RCA Lyra Jukebox RD2800

CNET editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Eliot Van Buskirk
• Reviewed on: 07/30/2002
• Updated on: 11/19/2002

While RCA's 10GB Lyra HD Jukebox RD2800 may not be the most compact hard drive-based MP3 player and is missing high-speed connectivity, it sounds great and sports a sturdy design. But perhaps its most alluring feature is its price; currently, the RD2800 is one of the least expensive players in its class, and that should appeal to budget shoppers looking for an easy way to make their music collection portable.While RCA's 10GB Lyra HD Jukebox RD2800 may not be the most compact hard drive-based MP3 player and is missing high-speed connectivity, it sounds great and sports a sturdy design. But perhaps its most alluring feature is its price; currently, the RD2800 is one of the least expensive players in its class, and that should appeal to budget shoppers looking for an easy way to make their music collection portable.

Design
A boxy, rectangular affair, the Jukebox RD2800 is approximately double the size of the iPod--5.5 by 1.0 by 0.3 inches--and weighs a pretty hefty 11 ounces. You'll definitely notice the Lyra when it's clipped to your hip, but thanks to the sturdy carrying case, it works just fine for listening to tunes while walking (but not running) or biking. Two joystick-style controls and four multifunction buttons make for easy menu navigation on the roomy, 2-inch, diagonal, backlit LCD, which displays plenty of detailed information. However, the one thing that RCA forgot to include is a battery-life indicator.

Features/connectivity
In the connectivity department, the Jukebox RD2800 comes with a USB 1.1 port, a headphone jack, an analog line-out jack, and a yet-to-be-used slot for connecting a docking station, which RCA may or may not release. The line-out jack provides unaltered sound to your home or car stereo. The player comes with a 4.5-foot cord for connecting the Lyra to your stereo, as well as a car kit, which consists of a cigarette lighter and a cassette adapter.

Although the Jukebox RD2800 works flawlessly once you set it up, initial configuration presents a couple of issues. After you load new files, either your PC or the Lyra itself must profile the device's music collection, pulling song information from your MP3s' ID3 tags so that the library can be easily sorted. Due to the RD2800's 1.1 USB connection--much slower than the USB 2.0 or FireWire connections used by some other --the profiling process draws out an already lengthy setup time. As a result, filling up the device takes about three hours.

The file transfers might be relatively slow, but at least they're smart. Like Creative's Nomad Jukebox line, the Lyra syncs both to and from any PC, a feat that is as horrifying to record labels as it is convenient to consumers. Just use the simple LyraSync software to specify which directories on your PC and the Lyra you want to sync, and files transfer both ways until the directories mirror each other. You can also view the RD2800 as a removable hard drive inside My Computer--or on the desktop if you're using a Mac--and ferry MP3s or any other file types back and forth to any machine with the software installed. One important tip: When transferring files, make sure to reserve a few megabytes for storing the profile information; otherwise, the profile process will not be successful. For example, we synced the 10GB Lyra to a 13GB directory, and while we never expected the transfer to complete, we also didn't anticipate that the Lyra would cease to function. Leave at least 5MB for playlists, and this problem disappears.

The RD2800 doesn't have an FM tuner, and it can't record audio or organize your contacts. But it does have everything that you need to play MP3s in a variety of ways; you can sort by artist, album, genre, or directory, or you can use a few different Random and Repeat modes. RCA claims that it's also possible to create 18-song user playlists on the fly, but we couldn't do it without connecting to a PC. Continue reading

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