Gadget Guild

The new ,4GB and  8Gb  Flash versions have manage to improve on what was already a good thing ,the previous  year’s HDD- based 30GB Ibiza Rhapsody
Wi-Fi music player. Indeed  the 4GB and 8GB flash versions may be giving the  iPod nano a  run for its money.

The Ibiza  Rhapsody players are compatible with Rhapsody’ subscription music service , and are under the scrutiny since they entered market.. (Check out  review from last year.)

Though these are not the very pretty digital music players in the market, they
are one of the most powerful players. And the best part is that they do not
need a PC to download a lot of songs and  podcasts.

The new Flash version 4GB and 8GB come with a bright razor-sharp 2.5 inch
display, while a touch-sensitive  track pad allows to zoom through list of songs
with a flick of fingertip. Weighing just 3.2 ounces ,the Flash player is much
lighter than the HDD –based big brother which weighs 4.9 ounces. The 4GB
is priced $199  and 8GB is $229. Still it is worth as the Ibiza  is quite larger
than the Flash version  of Wi-Fi enabled Zune.

Flash Ibiza,  its seamless integration  with Rhapsody has a class of its own

Once connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot and account information is entered,
you are free to browse top artists, albums, staff picks, genres,  or search
Rhapsody’s catalog of five million –plus songs. ( There is no trouble
connecting to WPA-protected home network).

Click on an artist and you will get a slick profile page, including pictures and
links to a biography, music samplers, popular tracks, and similar artists.

One can also choose from dozens of  Rhapsody streaming music channels.
Just click to keep a song,  get artists information, or see more tunes in the
same genre.

The Rhapsody’s membership of  “ on the go” subscription plan is $15/month
to take the full advantage of the Ibiza’s  features. Although new Ibiza users
get a months subscription free.

The Ibiza player also allows to explore, subscribe, and listen to podcast, and
it will download new  podcast automatically over Wi-Fi.

The built-in FM tuner ,a browser, access to AOL video, and downloadable
UI skins. It can even play regular MP3 music files. This tops it of all.

Originally the hard drive – based Ibiza had a complain of being sluggish
interface at times,  some times taking a few seconds to respond to click

The performance of  the  Flash player , the cursor flows through various
menus with almost no lag. Now the player has  an equalizer with four
presets. Still  a user-defined mode would have been even better.

The batteries manufactured by Ibiza Rhapsody ,by the name Haier America
has a life of 15 hours., though many Flash based players batteries run for
about 24 hours. But for specially the music lovers looking new tunes or
new podcast it is pretty nice.

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