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Super Talent MEGA Screen 2GB Mp3 Player


Date
: 11/27/06 – 02:02:52 AM

Author
:

Category
: MP3 Players

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer:
Super Talent

A few months ago we had a look at a pair of memory modules that Super Talent had sent. They were very good performers, and we expect Super Talent to be a manufacturer of high quality computer products. Today, we will have a look at the Super Talent MEGA Screen 2GB MP3 Player.

Super Talent may not ring a lot of bells in many people, but they have been around for 20 years in the memory industry. With headquarters located in California, this American company makes a wide range of products including memory modules, USB drives and mp3 players.

Page 2 : Package

The Super Talent MEGA Screen comes shipped in a very nice package.

With a very nice front cover picture, embossed logo, and a tight plastic package around it.

The side of the package boasts the very slim design of the player, along with the music file types supported.

The package also clearly labels the size capacity of the player, with a sticker with a check mark.

The package is clearly very fancy, but before we hack it open, let's have a look at the specifications.

Page 3 : Specifications

Here is what Super Talent has to say about the MEGA Screen:

And, specifications:

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) is a relatively new technology that may in fact replace many of our regular backlit LCD screens. One of the main advantages to an OLED over an LCD is the lack of a backlight, which in turn draws less power from the battery.

Now on to what's actually inside the nice box…

Page 4 : Package Contents

The box flips open to reveal its features, and the actual player itself.

The contents inside of the box include the player, earphones, an audio cable, manual, USB cable, and a CD.

Here we see the white and black model placed side-by-side for comparison. The design is very stylish; gloss-finish body with a 1.5′ screen and matte-finish aluminum buttons. It was basically designed as if it was a piece of art. Once outside of the box, you will notice the weight of the player itself. It is a very light unit, even with the built-in battery.

At first glance, you would see a resemblance to the Ipod Nano in terms of size and layout of the screen.

The Nano is slightly thinner than the MEGA Screen.

The Nano is also slightly longer, and thinner as well. The Ipod series of audio players from Apple have become symbols of social status and dedication to music. Ipods have become so popular that if you see someone on the street with an Ipod, you would immediately think that person is a music lover. To compare these two players, the Ipod Nano is made with an aluminum case, which gives it a stronger, well-built feel while the MEGA Screen is enclosed in a glossy plastic material. This affects the weight, with the Nano weighing in at around 40 grams, and the MEGA Screen at 36 grams. The four grams may sound like very little, but it's still noticeable in hand.

Now that we have covered the contents of the package, let's have a detailed look at the MEGA Screen.

Page 5 : Layout

The button layout of the player is very simple. The centre button is the menu button, and it is surrounded by a circle of 4 other buttons, which controls volume and track selection, similar to an iPod shuffle. The outer buttons include a play/stop, voice recording, lock, and FM radio.

The screen is initially protected by a thin film, which can be easily removed. The square screen is surrounded by a reflective chrome finish which makes the player even more attractive.

On the top of player, there is a hole to tie a trinket or other ornaments that have a string.

The player accepts a standard 6.35mm stereo ear/headphone jacks, which covers a wide variety of headphones and speakers.

The microphone is located at the side of the player, which is accompanied with a reset button right beside it. The mic appears to be very small, so low quality is expected; more to follow on the Field Testing page.

The USB port is safely covered by a piece of rubber, which fits in snugly.

The included earphones are of high build quality compared to other MP3 players. The cord is made of a material that feels stronger and more resistant than generic produced earphones. The cord splits from one cord to two in the middle, to allow a single cord design which is more stylish than the usual pair of earphones that have the two cords melded together.

Now that we've covered the features of the player, let's see how to set this guy up.

Page 6 : Installation

Upon putting in the included CD, there are only 3 files, one for photo converting, video converting, and USB drivers for Windows 98 users.

Installing the included software for photo and video converting is very straight forward and easy.

Using the photo converting software is very easy, just open the preferred file by clicking open, then by panning the selected picture to the frame, and then adding it to a list. Once the list of pictures is done, just click save, and find your MP3 player, and then the pictures will be converted into a format that can be recognized by the MEGA Screen.

A very surprising feature of the MEGA Screen, is its ability to watch videos. The only catch is that the video can only be viewed at 128 x 128, which is considered as very low resolution. The provided software converts various video files into a format and size that the MEGA Screen will be able to play.

