Dell DJ 30 review (30GB)

The DJ provides room for all but the largest music collections. The 30GB drive is sufficient to hold 7,500 CD-quality MP3s or nearly 15,000 CD-quality WMAs, according to Dell's calculations. When connected, the DJ shows up in My Computer, and clicking it brings up a DJ Explorer window that lets you easily transfer data files back and forth.

The DJ works very well with the Dell-branded version of Musicmatch Jukebox 9.0 that is included--even though version 10.0 has been out for some time--but if you prefer, you can also use it with Windows Media Player 10.0. You can quickly sync basic info--song title, artist, album, genre, and playlists--between the device and software either manually or automatically using USB 2.0. You can play music in standard or shuffle modes, and the Pocket DJ has an equalizer with eight presets and a custom setting.

That's basically it. You won't find any bells and whistles on the DJ. It doesn't come in different colors, and there is no FM tuner, no line-in recording, no color LCD to display album art, no playlists on the go, no PIM features (although there is a calendar), and so on. Then again, you won't find many of these features on the Apple iPod (20GB) or the Creative Zen Touch (20GB), either; you'll need to pay more for a power player such as the iRiver H320 if you want a full load of features.

The Dell DJ 30 is an average performer overall. The DJ's rechargeable lithium-polymer battery is rated for 12 hours of battery life, but it actually did a little better on CNET Labs' tests. Its score of 13 hours came very close to that of the new, improved Apple iPod (20GB). But it's still no match for the pace-setting Creative Zen Touch (20GB), which lasted exactly twice as long as the DJ, nor does it come close to the bigger, first-generation DJ, which delivered nearly 20 hours of battery life on our tests. Dell says its customers were willing to trade some battery life for a smaller and lighter player.

The sound quality was fine with a signal-to-noise ratio of 94dB (the higher the signal-to-noise ratio, the cleaner the sound). Generally speaking, any device at 95dB or above is pretty good, though some MP3 players definitely do better; the Zen Touch, for example, has a ratio of 98dB. Consumers can utilize any of the eight EQ presets or a four-band, user-defined EQ to fine-tune their audio. As with most MP3 players, the included earbuds are uncomfortable and don't sound particularly great, so we recommend that you invest in a good pair of 'phones.

On our tests, the DJ transferred a music library at a healthy clip of 5.4MB per second over its USB 2.0 connection. That's a very solid score, twice as fast as the Creative Zen Touch and even a bit faster than the Apple iPod's FireWire connection.