|
Philips GoGear Opus 8GB MP3 and Video Player with 2.8 Inch LCD (works with BBC iPlayer) | 
| Brand: Philips
Category: CE
Buy New: £53.50
as of 5/9/2010 22:23 CDT details
New (5) Used (4) from £38.00
Seller: mcsagesse
Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 14354
Media: Electronics
Hard Drive Size: 8
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.1 x 5.7 x 1.4
MPN: SA1OPS08K/02
Model: SA1OPS08K/02
EAN: 8712581474720
ASIN: B00272MVDI
Release Date: June 29, 2009
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
| |
| Similar Items:
| |
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 23
 Excellent Gadget, a must have a long Journeys. August 20, 2009
Astore Stargazer (Lancashire)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This MP3/MP4 is a really cool gadget. IPod owners will argue that they have the street cred but not having to fiddle around with iTunes and a straight forward interface matched with a sleek design and a decent sized screen makes the opus a really cool gadget to own.
The only slight downside is that before using the opus it's useful to upgrade the players software, this will then give you a much smoother operating system for the player and Bluetooth access also. The player also has a really good battery, which still lasts for a while even when it's on the last bar.
Uploading songs and other media couldn't be easier, when the software is installed on your computer your can access the player like another drive. This makes the transferring of files and media straight forward and simple, much better than having to use iTunes to synchronise with your player. The conversion software for video is also simple and straight forward to use, converting DVD's and all video formats to play is done by just a few clicks and uploaded in no time at all, and with 8gb of space there is space there to put plenty movies on.
All in all an excellent player for someone who travels a lot due to work it's the perfect way to kill time on a long train journey by kicking back and watching a movie and not have to worry about the battery life.
GoGear hits the sweet spot for function, usability, value August 2, 2009
TGW Page (Holywood, UK)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
The Package:
The GoGear arrives with soft case, USB lead, sound isolation earphones, software CD including Device Manager, MediaConverter and partner offer details.
The Device:
Key message: install the latest firmware up-front. I didn't, resulting in content reload after firmware upgrade.
The GoGear is a nice size with solid feel. Fits into pocket easily, without worrying it will get damaged. Of 8GB, available capacity looks like 7457MB. Consider checking out 16 and 32GB models.
Startup and power-off are rapid - hold the button for a second - with a chirpy 'Bye!' on power-down.
GoGear has 2 modes 'Charge and Transfer' or 'Charge and Play'. On connecting via USB, you choose to manage content from PC via Windows Media 11, or to play. On disconnection, 'Updating...' displays for 5 seconds, and you're left in Play mode. Simple.
Contrast and colour differentiation on the 2.8" screen is fine.
One point to consider is visibility during rotation. Tilt the screen vertically, or leftwards, and you can see fine. However, visibility suffers when you tilt the right side away. Left-handed people might want to check this before buying.
The usual settings for play modes (shuffle...), backlight brightness and sleep mode are there.
The earphones are EXCELLENT for comfort and sound reproduction. The claimed in-ear noise isolation really delivers.
Battery life is fine, running much longer than iTouch, although I haven't tested for the claimed 30 hours.
Partner Offers:
The BBC iPlayer leaflet (included) is out-of-date - iPlayer's user experience has moved on. A fair selection of BBC podcast downloads is available, but with no wireless connectivity, GoGear can't exploit streamed content.
The 30 day Napster-To-Go voucher code trumps the 7-days available to any internet user. Latest software (at Aug09) is included.
The audible 14 day trial including 2 audiobooks is available to any internet user.
Video:
Michael McIntyre is as hilarious on GoGear, via iPlayer, as he is on full-screen TV. Video and sound both very good.
You can view youtube (and google, myspace...) videos and simultaneously prepare for GoGear using supplied Stream Ripper software. Converted youtube videos look better than on PC screen, given youtube's modest resolution.
Sound:
Playing music is GoGear's core strength. All the following are faithfully reproduced:
- Acoustic guitar and xylophone in Jason Mraz Details in the Fabric
- Electric guitar and maraccas in Amy Winehouse Valerie
- Cara Dillon's vocal purity in Blue Mountain River
The delight of GoGear as MP3 player is the spacious well-designed user interface as music plays away. Every detail you could want is legibly displayed - album art, date/time, battery state, album, artist, track, track length and how much played. Navigation is well thought out. Scroll through tracks one-by-one, or SuperScroll whizzing through the alphabet.
Philips have ensured device support with Napster and Audible. In Napster, tracks are easily dragged onto the "Transfer to Device" panel. Using AudibleManager, a gratis 5.5 hour, 78MB audiobook "The First 90 Days" copied to the GoGear on 10 seconds. A useful feature is being able to bookmark useful passages.
FM Radio:
Radio reception is fine, with an ample 20 presets. While the voice recording feature might be useful some day, I would valued a scheduled radio recording facility more.
Verdict:
Philips' strapline is "SENSE AND SIMPLICITY". Sure, this GoGear has no WIFI, internet browsing, apps, games.... But the GoGear Opus hits a sweet-spot in terms of functions, superb sound quality, good video, simple user interface, connectivity and price point.
Recommended as excellent value for people who, especially for cost reasons, don't need the gilt-edged Apple options.
Best thing ever! July 18, 2009
Darren Watkins (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I just can't get over what this tiny little piece of kit can do.
It has a radio (that you can record from for up to 5 hours), MP3 player, video player which you can download BBC iPlayer files to etc.
