Odyssey 1000 20GB mp3 player
2003-03-01 05:20:50
I've read some reviews on the Odyssey 1000 mp3 player, and it doesn't do that bad when compared to the iPod. It has all the basic functionality, plus it has an FM radio, Windows Explorer functionality as a normal hard drive, and USB 2.0 support. The screen is backlit, and it gives good display of folder trees. I read that it has good sound, on par or better than the iPod. It can't read ID3 tags, which is disapointing, but then again, not everyone needs ID3 tags, it just depends on how one organizes his files. Of course though, there is no auto-indexing of your files based on the ID3 tags, like the iPod and the Nomad Zen do. No sorting playback by particular Genre, Composer on this one. I don't have a need for this, but others do. It looks to be firmware upgradeable (this is mentioned in the manual, but this is not a highly advertised feature, so who knows if it will eventually support other formats than WMA and MP3. I read that ID3 tag support upgrade is supposedly in the works for this player, and they just didn't feel it was imporatant enough to delay its release. This is supposedly a fairly small company that produces this product, though reviews tought its high quality build. If it picked up a lossless format like FLAC and another great encoding format like OGG Vorbis, I think this would be a mighty fine player. As of now, if you only need an MP3 player, the Archos Jukebox Recorder 20 with rockbox firmware is MUCH better than this player, in features, though I do not know about sound quality. But, if you are looking for future format upgradeability, this could be a possibility, as the Archos is hardcoded to play mp3s, so it is highly unlikely to play other formats in the future. If Archos would only release a player that can add formats with new firmware... It is wierd how the Odyssey has not gotten that much press, though I guess it is fairly new. Here is a link to its website http://www.edigital-store.com/odyssey1000.html and here are a couple reviews and comparison pages and pics with other players:http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,...d,108608,00.asp http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shoppi...dyssey1000.html http://www.austonia.com/PDAP.html http://www.austonia.com/pics/O1000/index1.html a good thread to read at another page: http://news.dmusic.com/article/6038