Dell kicks off portable music jaunt with its own iPod killer.
By James Kim
After getting a whiff of the iPod's success and seeing competitors such as Gateway start making digital-music devices, Dell has launched an MP3 player of its own.
The Dell Digital Jukebox, or Dell DJ, comes in either 15GB ($250) or 20GB ($300 after rebate) and plays WMA, MP3, and WAV files. Nice interface, smooth, curvy, and durable design, sweetly glowing blue lights, and a good price will make the Dell DJ a popular choice when it hits stores this Tuesday.
A customized version of Musicmatch 8.1 comes bundled with the hard-drive player. (The Dell DJ also works with Windows Media Player 9 and RealOne Player.) Dubbed "Dell Jukebox software powered by Musicmatch," the PC-only software gives DJ users access to hundreds of thousands of songs at Musicmatch Downloads. Although it's noteworthy, the Dell-Musicmatch partnership isn't as earth-shattering as a rumored Dell music download site.
Clearly a contender
After testing the DJ for over a month, I have to give it props. Here's what I love so far.
Large 2-inch LCD Champ-like 15 hours of battery life -- the longest we've seen (Dell rates battery life at 16 hours) Comfortable scroll barrel Solid construction designed by Dell and manufactured by Creative
The DJ is one of the smaller players available, but it's thicker and heavier than the waifish iPod, measuring 3.9 inches by 2.6 inches by 0.9 inches and weighing 7.6 ounces. The Dell DJ employs Hitachi's 1.8-inch Travelstar hard drive.
Built like a tank, this USB 2.0 player boasts a classic, user-friendly interface due in large part to a comfortable scroll barrel/button. The Dell DJ is also hands-down the best player to look at in a dark room. The back-lit LCD emanates a delicious blue hue while the buttons give off an intense blue glow.
Looking past glitz and shine
I like the simple graphical user interface, even if it nearly mirrors the iPod's. Top-level selections such as Music Library, Now Playing, and Settings are standard.
The Dell DJ adds a useful voice recorder to the mix thanks to a tiny microphone sitting at the top-left of the device. You need third-party hardware to use an iPod as a voice recorder.
You'll also enjoy eight EQ presets, a custom setting, and a reasonable 94-decibel signal-to-noise ratio (higher is better).
Selecting and playing songs wasn't as intuitive as I would have liked. In order to play your entire music library -- something most people do -- you need to create a playlist of all your songs on your PC. Otherwise you'll have to select songs or albums individually.
I also find it burdensome to have to click the scroller twice to play a song. On the flip side, double-clicking gives you more track options. All this reminds me of the Creative Nomad software, which I feel needs updating.
Summary: Although I still rank iPod No. 1, the Dell DJ, along with the hot Rio Karma, certainly belongs in the top echelon of portable hard-drive MP3 players. The DJ's greatness starts with the quality of its build. The friendly $300 price for the 20GB version is $100 less than an iPod with the same capacity. (The 20GB DJ costs $300 after mail-in rebate. Dell is unsure how long the $30 rebate will last.) Take a couple points off for the play-all-tracks conundrum and average sound quality, tack on points for amazing battery life (plus 3.5-hour charge) and neat wired remote control, and you've got a solid, four-star product.
Pros: Sleek, durable, and attractive design; good value; excellent battery life
Con: Cannot quickly select and play all songs
Company: Dell Price: $249 for 15GB; $299 for 20GB (after $30 mail-in rebate) Available: Oct. 28, 2004 Ships with: Dell DJ; ear buds and wired remote control; USB cable; power adapter; carrying case (20GB only); Musicmatch 8.1 software
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