Philips EXP 303 MP3 CD Player

It's a CD player that also reads MP3 files written to a CD-R or CD-RW. Because of the high level of compression many album's worth of songs can be stored on one 650 or 700 MB CD-R. Using 128kbps (kilobits per second), the standard MP3 compression rate, I was able to fit 16 albums on one 700MB CD-R! If you use a decent MP3 converter, you'll find it hard to tell the difference between the MP3 and the original. And if you use a higher "bitrate", 224kbps for instance, even the most dedicated audiophile will find it hard to tell the difference, although of course, you'll fit fewer songs on one CD.

The earlier Expanium models couldn't read disks created with Direct CD. Philips has now addressed this issue and I can confirm that the 303 will quite happily read CD-Rs and CD-RWs written using Direct CD, although it did take a long time to initially read the CD-RW.

Sound quality is great, even using decent quality headphones (the ones that come with the unit are not particularly good). There is a decent range of play modes (shuffle, shuffle all, repeat, repeat all, etc.) and a program mode. The unit boasts a 100 second anti-skip which works extremely well. I usually run the unit on the floor of my car, and can honestly say that I've never heard it skip.

Battery life is excellent, the manufacturer's claims actually turning out to be true, for once! The only thing lacking about this machine is a rechargeable battery and charger, which would have been nice, although the unit does come with a car kit which features a cigarette lighter adapter. Perfect for those long journeys!

The only other thing that is lacking is the ability to read ID3 tags. But if you structure your CD-Rs carefully, you won't miss this feature. Finding albums and songs on the unit couldn't be easier, with a big, clear LCD screen showing you album number and song number, along with lots of other useful information, such as battery life.

In summary, I can honestly recommend this product as among the best of the current crop of MP3 players. And at [the price]...you can truly say that you got a bargain! And how often does one get to say that?

And now for the not-so-good things; however good the sound is, there are a couple of things regarding this player that you should be aware of - firstly MP3 files are played in alphabetical order and not in track order, as trivial as this sounds it is actually quite anoying. The second issue is the lack of a remote control - OK it's specification does not include a remote control and neither do similarly priced products from other manufacturers (ie. Sony CDJ501).

So would I recommend it? Yes if you're looking for the best sounding MP3 CD player in its class and are not too bothered about the lack of a remote control.

Good:
brilliant electronics, i hardly ever have the esp switched on because it rarely skips when its off, even under vigarous shaking, and as an mp3 is loaded first before playing it (bit annoying as theres a pause between each track if ur listening to a mixed album in mp3) i dont bother haveing the ESP on, as it never skips at all

small/compact

decent sound quality,

bass options are vvv good, (all 3 settings - std, bass 1, bass 2)

quality hold fucntions (no hold/resume - resumes from point u were at in a cd when it turned off and then back on/full lock)

Bad:
wasnt too impressed with build quality, plastic seems slightly flimsy, and the lid bit doesnt feel like it has been made with the same sort of precision as say, a sony

button sizes - being big means the chance of pressing them much greater, too much greater, can get annoying when your listening to it and you accidentally glance over a button, or touch the wrong one and u skip a track halfway through it, or it stops, etc.

lid release catch, again its almost too big, have found accidentally opening cos its so big.

cud do with digital volume control, as the rotary volume dial is small and hard to find, and also a big plus that id pay extra for is one of the small inline remotes (even if just basic to do a track skip/volume/play/stop and hold, ...like on the sonys)

mp3 playback is sometimes dodgy, you can have a perfect mp3 on ur computer, that plays pefectly from a cd on the computer, using various mp3 player software, yet every so often, on the expanium, u will listen to a mp3 and get a "blip" or it wil even jsut like cut out half a second without any music interuption, not frequent enough to cause complaint tho (has happened even when the esp is on).

thats abotu it really, oh yeah, as with many other perspnal audio units, the headphones have one headphone with a wire thats longer than the other, In my opinion this is well annoying. other than that i think the headphones are a pretty cool design with the rubber extension to hold them in ur ear better, just not a brilliant design for those of you with big build ups of ear wax ;)

one other thing,

this doesnt play cd-rs created using direct drive, drap and drop facility, i.e the cd has to be closed before it will read mp3s. thats all :D not a big minus as i dont think any others play them either but i thought id let u lot know.

Overall, i still love it, and wudnt change it unless philips bring out a replacement, with the aforementioned impreovements. worth it if u can get it for a good price.