Introduction:
SuperTalent is a name that is becoming very well known in the enthusiast community for its high performance DDR and DDR2 RAM. What some may not know is that they also make flash storage and MP3 players.
Product: SuperTalent Mega-Screen 2GB MP3 Player
Author: Sean Kalinich
Reviewed On: April 4th 2007
Category: Mainstream
Product cost: $90.00
Manufacturer: SuperTalent
Spelling and Grammatical Editor: Paul Mercer
Deciding to shift gears for a an evaluation or two, we have had the good fortune to have been sent SuperTalent?s 2GB Mega-Screen MP3 Player. This iPod Nano competitor has looks, but how is it on performance and ease of use. Grab your headphones and listen along? Follow the bouncing ball if you want to sing along kiddies!
{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Accessories}
Packaging and Accessories:
The Mega-Screen comes in a black box that measures roughly 5"x5"x1? the front and back have a picture of the Mega-Screen and the words SuperTalent in embossed silver letters. On two sides of the box you can see a profile view of the player, on the bottom edge you will see the capacity marked with a red sticker. Our model, as mentioned above, is the 2GB version. Inside the outer slipcover is an inner box that opens up like a book. Inside this you will find the Mega-Screen nestled snugly in a small space. Under the Mega-Screen are all of the accessories and software.
The accessories the Mega-Screen ships with are nothing to write home about, but are still what you would expect (not to mention need) to use it.
The packing list reads something like this:
1- Set Ear-Buds
1- USB Cable
1- Recording Cable
1- Manual
1- Software and Drivers CD-ROM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
{mospagebreak title=Construction and Features}
Construction and Features:
Construction:
The SuperTalent Mega-Screen is made of lightweight plastic. The player measures a mere 3-3/8" x 1-5/8" x 3/8" this is roughly the same size as an iPod Nano.
On the front of the Mega-Screen is a 1-1/8 x 1-1/8" 256k color OLED display. This display can show photos and also allows for video music support. Below the display screen are a grouping of buttons, these buttons are plastic and sort of cheap feeling but during testing I had no issues with them.
On the left side of the Mega-Screen you will find a list of all of the formats it supports, a small microphone, a reset button, the USB port and a spot to attach a leash (although no leash is provided with the Mega-Screen). The microphone and reset holes look very similar, with the reset hole being only slightly larger. Although they are both labeled on the back of the player I would recommend double checking before using the reset switch to avoid damaging the microphone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Along the bottom edge of the Mega-Screen is the headphones port. This port can also be used to connect the player directly to the line-in or line-out on a computer or other audio device for direct live recording or playback.
The right side of the Mega-Screen is unadorned, while the top side only has another spot for the annoyingly absent leash. The back side of the Mega-Screen has the labeling for the microphone, the reset button and the headphones port.
The Mega-Screen is powered by a 370mAh rechargeable lithium polymer battery that can be recharged by simply plugging the player into a USB port on a computer that is powered on. SuperTalent claims this battery gives you 8 hours of playing time.
The Mega-Screen feels very light and almost has a toy like quality to it. Compared to other 2GB MP3 players (such as the Sandisk Sansa) it is tiny and very thin.
|
|
|
{mospagebreak title=Features}
Features:
The SuperTalent Mega-Screen is capable of playing both MP3 and WMA files as well as having a built-in FM tuner. Additional audio support includes real-time FM, Voice, and Line-In recording from just about any source with a 1/8? audio out or headphones jack.
SuperTalent also threw in Lyrics, limited Video Music support, a photo album and a host of other niceties. I will walk through the features and settings menu by menu.
Mode: Under mode you will find the different playback and recording modes.
|
|
Music : This mode allows you to scroll through and play any audio files (including recordings) stored on the player.
FM Radio : This Mode accesses the built-in FM tuner. Reception on the FM radio was fairly impressive. I was able to pick up stations that I sometimes have trouble getting on my car stereo.
The Mega-Screen allows you to set up and store up to 10 preset stations.
Voice - This mode opens up the Voice recording mode.
Line In- This mode sets the player up to record from an external audio source.
Photo Album : this allows you to scroll through and display pictures you have stored on player.
Photos must be 128×128 pixels in size.
SuperTalent includes an application to resize the images for storage on the player. This application, called NXPhoto, can be found on the included CD-ROM.
Using another application, called NXvConverter, you can also convert video files to a format supported usable on the player.
The NXvConverter will convert avi, asf, mpg, mpeg, wmv, vob, dat, and asx video files.
Both the NXvConverter and the NXPhoto work without issue in XP x64 as well as Vista.
|
|
|
Sound – Is the next main menu entry. This menu item allows you to select different equalizer presets.
|
|
Play Mode: This menu allows you to set your play sets and playback speed.
|
|
Display Mode : Here you are given options for display preferences such as:
|
|
Play Time, Elapsed or Remaining.
Song Title which allows you to display file name, ID3 information or lyrics if the MP3 or WMA file supports it.
Scroll Speed of the Song Title information, Language and Back Light time.
