Philips GoGear Ariaz 8 GB MP3 Player (Silver) Review

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(More customer reviews)I can remember back to my parent's stereo cabinet. It was a lovely piece of furniture a little smaller than a writing desk. The sleek polished wood concealed a turntable with settings and needles that allowed it to play any type of vinyl record. Dial forward half a century: the modern music player fits easily in the curve of a hand.

Although small, the PHILIPS GoGear ARIAZ SONGBIRD is as beautiful as the old music cabinet. Its sleek case of brushed metal has a silky feel. I've only had it a couple of days and because of a torturous installation process I'm just beginning to discover its capacities, however I can testify that the sound is fabulous.

I've played both classical favorites and rock classics on it and the sound was perfectly delivered throughout the dynamic ranges and up and down the tone scale.

The device automatically searched out and compiled a list of all the FM stations in my area. Even on stations with a notoriously weak signal in my house or car, the Philips GoGear Aria 8 sounds crisp and clear.

The controls are few but intuitive. Playing around enabled me to discover menus for music, video and pictures, radio, text and voice recording. This is an exciting amount of function packed into a compact package. The 8GB memory dwarfs that of the computer to which it docks. I wish more documentation had been included with the device, especially for the settings menu, but I look forward to playing with it and enjoying all the features it offers.

The installation process as outlined in the "Quick start guide" looked easy. Expecting a normal "plug and play" process I plugged in the device and began clicking on the panels as my computer presented them.

USERS OF XP BEWARE: if you are installing to a computer using XP, it's easier to install it wrong. Everything seems to install perfectly. One can even rip CDs and create a music library. However the computer regards the mp3 player as a flash drive and won't transfer any of the music to the device. If you have done this, you have to uninstall everything. Then go to the Philips website as listed in your guide and find the correct page for your model number.

Click on the link for setup and installation. Download everything without changing a single default and reinstall the device. I was delighted when all the music I had previously transferred to my library was still there. I clicked on the Automatic Sync Option and boom! Everything began to transfer to the player. The screen shows a graphic while this is happening.

I also tried to install the device to a laptop using Vista. I've had a tortured experience with that operating system and quickly abandoned the try as I'm ditching that machine in favor of one that runs Windows 7. The manufacturer of the GoGear assures that it will run with Windows 7.

Another tip I want to share with new owners is that it took nearly two days of being attached to a computer for my device to be fully charged. You might want to invest in one of the optional chargers that the website advises can be used instead.

After 6 days of ownership:The longer I have the GoGear the more I love it. The earbuds warm up and feel weightless. One lives and moves in a cloud of glorious sound. Ambient noises are not completely excluded but the danger is that the mind gets totally taken by the music. The body of the device is so unobtrusive it can ride in a breast pocket (or, ahem, the feminine equivalent) and be completely unnoticed. I have no problems adding or deleting music to my music library although I am still learning how to add content to my little pet.

One useful tip: Before you connect the device to the computer to add content, check the "PC connection preference" setting. Instead of making it easy, the designer makes you chose between "MSC" and "MTP" modes. If MSC is chosen, your computer will treat the player like a flash drive and not transfer stuff to it. You have to pick "MTP" to get new content on the player. Choosing stupid terminology like this rather than "Send" and "Load" is my main quarrel with the designers. Currently the device comes with a coupon for a free audio book from audible.com (until Dec. 31, 2010). After much trial and mostly error, I finally got the book downloaded to the player--the player tends to reset itself to send data to the computer rather than to accept it and that turned out to be the last hurdle to overcome in order to get my free audio book.

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Product Description:
The GoGear Ariaz offers an exceptional entertainment experience. With FullSoundTM, sound isolation earphones, Philips Songbird, a 2.4-Inch screen, 50 hours of music and 5 hours of video playback, your multimedia experience is set to soar.