Introduction
Nextar, a consumer electronics company that also manufacturers GPS systems, digital photo frames, and Bluetooth-based products, has increased its catalog of portable MP3/media players by releasing the Nextar T30. This budget PMP can handle audio, video, and photos; additional features include, an e-book reader, voice recorder, FM radio tuner, SD/MMC expansion slot, and the ability to output sound via a built-in speaker. Read this Nextar T30 review to find out if this all-rounder makes the grade.
Before You Buy
Pros:
- Good sized LCD screen with a display that has good definition
- Detailed mid to high audio frequencies
- Excellent feature set and package contents
Cons:
- Media file transfer speed is slow
- Only AVI format natively supported for video
- Supplied earbuds give low bass output
System Requirements:
- Microsoft Windows XP / Vista / 2000
- Pentium II 350Mhz or higher
- USB port
- CD-ROM drive
- 64Mb RAM / 120Mb free hard drive space or more
Style & Design: The T30 measures 4.1” (h) x 2.9” (l) x 0.5” (d) and weighs 3.7 ounces. It is styled in a glossy black finish, otherwise known as piano black, and there is thin orange edging that protects the casing from minor knocks. Visually, the unit’s overall style is sleek and quite smart looking but may be uninspiring if you prefer brighter colors. An SD/MMC card slot is provided on the unit to give you up to 2Gb of extra storage; in total you can expand the device to 6Gb (including built-in flash memory) to store songs, videos, photos, and other types of files.
Package Contents:
- Nextar T30 4GB media player
- Carry pouch
- AC adapter
- USB cable
- Earbuds
- AV cable
- Instruction manual and quick start guide
- CD containing AVI conversion software and firmware upgrade tool
Getting Started
Battery Charging: The Nextar T30 has an internal 1000 mAH Li-ion battery that can be charged with the supplied AC adapter, or your computer's USB port. The supplied USB cable is long enough to reach around the back of most computers that don’t have front USB ports. According to Nextar's user manual, a fully charged battery will provide up to 8 hours for audio, and 4 hours for video playback. The figures for MP3 audio are disappointing considering that competing PMPs, such as the SanDisk Sansa Fuze, has three times the audio playing time.
Earbuds: The Nextar T30 comes with a set of ear canal headphones and are comfortable to wear. There is a generous length of wiring that is attached to a 2.5mm gold-plated jack plug. There is also a 3.5mm to 2.5mm converter lead if you want to use an existing pair of earbuds that have a 3.5mm jack plug. The earbuds supplied with the T30 have poor bass response, while the mid to high frequencies are nicely detailed. If you listen to music that has a fair amount of bass then you'll be disappointed with the supplied set.
Transferring Music: Once you hook up the T30 via your USB port you will see two removable storage devices; the second one is the SD/MMC slot. During testing, the Nextar T30 synchronized without any problems, but file transfer was slow. Transferring a 60Mb album took approximately 60 seconds to complete; scale this up for ten albums and you're looking at waiting 10 minutes to transfer 600Mb. To check that it wasn't the USB 2.0 port, we connected a spare media player and transferred the same album in 18 seconds.
Device Features
Controls: The multi-functional buttons on the Nextar T30 are neatly situated along the edge of the unit. On the top edge there are control buttons for power, record, skip previous/next track, and return. The other control buttons are on the right edge and are volume up/down, and play/pause. Having the buttons on the edge of the unit made using the Nextar T30 comfortable, but sometimes it wasn't easy to see which button was being pressed.
Menu System: The Nextar T30 has a good looking menu system that is colorful and pleasing to the eye. The main menu is icon-driven and can be rotated to select a function. Playing a music track displays information such as, battery level, track number, artist, and bitrate. There is also a progress bar, track time elapsed/remaining, and an excellent real-time 16-band audio spectrum analyzer. The menu system on the Nextar T30 is easy to learn but can be confusing at times. Selecting video for example from the main menu displays other unrelated media folders.
Screen Display: The T30 has a 3.5 inch 262K LCD color screen with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. The screen display is sharp and the brightness can be adjusted to suit your preferences. You'll find the T30's LCD screen great for watching video and viewing photos.
FM Radio: A built-in FM radio is a great bonus feature on the T30 that isn't always included on a portable MP3/media player. There are 20 presets for you to store your favorite radio stations and you can even record the station you are listening to by using the record button.
Voice Recording: The Nextar T30 can double as a dictation machine using a built-in microphone to record your voice and storing it for later playback; useful if you need to remember something! The audio quality is excellent and the microphone has good sensitivity.
E-book Reader: If you've got e-books in the .txt format then you'll be able to read them while listening to music. There are also 9 bookmark slots that you can use to save your position.
File Formats:
The video conversion software that comes with the T30 enables you to convert a wide selection of video formats to AVI.Video and Sound Quality: The quality of the sound is good with the mid to high-end frequencies being nicely detailed. However, using the supplied earbuds gives a low bass output; using a different set of earphones revealed a good level of bass output from the T30. The video quality has excellent definition.
Conclusion
The Nextar T30 is a reasonably good budget media player, but does have a few drawbacks that could influence your final decision. If you're looking for the maximum amount of features and don't mind its slower than average file transfer speed,and earbuds that aren't hot on bass output, then the T30 still has a lot going for it. The LCD screen is excellent and produces a nice, sharp image especially for watching videos, or viewing photos. The e-book viewer is a great addition if you like to read and listen to music on the move. And finally, the FM radio and voice recorder make this PMP quite a versatile device.
