Memorex MPD8505CP Personal CD/MP3 Player with 45 Seconds of Anti-Skip Protection
By: Memorex Average Rating: 3.5 Total Reviews: 175
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 On: 2007-05-13
When I purchased it many years ago, it was excellent, but now it is old technology. Get an iPOD or iRiver H10 and you will be better served.
 On: 2004-04-26
For the price that I got (under $40) it was a very nice unit. Ive had the unit for over six months now and so far, only some skipping occur, but not much at all. The skippings usually seem quite random, and doesnt happen because th eunit is being moved or anything like that. The unit I have contians the suffix A sticker.The car kit that came with mine, though, is a little weird. At times the volume will be too soft for no reason, but mostly they all worked great. The only things I really dont like about this unit are 1) the display LCD isnt backlit, making reading practically impossible at night, and 2) the search option is not very user friendly, and the unit doesnt seem to respond too well to it. Over all, I give it 4 stars, for its price, and that it hadnt died on me yet.
 On: 2003-11-24
At first this seemed like a decent CD player. The headphones that come with it are pretty lame but fortunately I had another pair of my own. Its somewhat ugly and bulky but not unbearable. The search feature is very handy, especially when youve got MP3 CDs with 100+ tracks; it was very easy to find the song I wanted. However the skip protection was disappointing from the beginning. Walking caused several skips per song and it would sometimes skip in the car. Dont even think about doing anything more than that with this player; itll skip like crazy and drive you crazy. The worst thing, though, was that a few months after I started listening to it frequently it broke to the point where it now skips every few seconds when its just sitting on my desk (with both regular and mp3 CDs). This happened after I had taken it on a few plane rides, so maybe that had something to do with it, although Im not really sure how. Whatever happened, its too annoying to listen to now. Despite the nifty search function, I wouldnt recommend this CD player. Its got a lot of flaws and you can probably find something much better.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-09-06
This player is one of the best on the market for the money. It is rugged and plays regular CDs, CD-Rs, and MP3s!! I get over 100 mp3s on one CD. I like to put it on shuffle play...its like having your own jukebox with all your own favorite songs. Get one!!
by: Anonymous On: 2002-07-28
I got this for a christmas present and it was awsome!for the first 6 months and then it totally stoped working and by then i couldent return it! it is under my bed collecting dust. im never getting a Memorex cd player again!!!If your thinking of getting a MP3/CD player, Dont get one, i would recomend that u look into minidisk players (much more reliable)
 On: 2002-07-06
I bought this player last year at Target. I soon realized that it will not play a lot of the MP3 files. It will not play any VBR encoded files. It will not play bit rates about about 192 kbp3 or below 64 kbps in most cases. The player will skip and stammer all the way through these tracks. DOnt waste your money. You can get something better for very little more. Hard to find specifications on these portable players. Let the buyer beware!Also, after 6 months it quit working altogether, apparently due to heat exposure inside an automobile.
I was very disappointed! I should have returned this piece of junk while it was still under warranty.
On: 2002-07-01
I bought this product about 3 weeks ago. I thought at first, what a great deal. It worked absolutely fine with regular burned cds that I had made on my computer. I also burned an MP3 CD with about 120 songs on it. It also worked pretty well. After about 1 week of use it was still working fine. One thing I did not like at all was the 25+ second start up to play a MP3 CD. I found this to be a very long time to wait for it to start up. The 4 line LCD screen was great. The buttons felt pretty crappy to push and it was pretty fat and heavy... Soon i started to see many problems. My MP3 CD no longer wanted to play correctly. Many times it would start up and after playing the first 4 songs, stop the music, search for the next track for about 20 seconds then display "Disc Error". I would restart the system, wait another long 25 seconds, and start the cd over. About 4 tracks later the same thing happened. This (ticked) me off. So i burned another cd. This didnt solve the problem. I couldnt skip tracks, or else "Disc Error" would appear.Instead i would have to search for the track, then play it. Also, this did not always work. I got really (ticked) and wanted my money back. I returned it and now am getting a Rio Volt SP90. I heard it got great reviews with no "Disc Error" ever! Dont waste your money. If only the (darn) thing would work, i would be happy.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-06-21
I purchased my first Memorex MP3-CD player about a year ago. It lasted about 100 days and then it stopped recognizing the cd. I contacted Memorex and they replaced my CD-player with a new one. A year later I am starting to run into the same problems. Otherwise, the CD player was OK.
On: 2002-05-13
this was a great cd/mp3 player....for about 65 days. I used it very lightly-about 20 minutes a day walking to class, then all of a sudden it wont recognize cds, it always says "no disc." beware of this because amazon wont take exchanges or returns after 30 days, and now Im out 50 bucks.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-05-08
It is nice to have lots of music to listen to- so much music in fact that my batteries usually wear out before the cd is done.But Ive yet to have a listening experience in which the player doesnt skip. The player skips A LOT. If it was just once and a while I could over look it, but it is more like every other song, and frequently several times during one song. This gets irritating quickly. Im spending more money next time and getting something decent.
On: 2002-03-04
...My experience with it have been awesome. I have used it extensively to play both normal music cds and mp3 cds and its been great. It skips a fraction if you listen to a mp3 cd using batteries, but doesnt if you use the adapter. The quality of playback is pretty good. And contrary to what others say, the operations are not that tough to figure out. It doesnt take shocks well so its advisable to avoid bumps. Its definitely the best thing out there in the market for the economically constrained and the only place Ive seen it is at Amazon.com. Great purchase :-)
by: Anonymous On: 2002-02-23
Unfortunatly, I purchased this player before it went on sale, but I love it anyway - I can fit a lot of songs on one disk, and it works well with my Sound Feeder in my car.l
On: 2002-02-20
I bought one of these when they first hit the market at around 100 dollars. I immediately ran home and burned an MP3 cd to test out.At first the player performed pretty well, offering decent playback of the songs I had. The bass quality was nothing compared to my other portable cd player and as I listened I began to notice imperfections in the mp3 playback. The 45 second anti skip ONLY works on CDs not MP3 encoded files. So if youve got your 10 hours of music and youre on a bumpy ride, you might as well kiss your music goodbye. The menus are hard to navigate without having to stare at the screen and the lack of a backlit display make it nearly impossible to navigate anything other than the standard play, pause, stop, and skip buttons at night. After a year of owning this product I am sorely disappointed. I cannot playback a single cd without having multiple skips and cutouts as it tries to play. I have a Craig cd player that I got 6 years ago that still plays like I bought it yesterday. I think Ill dust it off and start using it again. Is it garbage or is it memorex?
On: 2002-02-01
I bought the Memorex 8505 last November because my Aiwa XPV70 quit working on me (It was about two years old; awesome while it lasted) I decided because of the relatively low price of the Memorex and the cool mp3 function to go with it. Ive been playing it pretty hard for about two months now and havent experienced all of the problems faced by other reviewers. Ive used it to play cds loaded with mp3s and normal music cds; its played them both fine without any errors, and it skips only rarely. Im only giving it four stars though because it could be a lot better. First off, if you care about what your cd player looks like do not buy this one. Its heavy, bulky, and really cheap looking. The headphones it comes with are ok, but it does sound better with ones that are higher quality. The only other problems are that the volume control turns in the opposite direction than I am used to, and the ac adapter is in a wierd voltage that isnt compliant with any of my other cd players. My advice is, if you really want an inexpensive mp3/cd player then buy this (or the new memorex model thats out)... But if you value the look of your cd player and want something cool to look at and show off while listening to music do NOT buy this cd player.
On: 2002-01-22
It worked fine when I first got it. However, its only been 1 month and the headphones are broken and it skips and cuts out when I play a cd. I didnt drop it or damage it. Its just a piece of junk. Next time Ill spend more money and buy a quality made cd player.
On: 2002-01-11
Este producto realmente es una pena. Yo lo he adquirido a través de fiera.com - Colombia y posee tres grandes defectos:
- Solo lee 200 canciones por cd
- No acepta cds multisesión
- Crea clicks y pops en las canciones de manera aleatoria haciendolas realmente indeseables en las fiestas por ejemploEstoy pensando en comprar un nuevo reproductor mp3 pero desafortunadamente en el mercado colombiano no hay muchas opciones. En otras revisiones dice que memorex ha sacado una version actualizada, la mpd8507cp, pero no tengo el dinero para comprar esta actualización. Por ahora me conformaré con tener canciones que saltan aleatoriamente cuando se reproducen, y comprar cd-rws para quemar las canciones una y otra vez en una sola sesión.
On: 2002-01-06
I have recently purchased the MPD8505CP And thought "cool, a regular cd player that will last 2 monthes and then it wouldnt work". BOY was I wrong. the MP3 decoder is amazing(I made a CD that had 256 mp3s and it could play on the MPD8505CP), the sound quality is the best, the price is low and the battery life is unbeliveble. But... if you want to get most out of this CD player I recomend these:
1.a CD burner
2.roxio easy cd creator 5.0 plaitnum
3.Good headphones (the ones that come with are not so great)
4. rechargeble batteries (I recomend Panasonic NI-HM rechargeble)
I just have 2 small complaints: the display is hard to read in brite sun light and the instructions are cunfusing.GET THIS CD PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On: 2001-12-11
A cheap MP3 Player with CAR care Kit, Plays MP3s and Standard CDs, but Skips a lot while Playing MP3s, Did not use it for Standard CDs yet. Its worth spending a little more to buy a better one if you love uninterrupted music.
On: 2001-12-08
The MPD8505CP seemed to work OK when I tested it inside, albeit with a few skips here and there. Unfortunately, when I tried it in the car the skips grew much more frequent. Even during smooth highway driving I could expect a skip in almost every song. Inclines in the road seemed to cause the player even more problems. I might have kept it if I was planning to use it in the house instead of the car, but I returned it since car performance was my main concern. The MPD8505CP soured me on CD-based MP3 players, so I decided to go with the Nomad Jukebox instead. The Nomad Jukebox isnt that much more expensive than the better CD-based MP3 players anyway.
On: 2001-11-30
I bought one of these and it lasted about one month in summer weather in the car (not in direct sunlight). This thing is a piece of junk. My SonicBlue RioVolt has better features and will even stand up to direct sunlight in summer heat.
On: 2001-11-19
Yes the mp3 decoding does help a lot. Ive used at least 3 cds worth of tracks and have yet to use half the memory of a cd - meaning long playing times, so having a cd player that does run MP3s as well as it did was very nice. Plus, it doesnt drain batteries as fast as some players do, so you can continue to enjoy your large collection of music in one sitting without carrying around a spare sac of new batteries - just in case. But what did cut down on my playing it time was skipping. Sitting down or moving, new or old cd... skip or anti-skip protection it really does skip A LOT. After a while I get really aggrevated. So for the functionality it does very well... but for the quality, Id have to say its gotten me to the point of not wanting to put up with the constant skipping for the amount of Mp3s I have on there.
