RCA Opal (2GB, blue)

3.0 stars

"Nice, Well rounded budget mp3 player, but has faults" on September 14, 2007 by rpgibbs

Pros: great GUI, plug & play, allows videos and photos, good sound, excellent preloaded content

Cons: line-in and usb are through headphone jack, battery could last longer, video is choppy, long album and song titles tend to get cut off

Summary: This is a great little budget player. It does have video and photo, but the video is ridiculously choppy and it needs to be converted via a program (which takes a while), the sound out of it is nice and the headphones fit snuggly in your ear. The buttons take a little to get used to and line-in goes through the headphone jack (and so does the USB, so if you lose the USB, you're screwed)...There's no radio on this, and you can't go "back" (what do i mean? well, if you just got done listening to "Don't Let's Start" by They Might Be Giants and wanted to listen to "Bouncing Around the Room" by Phish, you'll have to go through ALL the menus to get it), which is my biggest problem. My Opal had some great preloaded content by bands I actually have heard of (Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Thunderbird are Now!, Of Montreal). In closing, if you're buying this as a budget mp3 player, you will be satisfied with it, but it's real draw - the video playing - was a huge let down.

4.5 stars

"Bulletproof MP3 Player!" on January 13, 2012 by Juiceman3000

Pros: Surprisingly light. Smooth wafer size easy for any pocket. Relatively low price. Without a doubt the most indestructible electronics product I have ever owned. Seemingly defying laws of nature, physics and entropy.

Cons: Needlessly complicated bubble-graphics, folder icons, menu navigation, offset-button makes it too easy to accidentally rewind or jump forward when maybe you went for volume. nearly feels TOO light.

Summary: Returned a competitors MP3 player after it's cheap button broke after 1 use. There were no replacements but the salesman tipped me off to the RCA Lyra Opal. "Dude.. these are bulletproof.. my sister had one for 3 years so far and its flawless". Up for the challenge my RCA has handled well over 3 straight years of approx 8 hours of new music and podcasts PER DAY in an industrial job. It has fallen completely submerged into water, soapy water or oily water no less than 5 times, while playing, for up to 5 seconds at a time. It has fallen on the floor (including concrete, tile etc) no less than 30 times including a flight of stairs. It has been sprayed with oil (as in drenched and oil shaken out of it), sat on, slept on, kicked, punched, so well-used that the serial-numbers and corners are 'smoothing off' from pocket-slide and handling, it has been to Canada, USA, Amsterdam, United Kingdom and China (twice over) and left on a car dashboard in +40 Celsius as well as overnight in -40 weather. My wife and I accidentally made love on top of it. Twice. I have guesstimated the RCA Lyra has outlived now 30 (yes 30) pairs of earbuds. This cost me less than $40 and if this die-hard bulletproof MP3 player packed it in next week I'd consider worth 10 times the value and give it a burial in the backyard. Bulletproof MP3 Player.

3.0 stars

"It can use rechargeable AAA batteries" on February 20, 2009 by rjemmons

Pros: You can use rechargeable or non-rechargeable AAA batteries which you can get pretty much anywhere there is a civilization.

Cons: AAA batteries make a player a little thick. If you want a stylish wafer thin player, this is probably not for you.

Summary: I am not sure why the editorial reviewer would say you'll have to keep replacing the playe'rs AAA batteries. You can buy a recharger and rechargeable AAA batteries. You get the best of both worlds. When your battery goes dead, swap it out for one you keep in the recharger. If you are in Timbuktu without your recharger, you buy a regular AAA at the nearest 711 store. Also, in my experience, the AAA batteries have a pretty good lifetime.

Updated on Feb 20, 2009

I was actually talking about the RCA Pearl. I must have posted the review in the wrong place.

1.5 stars

"It's OKAY for very short term, or maybe for a child...." on October 10, 2008 by angel573

Pros: It was cheap, and it has a good name

Cons: Sound quality is decent, but it's difficult to get good volume, it's volume level is too low. The battery life only lasted 4 months from the time of purchase till it's demise, with average use. Menu is kinda screwy, hard to navigate.

Summary: If it's for a child, it may be worth it, or if you're in dire need for an emergency MP3 player, this will temporarily work. Other than that, it's not worth it in my opinion.