MSI Mega Stick 1 - The Mini Wonder
by Andrew Ku on November 12, 2003 10:50 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Mega Stick 1 — Supercharged USB flash drive
Mega Stick 1 is a bit larger than most USB flash drives, and this limits portability to a degree. However, MSI aims to accomplish a lot, and the size of the drive is perfectly understandable. Over all, the Mega Stick 1 measures 3.8 x 1.2 x 0.7 inches, weighs in at 1 ounce (1.4 ounces with battery) and feels very similar to a garage door opener or a keychain-sized pepper spray can.The front of the unit draws the eye to the Mega Stick 1's mini, 1.2 x 0.4 inch, 96x25, two shades, backlight screen, and simple-to-use play/pause/power on/power off button. Flipping over the Mega Stick 1 doesn't reveal anything, as the AAA battery is hidden behind the cover. Removing the top cover reveals the USB interface, where the battery can be accessed.
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It is hard to peg Mega Stick into a specific category because it is multi-purpose by nature. It functions as a storage device, but it is intended to be used also as a MP3 player. Since most of the time it will be used as a MP3 player, we categorize it as such. However, unlike many of the MP3 players on the market, this aims to function in a different manner. The interface for iPod comes via firewire, and Mega Stick aims to use the more popular USB interface for cost issues and to dual its purpose as a USB flash drive.
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The left side of the unit is where the microphone in and headphone (stereo) out ports reside. Between the two ports lies the secure strap loop for the neck strap.
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The top side of Mega Stick 1 is where the majority of the buttons lie. On the far right are two slots in the casing and this is where the onboard microphone lies. To the left of this is the function button, which sets the repeating playback function during MP3 playback and enables FM radio mode. Next are the record, menu, and the volume up/down buttons. The menu button gives access to the majority of functions including: preset equalizer settings, record quality, display settings (contrast and backlight), etc.
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The bottom side of the unit resides the hold toggle. Basically, This prevents the rest of the buttons from performing any function, but we should note that this doesn't write protect the built-in flash storage.
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The backlight of the Mega Stick 1 isn't on by default, as it must be user defined. It isn't on all the time, rather only a few settings are available: 2, 5, 10, and 30 seconds. This would be in terms of the time it takes for the backlight to turn off, once a button has been pressed. It does look reasonably bright in our opinion, as we could sort through our MP3 selection on a late night flight.
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31 Comments
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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