Transcend T.sonic 840 2 GB Video MP3 Player (White)
From Transcend Information
- Amazon Sales Rank: #10471 in Consumer Electronics
- Brand: Transcend
- Model: TS2GMP840
- Dimensions: 1.38" h x 4.60" w x 5.60" l, .15 pounds
Combining a mirrored surface and metal body, Transcend's T.sonic 840 is a real eye-catcher. This compact 2 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 recorder, real-time world clock displaying local and world times, and more.
 The Transcend T.sonic 840 is the perfect marriage of elegance and functionality. |
 The player features a bright and colorful 1.8-inch TFT screen. |
 Smooth metal backplate. |
 3-way easy navigation wheel. |
Enjoy Your Music Anywhere, Anytime
The T.sonic 840 provides 30 hours of nonstop music playback, and it supports MP3, WMA, and WAV formats, including WMA-DRM10 subscription music files.
It also boasts a few features you don't find in many players--like the A-B repeat function (which allows you to continuously replay a designated section of a track), variable track playback speeds, and a sleep mode (which will power off the 840 after 15, 30, or 60 minutes). And naturally, you can dial in the EQ--the 840 features seven equalizer settings, including one customizable user setting.
Take Your Entire Photo Library with You
T.sonic 840's high-resolution screen and slideshow screensaver is perfect for viewing your favorite pictures. Pull up JPG and BMP format images for sharing anytime.
A Movie Theater in Your Pocket
Transfer full-length movies and video clips to the T.sonic 840 for convenient, portable viewing. Just use the included Transcend Media Converter software to convert to the ".mtv" format, and you're good to go.
Listen to Your Favorite Radio Stations
T.sonic 840 is equipped with a crystal-clear recordable FM radio with 20 station presets. Pull up your favorite stations in a snap, and if you want to save it for later, just hit record--the 840 features FM recording.
Read Novels Without Turning a Single Page
Leave your books at home, and use the T.sonic 840 to read all of your favorite e-books or other text documents while on the go. The text feature also lets you display lyrics for karaoke-style fun.
Create Memorable Voice Recordings
Class lectures, important meetings, or personal memos can be recorded at the touch of a button with T.sonic 840's digital voice recorder enhanced with voice-activity detection (VAD) technology for high-quality gapless recordings.
Take Your Files with You
The Hi-Speed Mini USB 2.0 port ensures easy computer connectivity and fast file transfers. An added plus is the ability to use the 840 as a USB flash drive for carrying/transferring files.
What's in the Box
Transcend T Sonic 840 2 GB Video MP3 Player (White), earphones, neck strap, USB cable, software CD, quick start guide, warranty card
Limited features but adequate for a pre-teen
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 :).
An excellent alternative to the ipod
I bought this item because I did not want to spend $150 on a new ipod. The sound quality is great, the folder organization is easy. I can convert my protected aac files in itunes to mp3, and dump them onto this player very easily. The feature I am really starting to love is the loop function. You can loop a section of any song. I am a musician, and I am using this feature constantly while transcribing. It's awesome.
The only (minor) downside is the awkward placement of the volume control on the opposite side from the track select control. Sometimes I inadvertently change tracks when I go to adjust volume.
This was a great purchase at a great price.
Easy to use, great product!
I really like my Transend T.sonic MP3 player. Initially, I just bought it as a cheap upgrade for my old 1GB mp3 player. I soon realized that it was definitely worth the money I paid for it.
First of all, it's a relatively small mp3 player and it's user interface is very easy to use. Although I was not used to my mp3 players having their navigation buttons on the side, it does not inhibit song browsing.
Song transfer is very easy, as it's database is much like your own personal computer folders. When you want to add a new album, you simply create a new folder in the "Music" folder and BAM! New album :) This also gives you the opportunity to create your own personal playlists, as you can move the actual music files from folder to folder with ease.
The only downfall to this mp3 player is that it does not have the option to delete a song that you are listening to, or one that is sitting on the player. The only way I have found to edit my song database is directly through my computer, which can sometimes be a nuisance.
But overall, this is a very good mp3 player and I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
