording lectures, speeches, and practically anything. The sound is clear with little or no fuzzy sound. You can also record songs off the radio while in FM radio mode.

Accesories: The iAudio comes with the device itself, a neckstrap, armband, case with beltclip, earbuds, USB cable, and JetShell software.

JetShell: Easy to install and easy to use. You simply find the folders where you store your MP3 files and drag-and-drop.

Complaints: The iAudio is probably more suited for women than men since my brother complains that the controls are a bit too small for his fingers. Although if you find that your fingers are nimble enough, you won't have a problem. Another minor drawback is that you can't access the USB port on the player while the case is on.

If you are researching mp3 players, stop now and buy this one. I did my research before making this purchase and I read about every other mp3 player under the sun. Trust me, this is what you want.

I owned a Nomad IIc and played with several other MP3 devices. This player is superior by far, in every respect.

Audio quality: Excellent. The sound is crisp and clear. I don't know the exact SNR, but qualitatively this player sounds great through average headphones. I think a lot of people ignore the differences in sound quality on MP3 devices. For instance, the Rio players sound shallow and distant by comparison.

FM radio: This little machine picks up stations better than my receiver at home. And it is clear. The preset and tuning navigation are intuitive. It also finds stations quickly. You can record radio directly (like the voice recording). Now, I don't record too much radio, but the option is very nice. I personally feel a radio is essential on these devices as I get tired of my songs quickly, or just would like a change of pace or to listen to the news.

Voice recorder: Decent mic pick-up. Has auto-level feature that will start recording only when it picks up a signal.

Ergonomics: perfect size. I wouldn't want it any smaller. Jog dials are very easy and comfortable to use. Can fit anywhere.

Memory: 128 Mb. Too bad it has fixed storage. Perhaps my only complaint.

Overall, there is no 128 Mb mp3 player that can compete with the iaudio cw200. If you are in the market, spend your money wisely and order this one.

Absolutely first class not a product out there to touch this at the moment. Just look at the size and the weight got to be the smallest and lightest out there and with a full display. The sound is fantastic and the equalizer is really good, most other companies equalizers do very little
The FM radio is he first that has a strong signal and great sound and I love the folders and the menu layout.
Good battery life (one aaa batery), the headphones supplied don't do justice to the sound ( but most of your others don't supply good headphones with their units either )and you can easily change the order of play.
the desktop software even converts all types of media to mp3 including wma files.
slightly more expensive than the others but in this case you get what you pay for (not well known, but in other countries its marketed under the NEC name) FIRST CLASS PRODUCT.
one important point frequently check out thier web page as they keep on improving the firmware and software.

While I've only had this product for a week, I have enjoyed using it and am extremely pleased with it. It is just exactly what I have been looking for - a very small & lightweight player that has a reasonable capacity for music (about 2.5 cds worth for the 128 mb player, or 2-3 hours of music), but has the extra benefit of being able to play FM radio broadcasts, and record them! I've not yet used the recording feature, but I understand it can also record notes and memos, FM programming, as well as recording audio files (voice mail, if you will) that you can send as audio to others. It uses flash memory to store files, so there is nothing to remove (and no way to increase capacity).

It is barely the size of two ordinary packs of stick gum, and weighs nearly nothing. It comes with a case that has a belt clip, or there is a neck strap if you prefer. The headphones are perfectly adequate and comfortable. It uses one small AAA battery that apparently gives about 9 hours of play, but I've not yet had to change batteries.

While I'm pretty good with gadgets, I'm completely new to MP3 players. The software loaded perfectly and has been very easy to use. It comes with Jet Shell for converting and managing MP3 files, as well as Jet Audio - a player similar to Windows Media Player, and Jet Voice Mail to manage your voice files.

The instruction manual is clearly written, and while it has its charming idiosyncrasies with English syntax because it was obviously not written by a native English speaker, it was still very easy for me to understand and follow.

