Olympus M:Robe MR-100

      Olympus makes its debut into the music scene by introducing there M:Robe MP3 players. The larger model MR-500 has a larger HD at 20 GB, a color touch screen and a built in camera. The little brother, MR-100 is quite a bit smaller, has a 5 GB HD and no camera but has a better UI (user interface) and a hell of a lot cooler design. So, in this hands on review I'll look at the MR-100.

         When you first look at this MP3 player, you'll never know that this came from a company that has never made one before. This player has sleekness that will make any other player run and hide out of insecurities. Take a look at the M robe Gallery to see photos.

        Nothing is new about the shape of the player, with the normal rectangular shape, screen on top with the controls on the bottom. But Olympus made it look good! However, there are some design choices that don't seem sensible. The first is that the head phone jack is on the side of the player instead of the top. Not that big of deal, but just seems more sensible to put it on top since most people carry them in there pockets. The second is that there are none of the usual ports on the player, such as a USB port or a jack for an AC power adapter. In this sense, the M Robe is like the Apple Ipod. With just one proprietary port on the bottom of the player for data transfer and power supply. But I think that Olympus went this direction for two reasons. To attain the overall sleekness of the unit and so you don't have to carry around multiple cords. You only need to carry one cord with you to do both, charge it and transfer songs onto it. So, this could be looked at as a plus.

       It has a built in battery supply so you can't pop in a new one when you run out of juice, but the battery life on this player is quite nice. The specs says that you can get about a 14 hour run on one battery, and in my test I ran the unit for about 12.5 hours before it quit on me. So, I'm sure you'll never run out of juice unless your like me and always forget to charge your player.

       The M:Robe 100 has an entirely black surface when it is idling, but when you touch the control area, it shines like the sun. With a bright red LED backlight scheme, it is quite nice to look at.

       The controls are standard when compared with other MP3 players. You have your power and hold buttons which are the only mechanical controls and then you have your UI controls which are touch sensitive. The unit fits nicely into your hands which makes it easy to use your thumb to navigate the menu. The menu is nothing special as well with music sorted by artist, albums, genres, composers, and years. However the M:Robe is lacking in features. With no built in mic, no calender or address book, but it does have a really nice equalizer that comes along with it. Pretty much the only thing that you can do with this player is, well, play music. But lets face it, I could safely say that most people are like me, we will never use those features if they were integrated with it anyways. Kind of like our cell phones. I never use my Calender or address book other than for list phone numbers and that's only because it's a phone. But maybe that's just me.

      The M:Robe comes with its own software named M Trip. It's looks almost like I Tunes. And makes it pretty easy to transfer data to your unit. All you have to do is check the albums, songs or artists that you want to transfer and click on the sync button. Olympus says that you can only use your M Robe on your computer. But in all actuality, you can use it on any computer you like. Olympus only says that to protect themselves from copyright laws.

      Packaged with the M:Robe is the AC power cord, its proprietary port cord, and charging and data transferring dock and the usual manual, software and warranty card. As far as price. If you go to a stpZooore such as Compusa or Microcenter, you'll spend between $250 - $270 with tax. But I found it for about $225 at ZipZoomFly . ZimzoomFly offers FREE, yes FREE, 2nd day shipping. So, shipped to your door your price will be $225.00. Can't beat that.

      Final review. If you are looking for the best looking player out there and you don't necessarily need all the fancy features, then this is the only one that you should look at. If you are into have as many features on one unit as possible then you will want to look elsewhere. I give the Olympus M:Robe a 9.0 out of 10.

Zimer