Olympus m:robe MR-500i Digital Music Player with Digital Camera by Olympus
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Digital camera reviews of Olympus m:robe MR-500i Digital Music Player with Digital Camera
Digital camera Review: Need some firmware / software updates to be great
Summary: 2 Stars
The hardware design is great. Multilingual display, backlit remote also display track info. Camera is at acceptable quality. Noisy as usual in dark environment. Cannot be a digital camera replacement but can be good if you just need a quick snapshot of something.
The mp3 decoding has a little too much noise. Very noticeable when playing certain kind of "quiet" music such as classical or any form of unplugged instrumental, even the mp3 files are encoded at 320kbps constant bit rate stereo. The interface response time is a little sluggish, like one or two second delay after each button click. Honestly I'm not very happy with this product due to these two issues since I spent $420 for this and I'm expecting excellent quality. I hope they can be resolved through a firmware update.
Remix function is fairly neat, but I don't really use it. Quite some work to set up one remix, and you have to do it per track. I wish there is a remix setup per album / playlist function option.
The m:trip software is fair. Need some work as well, such as the playlist order easily get messed up by browsing in other search method list. And some music files fail to accept an album cover image even it's showing in m:trip. Biggest complain is when you have a bunch of mp3s under one album, and if they don't have track no. tagged in their info, m:trip will upload them to the player regardless of the track file names, that is you can have the files in order in winamp (since winamp load files in numeric / alphabetical order), but not in m:robe. I have to go in and type in the track no. to make m:trip place them in order, and I have to do it one by one, no auto numbering functions.
Honestly, I would say, wait for firmware / software update for this pricey unpolished product... It would totally deserve a 5 stars rating if they can fix these issues.
Digital camera Review: Nice piece of kit, but could be better
Summary: 4 Stars
This is does a great job on:
- Sound quality
- It looks very cool
- Screen quality for picture review
The annoying things that let it down are:
- Battery life is rubbish - you have to use the remote to get any decent performance
- The picture filing does not match the computer so it's difficult to review pics
- The interface takes some getting used to - it's not an iPod
Digital camera Review: Nice product for photos and music
Summary: 4 Stars
I really enjoy my m:robe. I have tons of pictures that I have on slideshow while I listen to my music. 20 gig is more then enough size for my music and photo collection. I would recommend getting the software updates ASAP for both the m:robe and the m:trip interface software. Great inovative product by a great company.Digital camera Review: Not Bad and Better For Not Being an iPod
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased my M:Robe in October of 2005 for $200. $200 for 20Gigs, a camera, a 3.7 in touchscreen..come on. For $200 Apple gives you 2Gigs. Scam artists. But in the last 3 months I have been very pleased with my M:Robe..battery life withstanding, but what do you expect when taking pictures while listening to music?
PROS:
-Not an iPod
-20 Gigs of memory (I've been breaking my back to fill it and have only filled 1.2 Gigs.)
-Looks cool and sleek
-Has a camera
-Touchscreen because touching is good
-Amazing resolution from the 3.7 in VGA screen
-Software works beautifully if you're not a 4-year old
-Not an iPod
-Not over-priced @ $200 like an iPod
-Sturdy
-Not made by Apple
CONS:
-Battery life could be longer, but not awful
-No iCult dedicated to it..yet
-Lack of accessories
Overall a great value and viable alternative in a market flooded with mindless, automiton iCulters. Buy one!
Digital camera Review: Not Too Shabby Of A Device..
Summary: 3 Stars
I read all the negative reviews before the purchase and really only one is true and that is the battery life is weak. For me, I plan on using it in my car and having power in it at all times, so it works for me. Other than that the UI is great, it shows album art which is awesome, basic camera functionality is there if you ever need it, software is easy to understand and the touch screen responds to my touch everytime. Plus, with all the above, a 20GB HHD, lots of inbox accessories and it's only $250!?