Introduction:
We reported about the new tricked-out Fancylogic
Compact 280 MP3 Player in October. This player impressed us right away with
its high quality and amount of features and accessories. The other
MP3 Players we reviewed from Fancylogic (NAPA,
Techno 101)
were in the low-cost
segment, the Compact 280 and the Compact 290 (256MB) are giving
established manufactures like Sony and Samsung a good run for the
money.
The Fancylogic Compact 280 is combining a lot of features in a very
small nice designed package (size: 29.5mm X 84mm X 17.7mm).
It took us some time to try everything and also whoever saw the
Compact 280 in our Office "borrowed it" and it was hard to
get it back.
Experience:
Ok what to try first. The Compact 280 features MP3 playback, a
Line-In for Recording from an Audio source or Phone, a Voice
Recorder and FM digital Tuner. Lets start with the core
functionality playing MP3 music. To upload music the player needs a
little USB cable that goes in on the side of the player behind a
small rubber door. Connected to the PC, the player registers as USB
drive automatically and like with all Fancylogic players before no
drivers are necessary. The Compact 280 features a folder based
navigation through the blue backlight LCD display which can display
four lines of text. Like on a file system by creating folders and
dropping MP3 files in them I can neatly organize CDs or compilations
on the player and navigate through them on the player with the
little joystick.
The file transfer goes fast and I disconnect the player to try the
sound. The volume is controlled with the little joystick on the
front next to the display. Also the navigation between tracks and
inside tracks is done via the joystick. To start playing a selected
song on the display, I hit the play button on the side. The button
and the joystick feel very nice and give good tactile
feedback.
The Compact 280 also features a 5 mode Equalizer. By pushing the
joystick in I switch between Rock, Jazz, Pop, Classic and Normal.
The differences are significant. Listening to Hotel
Costes 5, Jazz sounds actually best - brings out the bass. The
display shows the current mode in a header are on top. The display
also displays a timer of the current track in seconds and also with
a graphical progress bar. Shuffle and repeat playback are also
possible.
Next up I try the Digital FM Tuner. On the
side is a button labeled FM/Del, holding the button switches the
player into Radio mode. The current radio channel is displayed and
the Radio also supports storing pre-set channels which is very
useful. The reception is very clear.
The MP3 Player also has a built-in Speaker. Funny thing is it only
works when playing MP3 not in FM mode. The speaker gets turned on
when no headset is plugged in.
Now on to recording. The Player has a folder record where the
recorded media files are created. Plugging in the bundled microphone
I can create voice recordings. Using the also supplied audio cable I
can connect to line out or headset plug of my Home Stereo and record
music directly onto the player. The provided cable has a switch
between Line and Phone. So when hooked up to the little phone cable
accessory the switch needs to be on phone. The recorded files are
stored in TVF format. A little software program provided on the CD
can play those back on the PC and also convert them into WAV.
The phone recording accessory I haven't seen with another player,
quite unique. It lets me easily record phone conversations. I don't
have a real use for it but all the Private investigators out there
might.
With the provide necklace headset I can wear the player comfortable
around my neck for sports. The manual is in Chinese and English and
has lots of illustrations and is easy to understand.
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Specifications:
- MP3 Encoding
- Build in 128MB Memory
- Compact & Slim Design
- Firmware Upgrade by USB
- CD-Sync (CD-Synchronization)
- VOR (Voice Operated Recording)
- Telephone Conversation Recording
- Direct USB Drive(without Program)
- FM Stereo Tuner and FM Recording
- Support MP3 & WMA media formats
- Graphic Display with EL Back-lighting
- INTRO SCAN: Automatic Message Searchs
- Equalizer: Normal, Classic, Jazz, Pop, Rock
- INTRO SCAN: Automatic Message Searchs
- MP3 Encoding, MP3 / WMA / Voice File Playback
- 5 Mode Equalizer(Normal, Jazz, Rock, Pop, Classic)
- Support USB Interface - File Uploading and Downloading(USB Ver
1.1)
- Recording Time: M280 (5kbps-57Hrs / 32kbps-9Hrs /64kbps-4.5Hrs
128kbps-2Hrs, 192kbps-1.5Hrs )
- Input : Internal Condenser Mic, Audio Cable, Tel Cable
- Recording Media : Flash Memory 32MB / 64MB / 128MB
- Output : Speaker 70mW / Earphone 5mW
- Dimension : 29.5mm X 84mm X 17.7mm
- Frequency Response 20Hz ~ 20KHz
- Speaker : 20mm Dynamic Speaker
- Power : DC 1.5V (LR03, AAA x 1)
- Weight : 34.5g
Accessories:
- USB Cable
- Installation CD
- Stereo Handphone and strap
- Telephone Adapter
- Arm strap
- User Manual
- AAA Battery
Pros:
Voice Recorder and Audio Recorder Function
Very small
Nice Quality and good looks
no drivers necessary
plugs directly into USB port
Voice Recorder Function
Cons:
Speaker not enabled in FM Mode
Armstrap a bit uncomfortable and not really high quality.
Conclusion:
The Fancylogic
Compact 280 is a great feature rich small Player that has an
edge to other MP3
Player with Recorder function.
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