The perfect mp3 player for the active soul
Written: Jan 12 '05
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Portability: |
|
|
| Battery Life: |
|
|
|
Pros: Compact, sleek Design.
Cons: Somewhat high price for file capacity.
The Bottom Line: The MuVo2 X-Trainer is a solid Mp3 player for the active at heart.
|
|
|
| MattBjorke's Full Review: Creative Labs Nomad MuVo2 X-Trainer (512 MB) MP3 P... |
I’ve never had an mp3 player before. So when I got this one as a gift, I didn’t know what to do with it. Sure, on one hand I’d always wanted one, but I also couldn’t justify paying the $150-400 bucks to buy one (a generic mp3 player being the lower cost, an iPOD being the higher end). Along with not wanting to fork out the $$ to buy one, I didn’t necessarily know what size capacity would suit my needs. Being an extreme music fan who spends way too much on music, I guess I’d probably need a 40gb (gigabyte) iPOD. Well, after being sent the Nomad MuVo2 X-Trainer from Creative Labs, I have quickly found out that for basic purposes, the 512mb (megabyte) works just fine. Its not as if I really need to have every single song or CD I’ve ever owned in a small portable music player. 512 MB holds about 130-150 songs (at the average time of 3:30-4:00 minutes a song) at the CD quality sounding 128kbs mp3 file. So, while a larger capacity would be nice, the flash memory powered 512mb Nomad MuVo2 (2 meaning squared) x-trainer does exactly what it’s designed for, to provide steady musical playback for about 8-16 complete hours (on a fully charged lithium-ion battery that is included).
Features, Features, Features
So, the biggest thing that mp3 players offer over CD players is the ability to play skip-free music for hours on end. As stated above, the Nomad MuVo2 X-Trainer provides that. What it also provides is a sleek square design that is 6.5mm wide with a total thickness of 2mm (for those who don’t understand metric, it’s 2.5 inches wide and .75inches thick. For all intent and purpose it’s about 1.2 the size of an iPOD mini.
The Nomad MuVo2 X-Trainer also comes with Creative’s software tool. This tool includes a handy, dandy mp3 tool that will help sort your songs easier. It also has an easy to use interface to transfer tracks from computer to mobile player (the mp3 player). This software has quickly eclipsed my previous music ripping software: Nero 6-Ultimate Edition or Real Player.
OK, so at this point you’re probably wondering what the “X-Trainer” part of the Nomad MuVo2 X-Trainer’s name means. Simply, this player is designed for those of us who enjoy life on the run, or move. The player is packaged with a sleek and lightweight belt clip or for those joggers among us, an armband wrap. The Nomad MuVo2 X-Trainer is also VERY lightweight (it weighs no more than the average cell phone). The headphones included also work quite well. While they’re “inner ear” designed, they’re very comfortable and don’t require sound to be too loud (unless you so wish). Also, for easy storage, they fold up into a very small package.
On the player itself, there is a backlight that lights up the display after each function. The menu is accessed by the larger of the two small silver buttons. This button also is the track skip (back or forward) button while the up and down function accounts for the volume control. To access the menu you simply press the button firmly. And cycle through the menu using the track skip portion. While this button is small, after a short practice time, its use is very easy. There is a playback feature that allows you to do the basic playback options, a six pronged EQ (Jazz, Rock, Pop, Classical, custom, normal). Now, I haven’t played all that much with the EQ’s custom feature but it doesn’t seem that tough to do. The menu also features an “settings” menu where you can change the display language to whatever you wish (there’s several including, French, Spanish, Finnish, Norwegian, Mandarin, Japanese, etc.). You may also change the length of the backlighting (If spread out longer, the battery life of the mp3 player will diminish). There’s even a locking feature so that if the player’s buttons get bumped while working out it won’t change volume or tracks. In addition, you can use the “Settings” menu to see how much space is available on the mp3 player (if you forget to while transferring songs. The random feature on the player is my favorite part for the player then acts like my own personal radio station (since I have old favorites mixed in with some current favorite/hit songs).
The Nomad MuVo2 X-Trainer also comes with a USB 2.0 cable to transfer data from any computer and a power/recharging cable.
Suggested Usage
I use this mp3 player in lieu of my old personal CD player in my second car. I use the CD player’s tape converter (for a car stereo) and it works great through the car speakers. You can also buy a FM transmitter to use the mp3 player over any radio airwave. (the player must obviously be near the transmitter, it won’t work if you leave the transmitter and player home and drive to the store miles away trying to listen to your “station.”
The most common ussage I’ve used this for is in lieu of my old am/fm radio at work. Since I move around a lot, it’s nice to have something compact and light in my pocket w/o having to worry about batteries and such (also no more commercials, though I do miss talk radio sometimes). I guess I could always buy the optional FM tuner.
I should note here that this player also acts like a Jump Drive if you were to need to transfer a file or two from home to work or vice-versa.
Final Thoughts
The Nomad MuVo2 X-Trainer has been an eye-opening experience for me. I always thought I’d like an mp3 player. And I do. Now, when I go to buy one, I’ll probably go ahead and get a bigger one but will always have this one to use for “trips and stuff.” While The Nomad MuVo2 X-Trainer is a bit on the “pricey” side, I still find it’s got a great consumer base who want a versatile mp3 player for their weekend adventures.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 290
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
MattBjorke
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: Music City, TN, USA
Reviews written: 485
Trusted by: 127 members
About Me:
I'm still here and I'm still a fan of good pop and country music.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.