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Written by [t0rc]
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The Ultra 8-in-1 MP3 player. 256MB. LCD. E-mail. Voice Recording. ID3
Tags. It's been said to "...takes versatility to a whole new level."
Lets see if this MP3 player can stand up to the standards set by the
IPod.
| Product: | Ultra 8-in-1 MP3 Player |  | | Manufacturer: | Ultra | | MSRP: | $129.99 USD | | Where to Buy: | | | Submitting Company: | Ultra | | Memory Capacity: | 256MB | | 8-in-1 Features: | - USB Flash Drive
- MP3 Player
- Voice Recorder
- SD/MMC Card Reader
- Email Communication from anywhere (Device not wireless).
- FM Tuner
- Language Learning
- ID3 Tag Compatible
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The Ultra 8-in-1 MP3 Player arrived in a humble package via UPS and I was glad to see that it remained unharmed.
Let's get the opening statements from Ultra before we get into battle. Quoted from the products page:
"It’s
hard to believe this miniature powerhouse can pack so many amazing
features in such a tiny configuration. But This 256MB MP3 player offers
8 dynamic functions in one stylish, palm-fitting unit. ID3 tags. Voice
recording. FM radio tuner. USB pocket drive. Language learning
function. MP3 player. E-mail function (yes, you can read and receive
email anywhere!). Non-stop entertainment wherever you go! Plus, this
phenomenal Ultra player reads SD and MMC cards! Indeed, the Ultra 256MB
MP3 player takes versatility to a whole new level. Features a large,
easy-to-read LCD display that informs you of song title, artist name,
lyrics and more. And the Ultra 256MB MP3 player is expandable - use
either MMC or SD. Best of all, we’re offering you this amazing Ultra
MP3 player for an incredibly low price! For the ultimate in quality,
choose Ultra!"
The packaging is pretty basic and does the job; looks ready for retail
store racks. Included with the player are the essentials: instruction
manual, headphones, and software/driver CD. Past that are included
headphones, which also hold up the MP3 player, but were very entangling
to use because of the extra wires; not to mention the expected poor
overall quality of sound that is common with manufacturer provided
headphones. A rechargeable battery is also included, which to charge
you leave inside the MP3 player and plug it into a USB port and it will
charge while you move your files/music.
An issue I had immediately after opening it was the shape of the player
and the placement of the USB connector. What if someone's case, doesn't
allow that much clearance around the USB port? I know that a Dell 8200
case I have wouldn't allow the connection for it on the front due to
clearance space. And then I found the wire; an A -> B USB wire,
simply solving that problem by giving you a versatile extension of the
USB connector.
Jumping right into the sound quality, it's very good (with other
headphones) but does have a few flaws. When you increase the volume to
the max, it almost completely drowns out a vacuum cleaner. The gripes I
have that relate to sound, are more directed towards the EQ on the
player. The Equalizer allows the following adjustments: Normal,
Classic, Rock, Bass, and Pop. The definitive line between each mode, in
a few cases, is very minute. Rock is about the best overall sounding
mode since it increases the bass and treble partially over the
midtones. Bass mode, which I assume means more bass, has about the
least bass of any mode.
The LCD uses backlight and the aqua with black text makes it easy to
read so you'll be able to see it on those dark and stormy nights. It's
a Full Graphic LCD sporting a 128 x 64 pixel resolution. The menu
system is easy to navigate, and the controls are extremely easy to
learn. With the miniature joystick, vertical movements control
prev/next song, while horizontal movements control volume. If you press
the joystick in, it will bring up the menu. The LCD scratches fairly
easy, so don't put it in your pocket with some car keys or spare
change. You're able to control the timer for the backlight and how
quickly it will power off once activated. With the backlight off, the
LCD is still easy to read.
The FM Tuner is mediocre. Like all FM Tuners, reception is highly
dependent on locale. The tuner gets fair reception. I set my shelf
systems and car radio's to random stations and then matched the
frequency on the MP3 player to see how they compared in reception. It's
a hit and miss. Some stations had good reception on the tuner and all
the other radios, yet others that found good reception on radio's, were
barely audible on the MP3 player. When inside an automobile, I found
the reception was significantly worse regardless whether the vehicles
radio was on/off. The tuner also gives you presets (the larger numbers
at the top of the picture) which you can set to any station you like.
