TerraTec Promedia is a German company, famous for it’s high quality sound cards for computers. Recently they have been expanding their product line a lot, and they now have I wide range of multimedia products. Some time ago TerraTec went into the MP3 hardware market with their stand-alone MP3O player, with IDE hard drive support, and it was followed by the MP3PO Go portable player. At least I have very high expectations whenever I come by a TerraTec product, so I think that the company’s high reputation gives them some pressure on the market.
The features
M3PO Go is loaded with features and it takes the full advantage of the MP3 functionality. It supports bitrates 8-320kbps, including variable bitrates. It supports ID tags, CD-RW media, and supports sub-directories on the disc. You can random play files per directory or the whole disc. M3PO Go also supports ID3 tags of MP3 files, has built in shock protection buffer and you can even bookmark 100 favorite songs from the CDs for quick access. Also featured is a multi channel equalizer for adjusting the sound. M3PO Go comes with headphones, power adapter, batteries and required cables.
The unit is mainly operated with 8 large buttons on the top. One of the highlights of this player is the large high-resolution display with backlight. The usage is fairly simple, but naturally due the amount of available functions, it takes a while to get the hang of it.
The construction
The TerraTec feels like a fairly rigid unit. The body, the lid and the main control buttons feel like take could take hard use. On the other hand the small switches on the sides of the unit have a very “plastic" feeling to them - especially the multi function volume jog-button. The cover of the battery container actually broke loose on the 4 th time I opened it, but I was able to fit it back to its place. Also the connectors for headphones and lineout are quite poorly built and even have a slightly bad contact.
How does it work then?
The M3PO Go delivers what it promises. So far it has played all the MP3 files I have thrown at it, and has had no problems with any CD-R media. The shock proof buffer keeps the player running stable in your pocket, but when I use it in a car and drive very bad roads with continuous bumps I experienced some skips. Interesting is that skips are more likely to occur with RW media than regular CD-Rs. As I got used to all the controls & options, the M3PO Go is quite nice to operate with.
Conclusions
It’s a bit large in size, so you won’t be taking it with you to the gym, jogging or rollerblading. On the other hand it makes a kickass car or home audio jukebox, when compared to RAM-based portables, due to the large capacity of CD-R/W media. Because it has a full MP3 support, you can enjoy high quality VBR (Variable Bitrate) compressed music and still fit about 8 full albums to a CD.
Overall TerraTec has made good work with the M3PO Go and it definitely is one of the better portable players out there.
Links:
Get a second opinion M3PO reviewed by Neoseeker.com
Terratec.net