On: 2001-11-13
The button controls arent very intuitive - but its played every MP3 CD Ive tried in it. Pay attention to the instructions - single-session CDs ONLY, avoid long file names, make sure there are ONLY .mp3 extension files on the disc. For the cost, this is a good-value player - more so since it comes with an AC adapter and two adapters for vehicle use - cigarette lighter and cassette. With the bass-boost feature turned on, or with a good quality pair of headphones, the sound quality is very good.
On: 2001-11-08
I should have known when I bought a MP3/CD player from a manufacturer of audiocassettes for (dollar amount) it would be kinda chincy, well thats what it is. Dont get me wrong, for the price, you cant find a MP3/CD player that has more features and accessories, but dont expect quality workmanship. I bought the Memorex for a trip to Vegas so I could have music in my room while I was there and if it survived that, I would use it in the gym, so I was not expecting anything amazing. My biggest problems with this unit is that even sitting still it skips on the smallest smudge or scratch on your CDs. I do have to say that the ESP works well if the unit is being jolted but small imperfections on a CD can make it skip like a 10-year-old girl. One of my favorite things about the CD player is the title, artist and album listing on the screen. When you put a CD of MP3s in, the title and artist scroll on the screen. Its a little hard to read and its not back lit, but what do ya want!?! It cost (dollar amount)!!! I also love the song title/artist search feature. When you have over 150 MP3s on a CD and you are looking for Viva Las Vegas at 3am after a hard day of drinks, gambling and drinking (did I mention drinking?), its a little hard to remember track numbers, so this can be very handy. Memorex was also kind enough to include a car kit, cassette adaptor & cigarette lighter power adaptor (the power adaptor is HUGE, so watch out if your lighter is in a tight spot) and a home power plug. Everything a boy could want! So basically if you want a really cheap MP3/CP player that will last about six months this is the one for you, but if you are looking for one to last you a long time (year +) look elsewhere.
On: 2001-11-02
I found the MPD8505CP really worth the price, considering the features and the accessories it comes with. The design and buttons took a while before i felt comfortable with, but once the learning curve is over the player is very easy to use. It played 256 kbps streams extremly well when compared to some casio and even dvd-mp3 players! The car adapter kit doesnt have a power-indicator LED in it. other than that, its a very good item to have.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-11-02
I have the MPD8610, which appears to be an updated MPD8507.
. lightweight: approx 8oz with 2AA batteries.
. cosmetics reasonable: powder blue and silver.
. construction: okay. cover latch pretty firm.
. 4 line LCD - large letters, no backlight.
- displays logo on powerup.
. 10-30sec from powerup to operational.
. approx 10 hours playback with MP3 on alkaline batteries.
. Pause/Resume works okay.
. No AC adaptor or car kit, mediocre headphones.
. ID3 tags - displays filename - use IS9660 30 char names.
. Poweroff after inactive for 45 secs.
. ESP on audio CDs - 45secs - not checked but seems to work.
. 44Khz and 22Khz MP3 seemed to work okay, no skips, pops.
. Sound okay, 4 position equalizer - Classic, Jazz, Rock, Pop
pretty useless.
. Volume okay, line out useful on home speakers.Tried a few MP3 CDs on first purchase and nothing but problems.
Used other reviewers recommendation (not stated in manual) with ISO9660, 30char names, and single-session, using Adaptec CD creator and success. No problems since. Can navigate - directory and track number.
- sequence through the directories.
- using file search mechanism. Has repeat mode, repeat within directory, random, 10 sec scan, or a 24 member playlist. Can use display key during play to cycle between directory name, filename and ID3 tag. (...)Backlit LCD, faster loading, Joliet naming, improved sound
quality, AC adaptor, and better headphones would be my recommendations.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-10-22
I bought this a while ago and im rather pleased with it. It works good as a cd player and it never has skipped on me. The mp3 cds can hold ver 100 songs and are VERY COOL!!!! un fortunatly, some of my mp3 files didnt play through the cd player, and some didnt even show up on the display. It is kind of difficult to make a cd and get it formatted right. Several of the cds i made didnt work at all, and it took several tries to get my first mp3 cd working, but once i did it was very usefull. The text search feature is kind of cool but i never use it. When u can get an mp3 cd to work it is very cool but it is kind of hard. RThe manual sucks. The cd player is kind of bulky so i wouldnt try jogging with it. but most mp3 cd players are pretty big. It gets scratched easily so watch out. but overall it is very good.
On: 2001-10-16
Its a great MP3 player however the controls arent as friendly takes time to get used to, wish it had playlists other then that worth the buy.
On: 2001-10-15
This review also covers the newer MPD8507. My girlfriend bought me this for my birthday and we had to return it twice because it would power off for no reason or simply not turn on at all! However, third times the charm I guess, and after finally getting one that works, I love it. It is a little tricky to go through different directories, but I think its understandable given the fact that your not looking at a computer monitor, but a tiny little device that fits in your pocket. Anyway, skipping is not an issue at all. The sound is very nice, I love the headphones, they are very comfortable, and for little walkman headphones they sound very good. Itll play CDs with more than 200 MP3s with no problem. 700MB discs: no problem. You dont even have to "finalize" your burn, so you can keep adding multiple sessions until the disc is full. This is a great little unit. The only reason I didnt give it 5 stars is because of the two times I had to return it (although the one I currently own works perfectly)and because when playing an MP3 CD hitting "random" plays the same sequence everytime as far as I can tell. Which is a bit annoying. Other than that I highly recommend it!
On: 2001-10-13
Despite the fact that this CD player comes with a car kit, and is explicitly labeled with a 45-second anti-skip protection, its performance is very poor in a moving car. Even on a smooth road, songs which play perfectly off the unit under other conditions skip and pop too often to make listening to music with it an enjoyable experience.
The button layout isnt terribly ackward, but the subtlties of using this CD player make it a poor device. MP3 files with names longer than 32 characters are completely ignored, directory names are ignored, and the search function is extremely poor.
On: 2001-10-05
I purchased the newer model, the MPD8507CP. Its very similar to the previous model, but apparently has a lot of the bugs worked out.It took me a while to figure how to do some things with it, like browsing the directories (hit stop, display, skip forwards backwards keys, then enter). But now that Ive figured it out, it really is everything I dreamed it would be, at about half the price I expected. Skip protection is great. I read here that skipping is a problem, but I just listened to it for about a minute while shaking it over my head, and it never skipped once.
On: 2001-10-03
Hi, I purchased this player after a lot of research and reading the reviews. In a couple of words- buy it. I have been listening to a lot of MP3 files on it for several weeks. I had it up and playing out of the box in about 5 minutes. Dont let the reviews about hard to program buttons scare you. Just take one thing at a time. It sounds very good and comes with more accessories than other brands for the price. Id definately buy it again. Jim R.
On: 2001-10-01
I have an earlier model 8505 thats been working for me, but it certainly has a finnicky appetite for how one burns the CD MP3 files. I just purchased the newer Model 8507 that Memorex just released. You can recognize it quickly because it has a 4-line LCD text display. The button functions are similar to the 8505, but I think the layout is better as it places the most used buttons for Play/pause; stop; Skip>>; and skip<< nestled just under the disply window and made them larger. The funky dual mode keys are still there for entering alphabetical characters, however, the ability to search for an artist file or track title by name is what makes the Memorex unit a value add compared to units twice the cost. The ESP function is increased from 105 seconds to 120 seconds for MP3 play, but I cant say I have discerned any difference in its skip protection. Model 8507 deletes the "Bass Boost" switch and adds a selectable 5 position Equalizer function. The sound quality is very good. The four-line text LCD is a nice improvement. Still not backlit, but the characters are about 2 sizes larger and easier to read. Top line is Artist/Title/Album; second line is directory/file no./ play time. The third and fourth line turns into what seems to be a full-width song frequency spectrum analyser. Kinda cool looking, but a more careful inspection reveals that the bars rise and fall with music rhythm and volume in a symmetric pattern. The manual is still written rather cryptically, but they added a lot of illustrations that help to introduce the various functions. The manual says that the 8507 will now handle multi-session burn CDs, although I havent tested this capability as yet. The instructions still call for use of a CD in ISO9660 format. The Model 8507 has so far delighted me. It does not seem to have some of the cranky limitations of the 8505. For isnstance, it does not balk at playing CDs with greater than 200 files any longer! The Model 8507 found missing directories I burned that the 8505 could never find. Moreover, the Model 8507 plays the song files the 8505 would lock up on! I am in the process of reviewing tracks that I documented as having skips in them when played on my Model 8505. The skips I speak of do not come from jogging. I mean the little blips that occurred every so often when the 8505 was sitting on a solid surface. So far I have run across only one track that had those annoying electronic skips on playback. Unlike the 8505 which appeared to have random blips every so often, the Model 8507 seems to have improved the circuitry to address this annoying problem. Further, I have not seen evidence of any aversion to files burned at higher than 128 kps. Most of my MP3 files are 160 kps and 192 kps, and I have not been able to discern any incompatibilities when playing these higher burn rates. Improvements I would like to see . . . I wish they would add a "Hold" switch so settings wouldnt be inadvertantly changed from bumping it. I would love to see someone put a sleep timer on these type of units. You see I like to use mine to relax and help me fall asleep at night with ear buds. I think Memorex has improved the Model 8507 in a number of positive ways. If its durability holds up, this may be the best all-around buy on a CD/MP3 player, I hope this is helpful. I sure appreciate sharing tips on how to burn better CDs to use in these units.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-09-23
This is a great idea, but if you plan on using it in a car be prepared for frequent skips and noise. Having said that, it reads CD-RW MP-3 disks without any other problems. You can set it to play random selections and enjoy your favorite music all day long without having to change CDs.
On: 2001-09-22
Since this was my first MP3 CD player, I accepted it, but had I known more about MP3 CD players perhaps things would have been different. Nowhere does it say that there is a 200 song limit per CD. Unless the CDRs are burnt carefully, according to what Memorex thinks best (again, available only from reviews and not from the manual), tracks will skip, and often stop playing in the middle.The sound quality is very good, though, and no problems were encountered when playing audio CDs.
On: 2001-09-17
This unit skips mp3s in various places. However, if you convert the same mp3 to a normal audio cd file it plays fine.
This was tested on numerous mp3 files.Wish I could keep it but it defeats the purpose of a mp3 cd player if it skips mp3s.
