Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I bought the 8gb version about a year ago based on features only. I was a little skeptical about straying from more established players from Cowon, Apple, iRiver, Creative and others but took the plunge. I've owned two iPods, a Rio Karma, Rio Carbon(s), an iRiver something, Audible Otis, Rio 500 and several others.
The Pilot has them all beat on features and most on performance. You won't find a player that 'does it all' like the Pilot. As a long time Audible subscriber, the Pilot is perfect. Hard and soft bookmarking, timer and plenty of storage. With an sdhc slot, storage can be increased by at least 2X. Better yet, the Pilot integrates the card completely so you don't have to mess around with annoying navigation from one drive to the next.
Sound quality is a solid B to B+. CNET just chose it as one of their top five audiophile mp3 players. They tested the players with an audio analyzer to eliminate personal bias. Music sounds every bit as dynamic as my iPods (a 2nd and 4th gen).
Battery life is a pretty standard ~20 hours. The FM tuner is surprisingly sensitive. I'm actually able to walk around outside without an unreasonable amount of static or drop out. It's an RDS tuner. You can see song and artist info on the screen from compatible radio stations. You can record FM or from an external, line-out source. There's a video output(or secondary headphone jack depending on how you set it up). I haven't tried it but apparently you can load a video in the Pilot and then connect it to a television.
The Pilot is a ums device so you can plug it in, drag and drop, no drivers required. I bounce back and forth between a mac and pc so having a player that is seen by both as a mass storage device is very convenient. Standard mini usb plug too. No proprietary cables. Video playback isn't a priority for me but I tried a couple videos and in spite of a small screen, was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Very smooth and about 30 fps.
It has stereo bluetooth which I don't use but it would be handy if your car stereo has bluetooth connectivity. Mine doesn't unfortunately. Fast forwarding is audible which makes it much easier to find what you're looking for. The Pilot has proven to be virtually scratch proof. I never use a case and always carry it in a pocket. I've had it in a pocket with keys, change and grit. No scratches. Pretty impressive. It supports several different formats but I use mp3, wmv and aa exclusively. It can display jpg's and txt files as well.
It comes with a pretty good video conversion program but I use Handbrake, a free, open source program that is a lot more capable. The only downside to this player is a somewhat less polished feel than class leaders from Cowon, Creative and Apple. Not to overstate it but the controls could be smoother. The jog wheel is a little cheap feeling and the bookmarking button is a three way design that can prevent a smooth bookmark sometimes. I wish they would have used a single button.
Another nice feature with bookmarking is that when you delete a file with bookmarks, the bookmarks are deleted too. Seems like a no-brainer but my Rio would retain the bookmarks even when the file was deleted. On the other hand, the Rio would let me overwrite bookmarks automatically so old bookmarks weren't much of an annoyance. The Pilot doesn't do this so if you run out of bookmarks, you have to manually remove them or the file to make room for more. Fortunately, you can do all this with the Pilot without having to connect it to your computer. The Pilot has proven to be completely reliable with almost daily use. The only glitch is occasionally (twice I think) having to reset it. Both times it locked with Audible files. I'm willing to give the Pilot the benefit of the doubt as I've had issues with Audible files before with other players. Fortunately, resetting this is a snap. Simply pull back the power switch for about ten seconds and you're done. My Rio Carbon needed a small paperclip inserted into a tiny hole. Not convenient if you're outside without a small paperclip handy.
Bottom line, if you want all the bases covered, this is an excellent choice. Probably the best choice in my opinion. This player has to be the most feature rich dap out there. If you only want to listen to music, this may not be for you. If features, Audible, podcasts, audiobooks, video, file management, expandibility, sound quality, intuitive controls and reliability are priorities, the Pilot is a great buy. The 8gb Pilot frequently goes on sale for $99.00 at the Best Buy website so keep an eye out. Great value, outstanding performance.
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Insignia Pilot with Bluetooth NS-4V24 - Digital player / radio - flash 4 GB - WMA, Ogg, MP3, WMAPro, protected WMA (DRM 10) - video playback - display: 2.4Product Description: This Bluetooth-enabled 4GB MP3 video player delivers powerful sound without the wires. Compatible Bluetooth headphones (not included) let you listen to music anywhere you go. It supports MP3, WMA, WMA Lossless, WMA DRM, WMA Pro, OGG, WAV, Audible, MPEG4 (30 fps), WMV (30 fps) and JPEG formats.
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