Philips Expanium EXP3362 Personal CD Player
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Similar in Portable CD Players
- CD-R/CD-RW Playback: CD-R/CD-RW
- Bass Boost: With Bass Boost
- Anti Skip Buffer: 45 sec.
- Supported Formats: WMA MP3
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An okay MP3/CD player, but too many cut corners
Pros
Good sound, convenience of using AA or AAA batteries, bass boost, Philips brand quality
Cons
Small, non-illuminated LCD readout, tricky CD access hatch and volume controls
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
If you want a basic MP3/WMA/CD player at a good price, get this one. If you like thoughtfully designed features in your personal electronics, skip the Philips Expanium line.
Philips has been a decent brand for electronics, and their Expanium line of CD players is no exception. So when I was in the market for a player that would play MP3 and WMA files as well as CD's, I took a good look at Philips' Expanium CD/MP3 player which I bought at Target.
Trouble is, for such a good brand there were some ways in which it could have been improved. At the same time I had also bought a similar unit from Virgin Pulse (think Sir Richard Branson on Fox TV's "Rebel Billionaire") and decided against keeping the Philips Expanium. But for most of you out there, the Expanium is a good buy.
THE EXTERIOR
The latest Expanium units carried at Target come in two color schemes - a sort of dark, goldfish orange, and a very deep blue - neither of which I'm crazy about. I would rather have had a choice of silver, gold, or onyx myself. But that's just the cabinet.
You've gotta look a little bit to find the access hatch for the CD or MP3 disc. It's a very thin switch that isn't easy to see (it's black just like the side of the unit). Since it's not very large or easy to see, if you're in a lowly lit room or trying to do it with one hand, you may be a little irritated. Not a deal-breaker, but something that could have been better designed.
The volume control up and down buttons are similar to the disc access hatch. They are placed on the side of the unit rather than on the face of it where the other controls are (would two more buttons have been a difficult engineering feat?).
On the back, you find the battery access door. Here, Philips has something unique going: you have a choice as to what batteries you can use. You can run the Expanium off AA batteries such as most units in this class or, with a special detachable access door, you can use AAA batteries also. Kind of neat if you find yourself in a situation where you just have to hear your favorite album and are fresh out of AA's but happen to have a couple of AAA's laying around. My complaint with this: the trend for electronics is to have the battery access doors permanently attached to the unit so they don't get lost. Here, you have two that can get lost. Again, not a deal-breaker, but not one of my favorite design decisions about this unit.
THE DISPLAY
The unit with which I compared the Philips Expanium has an illuminated display, nice for low lighting conditions. The Expanium has none - bit of a bummer. Would it really have cost much to put a backlight in the display such as we have in digital watches? I think not, and lots of users would probably appreciate it.
The LCD readout on the Expanium is pretty small. A row of indicator arrows shows which mode you're running, with pointers for MP3, CD, WMA, shuffle, repeat, and the like. The alphanumeric readout is a single-line readout - one line - which means your information scrolls about 99% of the time, and not very quickly either. I wonder if Philips cut corners to make this happen, or whether they figured most folks would use this as a CD player only. This, ultimately, was one of the deal breakers for me that caused me to return the Expanium to the store.
THE SOUND
Being an all-digital unit, the Philips Expanium requires you to change the volume with up/down buttons on the side of the unit. Volume goes up to 32 gradations, but at top level it's not very loud when sent through plug-in speakers, so you may be disappointed if you take this unit on a trip and use portable speakers or, worse still, if you're trying to hear it on an airplane. Under regular noise conditions, though, the full-size stereo headphones (not the little earbuds; these are the big 'uns) sound fine.
I always appreciate when portable audio units come with some kind of bass boost button, and the Philips Expanium includes one. There are two settings - low bass boost and high bass boost. Both sound reasonably good.
MP3's and WMA's sound as good as conventional CD's so no problems on that front.
THE CONTROLS
The controls on the Expanium are clustered in a circle around the LCD display. No complaints about the buttons - they don't feel cheap and are logical enough to use. Just wish the volume controls had joined the navigational ones on the face of the unit.