On: 2001-08-30
I received the Memorex MPD8505CP as a Fathers Day present. I have wanted a CD/MP3 player, and did a lot of shopping and comparing. I found that the MPD8505CP definitely packed a lot of bang for the buck. The included AC power adapter AND car adapter kit tipped he scale in the MPD8505CP favor. Other nice touches were the track display information, which would display the ID3 Tag information on the LCD screen, and the search capability, where you could search an entire disk (which could contain over 150 songs!) by song title. In the real world, the Memorex MPD8505CP was a major disappointment. The buttons are laid out in a very non-intuitive fashion, circular, around the face of the player door. They are all the same size and shape, so in order to operate almost any function, you need to look at the player. This may not seem to be a problem, but since I was going to use the device in my car (and the included car kit would seem to hint that the manufacturer thought the same), it turned out to be a MAJOR disadvantage. Also, the player turned out to be quite fragile, and the anti-skip feature was definitely NOT fool-proof. It took a long time for the anti-skip feature to load up, and more than a small bump or two would cause hiccups. Again, a big problem in a car! Finally, a balky door closure system causes the player to report the door open and non-playable, when in fact the door was closed tightly. This happened on both units I had ....In short - my experience with this unit was less than satisfactory. YMMV!
On: 2001-08-28
Al fin lo tengo en mis manos. Lo que esperé tanto tiempo... Poder sacar mis mp3 de la computadora y llevarlos conmigo a todos lados. Puedo armar listas de mp3 de hasta 24 temas... y lo mejor es que puedo escucharlos con sólo dos pilas chicas durante 10 hs. seguidas. Es muy práctico y a un precio más que conveniente. Viene con un enchufe para conectar a la pared y con el adaptador para el coche. No más llevar cassettes y cassettes en los viajes... dos CD y a manejar por las rutas de donde sea!
On: 2001-08-06
Dont buy this unit. The claimed anti-skip feature doesnt work, whether youre sitting on your couch or driving in your car. The unit is also flimsy and cheaply put together. Memorex claims to have fixed the anti-skip problems in units manufactured after December 2000. Not so. I purchased mine from Amazon in June 2001, so even the units theyre sending out right now havent improved. Memorex has some work to do on improving this product.
On: 2001-08-03
I bought mine for 79.99 at Target, kept it 3 weeks, and returned it. The fact that it is limited to only 200 songs is a major drawback, since I can fit three times that amount on a CD. There was no limit listed anywhere on the package, manual, or online. That was bad enough, but there was a disturbing glith in the audio every 30 seconds or so, on both MP3s and CDs (even store bought). I dont know if it was just a problem with that individual unit, or if all are prone to such. Ultimately, I would rather pay more and get more.
On: 2001-07-29
after buying this unit for about 2 weeks, i finally decided to get rid of it. although it says that it has the "hold" and "resume" function, this product does not suppoort these two functions. the glitches this players has when playing MP3 files are very disturbing, however, it doesnt have this kind of problem when playing an Audio CD. But, the reason i bought a MP3 CD player is primarily for listening to MP3 files not audio cds. the display is kindda dim, and does not show correct information sometimes, well, this is not a big deal for me, just that the high pitch glitches sounds is really bothersome. you would have to wait at least 10 secs for the player to start playing music. in a word, i do not recomment people to buy this product.
On: 2001-07-27
pros: value, ID tags cons: 200 song limit, skips or turns off randomly tip: to play albums, save songs as "track number - song title" in a directory with "artist name - album name". Press play on unit, then stop when first song starts to play. then press display button, then skip + button. this will browse thru each album(directory) on your CD. when you get to the one you want, press play
by: Anonymous On: 2001-07-26
(note: Im on my second one, I exchanged it after a while) It played good at first, but then dropped off real fast. The MP3 feature would sometimes blow a big high pitched skip sound, which is very disturbing. Now it skips a lot. Both MP3 CDs and Audio CDs. Plus, when is skips with the "ESP" on, it causes it to halt for a about 20 seconds. Sometimes it will halt, and never come back. I work with MP3 often, and honestly, I dont think this MP3 CD technology is very good. I can listen to a song on an MP3 CD, and then listen to the song on an Audio CD, and the MP3 version sounds really muffled. This isnt so listening on a computer. Maybe another would be better, but Id suggest staying away from MP3 CD players for a few years.
On: 2001-07-26
This is a great mp3/cd player. But it is kind of picky on how you burn the mp3 cds. After lots of trys with a CD-RW disk, I fianlly figured it out. Using NERO I burned it like this: Multisession setting: *Start Multisession disk* Name length setting: ISO level 2 Format: Mode 1 Character Ste: ISO 9660 Joliet: *OFF* Dates: use date and time from original file Be sure to fianalize CD **Use 128k or lower mp3s or you will have tons of skipping.** This works on CD-RW disks and it should work on CD-R disks, but I havent tested on the CD-R. The only reason I didnt give it the fifth star was because it can be very hard to get your CD burned correctly and the manual is VERY bad. Every thing else is VERY GOOD.
On: 2001-07-20
After initially deciding this product was awesome. Ive decided to revise my initial estimate. Its pretty bad actually, but for the price if pretty good. It was one of the best things out 6 months ago but I wish I waited 1 month for the sonic blue product. Upgradable firmware, backlit, quick startup time, all things this product is missing. Ack.
On: 2001-07-18
The player includes a spring box inside that is causing friction against my CDs and as a result they skip a lot or just completely halt. The anti-skip does not live up to the 45 second expectations. Not recomended, I wish I could return it.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-07-14
Very good player. Keep this in mind when burning mp3 CDRs and RWs. You can have a maximum of 22 directories/folders. You can have a maximum of 200 songs/files. If you exceed either by alittle, songs will be ignored and not played. If you exceed either by alot, the player will deem the CD unplayable (Data error). Also, it works better when you fill in Title, Artist, and Album field in the ID3 Tags when creating the MP3 files on your computer - its rather cool to see them displayed. I use a Memorex CRW1622 Burner and NTi Software to burn my CDs. (FYI, I typically encode mp3 files at 128kbs).Playing thru the cassette adapter sounds ok (not the greatest), but not as good as a direct connect. So if you have the option of a direct connect, use it instead of the cassette adapter. It works with super low bit rate mp3 files (old radio stories such as the CBS Mystery Theatre - 10mb files that are 45 minutes long), While on my APEX 500W DVD/MP3 Player, it plays about 4 minutes on these mp3 files and stops. On the even lower bit rate files, the Memorex will play them, but with a slightly higher pitch. Another annoyance is that its alittle difficult to find a songs when theres 200 songs on a CD (like all MP3 CD players). There are seach capabilities, but theres too many little buttons to press. But atleast it has search capabilities. I use Nicads, but there is no built in charger. Once in a while, Ill get those annoying drop out, but very seldom. I highly recommend this player. By the way, I bought it at Amazon for (price)- (dollar amount)coupon + free shipping = (price). I bought it in June 2001, but the unit was manufactured Nov 2000 and said something about version A. Newer players are coming out that may be better, such as the Diamond Rio one, but thats like double the cost. Otherwise, this Memorex gives the best bang for the buck. Enjoy!
On: 2001-07-06
BUY IT NOW. 10 HOURS OF MUSIC ON 1 CD!!!! IT HAS CHANGED MY ENTIRE OUTLOOK ON LIFE AND I HAVE GONE FROM A WORTHLESS PEE-ON TO A SUCESSFUL BUSINESS MAN AS A RESULT! But honestly, it works great, and does everything it says. Great value.
On: 2001-07-04
For all you people that gave this a 3 star rating or lower, ... I Honestly dont know what thier problem is, It is just fine in size, when you get used to the buttons it acctualy isnt that bad, and Let me Tell you IT DOES NOT SKIP (deffently when using mp3). This is the honest to God truth, As soon as I took it from the package, hooked it up to my stereo and wanted to see how well the skip protection was (by moving it too and froe), well ... while playing I accedntly dropped it! bounced off my coffee table, slamed onto the floor. The song the whole time played flawlessly. It has done everything its sappose to do for me. The only thing I can think of is its VERY sensitive to how and what programs you record mp3 cds with. Im guessing thats why some people are haveing so much problems Im using NERO and Prime Peripherals CDRs, (im guessing its just nero honestly) even though I Can burn at 16x Im burning at 1x or 2x, And let me tell you not "1" problem with anything so far. I also burned it on mode 2 (iso 9660) with joilet unmarked (im not sure if you have to do this, I havent tried any other way so im not sure, this worked so i stuck with it) Id suggest if you know alot about burning and CPUs GO BUY THIS PRODUCT, if you not realy sure what all that stuff up there meens, then you shouldnt even consider it. Its a great buy, I meen it.
On: 2001-07-03
Unlike typical portable cd players, we have now entered the age of MP3 Cd players. Accommodating standard CDs as well as CD-Rs or CD-RWs brimming with MP3 or .WAV audio files, the Memorex MPD8505CP MP3-CD player packs high technology into a low-lying music player, giving you beck-and-call access to literally hours of music from a single MP3-encoded CD. But there are other varieties in this new genre of portable cd player technology. I own the RIO VOLT, and i find it much more useful, and of better quality. This product is very bulky, awkward, and the buttons are in a bad design. As well, the headphone jack does make a hissing noise if listened to closely, like the editorial review says. I say, spend the extra money! Yes, this player does offer a 45 second anti skip and this new feature of playing mp3s, but so does a whole range of other cd players. SKIP IT!
On: 2001-07-03
well the skip protection is rock solid in CD-R and CD, never skipped once, on CD-RW not so hot, I have a low-rider and the bumpiness and vibration make it impossible to hear CD-RWs straight. Im using Memorex CD-Rs, HPwriter@4x, Easy cd 5.0 plat, controls are strange but usuable, great price, decent construction, near useless manual & customer service is not so helpful although they did say that the unit will not read more than 200 files, but no word on folder/subfolder limitations. Emails not answered, asked to call in, they were never there. I would like to keep this unit, but I need know how to use it, one file in every folder(except for the one folder with two files) doesnt work stalls machine, then if not attended to by hitting skip, it stops all together, all bit rates seem to fly fine, all but one none-working file worked in most computers. The first cds I made were data cds and the player played fine just in some random order until I realized it was organizing them by MS-DOS name (8 character), I checked it by getting the properties of individual files, but when I used the MP3 disc creator the order was preserved (but songs that were number ie "1000 oceans" were last not first). My biggest beef is that the files that stalled the machine stalled it on both kinds of disc burning, but worked on the PC and other computers, this stalling requires user intervention, my next step to create the same CD leaving off the files that stalled in each folder to see if it plays straight or not. But having to create 2 CDs before you get one to work and what if you wanted that song, then what. The unit can read that the file is there, but not play it is weird to me. As with other comments I have gotten all of my Mp3s (18.2 gigs) ..and have no idea how to control the bit rate that came from the song, and this is why I got the unit in the first place, will be testing the Phillips and Jensen models at the store soon if I get no answers for Memorex, it too bad though. Ive seen that Rio one for as low.., but I though mine was [inexpensive], Im not touching those [other]ones.
