Emprex MP1003 digital audio player mp3 expandable memory slot $14.99 Fry's B&M

I pick up one of these are Fry's for $14.99 + tax to go with my 512 SD card I ordered from Buy.com

It's supports mp3
sd/mmc cards up to 1GB
Battery life 10hours with 1 AAA
Electronics volume control
LCD screen
built in EQ
anti-shock

comes with USB Cable and earphone.

The regular price on this is $29.99, so it's on sale for half price.

Pros:
1. Uses SD/MMC cards - not restricted to internal memory.
2. Small size, backlit LCD (no ID3 tag info), partially metal body (not all plastic)

Cons:
1. Loud "ticking" background noise - very noticeable when you have the volume low (or all the way down). Can drown it out with the music if you turn up the volume.
2. Poor volume control - the quietest setting is too loud, and volume setting returns to default (loud) after powering off the unit.

Unless I happened to get a dud (it wouldn't be surprising for Emprex/BTC to have poor quality control), those with sensitive hearing will hate this player. Those who are used to cranking up the volume probably won't be bothered by the background noise. If not for that electronic 'ticking' noise in the background, it actually sounds pretty good.

Is the MP-1003 listed on this page the item you bought?

Aiptek page that has the manual for a Magic Star Combo model MP1003 MP3 Player

atlr said: Is the MP-1003 listed on this page the item you bought?

Aiptek page that has the manual for a Magic Star Combo model MP1003 MP3 Player

Nope,

I tried finding more info about this player on-line but I found nothing.

Hypersion said: I couldn't copy any of my mp3 files to this player. Where do you put the AAA? The battery cover is on the front, the compartment below the LCD.

I bought a couple of these MP3 players over a year ago from geeks. http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=POCKETPLAYER-N The sound quality was very good. No clicking or other volume problems on mine.

The player is auto recognized as a USB storage device in XP - a new drive appears, no need to install special drivers; I noticed you don't need to have a battery in the player for it to act as a storage device. And you can copy mp3s (even in folders) to an SD card using a card reader and the player will play the mp3s off the SD card no problem. I like this unit.

I purchased one of these to replace a similar Rosewill mp3 player purchased from newegg. The sound quality is good, no clicking or any other problems but some of my mp3 files won't play. They play fine on my computer but when I move them over, the refuse to play. The documentation is extremely sparse and I haven't been able to find anything online about his. Has anyone else run into this issue and found a way to resolve it? The mp3 file(s) that won't play are recorded at 32kbs mono. The one(s) that play are approx. 192kbs stereo. I plan to try converting the mono files to stereo to see if that makes a difference.

ZeroBalance said: I bought one of these just recently and I am exploring it.
So far, I like the high volume, compact size, SD card support because you could just plug your SD card in the computer and download the files without all that USB transfers. I did not notice any ticks in the backgroud so far!
Yup, it's on sale again thru Tuesday for the same price.

Maybe I just got a bad one last time (re: ticking noise in background).
Does your volume reset every time you turn off the unit?

Havent noticed that part, will do it tonight!

I got one at Fry's as well. Although the package says it supports "up to 1 Gig" SD card, the 2 gig card works fine (ie. holds 2 gigs of stuff and works great)

This is a great deal considering some USB SD card readers cost almost the same amount of money but don't play MP3. You can use this player as USB SD card reader without a battery. The data transfer rate is good with a high speed SD card.

The music sounds great, though I did notice some noise when i set the EQ to Base mode with volume turned up. I tried with a different headset, but the result is the same.

Manual is indeed very lacking. You'll have to do some figuring out on your own with the controls. Took me a little time to figure out how to turn the thing on/off. I still haven't figure out how the song order is determined. I can also use some more explaination on what some of the icons on the LCD display mean.

The included headset has a special ring that you can use to hook up to a small hole on the corner of the player. There is also a ring on the strape of the headset so you can adjust the wire and wear the headset around your neck. I thought that is a pretty nice touch.

This unit is very light, very small, functional, and dirt cheap. It's also nice that the player uses standard AAA battery. Combined with the $20 PQI 1GB SD card I got from Fry's last week, I got myself a 1GB mini MP3 player that doubles as USB2 SD card reader & flash memory storage for only $40. I say this is a very nice deal.

PS. On Outpost, it says this player plays MP3, WMA, and MPEG. I haven't tried MPEG, but WMA did not work for me. Does any one else have any luck with files that are not MP3?

The speed is likely due to the limit of your SD card write speed. I use the PQI 60x 1GB SD card ($20 AR from Frys) and the file transfer speed is not too bad at all.

Both the PQI SD card and the MP3 player are on sale at So. Cal Fry's ad today again.
http://latimes.p2ionline.com/shoppingchannel/content/index.aspx?webstoryid=10509588&area=rop&type=cat

you can use the mp3 player as SD card reader by using the provided USB cable and connect to your Windows XP directory without having to install any drivers. If you are using older versions of Windows, you might need to isntall drivers first. You won't need the AAA battery under USB mode. The drive should just show up in your Windows Explorer. Just drag and drop and MP3 files into the SD card. I don't think it matters on what the folder and file names/structures are, but you might be required to keep the mp3 file extention.

You can also just use your own SD card reader if you have it. The Outpost site says it supports WMA, etc. But from my test, the only file type that works is MP3. If your copy of MP3 is using any sort of DRM (digital rights management), I don't think this drive will support them.