Priced at under $150 dollars, the Mega 516 is a great value for the non-audiophile user.
Summary
MSI has done two things wrong with the Mega 516. First they packaged some very cheap wrap-around style headphones with a fantastic audio player. And secondly they decided to use the smaller mini-jack headphone input. What this means is that people will have a very difficult time finding aftermarket headphones that will be compatible with this player — if at all.
The Mega 516 itself is a wonderful audio player and there are so many things right with it that it is just a shame to see a couple things holding it back. The integrated lithium-ion battery and OLED display make the Mega 516 a very unique player to begin with. Add to that expansion capabilities via the MMC/SD media card slot and you have a player that should stand out in a very crowded market.
What we would recommend to the MSI product design team is to use the standard headphone jack on this player, include a better set of ear buds, add USB 2.0 support and maybe support for Ogg Vorbis and AAC audio formats. MSI is definitely on the right track and we are excited to see what they come up with next. We think it would be safe for MSI to charge a little more for this player if that meant we could get better headphones. Priced at under $150 dollars, the Mega 516 is a great value for the non-audiophile user.
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by David on June 13, 2006:
“I love mine. It has enough memory on-board for a normal day's worth of songs, and you can expand it as much as you want with SD. I've got 2GB in mine and haven't filled it yet. Plus, you can listen to FM radio on it, and record FM if you want. I listen...” More...