On: 2001-06-29
I bought this player because I thought I was getting a good deal. I was surprised at how good it sounded in my car. It was much better than the CD Changer/Stereo combo my Lexus comes with. It just sounded a lot better and louder. I was real happy with the skip protection too. It hardly ever skipped. If I remember correctly, It only skipped twice after 10+ listening hours in my car. Which I could probably attribute to a dirty CD. I burned my CDs following the instructions given on this thread for recording with Nero. It made a big difference. My old MP3 cds skipped a lot because I had not recorded them this way. Anyway, After enjoying my player for 3 days or so, the stupid thing stopped working. It wasnt very well constructed. It felt very fragile. It might have been the summer heat. Still, the player is good but not very well made in my opinion. Michael.
On: 2001-06-27
mine puttered out only hours after recieving it. The design is very lacking and their are many better products that do the same thing or even more. Truely a low end dissapointment.
On: 2001-06-23
As soon as I received this unit, I plugged in the AC adapter, hooked it up to my stereo system using "Line Out" and successfully played an MP3 CD that I had recorded. Finally, I had a means of randomly playing 150 of my favorite songs without having to use my computer. Life was good!Two weeks later, I played the SAME CD and the unit would not work. It would pause every 10 or 15 seconds, and hang up from 2-3 seconds. I thought perhaps the CD was bad, so I burned another one. Same results. It would play regular music CDs just fine, but not MP3s. I already owned 3 portable music playing units. I wanted to play MP3s! Since the "original packaging", required ..., was a blister pack and is immediately destroyed when opened, I couldnt return it for a refund. My only choice was to send this two-week old unit to Memorex for a replacement. If the replacement does the same thing, I guess my only choice will be to throw it in..and chock it up to "Never buy from the Internet again" lessons learned.
On: 2001-06-21
Hi all! I recently got this player, just after my SONY CD-Player began to randomly stop 3-4 times a disc. First of all - the sound quality of this player is great - no less, then the sound of SONY products. Second - the buttons, which seem inconvinient from the first glance, appear very good, because they are hard to press and thus you avoid randomly pressing them, while keeping the device in your bag. Third - MP3 playback. The quality is great, the playback is stable. The only flaw in this section - is that 192 and higher KBPS MP3s are played with interrupts. However all up to 160Kbps sounds quite fine. Yes, 160kbps MP3s are played WITHOUT ANY interrupts. So 128k limit is a myth really. Overall - go get it, its nice!
On: 2001-06-19
The Memorex player had so many flaws (apart from the skipping) that I ended up returning the player. While many other reviewers figured out and posted a bunch of "rules" to get the player to work right, I didnt really care too much. The rules were much too much for me to deal with. On top of that, the LCD screen is poorly lit and unhelpful, with its undecipherable little codes. The controls on the player were also a real bother to work with. It just simply took pressing too many buttons to get what you wanted out of the player.Contrast to this player is the RioBlue player which has a well lit LCD screen, and easy to use controls. It also doesnt skip.
On: 2001-06-17
hey when i read all the reviws i was scared but it was late i allready order it and it was allready shiping so when it came i was happy i made this choise so get it its worth it it does not skip anything if you record your cds right so dont be afraid ...
On: 2001-06-12
Sorry I bought this product because the construction was flimsy.... Playing CDs is fine, but it could not see all of the MP3 files that I had on a CD I burned. (I had no problem playing all of these MP3 files on my computer).
by: Anonymous On: 2001-06-04
Last week I read most of the reviews here, and even contacted two reviewers with what I thought was a simple question asking what Sampling Rates the player will read. The question went unanswered:( Its not on the Memorex web site, first place I tried. Most Old Time Radio MP3s are encoded at 32 kbps and a sample rate of 22 kHz. First generation MP3-CD players would only accept 44.1 kHz. Converting the files to acceptable sampling rates not only made the files larger, but often degraded sound quality as well.I went shopping with a bunch of CDs with different sample and bit rate conversions, hoping that the original 32/22 would fly. 32/22 did play in MP3 Car Stereos, Sony and Akia, but no one had portable players set up. I bought the unit locally, with the option of returning it since it could not be tested. Would have saved the tax if I purchased online with free shipping, but I didnt know if it would do what I wanted. Well, its NOT going back. After I opened up its plastic tomb, I popped in the CD-RW with the original 32/22 cuts and it played flawlessly. I opened up the manual and right near the end usable MP3 Properties are listed. MPEG rate (bitrate) = 32 - 384 kbps Sampling Frequency = 16,22.05,24,32,44.1,48 kHz MP3 1, 2 = Layer 2, 3 MP3 playback = ISO9660 format compatible also must burn CD as a single session. The Memorex unit sounds great and its format flexibility has saved me from converting most of my collection. There a few files encoded at lower bitrates than 32 kbps, but not many. For a price of $... for a second generation unit it is a deal. I should be able to figure out the ALL the buttons just before the forth generation players hit the market:)
by: Anonymous On: 2001-05-30
I own an MP3 player which I bought here (Nomad II) loved it but too little memory. I bought the Memorex Cd/Mp3 player because I have lots of MP3-CDs. It did everything like chug alot and display stupid typographical symbols but did not play music. It skipped and it skipped and it skipped, which is what I should have done when I glanced by it at the counter. It goes back tommorow. Dont let the cheap price and the added accessories fool you. It is a real piece of #$%)@!
On: 2001-05-28
I bought this player for my car, so I was pleased to find it came with a car adapter! I burned a CD and took it to my car... hmm, lots of skipping... I then bought a CD-RW for another one of my computers so I could keep making new CDs without wasting CD-RsIt turns out that the anti-skip is nearly bullet proof when it comes to the CD-RWs I bought at Office Depot. It appears that the media you use for writing your CDs influences how well the anti-skip protection will work. The interface is certainly different with the circle of buttons but Im used to it such that I can actually change directories and songs without looking... which is useful while driving! A note about the bullet-proof anti-skipping... towards the end of a CD-RW the song starts, hiccups, then continues on perfectly without any skipping from that point. Just an interesting observation.
On: 2001-05-26
Aside from problems throughout its use, at the 5 month mark this piece of garbage stopped working correctly. The volume became fixed and unresponsive despite no trauma and no exposure to heat, cold, etc. It skips- often. The buttons are perfect for bumping into when working out. It shuts off spontaneously in the middle of playback even with fresh batteries and a well-burned CD-R. Needless to say, Memorex has refined technology right up to the point where it breaks down past the 90 day warranty. Do NOT buy this one.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-05-25
One word Whoa! This CD player is just great, though it is a lil bulky comapierd to what im used to.(but that is b/c all I used before was sonys and they are smaller then most)This is a a great buy with a few minor flaws. It takes a while for each CD to load up, and it skips once in a while when playing MP3s.(this only happens with Higher bit rates i.e. 160<) Other then that I have had no probs with it.
On: 2001-05-25
There was no mentioned on :01) What is the anti-shock per second for the CD 02) What is the Anti-shock per second for the MP3 03) any manual ?
On: 2001-05-24
I bought this becuase t had positive reviews and I cant help but think they were planted. The battery life is less than 2 hours! It skips constantly on brand new CDs. One of the headphones died within a few weeks. I couldnt be more dissatisfied with this product.
On: 2001-05-20
I couldnt even listen to very low bit rate spoken word MP3s without pops and skips, while it was sitting motionless on a table. On higher bit rate music MP3s, it skipped more and made occasional loud short screeches, also while sitting motionless on a table. Back to the store it went.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-05-13
It seemd to work fine the first time, except for the first song playing only a few seconds. Had fun for an hour or so. The next day, same disc, ZIPPO, NOTHING. Tried other disks, even pre-recorded CDs refused to work. This went back for a complete refund.
On: 2001-05-12
I spent 15 years as an Announcer-Engineer at several radio stations in the 1940s and early 1950s so I remember growing up and listening and working in the "Golden Age of Radio". I have collected over 50 Old Time Radio MP3 CDs. I had another MP3 CD Player that would only play Old Time MP3 CDs recored with about 70 half hour or 30 one hour radio programs only if recorded at 48Kbps/44,100Hz on a 650MB 74min disk and I have only about 10 of those and they were hard to find. It would not even recognize any other kind of MP3 OTR CDs recorded differently. I travel extensively in my motorhome and it is too dificult to use a computer to play the MP3s. You have to keep manually changing the title at the end of each half hour or hour program. The Memorex will play one after another without doing anything after touching the "Play" button when traveling a couple hundred miles before stopping for gas or a rest area. My Memorex has worked perfectly with all of my regular music CDs. Ive shaken it, taped on it and bounced it and it has never missed a beat, the same goes for my MP3 OTR CDs. It has worked like a charm. I like it, its the greatest.
On: 2001-05-09
The first one skipped (the 45sec anti-skip was defective). Amazon was great, they sent a second one, but that one would not play MP3 on CD-RWs.
On: 2001-05-07
As this MP3 CD technology is still not a grown one,most of us face some or the other problems with Mp3+CDA Cd players. No matter of whatever you buy ( I talk about Expanium & Rio)you will definitely find few problems with it.I really worried when I read the reviews. But I had good confidence on Memorex as I have been using their quality CDRs for a while. Moreoever due to my tight budget I could not think of anything else. At first, it seemed to be good and as the days go by I started facing difficulties like, Skips,distortion and all that. When I read GPGs review yday I thot why not try this out. Today I tried and now it does not skip tracks and seems to be like playing an ordinary audio CD. I really appreciate GPG for having provided all of us( memorex cd player owners) with an essential tip. I do not want to repeat the trick as you can get it from his review. I just wanted to reinforce his tip as many of you can make use of it. Last but not least, as I said earlier, MP3 CD player is still not a grown technology ( i read a review talking about some AIWA MP3+CD player.But I could not find it anywhere in local shops) I would suggest you to wait till it grows in its entirely. If you are a kinda person like me who can learn work arounds and be content with the product then GO AHEAD and BUY it.
On: 2001-05-02
I bought this Memorex Mp3/CD player over X-mas hoping it would revolutionize music and I would never have to worry about buying Cds again. After hearing much hype from the reviews here at Amazon I decided spending 120 bucks (at the time) was not a bad idea. I got it on Christmas and started burning away, only to find that it DOESNT WORK.First of all, the package *IS* nice - they give you a Car adaptor, Power adapter, and headphones along with the player itself. But thats the last of good things. The instruction manual is cryptic at best when explaining how to burn MP3s properly. Where do I start? I have tried over 20 blank CDs from different brands, let all my friends use it and try different methods, and it all came down to the same thing: Songs that sounded fine but would skip or stop playing after 20 seconds. Memorex CLAIMS the anti-skip is 45 seconds, but that is a lie - even on normal Cds, the unit was skipping like a mad dog when it was on a flat surface! The unit itself is bulky and the buttons are placed in a seemingly random order. Searching for MP3s is hard at first but it DOES work... but why does it matter when the MP3s skip after 20 seconds? The sound quality is fine , but it can never finish a song. I nearly wanted to throw this thing out of my window after going through all the countless CDs and hours I invested into working this contraption. On top of it all, the battery life is a joke. 3 hours long on a NORMAL CD, then 10 hours on a MP3 CD- or so they claim. My advice? Dont waste your time - wait until Sony releases a Mp3/CD player, becuase theyre the best at doing portable devices.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-04-27
I was very unhappy with this product for the followig reasons:The anti shock protection was very weak, specially when playing regular music CDs (as opposed to MP3 CDs). The unit froze up and stopped working after only 2 hours of use. During the time it did work it proved itself to be a rather bulky, non user-friendly unit. I do not recommend this player.
