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Welcome
to the Mambo-X Comparison Chart and Review
This page came about as a result of my desire to know how the new Mambo-X
Jukebox Recorder stacked up against other competitors. I've been searching the
entire web (oh.. maybe not everywhere, but at least I tried very hard) for a
review and comparison without luck and figured I just do one myself. So, of
course, some personal opinion involved. If you want to debate one unit over
another, please find a public forum and speak there. Or if you bought a wrong
unit and it is not my fault - don't bug me! Mark Berman 8/25/02
Jukebox Recorder
Comparison Chart
Product |
Mambo-X
P350 JB Recorder |
Apple
iPod |
Archos
JB Recorder |
Creative
Normad JB3 |
Product
Picture |
|
|
|
|
URL |
Click |
Click |
Click |
Click |
Price
as 20GB |
$271 |
$499 |
$271 |
$399 |
Audio
Format Playback |
MP3,
WMA, WAV |
MP3 |
MP3 |
MP3,
WMA, WAV |
Audio
Format Recording |
MP3 |
N/A |
MP3 |
MP3 |
HDD
Capacity (based on user's report on web &
manufacturer's spec) |
6-40GB |
5-20GB |
6-40GB |
6-20GB |
Memory
Size / Anti-shock |
8MB/480sec |
32MB/20minutes |
2MB/120sec |
8MB/480MB |
Host
Interface |
USB
1.1 |
i1394 |
USB
2.0 |
USB1.1
& i1394 |
Transfer
Rate (based on reviews on web, not manuf. spec) |
700kb/sec |
255Mb/sec |
11Mb/sec |
500kb/sec |
USB
Driver |
No
Driver required for Win2000 and up |
Mac
Only (Windows to come, but not yet) |
Driver
required for all OS |
Driver
required for all OS |
Battery
Type |
Replaceable
Li-ION battery, 1400mAh |
Built-in
Li-Polymer battery, 1200mAh |
4x
AA Ni-MH Batteries |
Replaceable
Li-ON battery, 1350mAh |
Battery
Life (based on reviews on web, not manuf. spec) |
7
hrs |
6
hrs |
4
hrs |
N/A |
Second
Battery Bay |
Yes |
N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
Built-in
Microphone |
Yes |
N/A |
incomplete
info |
N/A |
FM
Tuner |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
LCD
Display |
128x64
dot with blue backlight |
160x128
dot with white backlight |
Incomplete
info |
132x64
dot with two color backlit |
User
Interface |
Display
folder structure liked Windows Explorer;
Assemble playlist during playback (or not);
Dial scroller for cursor moving;
Random, Repeat1, Repeat Dir;
English user interface only but display English
and Japanese ID3;
|
Play
by playlist, artist and song title;
Touch sensitive scroll wheel for selection;
Random, Repeat1, Repeat All;
4 languages user interface with same ID3 support:
English, Deutsch, French and Japanese;
|
incomplete
info |
Play
by playlist, artist, album and genre;
Scroller for selection & navigation;
Find button for easy search;
Repeat1, Repeat All, Random play;
9 languages support - English, Brazilian,
Portuguese, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch,
German & Japanese |
AC
adapter |
100-220V |
Use
your Mac's i1394 port |
100-220V |
100-220V |
Remote
control |
option |
option |
N/A |
N/A |
Dimension
(inch) |
5.1x3.6x1 |
4x2.4x0.8 |
4.5x3.2x1.3 |
5.5x5x1.5 |
Weight
(ounce) |
9.8 |
6.5 |
12 |
14 |
Included |
earbud
headphones, AC adpater, USB cable, stereo cable
(for recording from other audio source), carrying
pouch, MusicMatch |
earbud
headphones, i1394 cable, iTune CD |
earbud
headphones, AC adapter, USB cable, Software CD, 4x
NiMH batteries |
earbud
headphones, AC adapter, USB cable, Software CD,
carrying pouch |
¡@
My
Review of Mambo-X P350 JB Recorder
Everything
starts with my wanting to buy a portable jukebox
recorder for my new school year ( I am a part time
graduate student in MBA ). Overall, $300 price tag (that
is normally most of JB recorder cost today) is a big
investment for me. I've outlined my priority for
features and started a chart for decision support.
My
most wanted features in priority:
- A
multi-format jukebox that will hold my entire MP3
library. I have about almost 1200 songs so far that
spend many sleepless nites to collect. The reason a
multi-format JB (MP3 & WMA) is to ensure my
investment for the future in case WMA comes out the
list.
- A
MP3 recorder. I wanna be able to record a concert
when it is needed or FM.
- Portable
USB HDD. Everyone in school probably need one. The
key issue is that the JB has to be driverless.
- Easy
song searching and playlist compiling. My entire
music library is 1200 songs and still growing.
Having a lousy GUI will kill me. Transferring MP3 to
portable device is easy, so I don't wanna waste time
through complex menus just to put new tunes on my
device.
