The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet
Entered CNET Catalog: 08/23/2001
SKU: MP4000
Manufacturer: Audiovox Corporation
Manufacturer description
Audiovox Corporation is a leading supplier of auto sound, auto security, mobile video, FRS radios, consumer electronics such as home and portable stereos and MP3 players, and cellular telephone products. Audiovox MP4000 is an MP3 player, containing a spacious 340 MB microdrive, which allows for 6 hours of music. This top-notch MP3 player will give you an opportunity to listen to your favorite MP3's as well as record your email responses in MP3 format.Product summary
The good: 340MB Microdrive; includes all the in-car accessories.
The bad: Very short battery life; small LED screen.
The bottom line: This specialized portable MP3 player is designed to work best in your car.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 07/11/2001
Designed for the road
Though portable, the MP4000 was clearly designed for use in the car. It comes with all of the attachments that you need for listening on the road: a power adapter that plugs into your cigarette lighter, an adapter for playing audio through your car's cassette desk, and even suction-cup mounts for attaching the unit to your windshield. When mounted above the dash, the MP4000 is commonly mistaken for a radar detector. The bright red LED display on front edge of the player is easy to read while driving. The MP4000 stores the music on a tiny (we mean tiny--about the size of a matchbook) 340MB IBM Microdrive; that's enough memory to store more than five hours of CD-quality music.
However, while the MP4000 works pretty well in the car, it's a bit problematic when you take it for a stroll. The screen is very small, and the player is quite bulky, measuring 2.75 by 1.25 by 4.5 inches. When mobile, the MP4000 runs on two AA batteries, but the Microdrive needs so much power that the unit ran out of juice in about two hours. Replacing the Microdrive with a standard CompactFlash card would extend the playing time, but a 256MB card costs more than this whole package. If you want to plug the player into a wall outlet, though, you'll need to buy a separate AC adapter, as the MP4000 doesn't come with one. The included ear bud-style headphones gave off some background hiss. If you're not a fan of ear buds, there's a built-in monaural speaker, but it's better suited for listening to voice recordings than music.
Overall, we found the MP4000 a bit difficult to use. The buttons are well laid out, but the screen was so small that it was easy to get confused. We had no trouble connecting the player to our computer via the USB port to transfer files, since the unit shows up as a drive in Windows Explorer (the player is not Mac compatible). However, we found the MediaManager software, which allows you to sync up with a Web-based portal to download music and news, quite confusing. It also kept telling us that we needed to update to a newer version, though we had the latest version available on the Web site.
Dictation to go
With everything else that the MP4000 can do, folks won't want to get out of their cars. You can listen to e-mails and create voice responses as well as simply rock to the music. The inclusion of text-to-speech software allows you to download your e-mails as voice messages so that you can listen to them on the go. You then use the built-in microphone to create voice replies. Then, the next time that you connect the MP4000 to your PC, you can send off those replies as audio attachments. The text-to-speech feature worked well enough, converting text files and Microsoft Word documents automatically into audio. Unfortunately though, the MP4000 lacks an external microphone jack, and the built-in mike produced a lot of static. It's great for listening to long e-mails while on the go, but once you factor in the time it takes to sync up the unit and send out the replies, this is a cumbersome and unworkable extra.
Priced at $499, the MP4000 isn't a bad deal considering all the accessories you get, not to mention the included Microdrive. It offers an easy way to add an MP3 player to your car. The voice e-mail feature, however, is a bit too ahead of its time.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3out of 3 user reviews
Faithful !!
Pros: Basic, dependable, durable, cheap (if you can find)
Cons: Bulky, awkward PC interface
I used it with a tape adapter, a lighter adapter, and my car's audio system without any problem. Never operated it with batteries and out of car.
Yes, it is out of date, bulky, has a awkward PC interface, and small LCD. Listening your mails thing is useless and practically impossible to do.
However, considering I enjoyed (and still enjoying) my digital music archive in may car with this device for nearly 5 years, it has become an excellent fellow to me. Thank you Audiowox!!
out of 3 user reviews
A great barain MP3 Player
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out of 3 user reviews
I bought it when it was I2Go, before it was Audivox
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