|
Overview
When I received the JoS MP-300 it is immediately
clear to me this is a special Gadget, when it was coming packaged in a metal cylinder and not in a
carton box like any other Gadget. The main unit has white and gray colored case. The front has a
fancy gloss effect achieved with a
transparent panel. The MP-300 features a large LCD display (42x12mm)
prominently on the front side. The MP-300 measures 35x84x17mm and
weighs 47g. The player on the first look is very nicely designed
with all function buttons arranged to be usable when holding the
MP-300 with one hand. The line-in and USB port are concealed with
little formed plastic windows that tend to slide into place by
themselves, which is a little detail but I like it. All accessories are held in white and gray to fit to the
main unit. Design and looks are obviously very important to Jens Of
Sweden.
 |
 |
| When
I received the JoS MP-300 it is immediately clear it is a
special Gadget coming packaged in a metal cylinder. |
The
Jens of Sweden MP-300 comes packed with accessories. |
Usage
To get started I pop in the AA (yes
AA not AAA, one of the secrets behind 26hours of play-time) battery
into the player. The USB port is hidden inside the casing. A slider
on the back of the player lets me push it out for connecting it to a
PC - sweet idea. The player of course does not need drivers under
Windows ME/2000/XP and also Mac OS is supported. When connecting the
drive it is recognized automatically. The player has the manual and
software loaded on the 256MB flash-drive. The software includes JoS Audio manager,
FM transmission activator, and CD ripping software. I copied all
folders to the PC and deleted them from the player to make
space.
I use the Windows Media player to copy some ripped tracks (Album of
the Moment: Hotel
Costes 6) onto the JoS Player. The player supports of course folders and I can organize
my songs by album and so on.
 |
| Fingerprint
Enrollment Start screen. By clicking on a finger on the blue
hand the training starts. |
Holding the Play button for a 1-2
seconds switches the player on or off. The display is extremely rich
and shows all settings and details on the song the is currently
playing. It shows things like, bit rate, sampling rate, equalizer
setting, track title, track position, volume level, and more. A
battery health indicator is also present.
Pushing the wiggle button on the right side of the player lets me
access the menu. Eight menu sections are available.
Main Menu Sections:
Browse
FM Transmitter (if enabled)
Repeat Once
Play List
Sound Effect
Display
Advanced
Record
Most of the above section also have submenus. The options and
functions this little
player has are quite elaborate. To navigate through the menu the
wiggle button on the right is used to move horizontally and select
items. The A-B button on the left is used to get back.
 |
 |
| Top
and front view showing the main function switch on top
including the hold option. |
Back
side of the
Jens of Sweden MP-300 with AA battery compartment and USB
slider. |
I only have time to play with
features that are most important to me. I will not bother with the
voice recording (the MP-300 has VAD - Voice activation detection),
line-in recording functions or lyrics display. See the English
Manual on OutwardSound
for complete details.
I use MP3 players to listen to music on the go and in the gym. So it
is all about ease of use and sound quality. The JoS MP-300 does not disappoint.
The sound quality is just amazing. I like the 3D effect options and
of course a healthy dose of bass. The JoS Player has a Bass sense
option, where I can choose between 5 levels of bass boost. The
equalizer has five pre-set equalizer and also a user defined one.
The Volume control is very fine. The slider/pressure button on the
left controls the volume. And it can go very loud - the maximum is to
loud for my ears, it hurts, so kids don't try that at home.
In the advanced setting things like the playback speed can be
adjusted. Don't know who would need that, but its there. The player also has a
sleep timer that can be set in the advanced options. In general it
looks like every feature the MP-300 has is completely tricked out
and state-of-the art.
One word on the headset, it is the most comfortable I have had so
far. The cables slide on two little metal rings up and down the
necklace. Jens of Sweden even managed to brand the necklace with
their JoS logo.
 |
 |
| Right
side of player with wiggle button to move between tracks or menus.
Pushing it down selects items. |
Left
side shows A-B button and the volume control. The line-in
plug is also present. |
Built-in FM Transmitter
One of the unique features of
this player is that it not only has a built-in digital Radio receiver,
but also a FM Transmitter. In the Swedish version of the MP-300 this
feature is disabled due to legal issues. Outward
Sound
ships the JoS MP-300 in the USA with the FM Transmitter feature
enabled. Our John Bach reviewed two FM Transmitter lately (AudioBug,
Anydrive
Car FM Transmitter). Having one inside the player is definitely convenient.
I did not have much luck in trying the FM Transmitter. I am in the
San Francisco Bay Area and I did not find a free frequency to
receive the MP-300. I discussed it with Matt from Outward Sound and
he said he got it to work on 93.7Mhz in the East Bay.
He said the JoS MP-300 is the first FM Transmitter he had success
with in the East Bay. If you run successfully an FM Transmitter in
the Silicon Valley please email us
on which frequency you are running it.
 |
| Bottom
side with USB port and as you can see the JoS Player is made
in Korea. |
Conclusion
Comparing the Jens of Sweden MP-300
with the Top
3 256MB Flash MP3 Player on Amazon.com, which are currently the iRiver
iFP-190T, Creative
MuVo NX and the Digitalway
MPIO FL100, the cool look and the FM Transmitter are the major
advantages. All those players are about the same size and weight.
The others are cheaper, but they lack the FM
Transmitter, which costs anywhere from $20
to $60. The feature richness, the ease-of-use and the excellent
sound quality makes this MP3 Player a great choice. The design gives
it the necessary edge to stand-out. If we would have a point ranking
at I4U, it would get a 10.
The MP-300
sells for $219.99 at Outward
Sound. MP3Way sells it in the UK for 117.95 pounds.
More Best-selling 256MB
MP3 Players
About Jens of Sweden
Jens of Sweden AB was founded in 2003 by Jens Nylander as the sole
shareholder. The company holds three brands and is built completely on business
revenue, without any venture capital. The trademark "Jens of Sweden"
(JoS),
named by the first name of the owner and the country of residence, reflects the
business philosophy of offering excellent quality products with personality added
by attractive design. The Jens of Sweden team is based on design and technology
experts, all guided by timeless design and quality as cornerstones in their mission.
Features
- MP3, WMA, and Worldband FM radio
playback
- works as USB remove-able drive for
storage of any files
- 24-bit decoding and high-output
level for excellent sound
- direct MP3 encoding from line or
mini-plug microphone input
- FM transmitter for cord-free
playback over car & home systems
- integrated sliding USB plug
- extra-long battery life from
rechargeable "AA" type battery
Bundles Accessories
- USB extension cable
- earbuds necklace
- 3.5mm line-in cable
- Necklace for Player
Optional Accessories
- Jens of Sweden Remote Control for
MP-300
- Jens of Sweden MP-300 Bag Kit
Specifications
- Memory: 256MB or 512MB available
- Display: 42 x 12 mm backlit
- S/N ratio: 95dB
- Output: 12mW + 12mW
- Frequency response: 20Hz ~ 20kHz
- Line-in encoding: MP3 at 8~256 kBps
- Playback bit-rate (MP3): 32~320 kBps
- Playback bit-rate (WMA): 32~192 kBps
- FM transmitter frequency: 87.5~95 MHz
- ID3 tag support: all -> V4.0
- Dimensions: 84 x 35 x 17mm
- Weight: 47 gram
- Battery: "AA" type
- Playback time: 26hrs continuous
- Interface: USB 1.1
System Requirements
- Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP
- Mac OS 9.04 or higher
- Linux
- USB port
| 
