Introduction
The article first appeared in Tom’s Hard News Email Newsletter
No, you are not seeing things, this is a picture of the Apple iPod appearing on THG. Read on to find out why we think Apple got a lot of things right with the introduction of the iPod, and to find out the two things it missed that would have made it even more of a success.
Apple Computer made perhaps the single biggest advancement in portable MP3 technology last year with its introduction of the Apple iPod. Although the idea of a portable hard drive-based MP3 player was not really a new concept, as several other companies were marketing products of this type, it took Apple to get it right. With its sleek and sexy design, and its 5GB of hard drive space, the Apple iPod has redefined the portable, hard drive-based MP3 player product space, at least for the time being.
The Apple iPod would have been my choice as product of the year for 2001. Much of the reason for this is that Apple did a lot of things right with the iPod. Getting things right is what differentiates ordinary products from extraordinary ones. The iPod offers a very slim form factor, an easy to learn user interface, recharging and downloads via it’s fast 1394 Firewire connection, rechargeable lithium polymer batteries with ten hours of continuous playtime, great sounding ear buds, and even a contact manager that rivals some PDA devices.
The iPod opened a lot of eyes and minds to the idea that technology needs to be not just functional but also ‘sexy’ in order to achieve the “I gotta have it” buzz that fuels retail demand and sales. If Apple can be faulted for anything with the iPod, it is that they opted not to offer it with a Windows interface, and without this interface feature, the iPod is expensive. Although Apple has not closed the door on the possible release of Windows-based connection software at some point in the future, an entire ‘cottage industry’ has sprung up nearly overnight in a race to release compatible software that allows Windows users use of the iPod on their systems.
Apple’s failure to offer native, out of the box Windows compatibility, as well as the iPod’s steep retail price, has left two costly cracks in Apple’s lock on the market. These two drawbacks are being capitalized upon by a number of companies attempting to cash in on the iPod’s buzz appeal with the release of new hard drive players that both cost less than the iPod and offer the user native Windows compatibility.
Only time will tell if Apple will realize that the iPod is a device that should be enjoyed by all at a more affordable retail price. I think the iPod has sufficiently strong appeal that Apple could actually use the iPod as a bridge to get more PC users interested in Apple products; for the moment, though, this is not the case. In the interim and until that happens, many users will seek out other brand name solutions that directly support Windows and that cost half as much as the Apple iPod. The Apple iPod is the stick by which many of these new hard drive-based MP3 players will be measured. It is unfortunate that Apple hasn’t yet realized this.
Let’s Roq-it!
Introducing D-Link’s first attempt to enter the hard drive digital audio market with the DMP-HD610 Roq-It.
Most likely, D-Link is not the first name brand that comes to mind when considering MP3 players, but D-Link has been in the business of producing high quality products at attractive prices for some time. D-Link has dabbled in the MP3 player market for a while now, although the new DMP-HD610 is their first attempt to market a hard drive-based MP3 player.
D-Link realized at the outset that the MP3 player market is still growing, and that what has been holding it back is the overall price of most MP3 players. In order to put this review in the proper perspective, it must be noted that D-Link is, perhaps, the lowest priced of all of the hard drive-based MP3 players; and, in order to meet this price point, some trade-offs had to be made.
These trade-offs may turn some folks against the Roq-It, while others who are more price conscious may welcome them as a way to make the technology affordable and more available to the average consumer.
Specifications for the Roq-It DMP-HD610 (Provided By D-Link):
A close-up view of the Roq-It DMP-HD610.
