An on-board memory capacity of 64MB plus a SmartMedia card slot give this player equivalent playing time to the Rio500, which is approximately 90 minutes' worth of CD-quality music (encoded at 128Kbps). I tested the player with its standard configuration of 64MB.
Utilising parallel connectivity, the player is very fussy about your PC's settings. It forces you to change your parallel settings to ECP and address 378, and also states that if you have Epson or Canon printer drivers installed (probably two of the most popular printer manufacturers in the world) you would be better off removing them in case they cause conflict. Once installed, though, the MPJet's software interface is extremely easy to use, and it even allows you to upload your MP3 files from the player to your PC.
Built-in equaliser presets are featured plus repeat one, repeat all and random playing modes. A "3D Sound" button is also included, but this function heavily accentuates the left speaker channel, making listening in this mode discomforting. The MPJet's sound quality is great, but the headphones did suffer at higher volume settings. (And, annoyingly, the headphone's cord was quite short, making for uncomfortable travelling.)A single AA-sized battery is the power source for this player, but it also includes a 3-volt DC jack, which allows you to utilise an AC/DC adapter. I found that after two file transfers I was only able to listen to my playlist for about two to three hours. When the battery was low, the player just seemed to crash, requiring me to disconnect the battery and then reconnect it, to reset the player, at which time it displayed a "battery low" message and shut itself off. The build quality of the player also seemed very flimsy, with a couple of the latches and covers involuntarily coming loose while I was on the move. The LCD display, although displaying almost all the information you would ever need, was very dull and hard to read at the best of times. A belt clip was also lacking.
MPJet
Price: $349
Distributor: Moore Music
Phone: (03) 9419 0344
URL: www.mooremusic.com.au
