Posted by Benz on Apr 14, 2010
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Transcend T.sonic 840 4 GB Video MP3 Player
Categories: Mp3 Players | 5 comments
- 4 GB capacity for about 1000 songs
- 30 hours of music playback on fully charged battery
- 1.8-inch TFT LCD screen with 176 x 220 pixel resolution
- Plays MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM10, and WAV audio formats; MTV video format (convert using included software); JPG and BMP image files
- 2-year limited warranty
Amazon. com Product Description
Combining a mirrored surface and metal body, Transcend’s T. sonic 840 is a real eye-catcher. This compact 4 GB MP3 player boasts a high-resolution, 1. 8-inch color TFT-LCD screen, delivering great image quality for video and photo playback. The 3-phase wheel control and the intuitive graphic user interface make the player simple to use. Enjoy your entertainment on the go, and quickly access useful functions like a digital voice recorder, FM radio, FM record. . . More >>
5 Responses to “Transcend T.sonic 840 4 GB Video MP3 Player”
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Watch Video Here: http://www. amazon. com/review/R15J0PBU1CLPJV A short review and basic how-to on the Transcend T. sonic 840 4G player. Good and bad points, plus update suggestions.
Rating: 2 / 5
The T. sonic (the 8GB, black version) is my 12 yr. old’s first MP3 player and, so far, he is happy with it. I would say that this little player is worth about what I paid for at one of Amazon’s one-hour specials.
I will first summarize what I got for my money and then I will have some closing thoughts where I will explain my rating.
- The contents -
The little box includes the player itself with a rechargeable battery (up to 22 hours of music playback or radio play on a full charge claimed) inside, a protective silicone skin, neck lanyard, a multi-lingual manual with the English section being 6 or 7 very small pages, the headphones, a USB cable and a mini disk that has an extended version of the manual plus a video file conversion utility, a slide show maker and some utility that is supposed to password-protect files that one would save on the device.
There is NO charger. The expectation is that the person who owns the player will use a computer to charge it through the USB cable. For those of us who don’t carry a charged laptop next to their MP3 player, I found that a Blackberry charger works. I suspect that other independent USB chargers work as well.
- Design, ergonomics -
The player itself is not too bad looking. The screen is small but bright.
The interface is basic and anything that’s a bit more ‘complex’, such as organizing a playlist can be difficult to execute.
- Features -
Computer interface:
Any file can be loaded off a computer by simply connecting via the USB port, at which time the player becomes a ‘removable drive’. . mp3, . wma, . jpg, . txt and other file types can be simply dropped into the ‘drive’ and they will be played or displayed as appropriate. Given that the device looks like a drive to the computer, one can create folders to better organize content.
Music player:
Play is adequate but accessing your favorite song once you have hundreds is a different matter. I am repeating myself but the fact is that the interface and ease of use leave a lot of room for improvement.
Photo display:
Pictures are displayed off a separate menu and, like the songs, can be difficult to organize. It can take 5 to 10 seconds to display a 4MB file. I have little doubt that, had I reduced the size/resolution of my photos, they would have been displayed a lot quicker but I didn’t feel that the user was ‘expected’ to convert dozens or hundreds of picture files prior to loading them on the player.
Voice recording:
It works and the ‘voice activated’ trigger is useful. If one takes the time to meaningfully rename the voice files, they could become meaningful records.
Radio playing:
20 FM stations can be preset on 20 ‘channels’ and one can listen to a preset channel or seek a station not yet saved. The controls are a bit awkward but this is becoming a ‘constant’ observation already. An interesting feature is its ability to automatically scan the spectrum and assign stations to each of the 20 channels. It’s a nice idea but, in my case, the same stations were assigned to 3 or 4 channels and some of the stations ‘found’ were nothing but static hiss.
Video:
I did not test it yet and it’s not something that we are going to use. My son wanted a ‘music player’. To play videos we have big screen TV’s and laptops that do a much better job. I will enter my impressions here, once I have a chance to test it.
E-book:
Yes, it opens text files but one must be irresponsible to attempt actually reading a book on a postage-stamp size screen. We only have one pair of eyes and they don’t get any better.
Clock:
Apparently, this model was not meant to be sold in the US. When setting the clock, you will find that the ‘Pacific’ time zone is labeled ‘United States’ and ‘Eastern’ seems to be called ‘Venezuela’. Daylight savings time is available as an option to check but, who knows when that kicks in, since my time zone is ‘Venezuela’ now.