Specifications
Specifications | |
LCD Display | Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Screen 56X32mm Visual Area Blue Back Light 64×128 Graphic Display Multi-Language Ability (Firmware Upgradeable) |
Memory | Built-In 2MB RAM Buffer 2.5 inch EIDE/ Ultra DMA IDE Hard Drive Support For Both FAT 16 & FAT 32 |
Interfaces | USB 1.1 To Transfer Music To and From The PC Audio Out via 3.5mm phone jack 2.5″ EIDE Interface |
Operating Systems Supported | Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP MAC O/S 9 and Above |
Power & Battery Support | Adapter AC – Input: 110/220V, 50/60Hz DC Output: 5.0V 2A
Battery – Lithium-Ion Rechargeable battery (3.6V 1500mA/H) |
Battery Recharge Time | 3 Hours |
Approximate Continuous Playtime On Battery Full Charge | 5 Hours – Estimated by D-Link (4 Hours 55 Minutes Measured in THG Testing) |
Signal To Noise Ratio | 100dB |
D/A Converter | 18 bit |
THD | Better than 0.1% |
Frequency Response | 20Hz – 20kHz |
Audio Output Power | 60 mW at 32ohm impedance |
Data Capacity | 10GB 2.5″ EIDE Hard Drive Included – IBM Travelstar DJSA-210 – 10.06GB 4200RPM 9.5mm – (Drive manufacturer included with the Roq-It! may vary from unit to unit) |
Audio Codec Support | MP3 Sampling Frequency: 8 to 48 kHz Constant or variable Bit-rate: 8 to 320 KBPS |
Size | 142.5(W) X 120.8(H) X 27(D) mm – (4.75″ x 5.5″ x 1.06″) |
Weight | 218 g. (with battery) – (7.7 oz) |
Package Contents | Roq-it 10GB Portable MP3 Player Users Guide 2.5″ 10GB Hard Drive (Included In The Player) AC Power Adapter Headphones w/3.5mm phone jacks Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Battery USB Cable IR Remote Control Leather Carrying Bag Driver/ Software Installation CD Shoulder Strap |
Warranty | 1 Year for Player – 90 days on Battery & Power Supply |
Suggested Retail Price | $230 US |
The DMP-HD610 Up-Close
One of the first things we noticed about the DMP-HD610 was its size. When compared to the Apple iPod, the DMP-HD610 is slightly larger, but when compared to other hard drive-based MP3 players (such as the Creative Nomad Jukebox 3 and the Sonicblue Rio Riot), the DMP-HD610 falls right into line. In fact, when compared to the Nomad Jukebox 3 and the Rio Riot, the DMP-HP610 is slightly smaller. Much of the size difference between the iPod and other hard drive-based MP3 players is due to Apple’s use of a Toshiba 1.8″ hard drive on the iPod. This 1.8″ hard drive gives Apple an advantage in designing a player that is smaller than other players that use the standard 2.5″ hard drive. Use of the new 1.8″ hard drive does add a significant cost to the iPod, since this is not the standard 2.5″ laptop hard drive that the DMP-HD610 and other MP3 players use. Therefore, use of the standard 2.5″ hard drive should translate into some cost savings for the DMP-HD610.
As you can see in this picture, the DMP-HD610 is a fairly big unit when compared to other MP3 players.
We found the overall construction of the DMP-HD610 unit to be acceptable. While the unit itself is plastic, it did not get hot under continued use. The button action was good, and we didn’t encounter any sticking buttons or hard to press buttons on the unit. One important factor to consider, however, is that the unit is plastic. If you drop it, even when it is inside the included case, the odds of the DMP-HD610 surviving the fall unscathed are probably 50/50, at best. As is the case with any hard drive, normal hard drive handling precautions should be followed. Although laptop hard drive makers have attempted to build durability into these hard drives, dropping the hard drive can cause it to crash, and will cost you data loss. In our testing, we dropped the unit several times from about four feet into a standard bed pillow and we didn’t experience any problems with breakage of the unit or damage to the hard drive. However, it is safe to assume that the more likely accidental dropping of the hard drive onto a concrete or hardwood floor will not provide similar results.
A look at the bottom of the DMP-HD610.
The DMP-HD610 Up-Close, Continued
Located on the bottom of the unit is the USB connection, which allows you to connect the DMP-HD610 to your computer via the USB 1.1 interface. The problem with using the USB 1.1 interface is the transfer speed. The D-Link user’s guide claims transfer rates of close to 800KB per second, but you don’t need a mathematics degree to conclude that, even with a transfer speed such as this, the transfer time for moving larger amounts of data is lengthy.
Of course, once you have the majority of your MP3 files transferred onto the DMP-HD610, you most likely will not have to endure this significant wait time again. In our case, our entire collection of MP3 files (which totaled 2,149 songs with a total size of 9.81GB) took a couple of hours to copy to the DMP-HD610.
Upon discussion with the folks at D-Link, it was obvious that we were not the only people to complain about the slow transfer time. D-Link told us that they are looking into the possibility of producing a unit that would include a USB 2.0 interface. (Of course, no manufacturer or developer provides much information about products that are in the development phase and/ or are not yet announced, so we have no additional details to offer.) Including the USB 2.0 interface would provide a real boost to the transfer rate, in our opinion. If you have a large MP3 collection, the DMP-HD610 will most likely serve as a portable archive, and in that case, you will only be adding additional songs to the unit (and not moving your entire collection to the unit every time) for most uses. In this situation, while you might consider the USB 1.1 interface a little slow, we feel it is acceptable. We liked the DMP-HD610’s ability to double as a USB storage device, as this provides the ability to copy any type of files over to the DMP-HD610 unit for easy transport to another computer.