A great feature of the MEGA Screen is being simple and easy to plug into different computers because it is plug and play compatible. Right after plugging in the MEGA Screen, the computer will recognize the device as being removable media, which you can drag and drop your music files quickly and easily. In contrast, the iPod series require users to install software, and also convert their audio files to a specific audio file type in order to play on an iPod, which is a hassle.

The interface for playing music is very simple and easy to read. It has volume and battery levels at the top, file name and folder, time elapsed, and settings on the bottom. The MEGA Screen also shows the left and right spectrum of frequencies coming out of each side, which is a very attractive feature to watch as you blare your music on the street!

The MEGA Screen also has the capability to receive FM radio signals. It can scan for radio stations, can hold presets, and record radio.

The microphone on the player is able to capture sound on the go, this would be useful for students in a lecture hall, remembering which parking lot you parked in, or just to keep voice memos.

The MEGA Screen is obviously jammed packed with some exciting features, let's see how it performs in the field!

Page 7 : Field Testing and Ergonomics

Over the course of two weeks on the street, the player has proved to be a very capable audio player! The lightweight of the player is very nice, as you can easily slip it into a purse or pocket without noticing it too much. The buttons are very easy to remember, and it is easy to navigate through songs without taking it out of your pocket. The screen saver for the MEGA Screen is a moving clock, which is useful for those moments where you do not have a watch handy. One little annoyance is that in order to read the time, you have to wait for the player to go into screen saver mode which takes about a minute (can be adjusted to be shorter). The OLED screen is nice and bright, and is able to illuminate a book in the dark from about 15 cm away and still be bright enough to read.

Charging the unit takes about 3 hours to complete, and can last about 8 hours. It has lasted throughout the whole week on a single charge, which is quite impressive for such a small and light audio player.

The lightweight of the player is very nice, as you can easily slip it into a purse or pocket without noticing it too much.

The microphone quality is pretty decent, but the captured audio is very quiet. Under normal conditions, somebody can be heard up to about 2 meters away talking at a loud voice. To get a good volume on the MEGA Screen, you have to hold the player up to your mouth at about 20 centimeters away. The quality of the recorder is crisp and clear, and has very little static and noise, but it is very sensitive to wind and close contact with the microphone hole.

Here is the sound recording test result:

‘Overclockers Online, sound test one, two, three.’

In the recording, the player was held up at about 10 centimeters away from the mouth, yet the file still seemed a bit on the quiet side. Notice when I say ‘Two’, there is a loud noise. This was due to the natural wind produced when pronouncing ‘Two’ and the relatively close distance the player was to my mouth. The clicks at the end of the recording were caused by the player's buttons to stop the player from continuing to record. This shows how sensitive the voice recorder is to close sound sources.

The sound quality that comes out the player are up to par to on-board sound cards. The bass that comes out of the included earphones are above average compared to other earphones. The ‘rumble’ produced by slow frequencies sounds are strong, and come out with distortion even if played at a very loud volume. This is very impressive in stock earphones. The treble is crisp and clear with no static. When quality headphones are plugged in, the music sounds the same as coming out of a stock sound card on the PC. It is evident that the MEGA Screen's audio playback capability does not deter or block out any of the recorded frequencies.

Page 8 : Conclusion

The Super Talent MEGA Screen is a great piece of equipment that can easily satisfy most demanding audiophiles. With the iPod dominating the market, it is good to see other quality products compete with the market leader with interesting features and stylish finish. I would not be surprised if Super Talent becomes one of the best in the audio industry to compete with the top companies that manufacture audio players such as Samsung, and MPIO.

The MEGA Screen truly is a quality product, screaming with sound quality, stylish construction, and ergonomic design. This audio player would be a great addition to anyone's pocket to entertain you on your daily commute, in your home, or anywhere else you feel the desire to listen to music. This is a product that I would recommend to anyone.

Advantages

• Impressive sound quality

• Ability to play videos
• Quality earphones
• Bright screen
• Ergonomic design
• Long battery life
• Plug and play/Drag and drop compatible

Disadvantages

• Voice microphone can be better

• Transfer speed on the slow side

Overclockers Online would like to thank Super Talent for making this review possible.