|
Introduction |
| Olympus' m:robe MP3 players had a short run: Fall 2004 to sometime in 2006. They were comparable enough to iPods at the time (in fact this model used the same CPU as the iPod mini), with a similar price tag and functionality. However poor marketing in addition to Olympus deciding to stay mainly within the imaging and digital voice recording markets saw to the end of the m:robe's production. | | | This model, the MR-100, was a pretty standard mp3 player, capable of playing media in MP3 and WMA formats stored on its (physically)-tiny 5GB hard disk. It had a two-tone display and some surprisingly well done touch-sensitive controls. On top of that the interface was clear and understandable. In fact, the only drawback I saw in the product was its horrendous PC software for transferring files. Although I did recently discover that its battery has a total lifespan of about 2 years or less. | | | The battery's mortality may be looming on the horizon, but for the time being there are alternatives to media management and functionality of the device. Namely, that of [http://www.rockbox.org|Rockbox.org], who develops custom firmware for many brands of MP3 players and provides their software free under the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gpl|General Public License]. | | | Overall, I've found this to be quite a charming little device that, in it's day, was a very nice alternative to an iPod. | | | More information on the m:robe series of MP3 players can be found on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympus_m:robe|Wikipedia]. |
|