Also found on the bottom of the DMP-HD610 is a line-out connection for connection to a stereo or amplifier. Naturally, a cable is not included, so you will need to provide one to connect the DMP-HD610 to RCA jacks from this 3.5mm jack.
The DMP-HD610 unit does, of course, include a DV 5V Power Input jack that is used to power the unit and recharge the removable lithium-ion battery. The user’s manual also mentions that it is possible to use a car lighter adapter with the power input jack as well. However, the manual does not provide details as to which lighter adapter is compatible, or where you can purchase one. It is important to note that D-Link did get the power adapter right with this unit. The included AC adapter is light and compact, and is of better quality than those included with many other devices.
A look at the top of the DMP-HD610.
The DMP-HD610 Up-Close, Continued
On top of the DMP-HD610, you will find the power switch and the 3.5mm headphone input jack. We found the movement of the power switch to be stiff, yet firm, which ensures that you will not shut the DMP-HD610 off by accident. We found the location of the power button to be convenient and logical. Nothing can be more irritating than bumping the power button and turning off the player during your favorite song, especially if this happens frequently due to the location and oversensitivity of the power button. Manufacturers often overlook this important point.
A look at the remote that is included with the DMP-HD610.
The Roq-It DMP-HD610 includes a wireless IR remote, so that you can control the DMP-HD610 from a distance. This little ten button wonder fits in the palm of your hand and allows you to control the majority of the DMP-HD610’s functions. This is a nice addition, although some might question the need for a remote. Regardless, we found it useful and a welcome feature.
A look at the back of the DMP-HD610. If you look closely, you can see that we had to tear the warranty sticker in order to get the hard drive door open. Note that tearing the warranty sticker to open the unit voids the warranty of the unit.
The bottom of the DMP-HD610 is where the battery and hard drive doors are located. Both of there are very accessible. As you can see from the photo, it is easy to change the battery and the hard drive, as well. (We will show you how to upgrade the hard drive in the DM-HD610 a little later in this article!) A warranty sticker that will void the warranty of the DMP-HD610 unit in the event the hard drive door is removed protects the hard drive door. Keep this in mind if you choose to remove the hard drive door to have a peek at the hard drive, or if you choose to upgrade the hard drive in the unit.
Installing & Using The DMP-HD610 In The Real World
After unpacking the DMP-HD610, you will, of course, need to transfer your MP3 files over to this unit. If you are a Windows 98 user, you will need to use the enclosed CD to install the Windows 98 USB storage management drivers before you can use the unit. D-Link suggests that you install these drivers for Windows 98 before you use or connect the unit. With other Windows operating systems such as ME/2000/XP, you can use the Microsoft generic USB storage driver, so no driver install is required.
Once you insert the included CD, you are greeted by a D-Link menu to help you get the DMP-HD610 operational.
Once the unit is connected to the PC, you can then copy your MP3 files directly over to the DMP-HD610, just as if it were another hard drive. If you prefer, you can use Windows Explorer’s file management utility to help you through the process of locating your MP3 files and moving them over to the DMP-HD610. Since the DMP-HD610 appears to the system as nothing more than another hard drive, you can simply treat it the same way that you would any other hard drive.
After you have the MP3 files installed on the DMP-HD610, it is time to start playing them using the on-screen interface. A convenient feature you will immediately notice is the right-sized, blue-backlit screen. Another convenience of the DMP-HD610 is the size and readability of the characters on the screen: no squinting necessary to read the MP3 ID tag information for your music.
A close-up look at the input keys located on the top of the DMP-HD610.
Installing & Using The DMP-HD610 In The Real World, Continued
The DMP-HD610 has four buttons that surround the outside of the unit. These four buttons are the following: Program; EQ/Settings; Browse; and Stand By/ Stop. On the center of the unit are the navigation buttons, which control the up and down movement, as well as the Play, Fast Forward, and Rewind functions. The Play button is big and easy to find in the dark or a dimly lit room, and you can lock the keypad once the unit is playing to prevent input from other buttons that could disrupt your playback.
The Program function of the DMP-HD610 offers six play modes, which include Repeat, Repeat All, Random, Random All, Directory Only, and Continuous Playing Mode. The DMP-HD610 also offers five EQ settings: User Defined; Rock; Pop; Jazz; Classical. The DMP-HD610 offers full balance, bass, and treble control only in the user defined EQ setting.
