Olympus m:robe MR-500i

I bought my M:robe and the problems started right away, I couldn't sync it, the program sometimes didn't recognize it, the syncing stopped and I had to restart it.

After 2 months trying to use it, the HD broke and it turned into a brick.

I bought a new HD and the syncing problems didn't stop!

I gave up on it, now I use it as a HUGE pendrive (not talking about its capacity).

I previously owned a Rio 32mb player. The 20GB capacity and low price appealed to me (about 200 U.S. dollars).

I abhor Macintosh and wanted something similar to the 20GB iPod. M:Robe was similar, plus it had a camera!

The high resolution photos are astounding, if you can hold it steady or rest it against something.

Although sound quality is excellent, it has a lower MAX volume than iPod. For some, this isn't a problem, but I prefer to listen loud.

The included headphones are high quality and last 1 year and going strong. The remote control is useful and conserves battery life.

Accessories are very difficult to find and are made exclusively by olympus, it seems.

The display is bright and crisp when playing a picture slide show

This player can only be managed by one computer using only m:trip software (included)

Despite its flaws, the MR-500i is a great bargain for those who don't want an iPod. They can be purchased cheap on sites like eBay. And you'll be the only one who can take good digital photos

Besides, Olympus is famous for digital cameras, not music players. I applaud their ground-breaking attempt.

Even the Olympus Support desk say this Olympus m:robe MR-500i will only get 5 hours max when used with screen switched off. The firmware (1.03) still has bugs (check your clock at 12PM). Did I mention the poor battery life. The sync software forces you to keep all your MP3's on both your PC and your M:Robe. If you need to clear some space on your PC, those tracks will be wiped from your M:Robe. Plus I should mention the poor battery life. Plus you can't charge it from your notebook or car, you have to wait till you get home and plug it into the docking station. Oh yeah, and using the screen as the shutter button for the camera means you'll be hard pressed not to shake the camera when your taking a picture.