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27 reviews
All touch, but too slow to think
I bought the m:Robe about a month or so ago and was awed at the touch based feature Olympus offered as a MP3 player/Camera. For the camera function it had a 1.3 MP and the m:Robe itself had a built in 20GB Hard drive. The pictures taken were impressive, however there were no built in flash or zoom feature.
The MP3 portion of the m:Robe was also awing. Like the iPod and iTunes, m:Robe used a software called m:Trip. The software allows the users to upload/download pictures/music onto the m:Robe or computer. Anyways, the m:Robe would automatically organize the songs alphabetically, genre, composer, year, favorites, and so on. The only downside to this is that the m:Robe takes along time to move on to the next song.Read full review...
M ROBE
The olympus mrobe is by far the best MP3 player i have ever owned. At the age of 15 i was reluctant to pay out the large sum of money the mrobe cost but i am glade i made the big choice. the mrobe has a huge 20 GB hard drive wich is plenty big anought for most teenagers. the touch screen is a magical feature that the ipod will probably never offer, the camera is a neat little 1.3 mega pixel camera and is handy to have in your pocket for a funny moment. The size of the mrobe is a down side it is quiet large ang heavy but i put up with it. The M TRIP software that the olympus people put with the mrobe is hard to use and over cpmplicated.
Overall i love my MROBE and i highly recomend it to music lovers.Read full review...
CAUTION! Handle with Care "MR-500i" Fragile !!
By no means this is an MP3 player that can be handled by a teenager, nor a careless user. This unit is extremely fragile. It cannot withstand any shock abuse plus the tactile lcd is sensitive which means any hard object on top if it will definitely damage the screen capabilities.
The design of the MROBE is definitely very attractive, and with the touch lcd it seemed a very trendy, competitive player. However, it is not intended to compete with the IPOD. Having both of them allowed me to realize the IPOD, with its clickwheel, is by far less complicated to operate than the MROBE (even with the remote control). I travel a lot by car and like to hear many hours of music, with the IPOD I can change songs, fast forward without looking at the screen nor at the control for that matter. Try doing that with the MROBE. Therefore, if you hear a lot of music on your car while driving, this is not the mp3 player you are looking for. If you travel frequently by airplane or other means, this could be a nice player.
The camera mode offers some versatility when the time for that snapshot occurs. It is conveniently installed on the player so that pictures can be taken "easily". The "flash" is nothing more that a white light that, in order to use it, it must be activated/deactivated within the menu only. On the other hand, when I showed my MROBE to my friend and told him about the camera, he acted skeptical about it, that was until I took a picture. He was impressed with the quality of the image, knowing that it is a 1.2MP camera only. The pictures taken are far more superior than that of the cellphone cameras. It offers two types of camera resolution which, with the adequate ambient light, can take very good images!
Now, the scary part of this story, is that I had to buy 3 MROBE in order to have it working at least. I spent a total of 325 including shippings on all 3 of them. Basically, they displayed a fatal error (something like xxxx4f1) that could not be fixed at all ( do a google search for hard drive errors on the 500i), but only by the OLYMPUS team. This was very disappointing at first, but then I found a website that mentioned every type of problems with the 500i and the 100 model. I encourage you to search for the UNOFFICIAL MROBE FAN SITE website and browse through the topics of Hardware and Software, you will be amazed at how many issues/bugs this player has (some can be easily fixed with a hard reset). ** Why do you think OLYMPUS stop making them and stop any kind of upgrades?? ** FOR YOUR REFLECTION___________+_+
My thoughts for the 500i ? Disappointing, but I still like it ! Why? Its design is very slick and the touch lcd is a plus!! (in some case, i.e, not while driving). Like I said, the unit is very susceptible to impacts, it is not as robust as other players in the market. In life some things are meant to be together, if you are one of these person then the MROE will be for you. I recommend trying one from a friend or something before you start spending money.
Thanks very much for your time
See you next timeRead full review...
Olympus m:robe. Nice but can be better.
This is a nice combination music player/picture viewer/camera. However the camera is quite poor and does not take great pictures. It will not replace your Mega pixel camera since its quality is like some of the newer cell phone cameras.
Most people will use this device just for the music player and the picture viewer. It does both things adequately well. The picture viewer is quite good and you can create slide shows but the music player can be better implemented. It is not as elegant as the Ipod's user interface.
Speaking of the user interface, it is navigated through the touch screen. This is a nice idea but you will find yourself cleaning the screen frequently as it takes your finger prints quite easily. The screen itself is very bright and vivid and shows pictures very well.
The m:robe ships with Olympus’ m:trip software for PC. This is the only way to get music and pictures to the device. The software is not as well-designed as itunes but works well enough and is not too difficult to figure out. I wish it is possible to just transfer your music and pictures by dragging them from your PC to the m:robe but you must use the cumbersome software.
The m:robe is automatically detected by windows XP as an external hard drive and functions well as one. With 20GB of storage space it makes a nice external hard drive.
The device is portable but a little chunky in my opinion. It will fit in your pants pocket but not too comfortably. It is not as slim nor as light as the latest or recent versions of the ipod. In fact, it feels more like the first generation ipod.
