The unit was upgraded years ago to a Toshiba 120GB drive. It plugs right in after removing the side panels and 4 screws.

Xclef 500 firmware upgrade long ago now plays OGG. Unit is flawless, even after 15 years. Once the new battery had been cycled 3 times, the unit now plays CONTINUOUSLY for 32 hours driving 2 speakers directly. No other portable MP3 player is THIS loud undistorted.

This unit has a new life. I’m using it as the external USB hard drive for my Nokia N800 Linux Internet Tablet! 120GB – Plenty of room for the movies, now!…(c;]

pleae email friend.laugh.again@gmail.com

.The claim that you can organize your music in any manner you wish. The fact is that they do impose a total folder limitation of 270–according to t/s. This includes all folders/sub-folders. So if you organize your music according to Genre\artist\album, you will hit this limitation quite quickly and then your player refuses to show you most of your music. Since the player will not allow you to search by anything but the first 3 letters of the file name, you are kinda forced to organize your music via folders if you want to find anything logically.

.They offer no phone number to call and get support–they expect you to wait for them to get around to answering your questions via e-mail. This is a tough expectation when you only have 10 days to decide if the player will work for you. So here is the phone number: 760-603-9110. Allan is the lead manager over there at x103.

.The player will NOT use ID3 tags in browse mode–only file names. Once you have selected a file, you can then view that file’s ID3 info. if you wish. So, the only search you can perform is on file name. Many other players allow you to search via genre, artist, album, etc.

As a player which boasts a reasonable price point and a larger capacity then most, it would seem like these limitations (and in the case of the folder limitation, outright mis-representation) would have been dealt with in coding the firmware. However…well…enough said.

DMC sent the Xclef-500 to me because it’s my job to evaluate products. Unfortunately they won’t send them out like that to regular consumers. But lucky for you, you can read about the device here. I hope the review helps you make a descision to buy one or not.

mdduston wrote:

Howdy,
1. Can the Xclef be used to transport files from Mac to PC and vice versa?
2. Is the Xclef USB 2.0 or firewire compatable?

1. You can connect to both. Just plug it in and it appears as a drive.
2. USB 2.0

Atiba wrote:

My Xclef arrived yesterday. I am still playing around with it. I found, however, that I cannot simply drag and drop music files into the playlist area and access them. Has anyone found a simple way to create playlists?

Here’s an FAQ on how to create playlists:
http://www.digmind.com/500/features/features_000058.php3

Just recieved an 40GB iPod for Christmas and besides its sleak appearance, I am not very pleased with battery life or iTunes interface. The Xcelf-500, however, seems to be a less sleak, more powerful player. I have two questions:

1. Can the Xclef be used to transport files from Mac to PC and vice versa?
2. Is the Xclef USB 2.0 or firewire compatable?

Thanks for the review!!!

M.Duston

Thanks

So, I found a minor shortcoming. :blink:

Thank you for answering on this topic,
wladimirT wtrabsky@kabelfoon.nl

Originally posted by Julie
[B]Ok, here’s the info I received from the folks at DMC…

My question:
Jim,

Would it be possible to connect a digital camera to the Xclef and
automatically copy all the images into the Xclef’s hard drive?

Julie

Their answer:
Julie,

Unfortunately, you still need to use a PC or laptop to do that. However, the DMC 1100 due out this fall will support that feature, as well as the ability to view it on the TFT screen.

Jim [/B]

:confused:

umm. when is it due out? in non-usa terms?

:confused:

I bought a wewa butterfly mp3 256 mp3 player earlier this year and it had the preset option. trouble was, i got a bit enthusiastic about this & preset about 10 stations, when half of them i don’t use anyway. & searching through them sux ’cause i can only go through them 1, 2, 3….. 10 & then 1. cant go back the other way. this is so damn annoying & i cant get rid of any of them. is this so with the DMC-Xclef 500 or is it patient with an eager user with an exciting new toy?

Yes, I am aware of the Belkin product. I wrote them asking for a review sample but so far they have ignored me! Can you believe it?

I stopped babying my iPod when I scratched the front of it during a review of a case

Belkin iPod digital camera accessory
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=201526&pcount=&Product_Id=173207
It’s not tiny, but still much smaller than a laptop, and not that expensive for what it does (only twice the price as a normal multicard reader).

And Julie, you do stop babying your iPod. It took me 6 months, and most friends about a year. I think the most common case I see these days is no case, just toss it into a pocket or purse. Yes, you do get scratches, but the iPod takes a licking and keeps on ticking. It’s far, far more durable than a PDA.

Hehehe stand in line… This sounds like a great device to me too! I’d love to take something like this with me on vacation to offload photos.

I’d even be willing to beta test and/or review it for the Gadgeteer (please, please?).

My question:
Jim,

Would it be possible to connect a digital camera to the Xclef and
automatically copy all the images into the Xclef’s hard drive?

Julie

Their answer:
Julie,

Unfortunately, you still need to use a PC or laptop to do that. However, the DMC 1100 due out this fall will support that feature, as well as the ability to view it on the TFT screen.

Jim

From their website.
Casing Material: Aluminum Surface with Plastic botton

It is taller by about .5 – .75 of an inch but is narrower and thinner. I may have to look into this!!

It looks like I would have to give up Rockbox, but the operating system looks pretty similar to Rockbox. But I would gain an FM tuner. You mentioned that the radio goes to static when you record from Fm. Does the file turn out ok?