I understand a 256 mb version of this product is about to be available, and I might have ordered that one if it had been an option to me, but all in all, I am extremely satisfied with this product and I think you will like it very much too.

There are other types of MP3 players, some that have removable media, some that play burnable MP3 cds, and those each have their advantages and disadvantages too. But if you are looking for a small, easy to use player with a reasonable capacity, look no further. I couldn't be more pleased.

...The CW200 performed as advertised and easily lived-up to the reviews on Amazon.com.
I'm not normally inclined to write reviews on products I purchase, but this MP3 player exceeded my expectations. The sound quality is excellent (outperforms my Nomad Jukebox) and is fully customizable from within the device or through the included JetShell software.
The FM radio also exceeded my expectations. I was able to easily pull-in all the stations in my area with no problems. An added convenience with the JetShell software allows you to enter the radio station frequencies from the PC and download the presets to your CW200. I found that this saved me a bit of time.
The unit itself is remarkably small and easy to use. It's well protected in the included holster and all the buttons are easily accessible. The buttons use a rocker motion to change volume, tracks, etc. I found them to be solid and functional.
Downloading music to the CW200 is a snap. The software is easy to use and includes some advanced features for us geeks. I had the software loaded and the unit programmed and ready to go in 20 minutes. The CW200 doesn't support playing WMA encoded files (an inconvenience if you have most of your library in WMA format), but you can download them and other file types to the unit for off-line storage and transport.
The headphones were better quality than I expected but I'm not a fan of the ear bud style headphones so I'm using a different set.
Finally, the cost of the unit is commensurate with its quality. So, if you're looking for a small, high quality MP3 player at a reasonable cost I believe you will be very satisfied with this one.

I was looking into the sony and panasonic mp3 players before i came across this product. Its small, plays out music at great quality, comes with high preformance earphones, blue indglow lcd screen, long lasting battery life (only 1 AAA battery included), large amount of space for mp3s, no copyright problems (unlike the sony mp3 players), Clear FM radio reception, nice leather pouch with clip, and neckstrap also included. Once you get this package you are ready to go just slap in a battery, install the easy to use software, plug in the usb cable and you will have 128mb of songs in less than a minute.

I highly recommend this product based on the size, style, simplicity, and cost. Many people say that the only negative is that the memory cant be expanded but I figured that with the sony mp3 players you have to buy a memory stick which run from 40 - 120 bucks. Purchase this product over any other mp3 players and you will be satisified.

the software included to transfer music files is hassle free and takes you step by step if you have any problems, once i opened it up and connected everything i had 128 mb of music on it in less than 1 min. i had a sony mp3 player before and it took me a good 30 min to get my songs on.

This is an incredible product and company! Absolutely the best portable MP3 player in its class. It is very small (smaller than a credit card) but has plenty of storage (choose 64, 128 or 256MB version when you buy). Also has a great FM radio, voice recorder, good sound quality and an excellent display & controls. The product is well made and comes with a case, belt clip, decent ear buds, cables & software. It's easy to drop the player into a shirt or pants pocket.

The software is VERY easy to use -- just drag and drop MP3s or files from your CD (it will automatically convert them to MP3). Click a button and it will look up your CD song titles from an Internet database. If you're interested, it also has a utility program that will convert any animated GIF or image file into a logo you can download to the player. Your custom animated logo displays on the LCD when you turn the unit on. Very nice.

When you download an MP3 file to the player, you can choose any Windows font and size for the song title display. I like the hand script fonts -- they make the display look friendly. The LCD has a blue backlight and you can adjust how long the backlight stays on after a button press.

The MP3 player includes a full equalizer. Separate +/- control of bass, treble, loudness & dynamic bass. You can save your settings under a "User" selection, or choose from several preset equalizations (rock, classical, etc.). There are also lots of other options to allow you to customize how the player works (if you want to).

Read the instructions to understand what the buttons do. Other than that, everything else about the player and the software is simple. The player has a lot of nice options to play with, but it's easy to use right out of the box if you're not a techie.

