Archos - Key - 4GB MP3/MP4 Player w/ FM Radio (501511) Archos - Key - 4GB MP3/MP4 Player w/ FM Radio (501511)

Pros: I was looking for something cheap and simple to replace my iPod shuffle. I'm sick of using iTunes. I didn't want a video screen or crazy features, just something small that would fit in my pocket and had buttons I could feel and use without taking it out. Works great and seems like it's built tough. The outer casing feels sturdy. Great inexpensive sports mp3 player

Cons: These are just small complaints. Just for your information. Screen is a little small for how much info they try to put on it. I don't use the screen much since I use it for sports so doesn't matter to me. Second, you have to push a button to switch from fast forware/rewind to volume. Both functions use the same buttons. Not a huge deal. I'm used to it now.

Pros: i like it. it does what you want it to. plays music or book on tape without problems. battery lasts good amount of time. i like the micro sd slot. makes it even bigger than 4gigs which is usually enough. the radio frequency transmitter is a really nice feature.

Cons: i wish there was a cover for usb thingy but it hassnt caused a problem yet.

Other Thoughts: i am glad i bought this product and i would buy another one.

Pros: It's an MP3 player. Cool slide out USB.

Cons: Screen easily scratches. But It doesn't really show unless but under a flashlight, so I don't care. Still 5/5.

Pros: 4 Gb, SDHC memory slot, FM transmitter. Pretty decent hardware for the price. No DRM, just drag and drop to copy mp3's onto it.
It will remember a bookmark (contrary to other reviews). Shut off by holding the play/pause button, not the on/off slider switch and it will restart at the same point.

Cons: The user interface is mediocre at best.
It does not support playlists. You can work around that by loading the songs you want on a playlist into a folder. Play options are either play everything or play a folder. However, the play order is determined by the order the songs are copied onto it, not alphabetical by file name.
The directional buttons are a bit small for me (they are a thin ring around the main play button).

Other Thoughts: The main reason to purchase this is for the FM transmitter. Other than that, I would recommend the Sansa clip. It is about the same price for 4 Mb and you can install Rockbox on it.
I use the FM transmitter to play it on my portable stereo. My tests show the transmitter has a range of about 1-2 feet without the earbuds plugged in, about 10-15 feet with the earbuds as an antenna. I just set it on my stereo.

To work around the lack of playlists and the weird way the songs get ordered, I suggest you make use lots of folders to organize your music. The "play all" option will traverse folders. I group music by genre in the top level folders, then by artist or playlist folders. Then you have to copy the songs into the folders in the order you want them to play. It's a pain, but it seems to work and with 4 Gb memory plus a 4 Gb SDHC card I shouldn't be copying songs onto it very often.

This device will work for me, but my old Sansa C240 with Rockbox installed was much better.

Pros: Small, inexpensive, no cord needed to connect to PC.

Cons: Will not play almost any type of protected files. If you legally download music or books, chances are they are protected. This player is not supported by any retailer I use (small places "A Big River in South America.com"), thus it is useless for anything you download from them.

It also has NO way to choose what it plays. You just hit play and it starts playing what's on it in order. You have no say in what you listen to.

Other Thoughts: Their tech support was also rude and unhelpful.

Pros: I bought this about 6 months ago and have not had any problems with the battery, software, or any part of the player itself. Other readers have already commented that the headphones have to be plugged in to use the FM transmitter function because they act as the Key's antenna, which is a genius idea. The transmitter works just as good if not better than any other transmitter that you can buy, but for the exact same price you get a whole mp3 player to go with it. Battery life is awesome, FM receiver works great, and the interface is simple once you get used to it (only took me a couple minutes.) For playlists, you have to put the songs in a different folder, but this has not been a problem for me. I can imagine you could set up shortcuts if you are running low on space, although I haven't personally tried this.

Cons: Windows XP doesn't recognize the player which is bad when using it as your flash drive at schools or working on other people's older computers. Haven't tried it on Vista, but works like a charm on Windows 7. The headphones with it were terrible, as expected and the mic records in pretty poor quality.

Other Thoughts: For the price you can't go wrong. For the same price as either a radio, a FM transmitter, and cheaper than nearly all other mp3 players, you get all of them in a small package. I wouldn't ever trade this for an iPod

Pros: Small, simple to use, retractable USB, radio transmitter, voice recording, radio recording.

The fact that it doesn't have that foolish compulsory synchronizing firmware which I forget the name of is awesome too.

It also came fully charged which was a nice touch. Best of all though, it's not an "i" fad product.

Cons: Nothing major that I can think of, though I have only had it a few days.

Other Thoughts: I had a Samsung YP-U1 long ago, [which has been discontinued, therefore not a competing product]. Which was similar to this, & definitely better in terms of overall design. Most notably the fact that the USB had a cover for it, where as this is open ended. I don't know how that will effect it in the long run. I'm assuming it will just be lint from pockets that get into it, but still it's a thought that occurred.

Also not sure why there is a on-off switch, instead of just pushing play to turn on & off, which you can do, but there is still a on-off switch.

It's not the sleekest of mp3 players, unlike my beloved YP-U1... But it's the best alternative which is being made.

Pros: Well, it plays MP3s and the audio quality is pretty good. There's 5 or 6 pre-defined equalizer settings and the controls aren't that difficult to learn.

The tiny LCD makes navigating the menu system a little difficult but not impossible. You can adjust the back-light & power-off timeouts, display brightness, 13 language settings (major European & Asian) and a few other basic settings.

It seems pretty solid overall but I'm not sure how the retractable USB connector would fare over time.

It also doubles as a Micro SD reader in a pinch, though I'm not sure what it's maximum capacity is. I'm using a 4GB card.

Cons: There's no playlist or bookmarking function that I can find. Random or continuous playback is lacking as well. You can either loop the current song endlessly, loop the current directory (only sequentially, not randomly) or randomize the entire drive. So I can't listen to random songs w/o the occasional podcast being thrown in the mix. Seeking through long files (such as a podcast) is tedious since you can't change the default seek time of 1 second.

Other Thoughts: It has an FM receiver but it also has an undocumented FM transmitter. While a song is playing, hold the V/T button and a simple menu appears; turn RF on and then select what frequency to transmit on. A nice feature if you don't have a modern car radio with USB connections, dedicated iPod connections, etc.

It comes with a complimentary pair of earbuds but they're nothing to get excited about.

Pros: Durable and compact design - great for hiking, jogging, and travel. Replacement for one I lost with a similar style - very satisfied - solid 4.5 eggs!

Cons: None yet...

Other Thoughts: Works great with the Roswill USB travel Charger. Instructions are limited...but, most folks will still be just fine.

Pros: Its really not hard to understand, You put your music in connect headphones and listen. If you want to use FM Transmitter start music then press and hold V/T once RF comes up press the + button to highlight ON then press the play button, and then press the + to move station forward or the - to move back. This is in the instruction. It has a micro SD slot for expanding memory (See Con)

Cons: Like the other reviewer the instructions are small but the player is pretty easy to understand. The FM Transmitter requires either your headphones or a piece of wire with a 3.5 mm headphone jack which is used as an antenna this is not mentioned in instructions. Also FM Trasmitter disables everytime you shut off player and you have to reset it every time which can be annoying. The Volume only goes to 32 if you have a low recorded MP3 it may be hard to hear. Can not use SD slot in conjunction with internal memory.

Other Thoughts: Really its not a bad player, giving something a bad review because you can not understand how to use it is not really fair to the product itself, it has its qorks but most things do. As for instructions they are short but to the point they tell you want every button does and that is pretty much it.