The package includes a dock, ac adapter, a wired remote controller, usb cable, and a soft carrying case.
All in all, this is a nice portable music player/photo viewer. The camera is gimmicky and is just a tacked on feature. In fact, I would trade the camera feature for video player functionality and an external speaker. But for its low price, I bought mine for about $160 on ebay, it makes a nice candidate as a mp3/photo viewer.Read full review...
Nice Product
Its a shame when someone gets a defective product and acts like they are all like that! This is a great Player, It looks really nice, is still a small size compared to the size of screen, and is mostly easy to use. I would recommend reading the instructions to have the most hastle free time with this, and its software. The battery life is pretty good, but it can always be longer, and if you dont have the remote on lock, then it is easy to change tracks by mistake due to the touch screen. Easy fix though, just put it on info when playing tracks and you wont have a problem. Also with anything that looks so nice, you want always keep it clean, and can be done a lot seeming your always touching it. I would recommend a screen protector. The camera works pretty good in the daytime, but not at night. All in all it is pretty nice and I have been very happy with mine! A Lot of options for the price too!Read full review...
Meets my needs
I have 2 other MP3 players with flash drives if I need to be mobile with one, but I doubt that. My #1 quality concern is the sound, and 500i has it, in spades. The included earphones are good, but I have a pair of Bose in-ear buds, the latest model with the black and white cord, don't get the other one, the earpieces fall off and get lost. The sound is amazing, as good or better than anything I've tried over the years, including ipod. I got an extra cradle and adapter set from the Olympus online store, cheap, and I have one by my PC, to listen late at night without disturbing anybody, and to download music or my photos, and the other by my favourite chair for relaxing. I got mine second hand, and the battery only lasts 3 - 4 hours now, so I leave it in the cradle most of the time. Batteries can be had on Ebay for about $20.00. I have between 4100 and 4200 songs on it, and find the best way to organise with the least hassle is put them under Genre, and I keep it simple. You can search under; Favorites,Playlists, Artists, Albums, Genres Composers, Year, Recently Listened, Tracks with Photos, Tracks with Lyrics,(You can store Lyrics for each song), Top 100, Unplayed Tracks, All. If that's not enough, you'll have to look elsewhere. You have to remember that it has a hard drive and can't be banged around, and I got 2 custom screen protectors for $8.00 on Ebay, although the only reason I did is because I don't want to scratch it. M:Trip is a piece of cake to use after a few shots, and I like it better than any other, including Windows MP. Make sure yours has the latest firmware, because it corrects quite a few minor issues. Manuals for just about everything are available in PDF format on the web, so if your's comes without one, check it out. Photos show very sharp and bright, and you have to try the Remix feature, it's a gas. I entered 5 close-up shots of ants carrying huge items, like 1 foot long dried grass, etc., that I rook in the back yard, and converted to infrared black and white on the PC, then I added Johnny Paycheck singing "Take This Job and Shove it." The photos move in various ways, zoom in and out, all to the beat of the music. The 500i is about 3 years old now, so it's not going to win any contests, but it suits my needs, and as I said; the sound is awesome, and adjustable with the equalizer.
Cheers,
Dennip1945Read full review...
OLYMPUS MR500i
Olympus MR500i is excellent mp3 player and photoreviewer. The player has touch screen, so it is easy to use, but you have to be careful, because it's easy to crack. Software is nice to use and i would say player itself a little bit slow. It has a 1.2 megapixel camera, it's like cell phone. So you can listen to music and see your photos. I would recommend it if you like touch screen.Read full review...
It's pretty good, for the price used
Well, for how cheap these things are, they aren't too bad. Sure they are slow as hell, and the battery life isn't too hot, you got a great picture viewer. That's what I got it for mainly... that and a 20 gb external hard drive. The transfer speed isn't very good either, not sure why. I'm still giving it a good rating, because I've bought two of them for less than $120, so for that price, you get what you pay for. The sound quality is pretty darn good (if not great!!!) and I love the tiny remote on the cord. That makes it real nice when you are exercising or whatnot.Read full review...
Nice MP3 Player with a very friendly interface!
Overall this is a very nice MP3 player with a hefty 20gb storage, 1.3mp camera with flash, and a picture viewer. The storage capacity is more than enough for the average user. Also, the camera is pretty decent (Don't go selling your primary camera though).
The one part that is absolutly beautiful is the screen. The colors are amazing and the resolution is great. It is very reflective though.
My only problems with it are the fact that the entire case is a high gloss, so it is impossible to keep fingerprints and other dirt off of it. It is also kind of slow changing songs, that is because it is a harddrive based mp3 player and not a flash drive.Read full review...
pretty kool gadget
PROS: i bought it as a gift and its been in use since then.the mp3 player is great and the mixing of the pics and music together is a kool idea.kinda like watching a slide with your choice of music.the whole kool thing about it is that everything is touch screen.the screen is the biggest ive seen on digi cams
CONS: the picture taking gets alittle testey. you can only take a picture of something still.you cant focus or zoom.if you cant keep your hands from shaking,then i wouldnt suggest this item.
OVERAL:first of its kind so dont expect perfection.bt a good idea for someone into taking still objects......Read full review...