On: 2001-04-23
Okay, After toasting nearly 10 discs, reading all the message boards, and trying many different writing modes and speeds, heres the way to geet around skipping problems:1. Make sure your CD is written in ISO9660 format with 30-char long filenames as and option. 2. Make sure your CD writing mode is CD-ROM (Mode I)and NOT CDROM-XA mode (Mode II). 3. Use no greater than 128-bit MP3s. The key is in the way your burn your CD, not the MP3 encoder you use. Thats it! -gpg
On: 2001-04-21
I got this player yesterday, and so far it works great. Heres the pros and cons:PROS: -Great sound quality. Full deep, rich sound. -Reads all my CDRs no problem. -I can see ID3 tags. -Comes with car kit and AC adapter. -Light weight. -Takes AA batteries, Alkaline and rechargeable. -Shows Japanese text and special characters on display. CONS: -Skips a lot on some of my disks... maybe its sensitive to certain color CDs or different writers... who knows. -Sometimes chokes on an MP3 and stops playing sound. Requires user intervention to resolve. -Cheap plastic casing. -Too many buttons, and confusing navigation. Tough to find a particular song. -Eats batteries. Buy some good NiMH rechargeables. -ON MP3s, pauses between tracks, so if you have two that fade together, youll get a cut in between. This is a function of MP3s in general, so dont expect to find a player that does this. Overall a decent player.
On: 2001-04-19
What I Can say i received the unit yesterday and i love it, it detects and play me mp3 with bitrates from 90 to 256 kbp and the sound quality is excellent, at first i get a little dissapointed because it dont played and old mp3 cd i already had then i burn the same using nero and it works just fine no skips, no nothing just excellent, if you are thinking to buy it i just can say. ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ B U Y I T ! ! ! !
On: 2001-04-19
Im glad I ended up buying this unit over the others despite reading some of the rather harsh reviews people have posted. I was almost talked out of it by some of these negative reviews but decided to go ahead and take the plunge and Im glad I did.I use the unit primarily for listening to old time radio shows and it works great. Ive made some song collections as well and have had absolutely no problem. The interface is great and the sound quality is superb. If youre looking for a unit that you can use for fun and youre looking for a good deal, this should be your choice.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-04-19
Whoever built this rushed to get it out because it doesnt look like they tested it to see if it works as they say it does.Sound is good although it doesnt read all MP3 files, stops playing and shuts off by itself, random play feature is not very random, skips like crazy which is very aggravating and dangerous while driving. Makes me want to throw it out the window. Prospective buyers might want to wait untill they come out with a better tested unit.
On: 2001-04-17
This unit has only a two line LED dislplay. One of the lines is constantly displaying the current folder number, track number, and time, leaving only one line for navigation and displaying artist, album, and track. Navigating the folders is very clumsy and the limited characters per line can make finding a track by name difficult. The scrolling of the ID3 info on the one line is slow and hard to read at times. This unit also has trouble reading several types of CDRs. It was able to read Kodak Golds fine, but the blue Imation CDRs were unreadable by the MP3 player, but could be read fine by a PC. Overall I suggest finding a unit with a larger LCD display and better capabilities of reading all brands of CDRs. The one positive I find about this unit is the included extras. An AC adapter, a DC car adapter, a cassette adapter, and headphones.
On: 2001-04-15
I dont usually write reviews, but I thought this product deserved it, seeing as all the posts people were making talking about things it couldnt do (that it actually does.)I purchased this unit 2 days ago - It was an impulse buy, I did not research/read no reviews. As I was burning a cd, I decided to read some reviews on it. I started to get a little worried. The cd finished burning, and I decided to go on a walk. I put it in a pocket against my knee, and it did skip. I took it out and just held it in my hand as I walked and it played perfectly. I can deal with that. The next day I had to do the family thing, so I used it in my car for over 2 hours - not a single skip. The cds Ive used on it so far had a mix of personally ripped mp3s, and downloaded mp3s - ranging from 96kbps to 256kbps (including 128, 160 and 192) - everything played perfectly. I am using Primer Peripherals (AKA the cheapest) cds and burning with nero at 8x - no multisession and close the disc upon completion. Overall, the sound quality is great, the car kit it came with is quite handy. It is a bit clunky - think regular portable cd players from four years ago - and the controls take some getting used to, but I dont think there is a better deal for the price (and I dont see the point of spending more for a similar product.)
On: 2001-04-13
I received my player yesterday. I burned a CDR 700 Mb last night and it played flawlessly today. Few skips, same ones I heard in my computer. The interface is not as complicated as my TV remote control is. Sound quality very good with 128 bitrate. AC adaptor, car kit and headphones included. You cant get a better deal
On: 2001-04-13
Overall, I like the unit. It is great burning between 150 to 200 songs on one CD. I travel by air a lot, and used to take eight to ten CDs with me on the flight. However, now all I need is one (or two) CDs which I burn myself, and that easily lasts the 20 plus hour trip each way. I ride with the unit in my car, and am overall satisfied, even tho on rare occasion it does skip. The sound quality is good, and the quality of the unit is reasonable. I use NERO, and burn a 700 MB R and RW, and have never had difficulty. However, all songs must be burned in one session.There are problems with the device: The INTERFACE is the biggest problem. It is really the goofiest thing Ive ever seen - its downright horrible... the interface is so complex...Also, its lacking in the basics. What is needed are simple buttons to move from one album to another and randomization within an individual album. These are not possible. Minor problems include that the instruction manual is awful. On rare occasion, it does freeze on me. Also, and this is difficult to explain, theres a bug in the code where it sometimes plays the songs in the wrong order than it should. None of these are big problems. Overall, I love the unit; its a real novelty, if you can deal its shortcomings...works and sounds great. It would really work nice sitting on your desk, just randomly playing songs. Get one...Im giving this unit a four of five stars.
On: 2001-04-08
When I purchased the Memorex player, it arrived defective. Although it would play regular CDs, it would not play CDRs or CDRWs containing MP3 encoded files. When inserted, it would always say Disk Error. I returned it to Amazon, and cant find the words to express how satisfied I am with Amazons return policies and procedures -- theyre great! I received a replacement unit right away, but found problems with the second unit. Although it would read my MP3 cds, it plays them at an excellerated speed. The faster spped results in voices and music at a higher pitch. Voices that were clearly identifiable when played on a computer, stereo, or regular CD player, were unidentifiable on the Memorex player. I am also concerned with the unit only having a 90 day warranty. I noticed other units have a 1 year warranty. Other than the audio quality issue, I found the user interface fairly easy to use (a bit easier than another review had stated), and enjoyed using the machine.
On: 2001-04-08
After read all of the reviews of this player, I decided to try my luck. To my surprise, this player is just excellent.The player is great for its price. I am truly surprised at its sound qualities. It is slightly bulky, but what can you ask for at this great price?! With 1600 mAh NiMH batteries, I can get about 5 hours of music. I had no problem running my MP3 CDs. I have a Plextor burner, and usually burn my CDs using NERO at 4x even though my writer supports much higher speeds. The lower speeds will gurantee a complete burn with accuracy. I have no problems with skipping or turn off like some of the reviewers said. You have to remember this player doesnt have all the correction mechanism algorithms and expensive laser as your normal CDROM for your computer. The filenames doesnt matter because the player has ID3 tag support. The title window is 30 characters. Most of my files have more than 8 characters (I burn using ISO level 1), and the player has no problem reading them. The subdirectory is a niffty thing to have but slows down the started up time. I would also like to comment on the design. As an engineer, I like the design because it is very intuitive for someone who play with electronics everyday. Obviously, this player is designed by an engineer with no concept of interaction design. Its a perfect example of Alan Coopers book The Inmates are Running the Asylum. I havent read the manual, but have no problems selecting tracks and do the usual things that I do with my expensive CD player.
On: 2001-04-07
I just got mine this week... I try to play an old MP3 CD I burned when I got my CD writer in December... The result: it palyed, even in the so called Joliet format... Then I burned another MP3 CD, I used the ISO format with long file names (up to 30), again it played just fine. Some traks skip, but also skip when I play those in my PC so I think its because the file itself, note that those files are downloaded, the ones that plays without skips are those that I ripped myself... By the way Ive been using Easy CD Creator 4.02, I will try Nero and see what happen, some reviews reports the skips will go... Other thing that I liked is the car kit, works jus fine... If you ask me, I would tell you BUY IT!!
by: Anonymous On: 2001-04-04
The Memorex MP3/CD Player seemed to be a bargain at less than $100, but Im afraid it didnt measure up to my expectations. It refused to play my mp3 files satisfactorily. In some cases it did not recognize some folders and songs at all. Almost all of the songs had skips and loud errors. Some songs would stop in the middle and refuse to continue until the fast forward button was pressed to skip over the defective section. And finally, the quality of the sound was not up to par. The same songs played on my Rio PMPs 300 were fabulous by comparison. All the songs that refused to play well on the Memorex played perfectly on my computer. Overall the unit was a big disappointment.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-03-31
I just bought the Memorex unit and to tell you the truth I dida lot of research on the product and all the reviews posted on thissite nad others. My conclusion, it is a pretty good unit for [theprice], very good anti skip protection, read 50 out of my 51 tracks sofar, and comes with a car kit and all those goodies. In one word"BUY" try it out the only other machine above this one wouldbe the RIO which costs 70% more than this one... so forget all theconfusion this thing is awesome and a must buy...
On: 2001-03-31
I could not beleive how poor this product performs. It doesnt support CDs larger than 640Mb, no VBR, no >128Kbps, it also doesnt play other files for no apparrent reason, cropped filenames (also the ID3 tags scroll by way too slowly and there is no way to speed it up), no backlight, the resume doesnt work, the ESP doesnt do anything, no support for firmware upgrades, one of the worst interfaces ive ever seen, and very cheap construction. I STRONGLY urge you not to buy this MP3/CD player, but if you want to pay use the car kit thats included then go ahead. Ive emailed memorex about these problems but after 3 weeks i have yet to get a response back.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-03-30
This is a great value for the money! Able to listen to MP3s and Audio CDs. I can carry it with me, and even listen to it in the car. I can rip my audios to MP3s and put double the info on a CD. I cant say enough about this product - I love it!!!!
