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Intel Personal Audio 3000
Author: Chris Oh
Date Posted: December 4th, 2001
URL: http://www.slcentral.com/reviews/hardware/sound/intel/personal3000
Introduction
We are entering an era in which we are afforded personal freedoms such as music and video wherever we want thanks to the information age. Music once stored in bulky CD players and music boxes are compacted into data-files and stored onto portable mp3 and wmv players for you to take wherever you want. But everyone's heard this introduction at least 50 times with other reviews so I won't bother finishing it up the traditional way since it'll just be a repeat. But going back and recalling the evolution of mp3 players, we notice 2 main differences. There is an increase in aesthetic qualities, and storage, also an increase in prices. The first mp3 player if you recall, was the Rio PMP300 which pioneered the portable mp3 revolution. There was some commotion on a copyright suit by the RIAA and that prevented other companies from releasing similar products, and therefore stepping on thin ice. But SonicBlue (then S3, who bought Diamond) was the sole company to release such a player and it was a huge hit obviously. When the RIAA lost the suit, it opened the floodgates for other companies to release similar players without a penalty. Then the evolution started, the connection methods drifted from parallel port to the USB port and SonicBlue still led the market with the Rio500 but with so much competition, lost shares to products from countless other companies. Mp3 players from then and now have added many new "standard" features such as a radio, microphone recording, USB connections, extra memory card expansion, etc… Of course all this added to the price of the players. The original Rio was $200 while the average price of the new players nowadays is $260. Aesthetically, the new players are very appealing to the eye and attract people with all of their snazzy features but when you take all of the unneeded features out, you're still left with a variant of the original PMP300. A good, sturdy player that gets the job done. Today, we are looking at such a player from Intel, it lacks the snazzy features but gets the job done very well at a very attractive price.
Features
Intel is not a company known for their personal digital audio players as much as they are for processors and servers, but just like a giant, they know how to develop good products and make sure it works in the market. Intel has gained experience in this market by developing the popular Intel Pocket Concert audio player which is very high end and very expensive. Sure enough, if there is a product in the high end market, it never hurts to try to enter into the low-end market. Although I do not like calling the Personal Audio Player 3000 a low-end product, it was obviously designed for this market. I will not list the things that it has; I will list the things that it is missing. First of all, there is no lighted LCD display. The LCD display only displays the track number, no track name. This isn't a big deal because in my opinion, this was designed for the athlete to a certain extent, but I'll get more into that later. Other features such as radio tuner, voice recording, and rechargeable batteries are missing also. But it does feature very high volume levels and low distortion compared to other players. Also, it is one of the few players that I know that is powered by the USB port while it is transferring songs. It is known that mp3 players drain battery power when connected to the computer and transferring songs so this is a major step towards making the battery run longer.
Along with that comes a player that actually fits naturally in the palm of your hand, it's not too thin or too slim, it fits just right like a stress ball might. It's also coated with hard rubber-like material and it is very durable. Aside from the front faceplate holder, nothing else on this player seems like it's made out of plastic. It has a very good feel to it and no shaky or squeaky parts like we've experienced in the past from other players. On the back is a removable belt-clip for use on the run which just screws on and off. This is also a feature lacked by some players. The buttons on this player are arranged for easy access with one hand while holding it. When in your palm in your left hand, your index finger can hit the play/pause and volume controls while your thumb can toggle through the tracks and hit the stop button. The button lock switch is also near your thumb and can be easily moved. The only bad side with the buttons is that they are pretty small and they require more pressure to push that I'd like. It also has a button that does the usual repeat track, repeat all, etc…so you don't have to worry about that.
Also, this player comes with the ability to play .wma (Windows Media Audio) files along with mp3's. This is a good thing for some people because they can convert their 4mb mp3's into 2.5mb (average) wma files and still maintain the same level of quality. I found that converting songs to wma is a very good thing to conserve on filesize and fit more songs onto the player. Some might argue that converting the mp3 to 64kbps is the better alternative but a major loss of quality and fidelity is the product of a 64kbps mp3 file and the 96kbps wma file is a much better alternative.
Specs
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Installation
I've reviewed countless USB devices that this is no exception. Just plug it in and install the software on most. But on this player, you must install the software first, then install the device, still not that hard. Not much else to say here but if you would like to use Windows Media Player instead of the Intel program to transfer songs, all you need to do is plug in the player and the system should detect it and you can use Windows Media Player to transfer songs. The face plate manager is also just install-and-play. After installation, this player functioned without a hitch or a hiccup.
Customization
The main feature on this player isn't the materials or the design in my opinion. A company needs something more to set itself out from the rest of the pack. Intel has thought up of something more innovative than just colors or design. It created a way for users to customize the entire front faces of their player with whatever they wish. The front of the Intel player is a plastic cover which holds in inserts with designs (payer comes with 4) or pictures made by the user. Then when the plastic cover is put back, you can see through it and see the design or picture that is behind it, giving the face of the player a personal touch. Intel also bundles software that allows the user to transfer their own pictures onto templates so they can print them out, cut them out, and place it on the player. This level of customization is innovative to say the least and it is a good idea also as the faceplate is molded to fit perfectly with the player so it wont seem shaky or mismatched with the faceplate cover on.
This player has all the looks to be in the "chic" crowd, its modern design and customization would make this player a good accessory for women and cool for men also. The "porthole" LCD adds to this style.