Jet Audio customer service is unbelievably good. You just can't ask for better customer service.

Great product, great company, great price ---

I have been using my iAUDIO CW200 256MB MP3 player for a week now. This is a great product. Since this unit is not expandable (it's only down point), I highly recommend the 256MB version of this player.

This player weighs in at 40 grams. For those that are metrically challenged that is less than 1.5 ounces. The dimensions for this diminutive player are 83.8mm x 35.9mm x 16.1mm (approximate dimensions in standard 3 1/4 x 1 3/8 x 5/8 height x width x thickness).

Sound quality from the player is superb and the equalizer works well.

I installed Jet Shell, the software utility used to load your MP3 files to the player (just drag and drop the files), with no problems. I downloaded several albums to the player and was listening to them within ten minutes. The menu system navigation is very intuitive. I was able to power on the player, select the mode, select an album, select a track and adjust the volume without have to refer to the manual.

Yes, it does come with a belt clip and yes, the FM tuner works well.

Enjoy your MP3 listening!

The Cowon iAudio portable digital audio player is a fantastic device! Here is a summary of the various components.

PHYSICAL UNIT: This is a very small (3 in. tall, 1 in. wide) and light (less than 2 oz. including the battery) unit. It has a LCD screen on the front which displays quite a bit of information, such as the name of the current song (which scrolls across the screen), the time remaining, battery life, memory usage, etc. This information is presented in a compact yet clear manner. The LCD had a back light feature that can be programmed to stay on for a set amount of time. The unit is highly customizable with an interface that is quickly learned. Battery life is about 9 hours on a singe AAA battery. Although this does not sound like much, remember, it is for a single battery.

MP3 PLAYER: The 128 Mb model will hold about 40 MP3s (assuming an average size of 3 Mb). The sound quality is very good. The unit has four folders (albums) to organize your music. Songs can be played sequentially or at random, and you can choose from several pre-set equalizer settings, such as rock, classical, etc. I don't have a lot of experience with MP3 players, but I am more than satisfied with this one.

VOICE RECORDING: I originally found this looking for a digital voice recorder. It does a GREAT job! For the 128 Mb model with no MP3s loaded, you get nearly 9 hours of clear recording time! The microphone picks up well and there is a level indicator so you know how strong the input signal is. There is a quick key combination that puts you directly into voice recorder mode, so if you are in the car and want to record a thought, you can do it without even taking your eyes off the road. There is one drawback for using this as a voice recorder -- there is no speaker, so you would either need the headphones or plug into an external speaker to hear playback.

ANNOYANCES: I have only a few minor complaints about the iAudio. (1) The small plastic protective cover over the USB plug is hard to get off if you don't have long enough fingernails. (2) You can't connect the USB cable to the player while it is in its carrying case. (3) The ear phones are comfortable and sound nice, but they fit loosely in the ear, easily falling out if you are exercising. (4) The software does rip MP3s from CDs, but it is not the most user friendly interface I have used.

While this may seem like a lot of annoyances, they are all relatively small, and don't diminish from the experience. Overall, this is a great product! I have used the MP3 Player and Voice Recorder extensively, and am completely pleased with my purchase.

After reading a lot of positive reviews, and after two broken Muvo 128s, an Iomega hip-zip, and a lost GruvStick I purchased the CW200 128mb version. It's vastly superior to every player I've used or read about and it has more features than any other flash memory player. Every positive thing I've heard in reviews is true. The only problem is that I already wish I had more memory. The album feature is so useful for keeping multiple playlists and the ability to reorder songs and edit albums means I don't ever wan't to delete anything, I just shuffle files around and add more.

Key features that I like are:
- equalizer with presets plus user configurable settings
- Great backlit display (great interface all around)
- very light-weight and rugged (I've dropped it a few times already)
- Long play time on 1 AAA bat (better than Muvo)
- Excellent FM tuner with easy to set presets
- Rugged headphone jack solder joint