D-link DMP-110 (32 MB) MP3 Player
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- Number of Songs: 8
- Usage: Music Recording
- Interface: USB
- Main Storage Type: Built-in Memory
- Expansion Slots: SmartMedia Card
- Storage Capacity: 32 MB
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Voice recording is problematic
Pros
Comforting tech support email auto-responder, low cost
Cons
Non-existent tech support, proprietary voice file format with no conversion program
Recommended it?
No
I don't really care about the MP3 capabilities of the DMP-110. My primary concern was its ability to record "a few hours" worth of conversation without having to change tapes, and the ability to store them on my laptop. As a student, having a reliable means to record an entire day's worth of lectures is important to me. I wanted to have a day to day archive on my laptop, and be able to listen to whatever portion of a lecture I needed. Thoughts of voice recognition software danced through my head...
WHAT D-LINK DOESN'T TELL YOU on their website, or print visibly on the "you'll never be able to return it bubblewrap packaging":
1) Sampling is done at 8KHz, you can't change this. I wasn't expecting 44KHz sampling, but I didn't want my voice to sound like it was coming from a bad telephone connection either. Trust Nyquist's theorem, it's here to help you...
2) It may be the firmware version in my unit, but it crashes when memory has been fully utilized while in record mode. Yep, you lose the entire recording. I don't know if it actually works as claimed when spanning from internal to external SM memory, since I don't have an SM card.
3) Why couldn't they disseminate this info along with #1? --You get "about 4 minutes" of voice recording per MB of memory. This is true, I got 136 minutes and 16 seconds of recording when the device crashed.
4) The file format of the voice recording is in some proprietary format and can't be played by an MP3 player. I sort of expected this. I DID NOT EXPECT that D-Link would not provide a conversion program!!! So, you CAN store your proprietary ._DR files on your computer, but, in order to play them, you have to load them back onto the DMP-110. Editing is right out, unless you want to spend the time with a patch cable from the unit to your sound card and save as a .WAV, but that's compounding idiocy. I have e-mailed their tech support about this, but they still haven't replied to my previous question regarding the sampling rate I sent two weeks ago.
I bought it from Staples for $130. I'm wondering if it's worth the fight to return it, since I can live with the problems (#1 is a sticking point, however). If you want it for voice recording, think carefully. If you have a laptop with a mic jack, buy an extra battery and a cheap microphone instead.
WHAT D-LINK DOESN'T TELL YOU on their website, or print visibly on the "you'll never be able to return it bubblewrap packaging":
1) Sampling is done at 8KHz, you can't change this. I wasn't expecting 44KHz sampling, but I didn't want my voice to sound like it was coming from a bad telephone connection either. Trust Nyquist's theorem, it's here to help you...
2) It may be the firmware version in my unit, but it crashes when memory has been fully utilized while in record mode. Yep, you lose the entire recording. I don't know if it actually works as claimed when spanning from internal to external SM memory, since I don't have an SM card.
3) Why couldn't they disseminate this info along with #1? --You get "about 4 minutes" of voice recording per MB of memory. This is true, I got 136 minutes and 16 seconds of recording when the device crashed.
4) The file format of the voice recording is in some proprietary format and can't be played by an MP3 player. I sort of expected this. I DID NOT EXPECT that D-Link would not provide a conversion program!!! So, you CAN store your proprietary ._DR files on your computer, but, in order to play them, you have to load them back onto the DMP-110. Editing is right out, unless you want to spend the time with a patch cable from the unit to your sound card and save as a .WAV, but that's compounding idiocy. I have e-mailed their tech support about this, but they still haven't replied to my previous question regarding the sampling rate I sent two weeks ago.
I bought it from Staples for $130. I'm wondering if it's worth the fight to return it, since I can live with the problems (#1 is a sticking point, however). If you want it for voice recording, think carefully. If you have a laptop with a mic jack, buy an extra battery and a cheap microphone instead.
