Digital Home Thoughts: Olympus m:robe 500i

Product Category: Digital Audio/Photo Player
Manufacturer: Olympus
Where to Buy: Amazon [Affiliate]
Price: $474.99 USD
System Requirements: Pentium III+; 200MB Free Space; USB Port; CD-ROM
Specifications: 210 grams, 109.4x73.4x21.2, 1.3 Megapixel Camera, 640x480 LCD.

Pros:

• It is VERY cool;
  
• LCD is good for viewing photos;
  
• Slideshows projected on a TV look great.

Cons:

• Buggy and slow OS;
  
• The camera is awful at best;
  
• The price is too high for the functions it performs.

Summary:
For those of you who have read my article on convergence devices, you might very well remember my love/hate relationship with devices that try to be several things at once. The Olympus m:robe 500i is a 20GB MP3 jukebox as well as a camera and slideshow viewer. After spending a month with the device, I am still torn between my young cool guy personality and my audiophile/digital photography worshipper personality. Which will prevail?

Read on for the full review!