Time - Here you can set the player clock, sleep time, and the auto off times.
|
|
Setting : This menu gives you your options for the following:
|
|
Recording, here you can set the quality of both voice and line in recording. For line in recording you can also turn on or off an auto sync function. For voice recording you can turn on a VDR function that stops recording when there is no sound and resumes when sound is detected.
Under the FM Radio submenu you can set the sound to stereo or mono as well as the recording quality for direct real-time FM recording.
The Information submenu give you current information about the player (like you could not have figured that out) including ; product version, total memory and available memory.
Under the upgrade menu you can update the firmware of the player. This is accomplished by the following steps:
Step 1: Turn on the MP3 Player and connect it to the PC USB port
Step 2: Create a "FIRM_UP" folder in the root page, then copy the
latest decompressed firmware file under the folder "FIRM_UP"
Step 3: Release the MP3 Player from the PC safely
Step 4: Under the Setting mode screen, select upgrade and confirm.
The MP3 Player will upgrade automatically.
Turn off the MP3 Player.
The Format menu lets you…; well I think you can figure that one out for yourself.
The Mega-Screen has a built-in FM Tuner, as mentioned above, this tuner also allows you to set preset stations that you can scroll through easily. This can be done automatically or manually.
{mospagebreak title=Ease of Use}
Ease of Use:
The Mega-Screen is only partially intuitive, to access and use many other advanced features you will need to read the manual, perhaps more than once.
This is not necessarily a bad thing, it is just that there are many functions and features that are only available in certain modes and a limited number of buttons on the player. For example, there is a way to change the display during MP3 or WMA playback to show a graphic EQ for each channel. To activate this you need to press and hold the record button during playback. This is not something that you would normally do.
This is not say that you cannot get used to using the Mega-Screen but that there is a learning curve involved.
One of the first things you have to get used to are the three types of button presses that are commonly used. The press once" (pressing the button for approximately 1 second), The "press" (pressing the button for more than 1.5 seconds), and the "press and hold" which is sort of self explanatory.
These are used at different times to turn on or off different functions and features during playback or while in certain menus.
The Mega-Screen does take a while to get used to, it is not something you will be able to pick up and master right out of the box.
Uploading Music and Files : Here we do find something very easy to accomplish. To transfer files to the Mega-Screen simply plug the player into a USB port (it will show as a drive) and move your music, photos and/or videos to the proper folder As you can see from this screen shot, the player works in just about any OS including Vista.
|
|
Charging : to charge the player simply plug it into an available USB port. Once the player is fully charged it has roughly eight hours of play time.
{mospagebreak title=Sound Quality}
Sound Quality:
Sound Quality is a very subjective topic. As I have mentioned before in previous reviews my personal tastes in sound, color, and configuration are going to be different from yours. To help me get the best feel for actual sound quality I chose my favorite subjective testing method.
I give or show the item to a few different people and get their opinion on it.
With the Mega-Screen I added a little twist to it. The people I loaned it to also happen to like very different music types, from country to hip-hop.
This gave me a good range of test subjects and allows me to give you the most complete evaluation of the Mega-Players sound quality. I have listed below a rating from one to five given by each person and the one or two word comment they made on the sound quality.
The Numbers came out as follows:
Sound Qaulity:
3
4
3
4
Comments:
Tinny (too much trebble)
Loud
Good
Nice
So taking the scores of 3+4+3+4=14/4=3.5
That gives the Mega Screen a 3.5 rating for sound quality.
{mospagebreak title=Value}
Value:
Cost:
The Mega-Screen is marketed against the iPod Nano as such it is competitively priced and also has many of the same features as the Nano. The 2GB Mega-Screen can be found for around $90.00 while the 2Gb Nano runs a hefty $185. The Mega-Screen is half the cost of the Nano and is not proprietary like the Nano is. The Mega-Screen work cross platform and in every OS (including x64) that I tested it on. This to me makes the Mega-Screen an exceptional Value.
Warranty:
The Mega-Screen comes with a one-year warranty. RMA, if needed is handled through SuperTalent?s web site at http://www.supertalent.com/support/rma.php.
{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
After listening to and testing the Mega-Screen I can say that SuperTalent has done a great job.
They have entered a market that is over-shadowed by Apple, but have managed to release an MP3 player that stands up to the competition in features and simply kicks them around in price.
The sound quality is very good and even the FM Radio has clean and sharp sound. There is none of the static to be heard on many others. The ability to work properly in just about any OS is another plus in the Mega-Screen?s favor. In all I would say this light little player is a quality investment for those of you looking for an MP3 player to work with your 64 bit machines and if you are looking forward or even currently using Vista (x86 or x64) you can rest easy knowing that the Mega-Screen will still work for you. I know it will be replacing my current MP3 Player.
Pros:
Works in x86 or x64 seamlessly
Good Audio Quality
Low cost
Fully featured
Light Weight
Sturdy
Nice Display
Cons:
Learning functions can be time consuming
Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank Joe James at SuperTalent for supplying the Mega-Screen for this evaluation.