e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

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Not sure if this review of Odyssey 300 has been posted. If it has, maybe some did not see it yet.

http://www.edgereview.com/reviews.cfm?Category=audio&ID=59

Reviewed: e.Digital Odyssey 300
By Brian Urbanski - 03/29/03

e.Digital Odyssey 300 - Print Article - Email Article


e-Digital has been either ahead of the competition or offering a better product when it comes to their MP3 players. One of their latest devices, the Odyssey 300 MP3 player features a built-in FM radio, FM recording, digital voice recording, direct MP3 encoding from a CD player without the use of a computer, and up to 12 hours of playback time from one AA Alkaline battery (Duracell® brand Alkaline battery included). The Odyssey 300’s standard 128 MB of built-in flash holds up to 8.5 hours of voice, music, and FM recordings. There is a built-in SmartMedia card expansion slot which effectively allows users to double that amount by adding their own SmartMedia card up to 128 MB.

The Odyssey 300 features effortless navigation using a movable joystick and has an easy-to- read graphic blue backlit LCD. It also includes a carrying case with belt clip, a cable for connecting a CD player to the Line In jack for recording, and a wired remote control for controlling volume, playback, FM tuning, and other functions.

Features:

128 MB Embedded Flash Memory
Digital FM recorder
Digital Voice Recorder
Built-in MP3 encoding - recorder
SmartMedia card expansion slot
12 hours of battery life

Introduction

I’ve been holding off getting an MP3 player for some time now. I’ve been waiting for something palm sized (easily fits in a pocket), plays MP3s, has a radio, an equalizer, expandable memory, and won’t cost me an arm and a leg. After some research I ran across the e.Digital Odyssey 300. Let’s see how it stacks up.

Appearance

Overall, the Odyssey 300 is an attractive device. It is well built and doesn’t have the usual cheap plastic feel some players have. The plastic molding on the shell is actually very unique. The main body of the player is silver colored, while the sides are tinted purple and see-through.

The Odyssey 300 also comes with a few accessories. Included is a black leather carrying case, silver ear bud headphones, a silver wired remote (no LCD on it), and your typical manual, software, and USB cable. The accessories are nice, but nothing over the top. I do like the leather carrying case. The stitching is on the outside, which helps protect the case if you drop it.

Setup

The only way to get MP3s on to the Odyssey 300 is with the included software. The player will not show up as a removable drive, so you cannot drag and drop songs and files to the player through the Windows explorer.

Setting up the device was as easy as installing the CD software, putting a battery in the player and connecting it to your computer. From there, you simply run the Odyssey Manager program and select which files and MP3 songs you want on the player.

Performance

Software
I found the software very user friendly. Browsing your computer is easy to do and there is a little window that tells you how much remaining memory you have available. The only problem with the software is that it takes some time to send files to the player. Compared to sending files directly from my computer to a CompactFlash card with a card reader, using the software with the Odyssey 300 is not incredibly slower, but it is not as fast.

Hardware
The Odyssey 300 is perfectly sized. It’s not very large, nor super tiny. It fits right in the palm of your hand and will easily fit in your pocket with room to spare for other stuff. Additionally, the carrying case does add some bulk to the overall size, but it’s manageable.

Controlling the player is done primarily with the 5-way jog dial. Switching between player functions (MP3 player, FM radio, Voice / Line-In recorder, and Delete mode), is done with the side buttons. The side buttons also control the function specific options like recording, equalizer setting and more. All the buttons work well, but the 5-way thumb dial is a little touchy. To turn on the player and start/stop songs you have to press in on the thumb dial. There is some give to the little knob and you have to press it a couple times for the press to register occasionally.

Functions
The FM Radio worked really well; reception was fine. I liked having this feature because a little variety is nice. You can only listen to the same songs for so long. You can have up to 20 radio presets. Recording voice messages was relatively easy. Sound pickup was very good, I didn’t have a problem with noisy recordings. Using the line-in to record music was OK. I would not recommend it to record your MP3s. But if there is something you have to have digitalized, this function will get the job done. Finally, as an MP3 player, the Odyssey 300 did a good job. The Playlist can be edited and rearranged to suit your needs.

Overall
Sound clarity and volume control were excellent. The only problem was that with the included ear bud headphones, the different equalizer settings didn’t make a big difference. However, with better headphones, the difference was much more noticeable. Battery life was excellent; you can easily expect to get over 10 hours. The LCD is backlight. The screen was bright and easy to read. You can set the backlight to be OFF, 5, 7, or 15 second delay.

Quirks

Nothing stood out while I was reviewing the Odyssey 300. I never received a strange error message. My only real complaint is having to use the software to send and receive files. I like the ability to just drag and drop files onto the device.

Conclusion

I was very impressed with the Odyssey 300. This compact MP3 player does everything and then some. It’s like a having your own portable recording audio studio. While that’s an exaggeration, the Odyssey 300 is very capable and is one of the most feature rich players I’ve run across on the market. I can overlook a few of its misgivings because it has so much to offer, additionally, its MSRP of 229 is not too high. Buyers looking to get a good deal can check out Buy.com and find the player listed for 199.99 and get a rebate that brings down the price to $119. For that price, the Odyssey 300 is a very good buy.

People looking for a little more storage space (the Odyssey 300 can hold a max of 256MB with SmartMedia added), should look at the e.Digital Treo 15 which has 15 gigabytes of storage.

Pros:

Impressive list of features
Easy to setup
Long battery life on 1 AA battery

Cons:

Must use software to send files
No folder support
Uses SmartMedia for expansion
Rating (out of 10): 9

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e.Digital Corporation
13114 Evening Creek Drive South
San Diego, CA 92128
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