BoomGear MP-700

Pricing not available

Scroll Left Scroll Right

CNET Editors' Review

Want it ( )
Got it ( )
Had it ( )

The good: Compact design; FM and line-in recording; solid audio quality; decent transfer speeds.

The bad: Small display; nonstandard line-in jack; unsophisticated FM tuner; FM encoding in WAV only; doesn't support protected WMA files.

The bottom line: The MP-700 is a decent performer, but you can find more stylish players with better features at this price point.

Review: So many flash-based players, so little to distinguish one from another--the 256MB BoomGear MP-700 doesn't do much to separate itself from the pack. Although this $149 device is a solid performer with a variety of recording options, you can easily find more stylish offerings (with memory expansion) for a few dollars extra.

So many flash-based players, so little to distinguish one from another--the 256MB BoomGear MP-700 doesn't do much to separate itself from the pack. Although this $149 device is a solid performer with a variety of recording options, you can easily find more stylish offerings (with memory expansion) for a few dollars extra.

There's not much to say about MP-700's silver, tube-shape design. It's nothing spectacular, but it isn't gaudy, either. The four control buttons are small but responsive and feel as if they can withstand constant use. The menus are easy to understand and simple to navigate--press the menu/fast-forward/rewind button to access the list, then press the button to the left or right to highlight a selection. The Hold switch, however, is tough to maneuver--you have to dig your thumbnail into the crevice to slide it over. Another slide switch extends and retracts a USB plug, which allows you to use the MP-700 as a direct plug-in player, though it's easier to connect with the supplied USB cable. The player also comes with a neck strap and a carrying case, but at 3.46 by 0.94 inches and 1.27 ounces, it's small enough to slip into a pocket or a purse.

The MP-700's LCD is small, although this isn't a problem when reading song information, which is displayed in fairly large text. The menu text, however, is tiny and will lead to eyestrain if you're not careful. You get a choice of seven backlight colors: green, red, blue, magenta, yellow, cyan, and white; or there's a random setting that toggles between the colors.

You can transfer music to the player through Windows Explorer or via the included Live Music_H Explorer software, which is essentially a souped-up file manager that enables you to drag and drop songs from your music folder to the player. The CD-ROM also includes a text-to-speech program that converts any written words (in English, Japanese, Korean, or Chinese) to an audio file that you can play on the MP-700. Installing this on your PC, however, requires 424MB of disk space.

Hide Review

User Reviews

Be the first to rate this product