CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 03/07/2005
- Updated on: 11/07/2009
With dimensions that mimic a pack of gum's, the BenQ Joybee 125 weighs less than one ounce and can easily fit in a cramped shirt pocket or around your neck with the included strap. It also does a great job of pulling double duty as a portable storage device. A retractable USB port allows the Joybee 125 to appear as a drive letter on any USB-enabled PC without requiring extra cables or software. Unfortunately, the player supports only the USB 1.1 standard. Those that plan on transferring a lot of data may want to spend a little more on a USB 2.0 device, most of which offer three times the data-transfer speed of any USB 1.1 device.
Even when considering the Joybee 125's diminutive form factor, we found its interface to be heavy-handed. Simple adjustments, such as the volume setting, require you to go through the player's menu system, manually change the volume level, and finally confirm the change by hitting the play button again. Even monitoring the Joybee's remaining battery life requires a needless foray through the interface. Luckily, the unit's LCD presents text that's clear and easy to read, and its long-forward and long-rewind buttons make it easy to navigate through songs when on the go.
When using the player's bundled software, you can dictate the order songs that are loaded--a step up from several other flash-based units that play files only alphabetically. If you want to switch your playlist, however, you have to overwrite all the files loaded in the device. All song are also loaded into the same folder, meaning there's no way to create ad-hoc playlists by way of subfolder organization.
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