A close-up look at the display of the DMP-HD610 while the unit is playing music.
Navigation on the DMP-HD610 uses a point and shoot interface. The DMP-HD610 allows scrolling between directories and supports multiple directory levels. This is important, since the supported multiple directory levels make it easier to better organize your entire music collection on the unit.
We found the included headphones to be comfortable, but lacking in bass quality when compared to similar headphone units. Attempts to use the DMP-HD610 with other headphones met with simular results, and due to this we can say that the unit does not have as much bottom-end bass punch that many people like. The volume range of the DMP-HD610 was acceptable, but we would not consider it to be capable of being played overly loudly. We would have liked to have been provided with more playlist control than that which is available with the DMP-HD610. We found that, in order to overcome these limitations, your favorite music must be recorded into the directories at the volume in which you want to hear it. It also would have been nice to be able to D-Link upgrade the playlist support.
We had no problem playing our MP3 files that were encoded in a variety of different programs with various bit rates, including variable bit rate encoding. We also didn’t encounter any problems with the DMP-HD610 unit’s reading of our ID tags on the MP3 files.
How To Void Your Warranty & Upgrade Your DMP-HD610
Voiding the warranty is, unfortunately, a necessary evil if you want to upgrade the DMP-HD610 with a bigger hard drive. Although D-Link doesn’t recommend or suggest doing this, they do claim that the DMP-HD610 is, in fact, upgradeable.
We attempted to upgrade our DMP-HD610 from the included 10GB hard drive to use a 20GB 2.5″ hard drive. Theoretically, you should be able to upgrade the unit to use any 9.5mm 2.5″ laptop-style hard drive. Although we did test the DMP-HD610 with hard drives in both 4200 RPM and 5400 RPM speeds, we saw no difference in performance between the two. We did, however, notice with the 5400 RPM hard drive installation that the back of the unit was slightly hotter than with the 4200 model.
The key to making this upgrade a smooth process is as simple as using a 2.5″ to 3.5″ IDE adapter and letting your PC do most of the work. With a little detective work, you should be able to find these 2.5″ to 3.5″ IDE adapters for a reasonable price. If the master/ slave jumper positions are not listed on the drive, you might have to go to the manufacturer’s web site in order to find the proper, required jumper positions.
Laptop 2.5″ to standard 3.5″ IDE hard drive adapters can be handy devices that many techies forget to add to their toolbox. In addition to using IDE hard drive adapters as we did in this article, they can also be useful in recovering data from a damaged or crashed laptop hard drive by using your desktop computer.
How To Void Your Warranty & Upgrade Your DMP-HD610, Continued
Next, you will need the correct software to handle the copy process. Examples of this software are Symantec’s Ghost product or Power Quest’s Drive Image. Both of these programs will allow you to copy the data from one IDE drive to another IDE drive. What is nice about both of these programs is that the software will expand the new hard drive’s partition to take advantage of the additional storage space offered by the new drive.
While you could just partition and format your new hard drive and install it into your DMP-HD610, and then copy your MP3 files back over to the unit, the process described below might save you a lot of time by shortening the wait for all of your MP3 files to be copied over via the USB interface onto the new hard drive.
How To Upgrade Your Existing DMP-HD610 10GB Drive to a 20GB Drive Step By Step
WARNING – Upgrading the hard drive in your Roq-It DMP-HD610 will void the DMP-HD610 unit warranty. You should have experience in connecting IDE hard drives to your PC and feel comfortable with this process before proceeding. THG disclaims all liability for damage your Roq-It through the use of this process.
That said, to proceed, you first need to gather everything you’ll need. You will need a desktop PC with an IDE interface, two 2.5″ to 3.5″ IDE drive adapters, the new 20GB drive, and, of course, the DMP-HD610. You might need a pair of needle nose pliers to set the drive jumpers. You will also need software to handle the drive copy process (such as Symantec’s Ghost or Power Quest’s Drive Image). You should carefully read the software manufacturer’s directions and initially create a DOS boot disk with your drive imaging software on the disk, since most of these programs must be run from DOS.
You need your desktop PC, IDE cable, two 2.5″ to 3.5″ IDE drive adapters, the new 20GB drive, and, of course, the DMP-HD610.
How To Void Your Warranty & Upgrade Your DMP-HD610, Continued
Next, jumper the hard drive that you have removed from the DMP-HD610 as the master, and your new drive as the slave. Once this is done, you should take the drives and plug them into the primary hard drive controller.
