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MP3 Players
All About MP3 Players & iPods
Here you can read the latest reviews and find out and compare various MP3 Players
iPods and eReaders. These MP3 Player, iPod and eReader reviews are all
independent reviews and are updated on an ongoing basis, |
Insignia Pilot
Insignia Pilot Description and Features
Insignia Pilot is the latest DAP with ample advanced features like Bluetooth, SHDC card slot, video and RDS support. Insignia Pilot has a very sleek design and large display screen. It comes in 4 GB and 8 GB versions.
Insignia Pilot has a 2.4 inch 18 bit LCD screen. Adjacent to it we have a play/pause button and a menu button. There is a four way click wheel. This multipurpose wheel is used to browse through the library, select and play a song. The wheel has raised bumps on it for grip and glows blue when used. It also works as a charge indicator.
There is a power button at the top which also doubles as a hold button. This button is also used to reset the set and put the MP3 player in MSC mode. An interesting addition is a small lever used to rate the songs. It could be used to controls certain settings and to bring up the context menu. On the side adjacent to the click wheel we have the USB port, audio jack and the power jack used for charging.
The design of the MP3 player is quite simple and neatly presented. Yet the features incorporated in them are amazingly great. Display screen is quite big comparing to many other MP3 players in the market. So it gives a lot more information about the song or track playing and supports video as well.
Performance
Performance of Insignia Kix is excellent both audio and video wise. The wide 2.4 inch wide screen has very good resolution supporting video playback. Insignia uses MVA LCD. Hence videos and images could be viewed from all angles. The controls and the click wheel give good grip, are very sensitive and easy to use.
The battery life is quite impressive with 25 hours of playback for music and 5 hours for video. However lab tests indicate the battery stays on for at least 18 hours even while playing DRM'd 160Kbps tracks with LCD usage. The battery stays on solid for four hours if video is viewed constantly. The overall battery usage score for the unit is 74 percent.
Audio file formats like MP3, WMA, WMA Lossless, WMA DRM, WMA Pro, OGG, WAV, and Audible are supported. JPEG file format is supported for videos. WMA and MPEG video file formats are supported. Videos are displayed with good color contrast and brightness. But their quality could only be attributed as average.
Audio quality is remarkably good. There is no distortion or hissing noise while hearing music. Browsing through the library and sorting the songs under various genres is made so easy. Thanks to the easy graphical user interface. Insignia features Bluetooth facilities and could be used with any PC or MAC system to transfer data. There is no need for loading any extra conversion software. Audio standard rating for the device is 73 percent.
Main features of Insignia Pilot
The simple, neat design with sensitive properly sized controls and click wheel.
The battery life is 24 hours. In real usage it works perfectly well for 18 hours. It is one of the longest standing batteries available in the market.
Radio Data Service or RDS is used in this MP3 player. This comes as a good replacement for FM radios. The reception is quite good. RDS also has auto tuning facilities and 20 presets.
Line in recording feature is another special feature. Built in microphone enables recording real time voice and also radio songs while playing. The tracks are absolutely clear are recorded in WMA or PCM formats.
SHDC compatible SD card slot paves way for extending the memory further. Videos, photos and music could be stored directly into the card and played from there.
There is a unique Rating Lever which is used solely to rate the music heard and for bookmarking purpose.
The Good
Insignia Pilot is a very advanced music player. It has all the features one could dream of in a MP3 player like wonderful audio, excellent video, Bluetooth facilities and extendable SHDC compatible SD card slot. It has so many unique features like RDS radio and text viewer. All this comes bundled in a very compatible price tag.
The Bad
The menus are a bit hard to navigate as the user has to go through numerous options to use advanced facilities like line in recording. The position of the SD card slot makes it very hard to use. The backlight in LCD seems to be too bright sometimes hindering the video quality.
Areas that Could be Improved
The LCD backlight may be decreased a little, sometimes it is just too bright. An increase in overall unit speed will be a good improvement.
Reducing the number of steps before accessing any advanced options would also be more convienient and make the unit more user-friendly.
The Verdict
Having said all that, the Insignia Pilot is one of the best products available in the market. This Hi-Tec DAP has all the features one could imagine, incorporated on it. Though a few features needs immediate improvement it is still an amazing piece with excellent sound quality. The overall rating for the product is 78%.
Score: 78%
Price: $140 for 4 GB and $190 for 8GB
Capacity: 4 GB and 8 GB
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