Virgin Pulse VP-04 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: 470 sec.
- Supported Formats: WMA MP3
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Great design, great sound, but one major flaw
Pros
Illuminated LCD display, simple buttons, easy-open CD lid, seamless cabinet design
Cons
Misses first second of MP3 or WMA tracks when played at random; mysterious disc errors
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Grab this one - nice-looking unit, ingenious design features, and great sound make the one major flaw worth overlooking (as long as you're not a perfectionist!).
I recently made the decision to look into alternatives to listening to FM radio, since there's less variety on the airwaves than ever. I thought about satellite radio, but that has a rather steep start-up cost and then runs upward of $120 a year. Then I realized MP3 might be a decent way to go, so I began shopping around for a portable MP3 player. Happily, my local Target store carried the Virgin Pulse VP-04.
Virgin is the brand of Sir Richard Branson, host of Fox TV's "Rebel Billionaire", and if you've ever seen Virgin's advertising, you know that it's a bit of a maverick brand. If you don't believe that, check out Virgin Pulse's web site at http://www.virginpulse.com.
For all their crash-the-boards imagery, though, I have to say the Virgin Pulse VP-04 is a very good unit, one of the best designed portable electronics players I've ever used.
THE EXTERIOR
All of the units in the Virgin Pulse line come in one basic color scheme - light gray and pearl. If you're looking for some other colors, you're outta luck. But I happen to like it. Since it's not a dark-colored unit, it won't get lost or misplaced very often.
The access hatch to open the unit is easy to find and operate. One press and it just pops open. Nothing to slide like I saw on a Philips unit.
The volume control up and down buttons are located on the side of the unit and operate easily. Directly underneath is a rather small "hold" button (to prevent accidental pressing of the buttons if you're carrying the unit in a pocket and something brushes up against it). I don't plan on using the hold button often and that's a good thing because the slider switch is quite small and I fear with heavy use it may pop off. I would rather have seen a third push button to activate a hold feature.
At first, when I opened the unit, I wondered how to put the batteries in. The reason is cleverness - the battery hatch is inside the unit. You open the disc access lid and there it is. The brilliant thing about this is two-fold: first, you won't ever have to worry about the batteries falling out, but secondly, it gives the VP-04 a smoother, more seamless look. Very ingenious.
THE DISPLAY
I am all for CD units that have backlit displays. We have digital watches and PDA's that have them as standard features yet manufacturers seem to want to skimp on adding them to portable sound units. The Virgin Pulse VP-04, thankfully, has a nice, Indiglo-style, blue readout that illuminates for 2 to 3 seconds every time you press a button when the unit is on. So if you're in a darkened room, and you want to see what's playing, you can tap any button (including the volume) to turn on the light. This was one of the features that sold me on the VP-04.
The display is also the largest of any of the CD/MP3 units I saw in the price class I was shopping (under $60). It's a two-line display, with 12 characters per line. One nitpick I do have about the display is that when it's scrolling information, it gets a bit "muddy" to read - far from a deal-breaker, though.
The top section of the display has indicators for the play mode (repeat track, repeat all, MP3, etc.) that are simple to understand. When you insert an MP3 or WMA disc, you can watch the display counting the folders and files - a really nice feature. I like knowing my electronics are doing something while I'm waiting.
THE SOUND
Being an all-digital unit, the VP-04 requires you to change the volume with up/down buttons on the side of the unit. Volume goes up to 20 gradations, and at top level I was really impressed with a pair of non-battery operated stereo speakers plugged in. If you take this unit on a trip and use portable speakers or if you're trying to hear it on an airplane you'll be pleased. I also never thought I would like earbud speakers but the ones that ship with the VP-04 are surprisingly comfortable as well as sounding very good.
The Virgin Pulse VP-04 has a number of equalizer presets for Rock, Classic, Jazz and Bass. There is no bass boost button, though, and the Bass setting isn't that impressive (it sounds more like they just cut the treble, is all). I would have liked to have seen a bass boost option. But in Normal setting everything sounds just fine.
MP3's and WMA's sound as good as conventional CD's so no problems on that front.
THE CONTROLS
The controls on the VP-04 are clustered around the edge of the LCD display. No complaints about the buttons - they don't feel cheap and are logical enough to use. Plus, from a visual appeal standpoint they look good, since they frame the LCD. Nice work, Virgin.
ONE MAJOR FLAW
Ah yes, the one major flaw - what I'll call "the one-second slip". I have noticed that when I play an MP3 or WMA disc with multiple tracks, that if the unit is set to play tracks at Random (or Shuffle them) the first second (00:01) of the track is cut off. This does not happen with conventional CD's (even ones I've burned myself) and I'm not sure why. I have even noticed this if the unit is playing in sequential order. The ends of tracks play fine, so I wonder why the first second is cut off - even the display begins at 00:00 for each MP3 track.
The product literature says you can't use 700 MB (80 minutes) CD's in the VP-04 for some reason, but that doesn't seem to be the cause. (It would be of limited use anyway, as 650 MB discs have all but disappeared, leaving only their 700 MB brethren ubiquitous.) I tried playing a couple of 650 MB (74 minutes) CD's with MP3's and got the same first-second-silent result. One 650 MB MP3 CD even gave a mysterious "Disc Error" message on the display - a very strange condition that almost made me chunk the unit. I eventually decided not to, because the raft of positive features were more than enough to counterbalance this annoyance. I have played about a half-dozen 700 MB discs that didn't generate a "Disc Error" message but I'm fairly certain I will be seeing this message from time to time.