On: 2001-03-23
Hey all, My girlfriend bought this for me for christmas (at my request). Let me tell you something....this was a terrific present. Its cheap in price, well built, and does not skip. The only disadvantages I find is that it doesnt support multi-session discs, but thats no problem, the other thing is that there is no backlight when you use it. But you know what...it comes with a car kit, a power adapter, headphones...how can you beat it?? Dont listen to any other fallacies these people are trying to throw at you, its a great system and extremely enjoyable..The only thing most people complain about is the skipping/hissing. There is none of that...Use Nero to make the CDs...Nero is free so get it. If you are realy interested in this buy it!
by: Anonymous On: 2001-03-22
Ive had mine for about a month now and this is what Ive found. The sound quality is very good, especially with the bass boost on. Every MP3 CD I have burned so far, whether it be a collection of songs from Napster, personally burned albums to CD (using either Audio Catalyst or Music Match) or some mixture of both seem to have skips or pops in them. I have used 128kbs for my speed as suggested by most reviews on here. I have also tried burning in both joliet or ISO9660 with similar results using either Just Burn or Adaptec. I usually listen on the bus, so I thought that most of this was caused by movement, but I have heard the same types of things lying still listening in my bedroom. These MP3s play flawlessly on my PC. That said, for ..., you cant beat having 150 to 200 songs on one CD at a time, and it includes the car adapter. Battery life is acceptable, probably around 6 or 7 hours with alkaline and about 4 with new rechargable NiCad. Audio CDs play flawlessly, including audio copies. I am sure that the RIO is a better unit, but it is A LOT more money and for those of us on a tight budget, the Memorex is more than acceptable if you could but up with the pops and skips in just about each song (I can, many people cant).
On: 2001-03-19
I am absolutely disappointed with every aspect of this player. I am an engineer myself, and I agree with other reviewers that Memorex skip the testing phase of the design process. This unit is FULL of engineering flaws... What MP3 player cant support >128kps, or VBR??? I am more curious to know how Memorex designed the button-layout of this unit, did some just randomly picked out the position where each button goes? They are not friendly at all. This unit skips more often than a $15 cheap CD player, not because someone bumped it, but because of hardware/software bugs. And what a battery eater, a fresh set of Duracell Ultras, runs only about 3.5 - 4 hrs... My Panasonic CD player last 6 to 7 times longer on a same set of battery. This unit looks cheap, cost cheap, and performs cheap as well... I guess you do get what you pay for. Id stick with my solid-state MP3 players for now!
On: 2001-03-16
When I saw this unit advertised on Amazon I thought "great price" for a MP3/CD player. Unfortunately, the unit did not live up to my expectations. It is heavier and bulkier then it needs to be, and the construction seems flimsy. The MP3 functionality is extremely picky in terms of files and CDs that it will read. First I thought it was me, but after reading other peoples experiences I realized it was the unit. Manual is worthless, and the manufacturers web site offered no help. I returned the player and invested a little more in the Sonicblue Rio Volt. Boy am I happy I did! The unit does everything the Memorex could not, even the sound was better. Its true - you get what you pay for!!
by: Anonymous On: 2001-03-08
This player is a good player although it is not one of the best. I personally am an MP3 enthusiast and have tried out every player, every software, every thing related to MP3. I do not have a review page but I would check out ... to see some good reviews. If you really want a good player, check the Soul DMP-01, the Rio Volt, or the RCA RP2410. The RCA is not available yet but when it comes out it will be great. If you want a player that is cheaper than these ... players, get the Classic Mp3/CD player from Circuit City for .... OK? Peace
On: 2001-03-06
i like it. after reading all of the not-so-good reviews, i bought this player, and its just about exactly what i expected. all i wanted was a nice cd player that would play CD-RWs, and thats what this can do. the one thing thats annoying me is where is the hold switch? i dont think its mentioned in the manuel, and i cant seem to find it, but it says here on the technical info that there is one. if you could tell me, please post it here or email me at HotelDetective11@aol.com thanks! anyway, i really like it, and if you dont want an absolutely perfect player, but just one that plays RWs and such, then get it, definitely.
On: 2001-03-05
I bought this because I wanted a MP3 player with my CD Player. It came with a lot of accessories and I thought it would be quality due to the expensive price. Boy was I wrong. Once I got this thing, my first problem was confusion. How do I work this and how do I work that? The instructions didnt really help. My second problem was that the CD Player often got "confused". I would push a button telling it to do something and it would do something completely different. To sum this up, you can buy this if you want, but its quite confusing. Maybe theyll re-do it and get some of the bugs out. But remember, high prices dont always mean quality.
On: 2001-03-02
Sorry, this isnt really a review, Im looking for information I cant find anywhere online. Does this Memorex player support variable bitrate? Also I see from the other reviews that it doesnt apparently support anything over 192 bits. What is the support on the low end? Will it do 24, 32, 48, 64, 92 bits? I have a bunch of MP3s of books on tape and radio programs that are low bitrate. Another review said the CD has to be single-session, is that correct? Im wondering if its worth the extra money for the AVC Soul which will do everything up to 320 bits, supports VBR, handles multiple session CDs, and has a backlight? Please post reply here. Thanks!
by: Anonymous On: 2001-02-23
After reading some of the reviews, I cautiously bought this product. My expectations were lowered but I was pleasantly surprised. My old CDRW that I burned over several times with 140 MP3s worked just fine in the player. It had a few distorted scratchy sounds (1 per song) in some of the files I had downloaded but the files I made from my own CDs were perfect. This appears to the way they were generated. All my files are 128 or 192 bps. It read the MP3 tags fine so I could tell what the songs were by title. I didnt bother to rename any file names and it handled them just fine. I would recommend reading the manual though - it takes a little learning to use the search functions which are not as easy as they could be. But for what I want this for, which is a ton of good quality music in my car, this is a reasonable product. A ton cheaper than an MP3 player.
On: 2001-02-21
They claim that it has 45secs of regular CD anti-shock and 105secs of mp3 anti-shock. The unit plays regular cds perfectly, constantly spining the CD keeping the memory full. While the MP3 function spins the CD untill the memory is completely filled with 105 seconds of MP3 music then STOPS the CD causing the memory to run out except for 3 seconds before it starts to spin the CD again. If the lens cannot find its place within 3 seconds due to the slightest vibration or scratch, the player will skip or pause. This problem can be easily fixxed by giving the lens 10 or 15 seconds to find its place instead of 3. It will only sacrafice a small porton of battery life but it would be worth it.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-02-20
I read the reviews, and still bought the unit yesterday. So far it has far exceeded my expectations. I tested it with a normal CD, no skips, then with a 80Min CDR, No Skips. Then came the acid test, I would burn my first MP3 CD for it. I read some of the tips on the net (the manual is very skimpy), I created directories for the various bands/genres - these were named in the following format 01 BANDBAND, into these folders, I placed the MP3s, these also were 8 character names followed by the .mp3 extension. I burned the CDR using EasyCD 4 deluxe. Put it in the Memorex. Worked fine !! a couple of skips because on incorrectly named tracks. The unit is quite light, even though it looks big. It is however, quite stylish/ with the cool matallic silver (plastic)I rated this unit 4/5 because you HAVE TO to rename every mp3 file with 8 characters !!! Headphones are good, but i prefer the sony or koss (not included). i will try the car kit when i am old enough to drive or if im out with my parents. Recomodation: Buy, Buy,Buy ....
by: Anonymous On: 2001-02-19
I have been sitting here reading all of the different reviews and a person who is considering buying this thing would certainly leave confused. Well I am writing this review to clear the confusion, this is not a good unit. As other people have said it takes a long time for the unit to read all the tracks on the CD in MP3 format approx 30-45 seconds. This unit is plagued with engineering problems because it does not do anything consistently. When playing a song sometimes it pauses for about 1-2 seconds during a song. I also do not like the fact that everytime you power the unit down it starts over from the VERY beginning and you have to hit the skip button to get back to where you were. Also I wonder if anyone has experienced this problem...sometimes on random mode when the laser is searching for the next track it powers off completely. But you turn it back on and its fine. I have the Manufactured in October 2000 Suffix A, but its still plagued with problems which I consider to be unacceptable. Sound quality is not crisp and smooth like when you play a file from your computer to your stereo. Its difficult to describe but like digital artifacts when there is a quiet part in the music. I would pass on this one.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-02-19
Ok, I got the dreaded "Suffix A" model, and its working great! VERY VERY VERY GOOD Sound Quality... Non-Distortionate Bass Boost, Very good Anti-shock (I shook it for 2 minutes without it skipping). Every once in a while there is a "misread" on the CD, probaby due to the new supersensitive laser catching dust or something, it just puts a glitch or a speaker pike in the song, that doesnt happen often though, depends upon the song. With CD-RWs, its a little more picky, sometimes it will play a song flawlessly, sometimes it wont... still havnt figured that one out yet... may have to do "full format" on those discs. The manual says filenames with odd characters might not be recognized, so far its recognizing them fine for me. Next thing is battery life.. Im clocking 3-hour battery life on 10 year old rechargables, the manual says 6 hours, but Im happy with 3, between the AC house power adapter, and the DC car adapter, even these batteries are going to last a long time. I was a little disappointed by the LCD, it does do everything they say, but they cram it into 2 lines, and the songname scroll is S...L...O...W. Oh yeah, the other thing that bugs me, is that when you turn it off, it loses all the settings, ie: Playmode (Repeat/Random), Resume (forgets what song you played last..), ESP setting (cant turn it off for MP3 cds, just Audio CDs). The manual is a bit skimpy, it doesnt tell you the details, it says itll do 96-192kbps, Ive clocked it at 32-320 with no skips (same song to test all the bitrates) It says nothing about having to be in ISO9660, it reads long filenames just fine, (well, the first 8 characters, anyway :) This unit (so far as I can tell) can read every mp3 cd Ive tested it on, itll ignore other data (non-.mp3, which is a problem with some other mp3 players.) The only difficulty Ive come across is that it will only recognize the first 200 songs, then stop.
Antishock=Good,
Sound Quality=Good,
Manual=OK,
Text Search=you gotta fiddle with it for a bit to get the hang of it, its OK,
LCD=OK-not backlit,
Directory Tree=Good,
resume=skips to start of song, and is forgotten if turned off, which makes it kind of obsolete, but its ok,
play modes=Good,
accessories=Good,
bass boost=Good,
battery life=Good,
userfriendly=Fiddle with it until you figure it out.
If you can put up with a glitch every once in a while, then this is the player for you, cheap, rich sound quality, not bad looking...
This was more than I had expected for what I paid for, Im a very happy customer...
