Like an iPod shuffle, but better and cheaper! (Philips GoGear Spark SA2945 4 GB)

Member Name: jboho

Product:	Philips GoGear Spark SA2945 4 GB
Date:	08/05/09 (259 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: FM Radio, great headphones and brilliant battery life.

Disadvantages: Poor voice recording and controls are difficult to use at first.

This MP3 player adds a new approach to playing music at an affordable price. For those who are against the display-less iPod shuffle series, this player should appeal to you.
The extremely lightweight device holds a 1.5 inch OLED screen. You may look at the picture and wonder where the controls are, being only 0.5 inches thick. The controls are a new idea; pinch each side of the square device to perform different actions. This is tricky to get used to at first, but it soon becomes easy to master- songs can even be changed in your pocket after a while!
In many respects this player is better than the shuffle (it is also cheaper): it has many more features; FM radio, voice recording and it is much more durable. The best bonus is the battery life: the spec say 27 hours, but my test showed it to have 31.5 hours! This is brilliant compared to the iPod shuffle's 12 hours. This player also fully utilises its screen with its built in picture viewer, a very neat application which is surprising quick for flicking through your JPEGs.
Another bonus is that the supplied headphones are brilliant, far better than its apple counterparts!
On the bad side, it is compromised by its lack of format variety: just WMA and MP3. Also, the voice recorder is far too sensitive with too much background noise, just listening to a track gives you a headache! The design, too is a little rough round the edges, an area where the shuffle does 'win'.
Overall, this player is a definite cheaper alternative to the pricey iPod shuffle, sporting more features and better usability.

Summary: A great value MP3 player- well worth the buy.

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