The voice recording function is handy, the playback is similar to that
of MP3's on the player and the microphone has an effective distance of
around 3-4 feet. The microphone is the vent-resembling slots on the
battery cover in the picture below.
From Left to right, the slots you see are: Headphones, Neckstrap(on included headphone set), microphone, and battery.
Since the MP3 player comes with a rechargeable battery (a 700 mAh, 1.2v
Ni-MH, AAA), I of course needed to test out how long it's life was. In
order to charge the battery, you put the battery in the player, hook
the player up via USB to the computer and then the LCD will display
text saying it's charging. It's handy because the battery will charge
as you're organizing your music and files on to the player and then you
can leave with a full charge. Charging time was less than 130 minutes
usually and you get about 8 hours of playing time. The amount of time
you'd get for the battery charge would increase dramatically if you had
the option to shut off the LCD since you're not going to look at it
when it's in your pocket and you're shooting pool. Speaking of
transferring files, the MP3 player uploads at 950Kbps and downloads at
520Kbps, which I found to be effective, although I expected this new
product to be using USB 2.0 instead of 1.1. The player did heat up a
little bit, but nothing that would damage it, much less cause a fire.
If you insert a normal AAA battery and connect it to your computer, the
player will begin to charge the battery. Since normal AAA's aren't
meant for recharging, I assumed it might cause some complications, but
this didn't cause any problems from what I could tell. Another thing
with using normal AAA's is that they take a little more persuasion to
get out of the battery slot. Usually I had to shake the player up and
down, then the battery would come flying out; the rechargeable didn't
have this issue.
As for being able to send e-mail from anywhere, the package doesn't
lie. While it's not wireless, the player uses an application very
similar to Outlook Express. In fact, you can even import e-mail to
Outlook Express. You have to setup your SMTP and POP3 information, but
you can compose and send e-mail as well as an address book. The
interface is really self-explanatory, again very similar to Outlook
Express. If you delete the files on the player for the e-mail program
by accident, as long as you have opened it before and installed the CD,
it's supposed to back it up to your computer and you should be able to
restore it. I'd just rather see the E-mail program backed up on the
disc that comes with the player so unless you lose the CD, you'll have
it backed up. I found myself accidentally deleting the e-mail program,
because when I clear off songs, I just hit CTRL-A and DEL.
As you can see, you're able to expand the amount of memory using SD or
MMC cards. The card stayed in very securely, despite the appearance
that it may fall out. It was actually kind of hard to get out, which in
this case, with the placement of the slot, I'd rather have than lose
the card although getting the card in was pretty easy. When you power
up the MP3 player, it says Ultra on it, but when you power it down it
kindly says "See You Later" and "Bye".
Overall, I found the Ultra 8-in-1 to be a good MP3 player. Good sound,
easy menu's, nice controls, expandability, and rechargeable battery
make the Ultra 8-in-1 MP3 player a good choice. It's onboard 256MB
isn't too shabby, but for $129.99 it's a little pricey. I'd expect to
see it drop soon, especially with the holidays fast approaching. If you
wait until the holiday sales begin you'd probably be able to get it
cheaper and make it a great gift for someone who likes music,
portability, and quality in a little package. The e-mail function could
be backed up better, the LCD could be allowed to shut off (or go
standby) to increase battery life, and FM Tuner could be improved. The
price would be more suitable around $100 or keep it at $129.99 but add
some extra capacity to it. All in all, I'd recommend this product to
someone who wants an MP3 player with enough space to hold a few CD's
worth of songs and can also hold files, room for expansion, and doesn't
want to shell out the money for an IPod. I rate the Ultra 8-in-1 MP3
Player with an 84% and a Silver Award. With some improvements and lower
prices, it could tap into it's potential to be the best budget MP3
player.
Thanks to Ultra for sponsoring this review.
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