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Philips GoGear Spark SA2940/02 4GB Colour Display 1.5" MP3 Player | 
| Brand: Philips
Category: CE
This item is no longer available
Rating:  71 reviews
Sales Rank: 8772
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 3.9 x 3.5 x 2.3
MPN: SA2940/02
Model: SA2940/02
EAN: 8712581448387
ASIN: B001JR3CLW
Release Date: June 29, 2009
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 71
 A real pleasure July 24, 2009
G. Horsham (UK)
42 out of 43 found this review helpful
What a great little MP3 player and I have to admit I have got quite attached to it in a very short space of time.
Out of the box it is roughly 4cm square and about 1cm deep; possibly it is a bit too small. It comes with a fairly average set of headphones, a rubber protective holder (and belt clip) and a very short, but standard connector size, USB connector cable. It has 4Gb of memory, although a small part of that contains the device software and manual if you want it. You don't need this though as you just drag and drop the files you want (oh so easy).
The Phillips SA2940 looks good, but looks even better when it is switched on. The colour display can be customised to have your own wallpaper, have a personalised slideshow; you can store pictures on this which can then be used as a slide show.
Even numerous different screensavers can be selected; digital/analogue clock; current track name/artwork; graphic equaliser etc. Sound quality is about as good as you'd want from an MP3 player. It even has a voice recorder and playback!
Navigation of the menus is child's play; I did not even check the manual to work out what was what. The clear screen cover acts as a simple menu up/down/forward back push selector. It is quite sensitive, so you need to click the lock switch to lock the selectors if you put it in your pocket (volume up/down still works). There are a number of other personalisation's you can do too; repeat a track once or forever; shuffle tracks; play by genre, album, artist or playlist. All in all vary well thought out.
One huge benefit for me is that there are no batteries; purely a USB chargeable MP3 player. My only concern is the battery life. It claims that it can last up to 30 hours. Possibly true if you have minimal screen displays when active. I had a clock showing at all times whilst listening to several albums and changing configurations - the battery indicator showed half full after only 6 hours; still that is not too bad as I am never far from a computer and I can always disable the screensaver (which will stop the battery being eaten up so quickly)
It may not have the robust feel of an iPod or the popular appeal either, but if you want something slightly different that is a great little MP3 player with a few good bells and whistles, then this is for you.
Overall, and for the price too, top marks.
Small, Cute, Easy to Use, most importantly SOUNDS GOOD! November 3, 2009
Mr. Hm Bennett (London)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a great little device at an excellent price.
The SIZE is EXCELLENT. There are negatives to that fact i.e. the small display, but you can't have everything.
The MENU system is GREAT and the use of screen- clicking for navigation works reliably and is nice and simple.
Getting music from your PC to the Player is also EASY - Drag and Drop!
Best of all, the SOUND is EXCELLENT - far better than an Ipod, particularly if you use your own quality headphones.
If this is your budget, there's no better place to put your money.
Well designed little player with quality sound reproduction July 20, 2009
doggebreth
22 out of 24 found this review helpful
This neat little mp3 player provides excellent sound quality and is straightforward in operation.
Music can be copied to it using drag and drop or windows media player. It is not DRM compatible - but if you support DRM sales outlets you should be ashamed. It has a good capacity non-replaceable battery which can only be charged through a USB connection when the player is not in use. I expect that this will progressively reduce but you can expect it to run all day and night to begin with.
Start up has been designed for the product's intended user. It assumes sufficient PC competence to respond to screen prompting when connected via mini USB - and an aversion to the printed page. The process is intuitive but if you choose to update the firmware at the wrong time this can be slow - with no indication of progress. Incidentally this review is for the non radio version 2940 - it is possible to download the firmware from the 2945 version and I would be interested to know if anyone has used this to unlock the radio functionality. Not important to me...
The little 1.5" 480 pixel square screen is not bad - but can't be seen easily outside. Controls work well once you master them - locking them is essential to prevent tracks skipping. The locking slider also turns the player off. There is no futile attempt to provide video playback and I haven't tried the recording facility. Philips have an agreement with Audible to provide playback of their recorded material which may be of interest to some.
On first use the sound quality was poor - congested and bass heavy. I believe that one of the equalizer settings must be used as a default although there is no indication that this is so. Using the custom setting adjusted to a flat response provides an enormous improvement. For the purposes of review I tried the supplied in-ear phones - not too bad - and the player has a 'full sound' equalization setting that is probably complementary to their reproduction. With better quality listening gear this 'full sound' demonstrates the usual over weighting of bass and treble response that you would expect. All the mp3 players I have owned appear to benefit from a brief period of running before the sound opens out.
