Creative Labs MUVO X-Trainer 512 MB MP3 Player

1. The control is way too small (less than 1/2" in diameter with 5 functions)

2. The navigation sucks -
a. You can't choose a song directly w/o playing a folder and then advance to the song you want.
b. You can't back out of a folder w/o going through menu | folder option | 1st folder | next/prev folder...
c. Only 2/3 functions of the tiny control wheel is available for navigation.

3. They want you to buy additional battery for $50 instead of using standard batteries.

4. The control wheel and play buttons are completely hidden when the unit is in the case so you have to take the unit out before you can control it.

5. The USB 2.0 and USB charging support are nice. However, you can't use the player in the USB charging mode.


I Rate It At 4.75 Stars   January 26, 2004
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

I received the X-Trainer a week ago and, so far, so good.

I purchased this device to use while exercising, not to store my entire music collection. The 512MB flash memory gives me enough space for 5 or 6 albums recorded at 128kbps, which provides fine fidelity. If you want a large storage volume and are not worried about moving parts, take your chances with a hard-disk drive unit.

The earphones are functional if not particularly comfortable. The sports armband is secure and the lithium battery arrived charged and ready to use. The control buttons are simple and easy to use and the LCD display is easily read even with my tired, old eyes. The software provided works well with my Windows XP operating system and moving files back and forth is very simple.

My only complaint is that the X-Trainer wants to replay album tracks by the title of the song rather than the track number. I'm sure there must be a simple solution for this problem but the instruction manual, provided on the CD, is not very helpful. I've tried to find a solution to this small annoyance but to no avail. A simple if cumbersome work-around is to manually retitle each track using an alpha prefix (a_NAME, b_NAME, c_NAME, etc.) in order to hear tracks in the order I want.

Apart from this one small problem, I give the X-Trainer a strong recommendation to musically-inclined exercise buffs!


Good step towards a great product....   December 22, 2003
 9 out of 13 found this review helpful

This was my first MP3 player purchase. I have waited until there was a flash-memory-based product with sufficient capacity to be worth my effort. While the Creative MUVO2 X-Trainer has several attractive features (intuitive/no-hassel interface as add-on hard drive via USB2.0 or USB1.1 connection, mega-battery life - over 24 hours continuous play,noise-free operation - no moving parts, skip free playback - no moving parts, and armband/waistclip, seemless integration with Creative PlayCenter software), it falls short on some critical features:

* Unable to play ".WAV" files without errors
* Playback buttons not very user-friendly - especially compared to other products on the market.
* No FM radio
* No record function/input (microphone)
* Memory only 512 MB & can't upgrade with flash memory cards. Creative either needs to increase memory to 2 gigs (NOT HD), enhance usability/design and increase features.

By the time they re-launch their products, we will be demanding miniature MPEG4/JPEG/MP3/FM... with easy-to-use wireless interfaces on flash memory and infinite battery life for under $300. Viva la consumer :P


Muvo2 X-Trainer 512Mb   December 17, 2003
Overall opinion:
Would I buy it again? Definitely! Fantastic little player. Best solid state on the market currently.

Pros:
Great clarity, good solid feel, fantastic design (clean and simple), Excellent capacity options considering other players on the market average around 64-256mb), solid state memory definitely a plus. Can recharge through USB or DC adaptor. USB2.0 for fast transfers. Backlighting good idea. Fast playing/startup. Good volume (with earphones).

Cons:
Buttons a bit small - can be difficult to operate when exercising. While sound clarity is fantastic, bass is lacking a little. LCD display is really cool, but maybe not 'glance' friendly. Belt-clip accessory is a bit cheap and plastically (wheres the nice leather/vinyl pouch? or at least they could colour code it?) but ultimately very functional and robust. They dont sell it in Australia yet! (took me a month to order from U.S).