On: 2001-02-18
it dosnt skip it pauses i shook it bounced it and droped it from about an inch high that didnt effect it,but just let it sit there playing and it just stops for a few seconds then continues and it wont play a whole cd of mp3 without shuting off or requireing me to push next, another guy said his had no problem he was using somthing called vbr format what is that? i use ez cd creator softwear
by: Anonymous On: 2001-02-15
Definataly not worth the money! It skips, eats batteries, hard to configure, waste of time. Don Buy it!
On: 2001-02-14
I was experiencing the skipping problems a number of the reviews here noted. I went so far as to burn a CD with just 128kbps files in Adapted Direct CD 3.5 and it still skipped. I read a reviewers notes about Nero. I downloaded a demo and voila it works flawlessly. Now I burn CDs up to 192kbps and it plays great.
On: 2001-02-12
I have had my player for a week, and it is performing very well, but then I bought it with the understanding I would be having to burn new CDs just for its use. If you want a player that is going to use all of your previously burned collection this probably wont fill the bill, and I think you have difficulty ever finding a standalone that does - best to just get a computer to use as your MP3 server (I have a connection from my computer to the home sound system which works great).As a Mac user, I have a few hints: Get the shareware version of SoundJam (or Apples free iTunes) and the shareware MP3 Rage. With these two programs you can set up great disks. Do burn them as ISO 9660 standard. The player *can* recognize Mac volumes, but will see two files for each song - you will probably hit the players 200 selection limit and some songs wont play. (oh and for similar reasons if you are using Toast make sure you uncheck the use Apple extensions option in the 9660 settings so it doesnt save the resource forks.) Do add the .mp3 extension to your files, and I would suggest naming them Title first since only the first 8 characters show on the player display. and if you want albums to play in order prefex the title with the track number. All of these are easily done with the MP3 Rage Renamer feature. I found that occasionally the player would not read the tags when created by SoundJam. A simple way to fix this as a group is drop their folder on the Multiple file adjustment part of MP3 Rage. Then just check the two tag version updater options near the bottom. Running them through this will fix any tag problems without obviously changing anything. Do put your MP3s in organizational folders, the undocumented Display feature makes this very useful (name them with 8 character names!) [Stop the player and hit Display; you can then skip through the folders - hit Display again and you can skip through the MP3s in the current folder] Oh and get a set of NiHM batteries with charger - your pocket book will be glad you did in the long run. Im very happy with my purchase: the solid state players that only have a hour or so of music for hundreds of dollars just were too much for me. Now I can have 11+ hours of music playing and not have to fiddle with a CD once all for less than $100. The only con I have is the occasional drop out in sound that lasts a second or so. Seems to happen almost randomly, never in the same place or frequency. But I can cope for having a portable MP3 player for a price I can afford.
On: 2001-02-10
Youd be out of your head to buy this half-rate pretender. I had it, returned and just got the Sonic Blue Riovolt. A far superior product. Id venture to say it 4x as good as this thing and only thirty bucks more. I give Memorex credit for getting it out to market quick but now it must bow in. Amazon should have volt soon go to cnet to see who has it now.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-02-10
This Memorex cd player was the best hundred bucks i have ever spent in y life. I had a d-link mp3 player that, in my opinion, was a piece of crap. It would skip and not work right, so i returned it. I then bought a memorex mp3-cd player, and it works great. The only thing i thought was kind of bad, was the fact that it would not work with packet-cd writing. But overall I thought that it was well worth the hundred bucks, it works almost perfectly, with almost no distortion with the highest volume.
On: 2001-02-10
For you guys out there who said that this thing just keep on skipping, Ive been using it in Haiti (where the roads are in really bad condition) and it hasnt skip. The ESP works fine. The only thing that matters is that your songs are encoded at 128-192 KB/s; over that, it just stops playing. Also, the VBR format is not well supported. After that, it works fine. The random mode is also a nice feature in MP3 mode.. I should say that a Resume feature would be very appreciable, and that the searches should be easier than that. WMA support is also something that lacks. All my songs were in VBR format, so before making the MP3-CDs, I put them in constant bitrate (128bit) and then it reads all my songs perfectly. Overall, its a good choice.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-02-07
The cd/mp3 player is exactly what i had expected. The only bad thing is that it looks like its a cd player used by flinstones in the cave. its not that fat, but lets just say its not skinny whats so ever. Plays good with no skips, kills batteries fast, but thats bout all
On: 2001-02-01
I just picked this up without reading the reviews (impulse buy!) and when I got home to read the reviews I got a little scared at all the bad reviews. I burned a CD (in Adaptec EZ CD Creator 3.5c using the data cd wizard) and sure enough, I was missing 60 songs, it skipped a lot, took 5-10 seconds between tracks, and operated so poorly I thought that Id have to return it.I didnt really want to return it, though, so I started reading the instructions. I tried burning a CDRW in straight ISO9660 format, making sure the disc session was closed, using 8 character file names, all special characters removed, using only 128kbps files I personally encoded. So far, it has played with no skips and no problems. The delay between tracks is _gone_. I think a good portion of the problems people have been having is because of the strict file format this player _REQUIRES_. Ive seen some posts on the net about how to trick it into displaying more characters, playing bitrates higher than 128kbps or how to burn with 30 char file names...and these seem to be the same people who are having problems. After all, its nice that the player _can_ play up to 192kbps, but if its skipping while doing so, what do you think the problem is? So far its played my correctly burned CD with NO problems whatsoever (Its 1/3 of the way through the CD and Ive heard no audio problems, unlike my first disc which skipped every 2-3 minutes) Now, since Im a bit happier with it, why only 4 stars? Well, needing to rename your files and only use 8 char file names and burn a special way is a pain, the 128kbps limit should have been more explicit on the packaging...and theres no easy way to skip between directories (you have to hit file/dir twice, then type in the directory #. Hazardous to your health while driving!). Other than that, I got exactly what I expected when I paid for it. In summary, it seems to me that if youre willing to play by the rules, you may find that the player is an excellent buy!
On: 2001-01-31
Ok, I have been testing this over and over with CDRWs, and found a system that works fairly well. Well enough for me anyway. First off, let me point out some things. I *think* it only has enough memory for 200 songs. It WILL NOT recognize the rest. It may be that it only has enough memory for X number of characters in the filenames, thus when the limit is reached, the rest wont play. Im not sure which. If this is true, it has come out to about 200 songs each time. The CD will have the rest on it, but it wont play them. To compensate for this, you can either: encode at a higher bitrate (dont exceed 192. You wont be able to fit any more of course, but youll have better quality), or you can combine songs. If you are encoding your own albums, you can set it to encode more than one song in the same track. Remember, you wont have the ID3 tags for the second song. You might think that youd be able to write in the ID3 tag "track 1 name/track 2 name," but it only displays 30 characters, including dashes and spaces. If you can fit it, good for you, but you wont be able to skip directly to that track of course. To scroll through the folders, stop the CD so its at the "main screen" ("Welcome MP3") and then press the "display" button (second button on the left). You can then press the "+" and "-" to move through the folders. Pressing "display" again will move the cursor down to the song listings. You can scroll through the songs on each album this way (once you get to the end it will automatically go to the next album). Pressing display again will return to the main screen. Dont ask me about the "search" feature, Ive heard it doesnt work, and even if it does, its probably more trouble than its worth.WHEN ENCODING YOUR SONGS: For each album, artist, etc. make a folder. I have a folder for each band, and then folders for each of their albums inside those. Name the folder "1 AlbumName," "2 NextAlbumName," etc. Of course, if you have more than 9 albums for each artist, youll want "01," "02," etc. This way, you can have your albums in the order you want them (it alphabetizes EVERYTHING). You will never see the band folders, but it will put them in the order you want them on the CD. Next, title your songs "01 SongTitle," "02 NextSongTitle," etc. Dont put dashes in between. You *can*, but when you are scrolling through songs/albums, it only displays the first SIX characters of the name. That is including the number (assuming you are doing it the way I am explaining). It ignores spaces, so it doesnt matter if you use them. When you are actually PLAYING the song, it displays artist, album, and song title. That is read off of the ID3 tags, so make SURE you have those correct. People have posted problems they have had, but I havent had much trouble with it. I think its a good price for an mp3 player. They are so new, you cant expect much better. The interface is annoying and confusing (and doesnt work very well), but right now at this price, you cant beat it. If you have any questions, comments, or info, email me at obscure-mind@excite.com
On: 2001-01-30
Bought it on Friday, January 26th, and loaded it up with used alkaline batteries for the road trip back to Canada. Did not skip once. Used fully charged 1600 mah NiMH batteries on the 27th, and so far have had it play for 6 hours.When I bought the unit, I was glad to see that I had the suffix A or revised unit, manufactured in October 2000. I was worried that I would have purchased the earlier model, which is purported to have severe skipping problems. So far; a) flawlessly plays all of my old time radio shows (32 kbps encoding at 44Khz), b) flawlessly plays all of my personally encoded music CDs from 128-192 kbps. Ive not tried encoding with VBR because I dont use that and believe that the unit might have trouble with it. It seems to have about a 95% + success rate when playing files downloaded from Napster. The files that choked were VBR or had other problems. Before burning tracks, I check the integrity of the file with a program called MP3Utility (at least now I do). If a file has a problem, I re download it. It appears to read directories alphabetically and/or numerically, although I do not know which takes preference. I alphabetize my directories and number my songs/tracks. A couple of interesting points; when using the previously used alkaline batteries, I saw a low battery message appear on screen. Ignoring it, I did start to have skipping problems, which were cured by using the AC adapter. For $99.99, the package included the player, an AC adapter, headphones, a cigarette lighter adapter, and a car cassette adapter. Im happy with it, and would not hesitate recommending it. If you buy it, I suggest using 1600 mah NiMH batteries, not burning with VBR, and numbering your songs (01 - filename, 02 - filename, and so on). Put whole albums into separate alphabetical directories. I use EZ CD Creator 4.02 and use ISO 9660 with long filenames as options. Hope this helps.
On: 2001-01-26
I have the Suffix A model and have no skipping problems at all.The only problems I am having with this unit are- 1. The 2 second pauses that randomly happen during songs. I had one song pause 4 times. Other times I wont hear a pause for 20 min. 2. I have had the unit completely shut off after a song far before the end of the directory (what is wrong with EZ CD Creator?) Will I have less problems if I use something else? 3.Variable bit rate does not work with this unit. After I burned a CD I had certain songs stop playing randomly throughout the disc. The timer kept going, but no sound. If I paused it and hit play again it would play again. I popped the disc on my PC and tested the songs and noticed the only ones with this problem were the ones with a changing bit rate. 4. The player does not recognize some of my directories. It could be that I did not number my directories beforehand. I will have to test it. I just burned on an 80min disc over 650 mb and did not number any of my 9 directories (but did give them titles). The Memorex only recognized the 1st directory. When I tried to skip to another it gave me "No Dir". I still have some testing to do. Maybe I needto stick with 74 min discs or at least put less than 650 mb of music on the 80 min discs.
