Date of Purchase: August 18th, 2010
Price: $18.62
Tests/Topics:
- Zero-to-Rice
- Stereo Output
- Battery Life
- Corrupted Files
- Circular Motion
- Music for the Blind
- Washer/Dryer
Zero-to-Rice:
Achieved in approximately 8 minutes
Series of events:
- attempt to tear open package (realize that it's adult proof)
- locate scissors (conveniently stored in the a room on opposite side of house)
- cut through space-approved super strength plastic
- locate mp3 player and plug into usb port of computer
- click on "view folder contents" (when windows gives a helping hand)
- locate some music (Damien Rice, in this case)
- copy-paste music to mp3 player (7.6 seconds with USB 2.0 for an album)
- remove mp3 player from computer (safely, or dangerously? more on this below)
- plug in headphones (included)
- press and hold play button
- press play button again
- Rice!
Stereo Output:
Opinions, opinions. What can one hope for with a 20-dollar mp3 player? To run a set of high-output audiophile-grade speakers? A concert with thousands in attendance? A dance party? Audio quality is a matter of great concern to some and more of a foreign concept to others. Connect this player to an amplified stereo system, and it is simply an audio output with standard performance. Use your own headphones, and chances are high that you will be satisfied with the quality (and amplification) that it provides. If you've been hard-rocking with your walky-phones since 1979, maybe this player won't quite pump the tunes loud enough for your sound-scarred ears, but fortunately you won't be bothered by any sound quality issues.
The bottom line on sound quality is this: the largest factor will always be the bitrate of the song that is tested. A song with a high bitrate (larger file size) will always sound better than a low-quality one. If you want studio quality sound, you probably won't be using mp3 files and probably have an ego that is bigger than an mp3 player that will put you out the cost of an entree at Generic Faux-Fancy Restuarant.
Battery Life:
As advertised, one AAA battery holds out for approximately 6 hours (likely longer if you keep the volume at sub-concert levels). The fact that the Raven is powered by a AAA battery instead of an internal rechargeable can be seen as both an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that when the power runs out, the tunes don't have to stop - simply pop in a new battery and you can keep on keepin' on. Assuming you are nearby a store when you are in need of a battery, you will always have a quick solution to your power needs. The disadvantage that this brings is the fact that you may end up with a plump battery budget (in the case that you constantly have your ear-buds fixed in your lobes in order to avoid socializing with fellow humans). If you are one of those, I suggest buying in bulk... Do they sell AAA's by the gross?
Corrupted Files:
For those who have a problem with authority and prefer to live dangerously, the term "safely remove hardware" probably sends the wrong signal. How does the Raven survive an unprotected ejection? Two simple tests may reveal the Raven's resilience to this sort of rebellious behavior:
- Unplug, no file transfers: without moving any files, quickly remove the raven from the USB port of the computer.
Result: all files are intact and nothing exploded. Super. - Unplug mid-transfer: while a file is being moved to the player, pull the plug.
Result: after taking some abuse from windows (in the form of rude warning messages), the player is revived. At first it seems as though nothing went wrong. The file in question is on the player and seems to be working. Then, it simply stops playing roughly half-way through the song. No other unfortunate side-effects are apparent.
Circular Motion:
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| photo credit: www.tutorvista.com |
Although the headphone jack on the Raven is considerably strong, there is a specific point at which it will fail. That point is reached by simply grasping the headphones and playing "helicopter" over one's head with a certain level of deliberate force. As a probability, the likelihood of encountering a speeding mp3 player projectile rates as "not likely" for children and "only if you're trying" for adults. In other words, it comes down to speed and at normal, playful "helicopter" speeds, a catastrophic event is less likely.
The good news: even after this catastrophic breaking-point was discovered during a quick test, the Raven managed to walk away with only minimal scratches. A quick functions test proved that it could still rock the house even after a short flight and a hard landing. This does not, however, say anything about the effects of this event on innocent bystanders (think vase
or shadow box
). 
Music for the Blind:
One notable attribute of the Raven is that it does not have a display. The only visual indicator on the device is a blinking blue light. While some of us are visual learners, not everyone feels the need to stare at abstract album art while they listen to their favorite Ska-Punk-Christian-Blues band. For some reason, it shouldn't seem strange to sell an audio device without some sort of visual element - but it does.
Regardless of what kind of learner you are, using the Raven with its three multi-function buttons will take a small amount of training. Once you get used to it, the only frustration that you may face is knowing which song you are listening to and which song will play next. The solution to this is knowing how the Raven goes about playing files and using that information when putting files onto the device.
After some testing (probably not enough), it seems as though the Raven operates in the following way:
- It first looks for folders.
- It cycles through the folders in alphabetical order. (ex. folder "a" comes before folder "b")
- Within a folder, it plays songs in alphabetical order (by filename, not song title).
- After it plays all folders, it moves onto songs in the root folder, and plays them alphabetically.
Washer/Dryer:
One of the most common traumas that a portable electronic device can see in its short (pre-obsolete) lifetime is a trip through the wash. How would the Raven fare? There's only one way to find out...
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| pants pocket: a likely place to forget... |
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| It's not too late. Check those pockets! |
 |
| oops |
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| and into the dryer |
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| post-dry (in pieces, as found in the bottom of the dryer) |
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| further examination reveals that it almost came out in more pieces |
The most important tip for the recovery of any device that has been dunked is to let it dry completely before attempting to power it on again. If any of the circuitry on the inside is still wet when it is powered on again, the chances of survival are diminished. In most cases, the only thing that you can do is wait.
After approximately 24 hours of drying time, the Raven refuses to wake up. A quick test of its music-playing abilities yields nothing. It seems as though it is fried. The second test is to plug it into the computer. This seems to be working just fine. The files are still there and intact. If anything, we still have a 2gb memory drive. The last chance effort to revive the Raven is to reformat the drive and start over. After loading some new music and "safely" removing the Raven from the computer, another functions test is in order. The result: Success! For some inexplicable reason, the Raven is alive and well after a quick re-format. The world may never know. And the cheap tunes roll on.
Summarize:
For the price, this is an excellent choice for a basic mp3 player that does what everyone expects an mp3 player to do: play music. It is also a decent alternative to a standard 2gb memory drive. Because its only slightly larger in size than other memory drives, it could easily replace the one you may carry on a daily basis. It also fared well when faced with various forms of abuse, which you might not expect from something at this price. Compared to other models that might retail for $35-50, it is definitely a cost-effective way to get your tunes on the go.
VERDICT: RECOMMENDED
Buy it...