Latte Espresso 8 Gb Video Mp3 Player Review

Its been about two months since I started using this video Mp3 player. At that time, the original price of this product on overstock.com was about $64. However, I had to pay $100 since I ordered harilo.com to ship it here, in Nepal. The Mp3 player is working just fine. I didn't expect much from it; I knew I cannot get a full-fledged state-of-the-art device for just sixty dollars. I was looking for something to pass time with, something simple which could play music and also let me watch movies. And I am pretty sure, it has fulfilled all my desires. The device is not perfect though. Like every other stuff, it has got its own pros and cons. I'll list the features and limitations of this device that I have encountered.

G Sensor - The video Mp3 player automatically rotates the screen based on the player's position. For example, if you hold it horizontally, the screen will also be horizontal whereas if you hold the player vertically, the screen will also turn vertical. The player can adjust/rotate the screen display (except for the video play) to any direction when you flip the player. On Video play, the screen display will always remain horizontal. This doesn't always function properly though. Sometimes, the player doesn't respond to the flips made. In that case, you have to make the flip from another end.For instance, if you turn the player to horizontal position and the screen just remains vertical, then you have to flip the player to the opposite horizontal end and then only the screen will turn into horizontal mode. This is one of the problems I have encountered with the player.

Audio Player - I found the audio quality flawless. It plays different music formats like MP3, WMA, FLAC, AAC, APE, and OGG. According to the user manual provided with the player, it can play music upto 15 hours. I haven't played music for so long on single charge, so I don't really know. You have the option of changing equalizer to seven different modes : Rock, Pop, Normal, Bass, Classic, Jazz, MS Play-FX. Moreover, you can also watch the lyrics while listening to a song. You have to name the lyrics file with the same name as the song's title and put in the same directory. The player only supports .lrc files for adding lyrics. Standard play modes like shuffle and repeat are also available. You can choose whether to display album art, song information, or equalizer while the song is being played. The maximum volume available from the player is upto 32 units.

Video Player - Contrary to what is mentioned on the user manual and the web, I've found that it can only play videos for not more than 3 hours on a single charge. Now, the best thing I like about this player is that it supports multiple file formats such as AVI, DAT, RM/RMVB, WMV, 3GP, MPG, and MP4. I tried playing FLV files, but with no luck. According to the user manual, the player can only support RM/RMVB video files (up to 720 X 576 resolution), AVI files (up to 800 X 480 resolution), FLV/WMV video files (up to 720 X 480 resolution). One more thing, you can play those divx coded 700 Mb movies that you download from torrent on this player directly, without having to convert into other formats. But, remember, the file format of those divx coded movies should be AVI. The player doesn't support MKV file format though. Another thing I like about this player is that the player has the video memory function. When the video play is interrupted or stopped and you want to play the same file again, the player will ask you "Continue from the last scene?". You can touch "Yes" to continue from the last stopped scene or "No" to start from the beginning. The quality of the video is good. Sometimes, the sound might get out of sync with the video. This might occur in some particular videos which the player has difficulty in playing. Other than that, its good enough.

Picture and Text Viewer - The picture browser supports JPEG, BMP and GIF formats. You can zoom in or zoom out the picture and go into slideshow mode as well.  The player supports text files saved as ".txt" and ".lrc" in ANSI code. You can listen to music and read a text file at the same time.

Other features :

• Radio/ FM transmitter
• Voice Recorder
• 3-inch LCD Touchscreen
• Haptic Technology

What's in the Box

• Latte Espresso 8 Gb Video Mp3 Player
• User Manual
• USB Cable (To transfer data & to charge the player)
• An Ear Phone (& Two extra rubber pads for it)
• A pouch to carry the Player
• Warranty Card
• Other Cards

One problem I've found with the player is that navigation by touching the screen is not good enough. The buttons on the touch screen are small and too close to each other, as a result, when you touch a button, the player shows that you have touched a different one. This will continue unless you flip the player to another end to change the position of the screen. You might face a problem while scrolling through the music list as well. If you hold the player horizontal and try to scroll through the scroll bar, it would not scroll the way you expect it to. Either it would keep on scrolling till the end, or it would jump directly to another music file. So, you have to use the next and back buttons to scroll through the list. The haptic technology is good though. It simply makes the player vibrate when you touch the screen, so that you know the player is responding.

The another thing about the player which many would dislike is that you cannot create multiple playlists. You can only create a "My Favorite" playlist. But, I think that's perfectly okay for a player which costs only sixty dollars.

The battery too is working perfectly. I haven't had any problem with it till now.

I liked the earphone a lot. It totally blocks outside noise and gives you a different experience while listening to music. But, unfortunately, it doesn't work no longer. I cannot hear any sound from the left earphone. And I guess, it was because I used to sleep with my earphones on. The wires must have loosened when I was moving on my bed.

There you go. I've listed everything about the product I've faced till now. If I experience something new, I'll update the post. Now, the decision is up to you whether you'd like to buy the product or not. Personally, I think the product is good enough for what you are paying. Sixty dollars is not a lot and you get what you paid for.