After powering the system on, you might have to modify the BIOS setting in your computer so that the BIOS can see both hard drives.
Now, boot from the diskette that you have created with the drive imaging software on it.
Follow the process described in the manual of your imaging software for a drive-to-drive copy. Make sure that you use the option that expands the size of the target drive’s partition to take advantage of the additional storage space of your new drive. The copying process should now take only a few minutes to complete.
Once the copy process is complete, you can then install the new drive into your DMP-HD610 (make sure that the new drive jumper settings are correct), and enjoy the new, expanded space of your drive by downloading additional MP3 files to it via the USB cable.
Since the DMP-HD610 uses the FAT 32 file system, it is very easy to upgrade the unit to add additional space. We think that this is one of the best features of the DMP-HD610, and it adds additional value to the unit by allowing the user a storage upgrade path.
Here is a picture with the new IBM 20GB hard drive installed into the DMP-HD610. The process of upgrading the drive is very straightforward and we didn’t have to reload all of our MP3 files back on to the hard drive via the USB interface, which saved a lot of time.
Conclusion – A Value For The Money
After our evaluation of the DMP-HD610 Roq-it, we can say that we feel this is a very good MPE player for its price. Although it was not the smallest, lightest, slickest, or sexiest hard drive-based MP3 player available, the DMP-HD610 offers a lot of ‘bang’ for the buck.
The price tag is right on target for what we would expect to pay for a 10GB hard drive-based MP3 player. With a suggested retail price of $230 US, it is nearly half the retail price of the iPod. The DMP-HD610’s available hard drive upgradeability is a bonus feature that isn’t available with other hard drive-based MP3 players.
The battery life in our testing averaged 4 hours, 55 minutes, which is far less than that of the Apple iPod, but we still consider the DMP-HD610 battery life to be good. Twice in the three continuous battery ‘run down’ tests that we conducted we were able to break over five hours, which we felt was very acceptable for this unit; but, of course, everyone is always clamoring for longer battery life. By way of comparison, Apple claims that the iPod has over ten hours of continuous playback battery life.
We feel that the DMP-HD610 Roq-it is not a good MP3 choice for users who want music “on the go” in active sports situations. As with any device that uses a hard drive, when you move the drive around a lot, or if you subject the drive to bumps and shock, you run the risk of crashing it. In our testing, we found that, by shaking the DMP-HD610 unit very aggressively, we were able to make the music on the player skip, even though the unit has 2MB of RAM for Electronic Skip Protection. Worse yet, when running with the DMP-HD610, we experienced more seek problems with the hard drive and it skipped, as well. We think that this is because the rapid movement causes the hard drive to have problems getting positioned for the selection process. When connected in a car and going down the road and over a few bumps, we didn’t encounter any problems, but if you were to go “off road” with the DMP-HD610, we believe that you would experience the same kind of problems with the unit that we did when shaking it and running with it. Solid-state players that use flash memory are the only players that are not going to skip, and these players are still limited by their relatively small storage capacities.
We found the DMP-HD610 user interface to be not as full-featured or easy-to-use as other units in the MP3 player hard drive world. Due to the fact that the DMP-HD610 is flash upgradeable, we hope that D-Link will continue to improve and make additions to the user interface. The limited and unsophisticated playlist control is a drawback that we would like to see improved upon by D-Link, as well. We would also like to see additional codec support for other music formats in future upgrades. (The DMP-HD610 is restricted to MP3 & MP2 files only, and includes no WAV or WMA support!)
We really liked the backlit display on the DMP-HD610, and this feature does put some other players to shame. It would be nice if D-Link could find a way to allow other small handheld applications to run on the DMP-HD610, i.e., perhaps a small contact list manager, since this eye-pleasing, backlit blue display could certainly be used for other things.
We think the most unique feature of the DMP-HD610 is the fact that you can connect it to any computer with a USB port and share your entire MP3 collection across your network, and then disconnect it and take it with you. We really liked this feature, and the fact that it is supported as a generic USB storage device is really an advantage.
Overall, D-Link got many things right with the Roq-it DMP-HD610. The upgradeability, display, and price are the three areas that really won us over. Yes, the iPod is sexier and looks cooler, but it costs almost twice as much as the DMP-HD610 and isn’t compatible with Windows. When you look at the pluses and minuses between these two units, the DMP-HD610’s positives shine through. The lack of a high speed connection really limits this unit in some ways; but, if you are an MP3 player bargain shopper and don’t mind a few limitations and idiosyncrasies, then the Roq-it DMP-HD610 is a good value worth your consideration.