THE VERDICT
At a street price of about $50, the Virgin Pulse VP-04 is a great 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. If you are an absolute perfectionist, though, as far as listening to every single second of your MP3 tracks - especially that first second - you won't be able to live with this unit. But if you're not that critical you will absolutely love all the other features the Virgin Pulse VP-04 has to offer.
I was actually lucky to find the VP-04 at a Target store for $24.98 and if you look around, you may be able to find one at this price. If you do, snap it up - a CD/MP3/WMA with this much going for it and a great sound is a steal at $25.
Virgin is the brand of Sir Richard Branson, host of Fox TV's "Rebel Billionaire", and if you've ever seen Virgin's advertising, you know that it's a bit of a maverick brand. If you don't believe that, check out Virgin Pulse's web site at http://www.virginpulse.com.
For all their crash-the-boards imagery, though, I have to say the Virgin Pulse VP-04 is a very good unit, one of the best designed portable electronics players I've ever used.
THE EXTERIOR
All of the units in the Virgin Pulse line come in one basic color scheme - light gray and pearl. If you're looking for some other colors, you're outta luck. But I happen to like it. Since it's not a dark-colored unit, it won't get lost or misplaced very often.
The access hatch to open the unit is easy to find and operate. One press and it just pops open. Nothing to slide like I saw on a Philips unit.
The volume control up and down buttons are located on the side of the unit and operate easily. Directly underneath is a rather small "hold" button (to prevent accidental pressing of the buttons if you're carrying the unit in a pocket and something brushes up against it). I don't plan on using the hold button often and that's a good thing because the slider switch is quite small and I fear with heavy use it may pop off. I would rather have seen a third push button to activate a hold feature.
At first, when I opened the unit, I wondered how to put the batteries in. The reason is cleverness - the battery hatch is inside the unit. You open the disc access lid and there it is. The brilliant thing about this is two-fold: first, you won't ever have to worry about the batteries falling out, but secondly, it gives the VP-04 a smoother, more seamless look. Very ingenious.
THE DISPLAY
I am all for CD units that have backlit displays. We have digital watches and PDA's that have them as standard features yet manufacturers seem to want to skimp on adding them to portable sound units. The Virgin Pulse VP-04, thankfully, has a nice, Indiglo-style, blue readout that illuminates for 2 to 3 seconds every time you press a button when the unit is on. So if you're in a darkened room, and you want to see what's playing, you can tap any button (including the volume) to turn on the light. This was one of the features that sold me on the VP-04.
The display is also the largest of any of the CD/MP3 units I saw in the price class I was shopping (under $60). It's a two-line display, with 12 characters per line. One nitpick I do have about the display is that when it's scrolling information, it gets a bit "muddy" to read - far from a deal-breaker, though.
The top section of the display has indicators for the play mode (repeat track, repeat all, MP3, etc.) that are simple to understand. When you insert an MP3 or WMA disc, you can watch the display counting the folders and files - a really nice feature. I like knowing my electronics are doing something while I'm waiting.
THE SOUND
Being an all-digital unit, the VP-04 requires you to change the volume with up/down buttons on the side of the unit. Volume goes up to 20 gradations, and at top level I was really impressed with a pair of non-battery operated stereo speakers plugged in. If you take this unit on a trip and use portable speakers or if you're trying to hear it on an airplane you'll be pleased. I also never thought I would like earbud speakers but the ones that ship with the VP-04 are surprisingly comfortable as well as sounding very good.
The Virgin Pulse VP-04 has a number of equalizer presets for Rock, Classic, Jazz and Bass. There is no bass boost button, though, and the Bass setting isn't that impressive (it sounds more like they just cut the treble, is all). I would have liked to have seen a bass boost option. But in Normal setting everything sounds just fine.
MP3's and WMA's sound as good as conventional CD's so no problems on that front.
THE CONTROLS
The controls on the VP-04 are clustered around the edge of the LCD display. No complaints about the buttons - they don't feel cheap and are logical enough to use. Plus, from a visual appeal standpoint they look good, since they frame the LCD. Nice work, Virgin.
ONE MAJOR FLAW
Ah yes, the one major flaw - what I'll call "the one-second slip". I have noticed that when I play an MP3 or WMA disc with multiple tracks, that if the unit is set to play tracks at Random (or Shuffle them) the first second (00:01) of the track is cut off. This does not happen with conventional CD's (even ones I've burned myself) and I'm not sure why. I have even noticed this if the unit is playing in sequential order. The ends of tracks play fine, so I wonder why the first second is cut off - even the display begins at 00:00 for each MP3 track.
The product literature says you can't use 700 MB (80 minutes) CD's in the VP-04 for some reason, but that doesn't seem to be the cause. (It would be of limited use anyway, as 650 MB discs have all but disappeared, leaving only their 700 MB brethren ubiquitous.) I tried playing a couple of 650 MB (74 minutes) CD's with MP3's and got the same first-second-silent result. One 650 MB MP3 CD even gave a mysterious "Disc Error" message on the display - a very strange condition that almost made me chunk the unit. I eventually decided not to, because the raft of positive features were more than enough to counterbalance this annoyance. I have played about a half-dozen 700 MB discs that didn't generate a "Disc Error" message but I'm fairly certain I will be seeing this message from time to time.
THE VERDICT
At a street price of about $50, the Virgin Pulse VP-04 is a great 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. If you are an absolute perfectionist, though, as far as listening to every single second of your MP3 tracks - especially that first second - you won't be able to live with this unit. But if you're not that critical you will absolutely love all the other features the Virgin Pulse VP-04 has to offer.
I was actually lucky to find the VP-04 at a Target store for $24.98 and if you look around, you may be able to find one at this price. If you do, snap it up - a CD/MP3/WMA with this much going for it and a great sound is a steal at $25.
