Latte Communications ice MP3/WMA/AVI/MPEG Player
Written: Nov 04 '07 (Updated Mar 26 '09)
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Pros: Huge screen, features, performance, price, memory expandability, supplied headphones
Cons: Need to convert video files before playback using supplied software
The Bottom Line: The Latte ice is a good performer and a very good value. The memory expandability, huge screen, features and performance at a good price make it a very good choice.
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| dkozin's Full Review: Latte ice Flash PMP MP3/Video Player |
With the technology advancing, I went through quite a few MP3 players from the lame, but functional Philips HDD077 to excellent iPods of different generations, including Nano models. I still like iPod Nano, but it cannot be denied that it has its shortcomings, including the lack of memory expandability, lack of WMA support, audio recording or radio and its high price.
The iPod uses a proprietary connector so you cannot charge it from just any USB-to-mini-USB cable or a cell phone charger, it does not come with a wall charger and you cannot copy music from just any computer (iTunes software is a requirement).
I have used Latte Neon M3 MP3 player and it was good, but not perfect and there is always something you can improve upon. I got the new Latte ice 2GB MP3/WMA/AVI/MPEG player from Latte Communications (a Silicon Valley, California-based company) and saw that the strengths of the M3 were retained, whereas the imperfections addressed.
What is Latte ice?
The Latte ice is portable MP3/WMA/Video player and photo viewer, FM radio, voice recorder, portable drive and an E-book reader. The M3 sports a 2.8-inch TFT QVGA true-color display (320x240).
The player comes with either 2 or 4 GB of built-in memory (depending on the model) and can be extended using MicroSD cards (TransFlash). The player comes with headphones, USB cable, worldwide AC charger, software and manuals.
It features a built-in microphone for voice recording (WAV format) and a built-in speaker that is activated when the headphones are detached. The music can be copied to the player directly over USB with no need to install any software. Same applies to files of any kind when you use this PMP as a flash drive.
The player plays MP3 at 64-320 Kbps and WMA at 64-384 Kbps with frequency response of 20-20,000 Hz at under 0.06% distortion. It supports menus in many languages, including English, Spanish, German, Chinese and even such exotic ones as Russian.
Price-wise, the Latte ice undercuts the iPod Nano of the comparable memory capacity, but functionally includes much more.
Advantages Over iPod Nano
Just as with the Latter Neon M3, the Latte ice comes with a worldwide-voltage AC charger (although it uses a smaller jack than mini USB). This is a big plus comparing to iPods, for which you have to get a wall/travel charger separately.
The music transfer to the player does not require special software: you just connect it using the supplied USB cable and copy MP3/WMA/JPEG/etc. files over. iPods require iTunes software. The only time when you might have to use the supplied software is to convert video files using the supplied AVI converter to be able to watch them on the ice.
The ice also has expandable memory using MicroSD cards. Try that with your Nano! The player also plays WMA, which is a file format iPods do not like (but I do).
The ice has an FM radio and voice recording with a built-in microphone. It also has a built-in speaker, can play MPEG-4 AVI (requires conversion using included software) and lets you view JPEG photos. My ice came preloaded with “Mission Impossible 3” and it was certainly watchable, although I do would rather watch a movie on a large screen or not watch it at all. But if you are traveling and/or do not mind watching a movie on a small screen, the ice can accommodate it.
The player supports text reading, games and has a flexible equalizer, including graphical equalizer function, where you can adjust individual frequency ranges.
Not surprisingly (after using the M3), the ice features excellent sound quality, can play very loud (even with aftermarket headphones); the display is very clear and its radio has good reception and stores up to 30 stations.
Let's also not forget the price advantage - the 2GB ice currently sells for less than $95 and the 4GB version for under $120.
Sound
The ice sounds very good, even with the supplied headphones. Of course, for an apples-to-apples comparison, I used my usual headphones of choice: Koss KSC-75. The sound is detailed, has well-defined bass, mids and treble and the instrument separation is very good (if you use the highest bit rate possible).
The supplied headphones look nice, are very good for their size, have decent bass and feel comfortable in my ears (more on them later). I also used my Koss KSC-75 and Sennheiser HD202 headphones and discovered that the player provides good amount of bass and overall sound is as good as I have heard from an MP3 player.
Furthermore, unlike mediocre Philips HDD077, which could not play loud enough with aftermarket headphones, and even iPod Nano that plays just loud enough for medium-grade aftermarket headphones, the ice can play extremely loud. I used its volume at up to 12-17 even with my aftermarket headphones (the music was loud enough then) and it can go up to 40. Make sure you do not overdo it with loud music though and your hearing will thank you later.
The radio reception is very good and the sound is also good. The radio station/frequency display is very legible and uses large lettering.
Display
The huge 2.8-inch TFT screen is very sharp, colorful and is informative. The icons are good-looking, the audio playback features a spectrum analyzer, instant bitrate display and more.
The photos look very good (surprisingly for the 320x240 resolution) and the screen seems just huge comparing to the one on the iPod Nano. The colors are pleasing and backlight is bright.
Battery
The battery lasts around 8 hours, depending on the screen usage, volume and functions used. I normally use it for about 4-5 hours in a row and see no sign of battery depletion, so the battery life is suitable for me. And the fact that the player comes with a workdwide changer lets me recharge it anywhere I travel.
Headphones
The supplied headphones are of an in-ear design, compact size and excellent noise insulation. They look very stylish and have replaceable ear pads. The headphones came with small black pads attached and an extra set of larger pads.
The pads are of different sizes to fit your ear (I used the ones that the headphones came pre-attached with. If you need excellent noise insulation, these headphones work very well. They are also much more stylish than the likes of Koss Sparkplug and feel more comfortable.
The headphones are similar in sound To Koss SparkPlugs. But they feel much more comfortable, look much more stylish and seem to sound slightly better for electronic music and (surprise) some simple (less instruments) classical music (e.g. E. Bloch Piano + Viola only) than Koss SparkPlug.
Overall, with good noise insulation, these are good headphones to use in a gym, on a train/plane. The headphones are well-made, have metal housings and should be durable.
It Is Easy To Use
The Neon M3 had some usability issues, which are resolved in the ice. The Latte ice is easy to use with intuitive control functions and placement. The buttons feel solid and provide good feedback when pushed.
Construction
The player feels solid. It has a stylish metal body with controls requiring quite a bit of force to operate. Which, in my opinion, is a good thing as it appears the player is solidly built and will not react to accidental button pushes (my iPod does that sometimes, unless locked).
What Is The Catch?
As you can see, there is a lot to like here. But there are features that will take some getting used to. Photos should be resized to lower resolution first before you copy them to the M3. I tried full-size 6MP images and they still worked, but took 10 seconds to appear fully (they start appearing immediately from the top of the screen). And while the photo is being rendered, you cannot exit or skip to the next photo. But once you downsize them to the 320x240 resolution that the player uses, they appear rather quickly, so it is not a big deal.
The video playback requires you to convert the video first using the supplied software. But after that, it is fluid and frankly amazing.
Update 04/2009
After 1.5 years of moderate use, the player still works as new.
Conclusion
The Latte ice is a good performer and a very good value. The memory expandability, huge screen, features and performance at a good price make it a very good choice.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 95
Recommended for: Music Lovers - High Capacity Storage for an Entire Album Collection
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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 in Electronics |
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Location: California
Reviews written: 838
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About Me:
I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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