 When
the GF! editors first passed me D-Link’s DMP-CD 100 for review, I
thought it was surely a useless product. I mean, c’mon … a
portable CD player that plays MP3s? The MP3 junkies we’ve seen are
tubby tech freaks whose idea of exercise is a rousing round of
“Madden NFL 2001” and to whom crunches are sounds Cheetos make.
Then it hit me—I’m THE natural reviewer of this bitchin’ new
tune spider.
All
in all, there’s not much to say about the DMP-CD 100. It’s a
Walkman-type CD player that plays MP3s. And it works. Because its
design is fairly standard—it looks like most portable CD players,
but sports an attractive sea-blue case—it is easy to set up and use.
Consumers can power it with off-the-rack batteries or rechargeable
cells. It provides excellent sound quality, especially for MP3s.
In
other words, there are no real drawbacks to the product. Other
reviewers have complained of lagging load times for MP3 tracks and of
difficulty skipping around on MP3s. I found, however, that whatever
delays I experienced with the DMP-CD 100 weren’t significantly worse
than the lagging signals or delayed folder searching that
characterizes audio downloading in a typical online situation. In
fact, I was impressed with how well the DMP-CD 100 performed compared
to online downloading. So I have no idea what these other reviewers
really expected. It’s portable, man! On top of that, audiophiles can
make public their most private audio moments by means of the handy
Line Out jack, which enables them to jack the DMP-CD 100 into external
audio sources.
So
there you have it. Believe D-Link’s hype regarding the DMP-CD 100.
It’s a reliable product that offers the amenities of the finest
portable CD players—phat bass boosters, anti-shock capabilities, a
limited warranty—as well as the ability to play and program your own
MP3s. With an estimated street price of $119, individual audio
expression has never been so accessible or so satisfying.
Greg
Matthews |
Ups:
Full-featured, low cost, easy to operate.