Audio Quality
The audio quality of this player is superior to many of the players I've reviewed. It is equal to the quality of the Rio500. The audio is crystal clear with almost no "hissing" in the background. The range of sound and low distortion, even at high levels of bass, makes this an ideal player for the audiophile. The full range of sound (20-20,000Hz) means that this player is equal to the rest in specs but the quality seems much better an this player is capable of going much louder than the rest of the pack. The levels of bass this player can also achieve is incredible but you will get a lot of distortion when you crank both bass and volume up. The earbuds that come with this player aren't the best I've seen but they're better than most, but I would always opt for Sony earbuds as they are very good in quality and sound.
Software
The software that comes with the player is also very easy to use, unlike some **cough** Rio Manager **cough** others. Its very simple, there are 2 columns, one has a directory tree from your computer, the other has the songs on the player, to get songs onto the player, open the directory tree to the music folder, select the songs, and hit copy and that's all you need to do, the cool thing about this player is that you can browse for more songs as you transfer a song in the background, it doesn't open a separate dialog showing the progress of one song while freezing everything else like most other players. This is great because it is a very fast way for you to transfer songs. Although I like this method, I find that just dragging and dropping the songs onto the player's list is much faster, dragging songs from the desktop to the player is instant transferring. Also, this player is compatible with the newest version of Windows Media Player and I use that now since it is even better for transferring songs and that means one less program for me to install. Along with this software comes Real Jukebox that no one really uses and the faceplate manager program that helps you design your own faceplates for this device.
Transfer speeds/Battery Power/Expansion
USB transfer rates are much better than parallel port or serial port transfer rates, since this is a USB player; it transferred songs at a clocked speed of around 20-30 seconds for a standard 4-5MB mp3 file. This is average speed for a USB player and I wasn't disappointed in the transfer progress either. Also, this unit is powered by one AA battery. Since it doesn't have a backlight or use battery power to transfer songs, I've found that I could go as long as 8 hours on the battery on a standard Duracell battery if I don't use a flash card to upgrade the memory. Adding a memory card might decrease battery life by just a bit. If I were to use the new Titanium batteries by Energizer or E3 by Duracell, I might've been able to squeeze a few more hours into the player. The battery lasts a satisfying amount of time. As for expansion, this player uses a MMC (Multimedia Card) to expand it's memory. MMC cards are flash memory that is the size of a postage stamp. A 64MB MMC card at newegg.com averages around the $50 mark so it's not a backbreaker to upgrade to more memory. Although it is not as cheap as Smartmedia, it's a good alternative in the sense that it takes up a lot less space and power. Potentially, this player could hold up to 128MB of memory for under a total cost of $200.
Durability
Durability and this player go hand in hand as it was seemingly made for people on the run and athletes. From the all rubber design to the design and belt clip, I'm guessing it was designed for athletes who use it when weight training, running, etc...and are prone to dropping it once in a while. The rubber construction makes this player durable as you will soon see in our tests.
Drop Test
Dropping this player from a height of 4 feet 5 times onto a hard wood floor.
The player survived the drop test admirably, the damage on it was very minimal a scratch here and a scratch there, I was surprised that the plastic cover didn't crack at all. There were some scrape marks on the rubber that can be taken care with alcohol wipes, but that was it.
Heat Wave
Ever have your car in the heat for a long time and the inside gets as hot as 115 degrees? Well, it does in Texas and that's what we used in our second real world test. This player was left in a black car in the heat at 115 degrees F for 5 hours to simulate real world torture.
The player did well, came out of it with nothing at all in terms of damage and was working just as well as before...maybe this test needs to be revised.
Water Torture
Mp3 players and water...not a good combination. Placing the playeri n a bowl of water for a second, then taking it out.
This is not a good pick for a third test because it might kill the player and then there's no fourth test. Well, people are always running in the rain for some reason and they need a player that can run with them. The player was completely submerged in a bowl of water for a period of one second, then taken out. I thought it would survive this test due to the construction which looks airtight and very conscientious about these thigns. I took the player out and hit play… the power came on, started playing, then turned off. I waited for about 8 hours until I knew the player was completely dry, then I played again… it worked. I guess water did get in and stopped the player but all it needed was for it to dry. DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME. Runs in the rain where you can get the occasional drops on this player probably wont affect it but submerging it in water might not be the best idea.
Cold Test
Negative 2 degree weather in Lubbock, Texas...go figure. This was a perfect tie for me to go running with my player.
Holding the player in my hand, I ran outdoors for an hour with the mp3 player in subzero weather. It lasted longer than I did for sure. The great thing is that normally on a metal player, it would get cold, then my hand would warm it up and form perspiration on the inside and short out but this player, since its rubber, is not affected by that at all. A very good thing too, the player was fine after the run, although a bit cold.
It looks like the Intel Audio player passed all of the torture tests just fine.
People It's Good For
Like I mentioned earlier, it is good for athletes who do not need to always look at the LCD, and also good for the fashion conscious crowd who wants a good looking player that they can customize. I would also go as far as to say that it is good for everybody who wants a cheap, good, player.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- $149.99 retail (cheap compared to others for a brand name)
- Durable
- Good Looking
- Great Audio Quality
Cons
- Buttons hard to depress
- No backlight
Conclusion
This is not a perfect player; I've never said it was. But it is a damned good one in my opinion, has everything a person needs and nothing they don't. If you can get used to having a player with hard buttons, then you can grow to love this player. Although not as feature-rich as other players, it's attractive price point and good audio quality make this player a good choice for both athletes and teens. The adult crowd might want something more stylish such as a Rio or even the Intel Pocket Concert. But for most people, this will get through their daily lives, even if they don't.
SLRating: 8.5/10
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