- dimunitive size lets you bring it anywhere - reasonable sound quality from this class of device - doubles as a USB storage device - economical price - simplicity of controls - really neat-o red color

- no .wav or other formats supported, only mp3 and wma - turning on/off is awkward - pre-eq'd with a subtle bass lift with no way to defeat, but it -is- subtle - no display (but not really appropriate for this class of player)

Ok, so this is a different type of review for me... an MP3 player?! Well, I needed a USB flash storage device, and when I saw the Creative MuVO series for just a little more than regular devices, I couldn't resist. And I have to say, I've been somewhat surprised by this minature jukebox. First, let me put out the disclaimer that I'm not a huge fan of the MP3 format. My portable format of choice is Sony MiniDisc (using ATRAC compression), which I have years of experience with. That said, these solid-state players still are unrivaled when it comes to dimunitive size. These, the brand new iPod Shuffle, and the little Samsung units are among the tiniest. And it is nice, you can slip one of these and some in-ear phones into a pocket, the palm of your hand, wherever. With the current entry-level MuVO you get a tiny, candy-apple red player with 128 megabytes of memory. This is about the minimum to be really usefull, any less is too small. It uses a single AAA battery for up to 12 hours of use (about right unless you're using inefficient headphones). It is the model of simplicity, you can adjust volume, select tracks, and loop the tracks. That's it. No display, no songlists, nothing but music here. Looking for full-on iPod features? Buy and iPod then. I, for one, appreciate the simplicity and targeted functionality of this device. The device is two pieces, a battery holder and the actual player. Remove the player from the battery holder, and you reveal a USB connector. Plug it into your PC or Mac, and viola', you have a removable storage device. Drag files on or off. Music files (.mps and .wma formats only) will become playable, in the order they are loaded into memory. Data files just hang out until you remove then later. Now, how does this sound? Well, I have to admit I have been pleasantly surprised by the sound quality of this player. If you take a carefully converted mp3 at, say, 256kbs (even 192kbs is ok), the overall presentation is -very- listenable. The electronics are surprisingly quiet, with just enough output to drive even difficult headphones to reasonable levels. Push it too far, and sure, you get muddied up low-end and distortion, but it is pretty loud by then. I've only touched on .wma files in this, it is not a format I care for, but overall the results are acceptable. Looking for higher-end sound, or even uncompressed .wav support? Turn to one of the new HD based media units from Creative or others, or better yet a HiMD unit from Sony. But the results here are listenable, especially in the environments you'll probably use this player in. It comes with software to rip files, but I'm using Windows Media Player 10 and iTunes. Through away the headphones that come with it, by the way, they are very poor in sound quality. Don't judge this player with the headphones it comes with! A single AAA battery is included. Overall, if this is the type of player you're looking for, I cannot recommend this unit enough. At only $49 retail it is difficult to find complaint. The only real rival is Apple's new iPod Shuffle, which buys you a very respectable 512mb for only $99...

Similar Products Used:

Sony portable MD players, D-Link MP3 player