Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)First of all, bear in mind that I got this player for $30 in Staples (May 09) so that sweetened the deal for me. And also, I am looking to get a larger unit in the future.
Pros:
1- Nice size player. Small and fits in your hand and pocket.
2- Very responsive when I connect it to my PC.
3- Very fast transfers of files.
4- Good video conversion software. But it converts the files only to an SMV format. Nothing else plays on the unit but .smv. Not mp4 or 3gp. But the software produces a nice product. The video is crisp. Surprisingly so for such a small screen (1.8 inch). I have another mp3 video player made by another company and their conversion software creates a 3gp that is mono and scratchy sounding . But this one converts the avi or wmv in stereo with a decent sound. But that also means the file size is larger.
5- Customer care, so far, has been great.
6- You can create folders for your audio and video files aka playlists. That was a big pro for me. (see below for instructions)
Cons:
1- Not crazy about the ear buds. Large. Kind of triangular shaped so they don't fit comfortably in your ear which also means the sound suffers because of it. Also, the sound only comes out of half the bud, not the entire bud. ??? Anyhow, for now, I press them in when a good part of the song comes around so I can hear it better. (New ear buds are on the horizon for me.)
2- I would have liked a bit more in the equalizer dept. You have preset equalizers (Jazz, Rock, Classical, Rap etc) but they don't sound great. But there also is a "custom" equalizer so you can fiddle around with that but I still haven't gotten a setting I'm happy with.
3- Very small menus and I can't read the song information without glasses.
4- Also no expandable slot so you can't add a memory card to expand storage.
5- Had a problem when watching videos initially. Whenever I would fast forward or pause the video the picture and sound would go off sync. I called custom care and they told me to reset the unit. There is a reset button and, after pressing it with a paper clip end, it fixed the problem. Also I think I did a firmware update for that too. Not sure. But all is working fine now.
How to make your own playlist:
For anyone who also hates Windows Media Player for making playlists, here's how I created my own. Create folders for audio and/or video files on your hard drive and then put your audio and video files in them. Then go to "My Computer" and copy and paste the folders into the "Playlists" folder on the Philips sa32 unit.
Then, to access these folders, when you put your player on, rather than going to the "Music" folder where everything is all jumbled together (individual songs, speech files, album tracks etc), go to the "Folder View" folder and then scroll down to "Playlists" and inside that folder there will be the folders you created with your songs and your videos in them.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Philips SA32 4 GB Flash Video MP3 Player with FM Radio and 1.8-Inch Color Screen (Black)
The Philips Go Gear digital audio player features the company's patented FullSound technology, allowing you to have crystal-clear, digital music as it's meant to be heard.
Express Yourself With the press of a button you can sing, dictate, record notes--whatever your heart desires--using the built-in microphone. Your files are recorded in WAV format and available when you want them.
Easy Navigation The full-color, 1.8-inch LCD makes quick work of moving through the hundreds of music, movie, and photo files you can store on the player. Ready for a change? Connect to your computer using the included USB cable and then simply drag and drop your music or data via to your device.
What's in the Box Philips 4 GB Flash Video MP3 Player with FM Radio and 1.8-inch Color Screen; CD-ROM with IFU, device manager, media converter and Windows Media Player; high-definition headphones; quick-start guide; USB cable