This is an extremely likeable player. Compared to the Sansa Clip the sound quality is first rate. It comes with a silicon case that provides limited protection and feels nice - but does compromise the 'phone socket - if you are not using the standard in ear ones provided. It also means that the belt clip is not integral - not as neat but functionally satisfactory.
Start up times are acceptable - even when the player capacity is fully utilised. Playback options are well designed and comprehensive and the player does remember where it was when you switch it off. Judging from earlier reviews there have been worthwhile firmware improvements.
You will not be disappointed if you buy this player.
Adorable and impressive! August 9, 2009
Miss (Coventry)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
When I received this mp3 player in its clear plastic cube packaging I was over the moon. The little player is adorable - it fits right in the palm of your hand and is cute, chunky and seemingly impossibly small for something that does so much! It is mostly black with silver edging and I think it looks really stylish.
The mp3 player comes with an instruction book which explains the basics, and a much more extensive set of instructions is available online on the Philips website. Also offered on the website are some firmware upgrades, but I didn't know how to add these so have left them well alone.
Music is very easy to put onto the player - just plug the player into your USB port with the provided connecting lead and drag your music files over to the folder which represents the player. You may need to change the properties of your music files if they are downloaded rather than ripped straight from CD, if you want the names to be correct, but this is easily done.
Photos can also be dragged into the folder without any problem at all, and once on the player they show up very well and look very sharp and true in colour, due to the screen's high resolution.
The player is easy to operate too, using the few unobtrusive buttons on the sides, plus pressing the rocking screen from side to side. The player can also be personalised, with different background themes, colours and pictures. You can even have your photos playing as a slideshow whilst listening to your music.
The sound that the player emits is excellent. Comparable to more expensive players, easily, and despite the complaints on here about the earphones I actually think they're fine - they give a good sound without too much bass and they fit firmly in my ears, unlike the ones provided with Ipods which are not quite as good.
Included in the box is also a flexible plastic case which protects the back and sides of your mp3 player to help prevent scratches (though doesn't cover the screen). This is a nice extra as with most electronic gadgets you have to pay extra for a case.
I only have two real complaints: the menus for the music are not the quickest to use or clearest to see and it seems you have to go through quite a few screens before you can select your song. The other complaint is that if you select to have a slideshow as your screensaver, then the player will only use all your photos, rather than allowing you to select one folder and have, for example, separate `family', `friends' or `pets' slideshows.
Still these are small complaints and I think this player is an excellent addition to the market. An Ipod nano may give you more street cred, have clearer menus and a bit more storage, but it's also twice the price. And the cheaper Ipod shuffle has far less features than this player (it doesn't even have a screen!). So for this price, I think this is a great mp3 player which I highly recommend.
Don't knock, just lock it in your pocket! December 25, 2009
Ms. Felicia Davis-burden (Staines, UK)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In my search for the perfect music player for day-to-day use (especially walking/jogging), I'm now trying this little Spark. I'm already familiar with the detailed main menu, from using the GoGear Vibe, and like the easy navigation. It's easy to personalise the machine by copying and pasting pictures to act as screensavers and background, as well as call up album-art (not essential but fun and colourfull). Sound quality through my own phones is very good throughout the range.
There's one thing that is important to note here, concerning the sensitivity of the pressing controls: Once you've decided on how to play your tracks (I keep on Shuffle for all songs), use the Locking feature - push the On switch up to lock - before pocketing your player. Then you won't accidentally switch or pause tracks. This is a great feature, particularly if you're jogging or running for a bus!
Some customers have noted the pointless belt-clip, clearly an afterthought on Philips' part. I won't use it simply because I fear that my player would fly off and break! Ignore the clip, just nestle your player in the cleverer little rubber nest supplied in the neat box, and pocket your player. Additionally, the USB cable with Philips machines is ridiculously short, barely the width of one's palm. It's a good idea to buy a longer or retractable Philips cable. These are very cheap and universal. So apart from the useless clip and the tiny USB, GoGear Spark is a great little player. I sincerely hope that it doesn't develop the GoGear Vibe's problem of freezing menu screens. I'll keep you all posted, if I'm unlucky. But 5-stars for an attractive and compact player.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 71
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