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DAPreview (video-) reviews the MobiBLU B153
comment: 31 | Saturday, April 22 (2006) 04:45PM | Posted by Robert Sinke
W00t! What's this then? Two DAPreviews in a few days time, that can't be right? Hm. Even written by the same guy, bah.

Don't worry - the DAH-2000 review was pretty much being compiled at the same as this one - our take on the MobiBLU B153.

Does this player really need any additional introduction? Ok, in case you've just been born or if you haven't been looking for a new DAP for too long, we'll pull the compulsory "What's this again?" routine out of our Mad Hatter's Hat. The MobiBLU B153 appears to be nothing more than a rather bulky-looking, run-of-the-mill, super-generic DAP. However, sometimes, there's more than meets the eye. It turned out that this heavyweight among flash DAPs has lots of gimmicks installed under the hood (timed FM recording, LCD pivot, bookmarking). On top of that, more important stuff like sound quality, affordability and the basic array of "Korean" features (voice recorder, FM radio & line-in encoder) have not been neglected.


The B153's most important feature has to be the battery life, of course. That's why it was renamed/aliased from "DAH-1900" to "B153" in the first place - supposedly, one can get up to 153 hours worth of battery juice out of this blobby little fellow. Well, we've tried our best of course - and it did indeed run for quite some time (although the stated figures weren't within our grasp just yet). If you go all crazily-madly-insane and switch on all the power-hungry extras... it'll still make up to nearly 70 hours per charge. But why are we spoling all the fun in here already? Go read the review!



As usual, the full video review is available for registered members only. Click HERE and enjoy the ride.

Non-registered visitors can read up on the non-video version HERE. But why not sign up right away?


[Some additional info on the review's lay-out can be found below. Click the link.]


[ Read the rest ... ]
Comments

Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2786
Apr 22 (2006) 05:43PM  

Great review as always. The pictures are very nice, as were the videos. This is definitely one of the few players that I would buy even though I didn't like the design of it all that much. Timed FM recordings is a very nice feature that all dap's should include.




Allen
Location: Dub Vee Ooo
Comments: 1511
Apr 22 (2006) 09:02PM  

A nice review indeed Lots of pics with size comparisons, (a good thing)




Clashman

Comments: 43
Apr 22 (2006) 10:14PM  

Do you have to be of a certain member level in order to see the videos? Because every time I click on the video links, it redirects me to the non-video index, even though I'm logged in.




Dark Leth

Comments: 18
Apr 22 (2006) 10:16PM  

Well-written review! I am constantly surprised by your sites excellence and professionialism within your writing - much more than other sites *coughengadgetcough*.




Clashman

Comments: 43
Apr 22 (2006) 10:21PM  

Forget what i said before. It looks like it was just logging me out for some random reason when I clicked on the link. Logging back in allowed me to watch.




608zz
Location: DC metro area.
Comments: 270
Apr 22 (2006) 10:41PM  

Robert, click on your link for the 1GB iAudio G3 and it's down to $100 USD @ Amazon, so more likely less expensive than this Mobiblu. Better device overall, too.




Robert Sinke

Comments: 1221
Apr 22 (2006) 10:43PM  

can't say that unless you've toyed around with both. Amazing price differences between the continents, tho.




608zz
Location: DC metro area.
Comments: 270
Apr 22 (2006) 11:07PM  

Seeing as this MobiBL__ doesn't do OGG, the G3 tops it in the amount of music it can hold. And seeing as the G3 has virtually unlimited battery life, it even rules in that aspect. So that's where I'm coming from.

It would be interesting to compare of Mach3Bass with TruBass, 3D-Surround with SRS, BBE with [oops, Mobi has nothing to compare here].




Design Fabulous

Comments: 1038
Apr 23 (2006) 01:35AM  

^ The G3 is famous for falling apart. It really is not a solid player. The MobiBlu seems better to me.




608zz
Location: DC metro area.
Comments: 270
Apr 23 (2006) 03:27AM  

Really now. And where can I read about this?

I've been using mine for 11 months, often enough, yet not even a scratch. I haven't heard of an iAudio G3 being fragile.




Design Fabulous

Comments: 1038
Apr 23 (2006) 03:28AM  

That's why everyone I saw with the G3 has theirs falling apart. Scratches I don't know but the thing does fall apart. And yes I am an iAudio fan, just stating the facts.




Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2786
Apr 23 (2006) 03:32AM  

Facts? This is honestly the first time I'm hearing about them falling apart. He asked for sources and you mention anectdotal evidence, which is far from fact. The real fact is there is no widespread fragility with the G3. This is not really the place for this discussion to continue either so let's please take that issue to a forum.
[ edited Apr 23 (2006) 03:32AM ]




Martinp

Comments: 299
Apr 23 (2006) 04:08AM  

Hmmz, my G3 has gone broke once - needed to send it in to get it fixed ...




Robert Sinke

Comments: 1221
Apr 23 (2006) 07:51AM  

hey. stick to the topic at hand or create your own "iAudio G3 falling apart - bogus or not" thread plz . Thank you.




Cassiopeia

Comments: 188
Apr 23 (2006) 01:47PM  

This one seems to be solid dap, I am quite interested, if I need a new flash dap.




Swmr617

Comments: 23
Apr 23 (2006) 06:43PM  

Great review, pretty cool player, but I'm not completely impressed, and it's because of the bulkyness of this player. All of the little flash players that sony makes get great battery life, I'm pretty sure all of them get at least 50 hours of battery life on a charge. Yet they aren't at all bulky. Of course, you don't get the same amount of features that you get with the Mobiblu, but it's still really bulky.




X-Nemesis

Comments: 56
Apr 23 (2006) 08:25PM  

Really too bad this isn't available in a 4gig flavour




Michael
Location: New York City
Comments: 2786
Apr 23 (2006) 10:35PM  

Yeah, maybe they'll upgrade to higher capacities like they did with the cube. If they had a 4gb and kept the pricing at a reasonable level I'd get one.




arsenic

Comments: 6
Apr 23 (2006) 10:59PM  

Do you know Robert where can I find a replacement battery of the B153 ? How much it cost ?




Thebassness
Location: In a crappy little place called duluth,ga
Comments: 168
Apr 23 (2006) 11:31PM  

why would you want a replacement battery?




arsenic

Comments: 6
Apr 24 (2006) 08:00AM  

I prefer to prevent that to cure, when the battery dies, in a few years, I wish to be able to replace it.




Robert Sinke

Comments: 1221
Apr 24 (2006) 11:14AM  

It's an 18500URF, made by Sanyo: [Linky]

Fairly easy to get by and to replace.

See this article: [Linky]




Lacene
Location: Standing Here, Confused By Your
Comments: 827
Apr 24 (2006) 02:38PM  

looks like the nexia chip can be upgradable to 4GB capacity plus expandable memory, and supports video, VOIP, Bluetooth, and games as well. There's a lot of scalable room for this DAP, or a future generation of it......




jeccou
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Comments: 4
Apr 24 (2006) 03:54PM  

Great review and very nice with more options in the market! It's not for me, but a lot of people are bound to be interested in something like this. Too bad about the 2 GB max capacity, but at least that's better than 1 GB I suppose...




arsenic

Comments: 6
Apr 25 (2006) 06:59AM  

Thank you Robert. I can found this in any electronic shop ? Radio Shack for example ?

Otherwise, do you think upcoming 4GB capacity of the B153 is possible soon ?




Robert Sinke

Comments: 1221
Apr 25 (2006) 07:26AM  

Hmmm... not sure about your first question. The Cube was available at Walmart, but that was only logical given its successful design factor and whatnot. Online shops are still your best bet, I guess.

A 4GB version is possible, and I don't see why they didn't release one immediately seeing as how cheap the B153 turned out to be (for the US anyway). So maybe there's a problem with the supplier; the chipset's supposed to support up to 4GB. Maybe in a month, or two.




arsenic

Comments: 6
Apr 25 (2006) 09:37AM  

Where to shop, I'm talking about battery But, for the player, I will buy it online, via Mobiblu America. Is here you buy your ?




Robert Sinke

Comments: 1221
Apr 25 (2006) 09:44AM  

Oh... hm. Dunno. Haven't browsed for the battery yet. Saw some Japanese "spare part electronics" shops offering it, didn't bother to really look for a Western-based one yet... assuming that the battery will last for at least a couple of years .




arsenic

Comments: 6
Apr 25 (2006) 02:18PM  

Ok ok

And where have you buy your B153 ?




Robert Sinke

Comments: 1221
Apr 25 (2006) 02:48PM  

We received our sample during the CeBIT of last March (alongside with the DAH-2000).




squeezebox

Comments: 1
Jul 21 (2006) 05:28PM  

Hey Robert,

Does the B153s "tempo control" feature also affect pitch, or did they do a true time-stretch algorithm (like my 5-year old Jukebox 3?)




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