On: 2001-01-23
I travel quite a bit and now being able to carry 100 or 200 CDs worth of music is a reality. My units works quite well. I have experianced some unexplained skips, but these are few and far between.(Maybe once an hour or two). The other main weakness is the manual itself. It is too skimpy. In order to get the most out of this unit, the best way to name files and how to best use the tags needs to be explained. For example some of my CD/Directories play the files out of order ie track 3 first, sequentually to the last track and them track1 and track2. This is not really a big problem but a few CDs need the tracks played in order. The unit will do it, but how to do it, is not in the manual. I found it hard at first to scroll down through the directories. But once I figured it out on my own (no thanks to the manual) it is quite easy. I usually use the AC, but am now using the batteries. As with most electronic stuff, I expect it will eat the batteries very quickly. I burn my mp3s on Cd at 2x and use the cheapest CD available. The beauty here is I am not worried about damaging a CD. I always have a copy. All my CDs play great. I did get a Cd given to me and only half the files were recognised. I am not sure why as I do not know how the CD was burned. I do know that all the files are at a different bit rates and could even be mpsVBR (variable bit rate). I always use 128 kps mp3s. And have no problem. And yes the CD must be burned all in one session ... something else that is not too clear in the manual. I have not played it in the car, but I have batted it around held it at different angles with no skips. For that 5th and last star in the rating, it could be a bit smaller, the controls a bit friendlier, a completer manual, and absoluty no skips. All in all I am happy with my unit as I now have hundreds of hours of music now at my disposal in my one CD wallet.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-01-19
MACINTOSH users: When burning MP3 CDs for the Memorex, you do NOT need to burn in the ISO9660 format, as the instructions say. (This is also the case for the Phillips Expanium). Amazingly, you can burn your MP3 CDs as regular Macintosh-formatted CDs, and they will play just fine. However, its wise to follow several conventions: 1) be certain all your MP3 files end with the .mp3 suffix; 2) number songs sequentially at the beginning of the file (such as 01-slipperypeople.mp3) so they stay in the order you intended (this is especially important for those who listen to books-on-tape type of files; a simple shareware program such as drop*rename will do these renaming tasks automatically) 3) dont put anything in the "root" directory, but keep a simple file structure with each folder containing an album or a selection (with no subfolders within folders); 4) be certain that bitrate is between 32-190, and that mhz is 44.1 -- if not, use a program such as soundjam to convert files into these bitrate/mhz combinations (and use a G4, because the conversion takes awhile!). Impression of the Memorex: not perfect but a great deal for under a hundred, does what its supposed to do. Not great for vigorous walking while listening to MP3s because there is more anti-skip is memory allocated to CDs than to MP3s. Mp3s play great when unit is sitting on the seat of a car or when walking normally with the unit in a belt-pack.
On: 2001-01-17
I liked everything about it with the exception of skipping in the car. It has to go back and now I see that they have raised the price so Ill wait for another brand to surface.
On: 2001-01-13
Perhaps if this unit functioned correctly, it would be the best thing since bread and butter. (But whats so great about that, anyway?) For having 45 second anti skip, this thing really sucks...it skips all of the time in the car, regardless of whether its from shock or not, it just skips, and it happens frequently. Also, I have the proclaimed "suffix A" model, and it is still a sorry machine. Just using it at home with the adapter I havent had problems, but it also skipped very bad when I was running and had batteries in it. I would reccommend this product if you only want something to hook up to your home system. Otherwise...wait.
On: 2001-01-13
Well, I dont know why everyone is all negative about the thing.At first, I thought that this unit really sucked. I was all "hey guys, check this thing out" and then it would skip every 5 seconds. I thought that it was the bitrate, so I made a cd with every bitrate available (except that VBR crap.) They all worked just fine, unless you took it down too low (< 96kbps - who cares, right?) Im big on tags in my files, so I made a cd with no tags. I guess it didnt waste its buffer with reading all 180 tags and it worked fine after that. Maybe it was just the media, but I doubt it. I might try putting just the title tag into it and use the filename for the artist. I took it on my first raod trip a week ago. 6 hours to L.A. We made the trip there and back on like one cd (beautiful.) On the way up it skipped maybe twice (and that may even have been the mp3 itself.) Certainly no complaints. On the way back we hit a rough road and I guess it was just enough and long enough to not let it fill up the buffer ever, so it was having problems. Once it turned off by itself. But it was 10 times as good as a regular cd player. We just kicked back and listened on the whole trip. I like: Works surprisingly nice. Despite the 128 kbps warning, Ive had it go at 192 for hours and even up to 320. Perhaps it has less antiskip protection or something, but it works great. Its pretty dang cheap. I dont like (or havent figured out yet): The resume doesnt really work. I would like a shuffle play in directories. It cuts off the filename at 8 characters. If it could display more it would be great. Anyone know where to get a remote???
by: Anonymous On: 2001-01-13
Name 1 other MP3 player for approx. $100 in which 650 Mb of storage is $1, Shows Artist, Title, and Track Tag, is searchable and has all the other features that this one does...I have a 70 MP3 CD Archive with over 9,000 songs, this plays every song flawlessly. This is used in my car, mounted on a $39 portable CD mounting bracket, RR tracks, Pot holes or bass, have yet to make this player skip. For those who are unable to burn correctly. Always hit your Target, slower burns are better, make sure your songs arent cooked to begin with, stay away from Direct CD, RIP your own MP3s for ensured quality. G.I.G.O.
On: 2001-01-11
Short design-to-market product development cycles are not new in todays fast-paced world of GadgetNology. This mp3 player is a perfect example of such fast cycles. I wrote "design-to-market" as opposed to "design-to-test-to-market" for a good reason. This player couldnt have spent virtually any time in a Memorex test lab. It skipped thru about half of my albums burned on a 2 identical CD-Rs without an apparent reason. As a matter of fact it skipped thru different albums on those 2 CD-Rs. I accomodated some of Memorexs tantrums by spending a couple of hours seeking out a batch filename manipulation software and then renaming songs and albums and removing all (and I mean all!) special characters. It continued behaving like a spoiled brat and reading only about 70% of my songs. This is about when my patience expired for the evening. I would also suggest any decision-making executives from Memorex to employ fewer interns on their design team. This players control panel and digital screen are outrageously illogical and user-unfriendly. I strongly recommend holding out on this one. Memorex lost a big one in my view.
On: 2001-01-11
I bought this from Amazon and I am sorry to say that this unit did not perform as expected. It Skips Mp3 songs at random. It is not that It skipped because it was subjected to shock, But it skipped at random. It does not have support for lower bit rate Mp3 files and does not support VBR that quite well, The unit lacks proffessional design as in EXPANIUM from Philips. This unit does have some plus points like better LCD display and ID-3 tag display to track file names in Alpha-numeric characters, but overall this unit did not perform well, It is cheap and this unit requires some serious Design changes may be some firmware problem? for random skipping. The sound quality is okay. I can rate this with 2 stars. Wait for better MP3 players, if you have the money and urge to buy something that plays does not skip then Buy Expanium from Philips and buy yourself a good headphones too as Expaniums headphones are crap. Buy Headphones from KOSS (SPortaPro) the ideal headphones for this unitCheers!
On: 2001-01-11
Okay, Im not going to get all "techie" on you. I opted for the Memorex MP3/CD player for a few reasons, 1)the price was unbelievable 2)Memory sticks and Smart Cards cost way too much vs. CD-Rs 3)I can listen to a ton of music w/out carrying around a load of CDs or tapes.This is the third week Ive had the player, and Ive become positively flustered with the array of buttons on the player. I cant use the "file search" button at all, and Ive read the users manual three times! The "resume" button doesnt resume play. Altogether, its a pretty in-efficient navigation system. Say you want to go to track 100.... well, you can click the "skip" button a hundred times, or you have to call Memorex for clear instructions on how to do it, because the users manual stinks! Theres no button guard or lock, so when its powered-off and put away in your bag, you run the risk of turning it on accidentally and wearing out your batteries before the evening commute home. The 45 seconds of Anti-skip, feature is a blessing. And the adapter sounds great in my stereo at home & in my car. I think Memorex needs a little more "fine-tuning" for this product, and it would be ideal.
On: 2001-01-10
First off I could not find the product in stores or online. It was almost like they could not make them fast enough.I finally ordered it online and was so excited to have it I requested next day delivery. Problem #1: The lighter interface is bulky and would not fit my ford ranger ash tray. I had to buy a special adapter. Problem #2: As promised above every 15 or so minutes you get a empty pause. I can almost live with this since Im more interested in quantity over quality. Problem #3: If I burn a cdr and then attempt to tack on more mp3 files these files (apparently) cant be read by the player. Problem #4: I have been unable to get it to read cd-rw cds. It spins and spins and finally says error. If I cant resolve this I will return the product. Im running a Pacific Digital Corp mitsumi cr-4802te with NTI pro 3.5.8 software. Newer CD readers have no problems reading my CDRWs.
On: 2001-01-09
It cant handle variable bitrate mp3s (even low bitrate ones), it cant handle high bitrate mp3s (>128 kbit). The shock protection doesnt work very well; it constantly pauses when I use it in the car. I do like that it handles multiple directories. I do wish the random function did not stop after playing each song once. I do like that the display shows the mp3 tags, such as artist, title, etc.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-01-06
Not having much confidence in Memorex products, I decided to read through all the helpful reviews on this site before I decided to open the package. So, taking everyones feedback into consideration, I thought it was worth opening to see if I had the "Suffix A" version. GREAT, I did! I was really looking forward to listening to all my CDRs and MP3s in the car now. Plated up the new Aimee Mann, plugged the power jack into the lighter, slid the cassette adapter into the player and backed out of the driveway.Skip. Music. Skip. Skip. Whats this? I have the "Suffix A" version, this shouldnt be happening. Tried an MP3 CD, same thing. My assessment- This thing doesnt like to ride in the car, plus it doesnt like the cold. I left it in a cold car overnight and tried to fire the unit up in the morning and it wouldnt even power up. Thinking it might not be able to brave the elements, I waited to tried it again when the cabin of the car got nice and toasty. It ran, but it skipped wildly, clicked and skipped some more. Sure, it will play 98% of the music without skipping, its that annoying 2% thats forcing me to return it. When powered in the home by electricity or walking with batteries powering the unit, MP3s and CDRs work fine. Not one skip- even when provoked! It could be the power adapter for the car or it could be the cassette adapter. Ive experimented jostling around both with little success in getting the unit to skip. Maybe its one of the terminals inside the unit, I dont know. What i do know though, is its time for it to go back. I purchased this unit primarily to sit shotgun as I d |
