MSI Mega Stick 1 - The Mini Wonder
by Andrew Ku on November 12, 2003 10:50 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Conclusion
Considering how popular USB flash drives are, we were a bit surprised to see it take so long to come up with something that seems so intuitively creative. It does leave us scratching out heads wondering why it took so long to come up with something that seems so obvious, yet innovative.Right now, we are anxiously awaiting Mega Stick 2 because it increases the capacity to 256MB via a larger NAND flash memory chip. 128MB is still a bit limited because of the number of MP3s that can fit onto the relatively small storage size.
Additionally, we would hope that MSI is also able to provide USB 2.0 on Mega Stick 2, as it will be easier to implement battery re-charge functionality. Apparently, SigmaTel is already offering their new STMP3550/3560 single-chip audio decoder, which provides everything we would like to see on Mega Stick 2 without an increase in real estate consumed by the audio decoder chip.
Some of the shortcomings that we see in Mega Stick 1 can easily be remedied via a user interact-able program that would allow for editing equalizer settings, playlists, etc. This addition would prove to be invaluable, as well as provide a more clutter-free way to program settings, since the menu button/forward/backwards toggle is a bit hard to use. We have already made this recommendation to MSI, and maybe in the future, this will pan out.
The battery life for MSI's Mega Stick 1 is rated at a maximum of 12 hours of playback with an alkaline battery according to MSI. In our own experience (drawn from a variety of battery brands), we got somewhere in the range of 10 to 11 hours of playback, which is plenty of time for a trip. Nevertheless, we would like to see the use of re-charge functionality for the next generation of Mega Stick because it will negate the need to carry around extra batteries.
Before the release of Mega Stick 2, MSI is going to do a minor refresh of Mega Stick 1, called Mega Stick 1 Limited Edition. Basically, the Limited Edition will feature new headphones and two new color schemes, which MSI calls “baby blue” and “hello kitty pink” (*no comment*).
Name brand 128MB USB flash drives are somewhere in the range of $40 to $65, while MSI's Mega Stick 1 has an MSRP of $119. Of those that are on the market, we highly recommend the Mega Stick 1 for those interested in getting a bit more from their USB flash drive. No doubt, it will be a great gift for the holiday season.
We took this on several of our trips, and we can testify to the durability of this MP3 player. The odd thing was that in our meetings with PR folks (not from the motherboard market), we were asked, “What is that little thing?” Once they found out what it was, they were readily impressed, and several asked where they could buy one.
Right now, we only see Newegg carrying this item, under the specified MSRP we might add. Hopefully, more retailers will pick this up soon. We have seen some other mini MP3 players on the market, but they do not have the same five-in-one functionality. Only MSI's Mega Stick 1 seems to have the FM tuner function, which others are clearly lacking.
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marqiuz - Thursday, November 13, 2003 - link
Groan,for this once, I find an article on Anandtech speaking gibberish.
First time you see such a gadget in the market?!??
It's all the rage in the Asian Market, wake up. How long has ANYONE in Anandtech gone to Japan, Korea or Taiwan, or on the web this side of the world for that matter?!??
Several brands to look at:
iriver
safa (Best of the stock - with inbuilt speaker)
samsung
hyundai
Yepp
Phillips (this one is new)
JNC
And many more, many being more cool looking than that MSI product there. As I said, this is a trendy item in Asia; going for as low as 600HK and as costly as 2000HK (for ref. 7.8hk = 1 US).
Goto this website to have a browse.
http://buycomp.hkgolden.com/default.asp
select MP3 and presto!
America is truly too far behind on this.
Andrew Ku - Thursday, November 13, 2003 - link
The JoS is a very interesting product, and the actual LCD interface does seem a bit "cleaner." The resolution for the LCD seems to be higher, but the size of the actual size of the LCD module looks to be the same size (according to their PDF actual size scale). We didn't find any information referencing its ability to playback recordings, so we will have to wait till we get one on hand to tinker around with.Btw, it is actually 88x25x16 (MP-100). To top it off, it is basically double in price (MP-100 - 256MB). The fact that it is all but scarce domestically doesn't help its case... But we will get back to this stuff some other time.
smm2k - Thursday, November 13, 2003 - link
http://www.jensofsweden.com/index.asp?page=product...or
http://www.iriveramerica.com/products/iFP-390T.asp
which do you think i should get for xmas?
Grimner - Thursday, November 13, 2003 - link
Xtian, you beat me to it :)Have been using a JoS 256 since spring. The Mega Stick lock a lot like it - sharing the layout down to the buttons. Nice touch with the replacable battery, tough.
Could the Americans, for once, be waaaaay behind Europe? LOL
Xtian - Thursday, November 13, 2003 - link
andrew Ku."Those MP3 players that have a large capacity, larger display, more features, etc... don't come as small as the Mega Stick 1, at least not yet."
Well, Jens if Sweden has it, and it's been out
for some time allready. It can playback your
voice or radio recordings, has 256Mb memory,
charge from USB and, it's 80x25x16mm compared
to MSI's 95x30x18mm.
link: www.jensofsweden.com
What I like to see now is USB2.0 interface
combined with faster flash memory to get a
better transfer rate.
/Xtian
Andrew Ku - Thursday, November 13, 2003 - link
Hello all,I would remind you guys that this is smaller than the Nomad Muvo, and it has an FM tuner (and the ability to FM record), which most others lack. Also, keep in mind that this is MSI's first MP3 player and is much smaller than almost everything on the market. The ability to charge via USB is something that AnandTech would love to see implemented in the next generation of Mega Stick, and we already cited that in the article. Those MP3 players that have a large capacity, larger display, more features, etc... don't come as small as the Mega Stick 1, at least not yet.
Btw, I have seen the Mega Stick 1 at 100 flat.
Xtian - Thursday, November 13, 2003 - link
This was the first time Anandtech made me confused about what year it is.I bought my northstar Nov 2002, and since then
numerous companies had offered all these
features, more memory, USB-charging of batteries,
playback of recorded material, larger displays,
longer battery life, smaller size, better design.
Are you sure this review is not 1+ year old?
/Xtian
yanon - Thursday, November 13, 2003 - link
Actually, there are several other companies already making similar products. I am thinking about buying one of these usb pen drive/mp3 player/voice recorders for Christmas. Andrew Ku didn't do a real good job on testing the device since he didn't even bother to come up with a qualitative testing method for sound quality and voice recording quality. I am wondering how good is voice recording funcitons because I will be using it to record class lectures. Another thing that is kind of disappointing about the Mega Stick is that it can't playback the file it records. Man, whoever designed the mega stick must be on crack since I just never heard of any audio recorder that can't play back the files it recorded.BTW guys, please give me some suggestions on which mp3 player/voice recorder to get. I prefer one that is not too expensive less $125 and has decent recording quality for recording 3 hours worth of lecture.
xionn - Thursday, November 13, 2003 - link
You guys need to get with it.Ever heard of the company ibead or 'Jens of Sweeden'? They do everything that this drive does and much more. Plus it does it much quicker.
Get with it guys, www.cnet.com has better info.
smm2k - Wednesday, November 12, 2003 - link
hmm i wonder if the iriver flash player is better or worse?www.iriver.com