The Frontier Labs NEX IIe MP3 player has a 32 bit processor, which contribues to excellent sound quality. However the headphones that come with it are Ok, so I immidiately replaced them with Etimotic ER-6, which made it sound teffiric.

Everyone says that battery cover is easy to break - it is indeed poorly designed and I wish they changed it. Given the player's excellent battery life (the manual claims 20 hrs), replacing batteries is an infrequent business, I'll just have to be careful.

Uploading files is straightforward - the player is recognized as a standard USB removalble drive under Windows and Linux, no additional software installation required. Yes, you can put non-music files on it too.

The display is rather small, I wish it were larger. Mine has a reversed LCD (white on black background), which is Ok, but I would prefer normal black on white.

Overall, very good player and a great value for the money (I got mine for US$90 without memory).

I bought this Frontier Labs NEX IIe mp3player based on reviews i had read. it is a well priced item and i really liked that i could select the compact flash card that would best suit my needs. i have read some complaints about the odd headphonce (they clip right on to your ears) but i personally think they sound great, don't mess up my hair and are very secure - even when running or exercising.

i love this mp3 player. i had a riovolt that skipped like crazy and drove me nuts. this is such a great unit....lovelovelove it!!

The Frontier Labs NEX IIe gives you good all round sound, quality and the earphones were much better than I expected giving well rounded bass and high tones. However, the earphones are the seperate clip over each ear type, and while there is a comfy foam earpad I personally do not get on with this type of earphone. It's surprising that allthough you have your ears all you life (Hopefully) it is like you have never had them before when it comes to trying to get the hook placed comfortably behind the ear. Doubly so if, like me, you wear glasses!

The unit comes with interghangable facias and I found that I could actually create my own custom ones as these are just thin printed card which sitys under a clear flip up facia. By scanning in one of the supplied ones you could create your own!

The unit is very light and also comes with a carrycase that has not only a belt clip but a belt loop also. I found this an excellent addition as all too often a plain clip will work its way off a belt if you sit down and also leaves your pride and joy prone to being lifted by nimble fingers!

The unit has a very nice one-control-does-all. I had better explain. There is a thumb wheel on the top corner that will select options when you press it in and then step through the options by moving the wheel up or down. Think of it as a mouse wheel and button combo. This takes a little getting used to but saves a lot of fumbling around trying to find various controls when it is clipped on your belt.

The battery life is also very impressive giving 15hours play from two AA batteries.

A very big purchasing point for me was the open ended design! The bios is apparently upgradable to enable it handle new music formats as they inevitably arrive. As standard it supports WMA and MP3 with upgrades available for download as they arrive from the manufactures website. The memory slot is Compact Flash Type II and theoretically has no upper limit! It will take an IBM microdrive should you wish but of course the power comsumption goes up.

I have just ordered a 512Mb CF card for the unit as I only have a 64Mb card at present. The unit will support a 3Gb CF card if you happen to be loaded and can afford one..... Wish I could.

While not the most expensive unit I did considerable research before I bought this unit and read several reviews.

Oh, the unit also has a 32bit processor.

There's always a period of apprehension when trying out something new. This was no exception but it all melted away as I became familiar with the versatility of my new Frontier Labs NEX II digital audio player. Clearly, this MP3 (and WMA) player is designed with comfort, "knockaroundability", and flexibility and, dare I say, unlimited expandability in mind.

I'm not a fan of long reviews so here's a hint. Read the first sentence of each paragraph. If this is what you're looking for, read the entire paragraph.

Let's get the "constructive criticism" out of the way. The functions of the buttons, except for the volume control, are brute force memory. There are no real descriptions. The fact is, with the versatility that this player offers and a compact size comes buttons with multi functions. Normally, you'll be using the same 3 or 4 functions over and over as second nature. That's it. The headphones are a bit cumbersome to put on.

Now for the good stuff. Let's start with hardware.

The unit is light (4 oz. w/ batteries. I weighed it) and small enough (3.6"x2.7"x.8", I converted it from metric) to go into your pocket. However, it comes standard with a very nice belt clip case. By the way, there are 6 different colored inserts or "skins" to match whatever mode your in.

The headphones designed to be put on and forgotten. These aren't headphones in the typical sense. Each speaker "clips" around the ear for a surprising comfortable, stylish and secure fit. No metal strap along the back of your neck, and ladies, no headband moshing down your hair.

The display is where it shines. This is a pretty darn high-resolution backlit graphic display. When you hit the start button you get a second or two of Frontier Labs logo and stuff then straight into the play list. Hit the button again and your playing music. In normal play mode the display gives you a host information too numerous to list here. Trust me, very impressive.

The buttons as intuitive as I would of liked but the main functions are easily accessible. The start button (already mentioned) also acts as a spring-to-center thumbwheel to scroll through the play list or menu. This, along with the up and down volume buttons, is on one side. On the other side of the player are the stop and menu buttons. The menu is where, among other things, you'll find the following:
Play mode (Repeat one / Repeat all / Random)
Sound mode (equalizer, yes, 5 band equalizer) with 5 presets and the ability to custom set.
Backlight setting (Normal/Always on/Always off)
Display (Icons a already mentioned or spectrum bar graphics)

The unit comes with the bare essential 32 MB flash memory but expandable up to 1 gig. FYI: most MP3 songs are between 3 and 6 MB. Here's the thing. The memory is complements of a solid-state "compactflash" memory cards. 32MB is rather small. These things go up to a gig but you got to buy them. Right now 128MB is about $35-$40 retail and quite a bit cheaper on Ebay. Even with this extra cost you're ahead of the game. And because they're flash they're all but immune to physical shock. A word of caution, these cards take some finesse to slide in their slot properly.

Now for the software.

What software. Loading music is such a breeze. The player comes with software but this is not required and, frankly, I didn't even try it. I simply turned on the player and plugged it into my USB port through the supplied cable. The computer recognized the player as a drive or disk, loaded the drivers itself and off we went. Loading files was as easy as dragging and dropping in windows. Nothing more need to be done. Once plugged in, the player also acts like a big ol' floppy drive. You can erase, copy and load files, any files, through Windows explorer or My Computer just like a 3.25 floppy.

Rumor has it that firmware upgrades will be available on their web site. Right now, the product is relatively new and no upgrades are available.

And finally the quality of music.

I'm not going to pretend I know a 32 bit processor from shinola or 320kbps from a hole in the wall but I do know this. My daughter has a more expensive MP3 player and the higher quality of the NEX IIe is noticeably better. The sound is as crisp and clear as can be.

Don't worry about being leapfrogged by technology. The firmware is updateable, the memory is upgradeable and the music quality is right there.