RCA Lyra RD2765 5 GB Digital Jukebox with Color LCD Screen Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This player is very attractive to look at and the controls are better than some other players. The battery life doesn't come anywhere close to what is advertised. I have found some flaws which I'll discuss below.

1. The player requires Windows Media Player 10 in order to be recognized by Windows. If you get a message that the unit is malfunctioning, just hold down the center button continuously while plugging it in the USB port and it will reboot.

2. I am using WMA files at 64kbps. I know that these files are fine because they work perfectly in other devices. In this Lyra there is a tendency to skip a few times each song. No lockup, just skipping. After backing up the default folders and clearing the songs I did a format as this usually fixes the problem. After reloading the songs I found the problem still there. Not good.

3. The unit gets VERY hot if you are downloading for a long time. I wonder if this has contributed to the meager battery life. I am fortunate to get 3 hours between charges.

4. Do NOT let the player profile songs by itself after a hotsync. You will wind up with album titles but the song selection will say "track 1", "track 2" etc. The right way to profile after downloading is by doing it on the computer. In the taskbar there is a LYRA icon. Right click and select profile songs. Everything comes out perfectly and it takes seconds instead of minutes the other way.

5. If you are in the middle of an album and have to turn the player off don't expect to be returned to where you left off. Every time you turn it off you go back to square one and have to start all over again. I think that this is the most annoying trait of the Lyra. Very, very annoying.

6. The included case is well above average but the power button couldn't be in a worse place. You have to hit it when taking the player out of the case and it sometimes engages while in your pocket. Also, when you activate the hold function to lock all the buttons, it doesn't really lock the power button. Here's why. You get a message to unlock the player on the color screen. And it stays on until you unlock. I took the player out with a full charge and on hold. It was in my shirt pocket. I unwittingly must have pressed against the power button. It is so easy to do. Well, a few hours later I went to use the thing and noticed the unlock message. It must have been on for some time because after unlocking it the thing died. Dead battery. I recharged the battery and then duplicated the situation. Sure enough the message stayed on; the screen stayed lit and the battery died after only an hour. This is unacceptable. Overall, I would have liked to give this Lyra 2765 a higher score. It is the right size and the controls are very user friendly. However, it seems that on the whole this player was not well thought out. There are other players out there for the same money that do a much better job. It made me wonder when I first opened the quick start guide that the first thing you read is a notice that if you are having trouble with WMP 10 go to a certain website for a fix. Apparently RCA doesn't have much confidence in their product either. I hope this review helps anyone thinking about buying the Lyra 2765.

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Product Description:
RCA LYRAJukebox 5GB Hard Disc Drive - Color LCD Screen with Icons, JPEG / Cover Art Viewer and LYRA DJ - automatic smart playlist!