Insignia 4GB MP3 Player with Bluetooth

I am an MP3 Cave Woman.

Seriously, I’m not a technophobe at all. In my youth, people I worked with even went so far as to call me a “circuit head”, because I liked techie stuff in the work place and was always attached to various gadgets and whizbangs.

But then broadband came along and I didn’t get on board that train until recently. And with the advent of broadband capability, came digital music. And I didn’t even LOOK at that train. I don’t really know why. It just seemed like one more thing in an already congested life.

So when offered the chance to review this MP3 player I looked at it as an opportunity to learn, but also to check this product out without the “OH MY GOD IF IT ISN’T AN iPOD, THEN IT IS THE WORK OF THE DEVIL” belief that I find most iPod devotees to hold.

When introducing new technology to those living in a cave, it’s important that your stuff be simple. Insignia has that going on, in spades. It’s EASY to get set up.It’s easy to figure out to turn on and off….and sometimes my new camera STILL confuses me so don’t scoff too hard. So I charged it up (also easy, just plug into your USB port - even I know where that is), and then - VOILA, ya noob! - it’s preloaded with five songs.

Which was good for me - because messing with the preloaded songs helped me learn how to navigate the thing. So for a few days, I’ve just messed around with it, listening to the songs that came on it. It has earbuds which I find to be neither good nor bad, they work just fine. The first thing some of my iPod devotees asked me is “WHAT IS THE SOUND QUALITY LIKE?”

Well, I think it’s pretty good. It’s clear. I’m not listening to anything symphonic so I can’t verify the quality of the 4th flute but actually, it’s a rather smooth sound. I kind of equate it to the difference between listening to the radio on the clock radio in your room (which I did for years), and the day you set up your first real stereo and listened to the same music.

The product is marketed by Best Buy and comes with a load of software to download music from Rhapsody. It’s easy to use; I installed and mucked about with it with no real problem but I didn’t buy any music from it, because honestly, their selection was pretty limited. Every song I wanted wasn’t available. Admittedly, I was putting the product to the test and I don’t think it’s fair to give it a total thumbs down because they didn’t have Baby Got Back by Sir Mix a Lot, but it was a test. And I WANTED Baby Got Back. Or maybe they had it, I couldn’t find it and again, BOO to Rhapsody for that. They also didn’t have a few other things I pulled from my brain just to say “I wonder if they have this.” They do, however, seem to have a really good selection of new stuff, though. So, it’s a sideways thumb on the music service selection.

The 4 GB size and the price make it really attractive to me as a new user. It’s at least $100 less, if not more, than the competition’s same size MP3 player. Seriously, what do I GET for that extra hundred bucks? It had better be really good. Also this one is Bluetooth compatible. It plays video which are clear. In short, it’s quite functional and for the average user, of good quality. In short, it might not be the Jaguar of MP3 players but it’s a really nice sedan.

I’m sold.

When I received my Insignia 4GB MP3 Player with Bluetooth, my husband was the one that thought the Bluetooth part was really cool. All I really know about it is that people wear those weird attachments on their ears like Borgs and walk around appearing to talk to themselves. So while I don’t exactly get the Bluetooth part, I’ve deduced that it’s apparently a cool wireless technology and this MP3 player is one of the first to be Bluetooth-compatible.

This player has numerous features including FM radio, video playback capability, subscription music support, and a removable, rechargeable battery. Plus, it includes a a slot for adding more memory and it has an 8 hour battery life for video, which is pretty good, in my opinion.

I’m personally really enjoying the Insignia because I like to download podcasts and listen to them when I’m out walking. Though I sometimes listen to music, I’m much more likely to be listening to “This American Life” or some other public radio offering so sound quality is not really an issue for me. I let my husband check it out because he’s an iPod lover and constant enjoyer of music and he declared the sound to be “pretty good” but not quite iPod quality. Meh. I like it just fine.

I’m also looking forward to filling it up with movies (It can hold about 14 of them) so my six year old won’t be bored on long car trips.

I love technology!