File storage:
I suppose this is a possibility but, with 8Gb thumb drives available for about $10, it would be a waste of MP3 player to actually attempt to use it as a file storage device.
- Performance, quality -
The player is overall slow. It is slow to respond to commands, slow to display large files, slow to turn itself on or off.
The quality of sound is acceptable and the basic (as in cheap) ear buds could be easily replaced with something better.
To conclude, this is something that my first born is likely to use for a while until he manages to impress me (good grades or some new belt color in Taekwando) into getting him something better. It’s also a good way for him to get used with the concept of an MP3/gadget.
This model’s several shortcomings would normally earn it a 2-star but the not-so-high price pulls it up into the 3-star territory. I view it as a ‘disposable’ gadget and, as such, it can be considered a ‘good buy’.
To be fair, my little guy would give this 5 stars without hesitation. He is very happy with what he got and, if he’s happy, I’m not unhappy either
.
Rating: 3 / 5
I ALMOST got a bigger iPod, but I didn’t feel like spending so much on it. I recently got an 8G card for my camera made by the same company and was super cheap but good. There was an advertisement in the package for their other products, including this mp3 player. I decided to look this up, looked great but had no reviews. I had to search the web like crazy to find a review. All I found was positive, but I didn’t find much.
In any case, this thing is GREAT! The sound is great, it’s small, pretty user friendly, and it’s way cheap for what it does. I only bought it to play songs (for the most part), so that’s all I’ve tested out. I have it connected to a pretty cheap set of travel speakers right now, and it’s still great. I am so incredibly impressed so far!
And I do have an iPod shuffle already, but I just use it to run. The sound on this thing is MUCH better than the shuffle.
If I could give it more than 5 stars to factor in the value, I would!
Rating: 5 / 5
I consider the deal I got on this MP3 player a pretty good one. I purchased it from one of the Amazon Gold Deals the other day and saved $26 on it. I would not pay full price for this thing.
It plays mp3s so I have yet to figure out if I can get some of my iTunes music on it but I mainly use this to listen to lectures and podcasts and such, which are usually in mp3 format, so it works for me.
It has an FM radio which is nice if you need a portable FM radio- it works well and has good reception.
The voice recorder works nice as well.
Converting videos to the format that’s compatible takes quite a while but the quality ends up being just fine- though the screen is very small.
The controls are fine but not very handy.
This would be a good gift for a child or someone like me who just wants to listen to something while driving and doesn’t want a $100 iPod.
Rating: 2 / 5
The Transcend T Sonic 840 4 GB Video MP3 Player (Black) is fully loaded with features in an all metal, compact body. Combined with an attractive mirrored finish, this power packed dynamo offers a brilliant multi-line display via a 1. 8″ high resolution LCD/TFT screen. The image quality is quite vivid and well framed without distortion. Coming out of the box, I would highly recommend immediate laminate protection to keep the front of the device free of scratches.
Navigation is primarily through the on board 3 phase wheel control which easily allows access from one function to the other. As with all MP3 systems and depending totally on the area of reception, the FM radio has been kind of hit and miss. With the help of the customizable equalizer, music downloads are surprisingly crisp.
The T Sonic 840 brings a lot of bang for the buck with these key features;
- FM Recorder
- Video Player (. mtv)
- E Book Reader (txt. )
- Digital Voice Recorder
- Customizable Equalizer
- Preset 20 Station FM Tuner
- Photo Album (jpg/bmp format)
- Karaoke Style Lyrics Display
- Real Time Clock (Displays local & world time)
- Music Player (MP3,WMA,WAV,WMA-DRM10) formats
- 13 Language User Support (For Song/Artist Display)
Whether you’re a Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows user, this device is compatible to all three operating systems. For music service subscribers, its a no go with Napster but operates with some hiccups included with Rhapsody. While it does download music files in their entirety, one glaring issue that keeps the Tsonic 840 from receiving a 5 star rating is that it does not download play lists.
The sweetest feature is the voice-activated recorder. It gets high marks on the Cool Meter for it will automatically begin recording when it registers a sound and pause itself when it can’t detect noise. In a quiet space it is one gem of a feature.
Powered by a rechargeable Li-ion battery, non stop music play logged in at a little over 20 hours. So much for the 30 hour lifespan. Accessories include the industry standard but comfortable earphones, neck lanyard, mini USB type A cable, zip string carrying bag and software CD.
Overall, the Transcend T Sonic 840 4GB MP3 Player is a cornucopia of features that value conscious shoppers will find hard to resist. However, with its inability to format and deliver playlists its three stars at best.
Rating: 3 / 5