Starting with the sounds quality, the Full Sound facility is brilliant, it is like being in the same room as a really good quality pair of speakers. I have to say though I can't use the headphones you get in the box, I have to use other Philips headphones that hook over your ears - personal preference that's all. The player also has a wide range of equalizers they have preset ones and a one where you can alter it.
I have looked at one of the videos that was already pre-loaded and the picture quality and colour is fantastic. I can't see myself using it as a portable video player but it is always handy to have.
Getting on to the radio, it can auto tune and pre-store radio stations, as well as you being able to scan yourself.
You can also store and view photos that you have taken on the player. Yes I know, I am just waiting for it to make me a sandwich and a nice cup of tea!!
Another thing I really like is that it has a volume limit in the sound settings, so if you are giving the player to the kids you can set it so the volume does not go above a certain level.
There is a little slider button on the bottom of the player that will lock all of the buttons so that when you are walking around with it the buttons will be inactive. It is right next to a pin hole reset button and the USB port. The battery has to be charged by plugging it into the USB port of your PC as there is no electric plug/charger.
You get a free 30 day trial to Napster which is a bonus, you can download as much music as you can in 30 days (apparently it is only available to new accounts so if you already have an account you will have to open a new one to benefit).
Not forgetting you can listen to audio books too (you get to download one for free too), oh this player has so many features.
Here's another thing I like, the manual is quite small but has about 158 pages - wait for it, the English version of the instructions on stretches to about 12 pages.
You also get a neat little cover for the player so the screen and the sleak polished black and silver body doesn't get scratched.
I know I have gone on and on about stuff, and I have only had it out of the box for fifteen minutes. I haven't even got down to using it properly so you can imagine how impressed I'll be later this afternoon!!!
I was going to buy a new Sony MP3 player, but to be honest, am really pleased I didn't. This one is really, really good and small too. I can't recommend it highly enough.
 Good Value Little Player August 7, 2009
J. S. Bundy (London United Kingdom)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
This MP3 video player comes supplied with everything you need in order to get going. Software, lead, headphones and some decent freebies!
Its a compact player, about the size of a smallish mobile phone, feels sturdy and has very easy to operate controls. Navigating the menu is simple and stress free.
The software is easy to install and run. Moving music from the created music library is straight forward, although some of my music that was stored in another form of music library had to be converted. Manually managing the library was a case of simpley dragging and dropping.
The lead connects the device to the computer and also charges it. A slight reservation of mine would be that you have to charge it from a computer so it would not necessarily be an ideal player for travelling. Battery life seems to be consistent with the manufacturers claims although I would be interested to see how it sustains with a USB set up.
The headphones are surprisingly good, usually supplied ones are quite low end, but these have good sound quality and come with three different sized ear pieces. I happen to be a fan of in ear headphones but can see this might be a minus point for some people.
The video play back is crisp and clear. Its easy to skip forward and backward during playback.
Its a plus having a radio, although being FM you are at the mercy of your area reception, I was testing it in a fairly dodgy place and it did wander slightly.
It has a voice record function which is a nice extra.
The GoGear comes bundled with a 30 day trial for Napster, a free audio book from Audible and support for BBC IPlayer. I particularly like the way that the GoGear is compatible with Audible and has a separate set of audiobook controls.
All in all a good little device for the money.
Excellent quality but slightly ill-thought-out controls July 18, 2009
Dr. Rich Boden (Coventry, UK)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have one gripe and one gripe only with the Opus - who on earth decided to make the Play/Pause button and the On/Off button the same thing?! It's very easy to accidentally turn the Opus off if you hold the Play/Pause button down a second too long, which is quite irritating.
The Opus is lightweight and thin enough to slip into a pocket without you being able to feel it. The device can play music and videos and can display images. It also comes with a built-in radio.
Installation is very simple - you just plug it in to your PC's USB port using the cable provided then drag-and-drop files to the appropriate folders on the device, which shows up on your PC as though it is a USB hard drive. You don't need to install any specialist software to use the device, though you can install a Device Manager that takes care of firmware updates if you like, along with a piece of software that allows you to convert video files to ensure they are in an Opus-friendly format.
The headphones provided are unusually high-end for a digital media device - normally you get given really shoddy ones - so I was pleased about that. The device is pretty easy to use, though the controls take a bit of getting used to. The sound quality with the headphones provided is excellent and it was hard to tell the difference when I tried a pair of my high-quality headphones on it.
The quality of the display is fantastic - videos appear crisp and sharp and play smoothly without any choppyness. One of the many nice features about the Opus is that you can download TV shows from the BBC iPlayer website in portable player format and then copy them to the Opus to watch them when you're on the move. This would be excellent for catching up on soaps during the morning commute, for example. With 8GB memory, you could easily fit on quite a few TV shows to keep you (or your kids) entertained on a long journey.
The FM radio feature is as good as that on any other portable device. There's not much else I can say about that because it is obviously entirely dependent upon the signal quality wherever you are at the time, but with a strong signal, the sound quality is good.
All in all, the Opus is a good quality player, perhaps something I'd be interested in more for the video playback than as an MP3 player. The BBC iPlayer compatability is a massive bonus and being able to carry last night's TV that I'd missed on the bus to work will be a boon.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 23
|
|
|
Top brands at low prices in MP3 & Media Players--iPod, Zune, Archos, Creative, SanDisk, Samsung, Sony, and more. | |