THE VERDICT
At a street price of about $45, the Philips Expanium CD/MP3 player is a good buy for someone wanting to listen to MP3 discs without having to shell out a fortune to do so, particularly on one of the USB-type tiny ones costing a C-note ($100) or more. For someone who's not too picky about how a unit like this works, it's perfect for the price. But for technogeeks like me who like features and good design, it falls a bit short. I think Philips could have given a little more to this unit for the same price.
Trouble is, for such a good brand there were some ways in which it could have been improved. At the same time I had also bought a similar unit from Virgin Pulse (think Sir Richard Branson on Fox TV's "Rebel Billionaire") and decided against keeping the Philips Expanium. But for most of you out there, the Expanium is a good buy.
THE EXTERIOR
The latest Expanium units carried at Target come in two color schemes - a sort of dark, goldfish orange, and a very deep blue - neither of which I'm crazy about. I would rather have had a choice of silver, gold, or onyx myself. But that's just the cabinet.
You've gotta look a little bit to find the access hatch for the CD or MP3 disc. It's a very thin switch that isn't easy to see (it's black just like the side of the unit). Since it's not very large or easy to see, if you're in a lowly lit room or trying to do it with one hand, you may be a little irritated. Not a deal-breaker, but something that could have been better designed.
The volume control up and down buttons are similar to the disc access hatch. They are placed on the side of the unit rather than on the face of it where the other controls are (would two more buttons have been a difficult engineering feat?).
On the back, you find the battery access door. Here, Philips has something unique going: you have a choice as to what batteries you can use. You can run the Expanium off AA batteries such as most units in this class or, with a special detachable access door, you can use AAA batteries also. Kind of neat if you find yourself in a situation where you just have to hear your favorite album and are fresh out of AA's but happen to have a couple of AAA's laying around. My complaint with this: the trend for electronics is to have the battery access doors permanently attached to the unit so they don't get lost. Here, you have two that can get lost. Again, not a deal-breaker, but not one of my favorite design decisions about this unit.
THE DISPLAY
The unit with which I compared the Philips Expanium has an illuminated display, nice for low lighting conditions. The Expanium has none - bit of a bummer. Would it really have cost much to put a backlight in the display such as we have in digital watches? I think not, and lots of users would probably appreciate it.
The LCD readout on the Expanium is pretty small. A row of indicator arrows shows which mode you're running, with pointers for MP3, CD, WMA, shuffle, repeat, and the like. The alphanumeric readout is a single-line readout - one line - which means your information scrolls about 99% of the time, and not very quickly either. I wonder if Philips cut corners to make this happen, or whether they figured most folks would use this as a CD player only. This, ultimately, was one of the deal breakers for me that caused me to return the Expanium to the store.
THE SOUND
Being an all-digital unit, the Philips Expanium requires you to change the volume with up/down buttons on the side of the unit. Volume goes up to 32 gradations, but at top level it's not very loud when sent through plug-in speakers, so you may be disappointed if you take this unit on a trip and use portable speakers or, worse still, if you're trying to hear it on an airplane. Under regular noise conditions, though, the full-size stereo headphones (not the little earbuds; these are the big 'uns) sound fine.
I always appreciate when portable audio units come with some kind of bass boost button, and the Philips Expanium includes one. There are two settings - low bass boost and high bass boost. Both sound reasonably good.
MP3's and WMA's sound as good as conventional CD's so no problems on that front.
THE CONTROLS
The controls on the Expanium are clustered in a circle around the LCD display. No complaints about the buttons - they don't feel cheap and are logical enough to use. Just wish the volume controls had joined the navigational ones on the face of the unit.
THE VERDICT
At a street price of about $45, the Philips Expanium CD/MP3 player is a good buy for someone wanting to listen to MP3 discs without having to shell out a fortune to do so, particularly on one of the USB-type tiny ones costing a C-note ($100) or more. For someone who's not too picky about how a unit like this works, it's perfect for the price. But for technogeeks like me who like features and good design, it falls a bit short. I think Philips could have given a little more to this unit for the same price.
