Digital Home Thoughts: Groove to the Music: Olympus m:robe MR-100 Reviewed

Field Trials
The battery is advertised as lasting 8 hours for WMA files and 12 for MP3. 8 hours is about what we got out of it. It was hard to get a good reading of battery life since we spent a lot of time syncing, playing songs, and syncing again. Optimum battery life can be achieved by turning off the backlight and enabling the Hold switch.


Figure 8: MR-100 with headphones.

Taking the MR-100 outside was a bit of a surprise. Indoors with the backlight on, the MR-100 looks slick. It looks like a digital audio player that any true Knight Rider fan would appreciate. The red glow is just looks neat. Outside was a different story. On an overcast day, the LCD is very readable and the buttons light up nice and bright. But on a sunny day, the MR-100 is just shiny and black, the screen isn't visible at all. Even indoors, it is difficult to read the LCD without turning on the backlight. In bright sunlight, the backlight doesn't even help. Combine that with the lack of tactile feedback and you have a player that is not ideal outdoors. Even using it on a sunny day in the car was difficult.

Kevin's Take
The MR-100 is a great looking device. The controls took a few days to get used to. The scrollbar is very easy to use but not ideal for paging through long lists of songs. This digital audio player is a nice addition to the growing list of 4-6GB players. I wish there was another way to transfer songs than the m:trip software. Olympus is working on resolving these issues but has been slow in doing so. I really felt like I was beta testing m:trip. This poor software really tarnishes an otherwise excellent device.

OK, minor gripe but I have to mention it. What is with the name of this device? "Olympus m:robe MR-100 Digital Music Player" just doesn't roll off the tongue like "Apple iPod" does.

Beth's Take
The m:robe is a neat player that sounds great. The user interface takes only a few minutes to learn. The menus and choices are logically placed, and allow for an enjoyable playback experience.

Conclusions
The Olympus m:robe MR-100 is a very stylish digital audio player. It plays WMA and MP3 tracks and sounds great. The volume is a bit on the quiet side though. The touch screen takes a little getting used to, but is very intuitive. It can even double as a 5GB portable hard drive. Its styling truly sets it apart. Unfortunately, you must use the buggy m:trip software to transfer songs to the MR-100. Once Olympus addresses the problems with the software, this will be a welcome addition to the growing list of audio players. Be sure to keep an eye open for updates to firmware and the m:trip software at the Olympus America website.

Kevin and Beth Remhof write "tag team" reviews where they share their thoughts as a couple on technology in the digital media realm. They live in Ohio, USA and have two wonderful kids. They are avid roller coaster fans and are members of the American Coaster Enthusiasts. Kevin is also a reviewer for Pocket PC Thoughts.