- Battery
life. It seems most of the JB isn't a power savvy
but at least 4 hours minimum. One with extra battery
pack the better.
- Size.
We are talking portable, aren't we? I saw one of my
friend has a Neo JB that is almost the size of my
Algebra book back in my freshman year. (that is the
biggest text book I've seen in my life)
- $300
price tag. That is how much I can afford right now.
Comparison
Chart:
I
tried to include as much detail as I could find, and
that turned out to be a hefty job. I've even borrowed an
Apple iPod 5GB, a Creative Normad JB from friends before
I started this chart. Few more details been added after
I bought the Mambo-X. I've outlined four models of JB
MP3 in the chart. However, other models such as Rio
Riot, Neo JB, and Personal Jukebox were in my prelim
list but got kick out for reasons after my initial scan.
My
first look at Mambo-X JB Recorder
At
the first glance, the new Mambo-X I've got doesn't look
as sexy as I expected. True, it may not be as
slick-looking or compact as Apple's iPod (or who else
can be) but it is compact enough to fit into my palm and
all the buttons are nicely layout to operate by one
hand. The scroller wheel and two function keys make a
more user friend interface than other JB I have seen
before. The only glitch maybe it was not designed for
left handed person.
Connection.
I've
been never a "Read-the-manual-first" type of
user. Right out of the box, my Win2000 PC pick up the
Mambo-X as a removeable HDD without asking for any
driver. It amazed me a lot. At least it was a good
start. The USB 1.1 is a bit slow, it took me almost an
hour and half to transfer all my 1200 songs (est. 4.5GB)
- the problem for all Windows-based jukeboxes has been
that they all connected via USB, which is too slow for
mass data transfer. But, in my opinion, how often a user
transfer his/her entire music library at once? Baring
with a slow USB 1.1 device makes more sense for i1394 or
USB 2.0. Plus, it will burn a bigger hole in my pocket
if I have to buy a i1394/USB2.0 card for upgrade.
Sound
Quality. The
headphones are cheap. I didn't even bother to untie the
wire. I used my old Sony's instead. Soundwise, the
Mambo-X is excellent. It comes with 5 EQ presets and 1
user programmable EQ setting - my favorite part of the
machine. Liked the old home stereo equalizer, I can
adjust each of the 5 bands for my joy. Left and right
channel is also adjustable.
MP3
Recorder. I
discovered the voice recording function comes into
handy. The built-in microphone can record voice in MP3
format for two different qualities: 64kbps or 160kbps.
Recording sound quality is good but sometimes the mic
picks up hard disk noise in the background when the
environment is quiet making it a little bit annoying.
I've tried to record one of my lecture for 2 hours and
email it straight to one of my classmates - kind of
nice. Using the analog line-in for FM recording performs
a very nice result. In other words, with the right
accoutrements, you can easily turn old records, TV
programs and concert recordings into MP3s. I do wish
that there were a way to modify the ID3 TAG during or
after the recording (in this case, you have to do it
with your PC), but still, this is a great function.
Operations.
The
user interface is simple but make perfectly sense for
me. It displays the entire folder structure that created
by me using the computer. Use the scroller wheel to move
the cursor around, press to enter a folder or make
selection. The only thing you have to make sure is that
you need to organize your MP3 library by folder. I've
found it is very useful for me comparing to the Apple's
iPod and Normad JB, because lots of MP3 I have are
ID3-missing. I've tried to upload those music to iPod
and found that it is almost impossible to find them
because they all show up as unknown artist or title.
During playback, press the scroller wheel will bring you
back to the folder structure interface, that allows you
to search another song - I found it is impossible to do
for both iPod and Normad.
Playlist.
There
are two ways to assemble a playlist, by press the
"T-Mark" button during playback or assemble
them during the file navigation. According to the
manual, (after all, I read them because of this review)
there are total of 999 playlists available. Playlist is
named in number, I wish that I can rename the playlist
without using computer.
Battery.
I've
tried to measure the battery life, the only thing I can
say so far is that it last more than 6 hours but shorter
than 9 hours. I've tried to do a continuous play twice,
but I all fall into sleep. I will try to do it again and
post the result here later. It take approximately 3
hours to full charge the included Li-ION battery, and it
can recharge during operation. According to their
website, an optional battery box is avail for $49 - it
will be a good option to have except the price.
JPEG.
This Mambo-X has a Feature Expansion Port located in the
corner of lower right that supposes to connect with a
JPEG box for digital photo display onto TV. I didn't
bother to buy this optional item simply because I don't
own any digital camera at this moment. I like the idea
of using TV instead of having an expansion built-in TFT
LCD liked Archos MMJB. It makes no sense to use that
tiny LCD for picture viewing anyway.
It
is a good JB recorder and match what I have in my mind.
For $270 price tag, the cheapest I can find on web, it
should worth a while :)
MP3
Exchange
If
anyone would like to exchange for MP3 collection, please
email me.
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