Lexar LDP-200 (512 MB) MP3 Player
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- Number of Songs: 120
- Usage: Music
- Interface: USB 2.0
- Main Storage Type: Secure Digital (SD) Card
- Expansion Slots: SD Memory Cards
- Storage Capacity: 512 MB
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The LDP-200 is an overall cheap player that has its uses
Pros
Average $35 without card. You can insert any size SD card. Above average sound
Cons
Little bulky, poor navigation especially with large SD cards. Feels a bit cheap. Limited features.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Good budget player especially for people with spare SD just lying around. Otherwise, there are better and more feature rich players for the cost of admission.
The LDP-200 is Lexar's latest entry into affordable music players. For about $40 I got a LDP-200 without any SD card bundled in the package. For someone who has so many MP3 players already, why the heck did I buy this one?! Well... I have a ton of extra SD cards from my frequent updating of digital camera and PDAs... so I have 64, 128, 256, and 512MB cards all sitting around. The Lexar LDP-200 requires a SD card to store and play back songs so it was a small investment to make those older SD cards useful again.
Price
I paid $35 plus $4 shipping and handling. I didn't have to pay sales tax since I bought the unit from J&R Music World and had the unit shipped to New Jersey. I did get a small rebate from ebates however.
You can read my epinion The Art of Buying... Getting your money's worth! for tips on maximizing your money on online shopping.
Short Take
I bought the LDP-200 without any SD cards... which is the cheapest option. There are bundles with a 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB low speed Lexar SD card which significantly increases the price. Personally, I would buy the SD card seperately unless you really need the blue colored LDP-200 (only packaged with the 512MB and 1GB SD cards) otherwise you get the red LDP-200 (the 256MB package also has a red LDP-200 packaged with it).
Overall, the LDP-200 has simple controls, simple operation, and surprising clear sound. However, simple is the word of the day... the unit is very basic in operation with no user defined playlists, extremely limited equalizer functions, difficult navigation for large SD cards (1GB and higher). However, considering the price for the basic hardware and the sound quality, it is an acceptable tradeoff... especially with the flexibility in storage since you can utilize those old and small capacity SD cards. The LDP-200 is not the smallest unit out there but it is pocketable.
The other function of the LDP-200 is a USB 2.0 flash hard drive... where it is as speedy as other USB 2.0 thumb drives on the market. Note that the SD card used will make differences in the transfer speed as well.
At the end, the LDP-200 isn't the best flash based MP3 player on the market... but it makes a great companion or starter unit and doesn't hurt your wallet to boot!
Who do I think the LDP-200 is for?
Overall, the LDP-200 is most suited as an entry unit especially for people who have extra SD cards for their other electronics. I think it is a decent companion unit to those of you with a hard-drive based MP3 player that uses WMA (Windows Media Audio) files. iPod users should stick with the iPod Shuffle if their collection has many downloads from iTunes or burned from a CD in a non-MP3 format through iTunes. There are smaller and more fashionable units than the LDP-200 if that is your concern.
Size and Specs
The LDP-200 is pocketable but it isn't small by flash memory MP3 standards... likely due to the fact that the LDP-200 has no internal memory and relies on user changable SD cards for playback. The package with no SD card included is a bright red color with gray/dull silver sides and a 3 line blue lit LCD screen that is easy to read and below it a power button, a "menu" button, and a 5-way joystick. You have a hold switch on one (left) side with the SD slot. The other (right) side has the headphone port with the mini-USB port and lanyard hole. The back has the cover to the single AAA battery slot.
There is no doubt that the unit is made of plastic... the unit is rather light although a bit on the bulky side compared to other flash unit players (Note that the LDP-200 is overall 3/4 the size of a deck of cards although a bit thicker than a deck of cards because of the curved shape.
Powering Up
The large silver button to the left of the mini-joystick is the power button. The unit takes 1 to 2 seconds to power up... you have to wait for the Lexar logo and several vertical lines to cross the screen before the main display appears. It takes about the same time to shut off the unit. The LDP-200 will remember the last song playing on the system but will not remember where during the play of that song when you shut off the unit. The unit will forget if you need to change the battery.
Sounds
Impressive for the price and build quality... a non-discriminating user should be satisfied with it. The included earphones are decent and adequately comfortable. You might notice the sound distortion at the high and low ends. Volume is adequate and can reach a somewhat high setting although I didn't feel like my model (firmware 0.5) could really blow out my ears at the highest setting.
Navigation
The mini-joystick controls fast forward, reverse, and volume control during playback. Depressing on the stick acts as the play/pause button.
Given the basic feature set... there are two ways to navigate the songs stored on your SD card. First is going through the list via fast forward and reverse on the joystick. This takes you one song at a time to your desired song. This is a pain if you used a large SD (512MB and higher) card and/or have greater than 20 songs on your LDP-200. Note that a 512MB card should hold up to 120 songs at approx 4 minutes a song encoded into 128kHz MP3 files. I have 80 songs in MP3 and WMA files at higher bitrates (128kHz up to 256kHz encoding) which gives me less space to play with.
The other method is to press on the Menu button. This will get you a windows style file menu where it is a bit easier to find the song you want to play... assuming you organized your music before transferring/storing it on the SD card. If you created directories on the SD card say by album or artist, you will have an easier time with navigating through your music. If you threw all your songs onto the SD card, it is frustrating to find the particular song you want. Note that WMA protected files must be transferred via Windows Media Player (I'm using version 10 by the way) since Lexar does not include any additional software with the LDP-200!
Note that your music files are organized alphabetically with the contents of subdirectories display higher on the list.
LCD
On regular play, it will display the title on the middle line... this will scroll across to display long titles. The top line shows the play/pause icon, equalizer setting, time into the song, battery power (4 bar display) and the repeat setting (i.e. normal, repeat 1 song, or repeat all songs). The bottom line shows the file type, recording quality, and output to L and R speaker zones.
Battery Power
It uses 1 AAA battery that should last 10 hours of continuous play. You get an Energizer AAA battery in the package... so far, I've gotten 6 to 7 hours in on and off use.
Menu Settings
If you hold the menu button for 3 seconds, the LDP-200 will enter a limited menu that allows you to change the following:
1. Repeat- Set to Normal play, Repeat 1 song, and Repeat all songs
2. Play mode- Normal playback versus 10 sec intro for each track when you turn on the player
3. Equalizer setting- choose from Normal mode, Classic, Rock, Jazz, and Pop
As a Flash Drive?
As per HDTach 3.1:
Sequential Read Speed in 0.8 MB/sec
Random Access with 35.5ms
This was done with a standard Sandisk 512MB SD card.
I have not tried a Sandisk Ultra II 1GB SD card in the unit as of yet.
Packaging
The LDP-200 comes in a blister pack that also includes a USB to mini-USB cable and a lanyard. This is on top of the earphones and the sparse manuals.
Biggest Downsides
The lack of a playlist function and the bulkier size versus other flash memory players are the biggest drawbacks. However, there are very few flash based players that allow you to upgrade the size of the storage memory.
Tips
Buy the SD card seperately from the LDP-200 package... you're more likely to get a bigger card for less money. The 1GB LDP-200 package costs $179 MRSP! You can get a base LDP-200 for $40 and a SanDisk Ultra II 1GB SD card for around $80-90. That's $40-50 cheaper with a much faster SD card that you can use in other devices like a digital camera or a PDA!
Price
I paid $35 plus $4 shipping and handling. I didn't have to pay sales tax since I bought the unit from J&R Music World and had the unit shipped to New Jersey. I did get a small rebate from ebates however.
You can read my epinion The Art of Buying... Getting your money's worth! for tips on maximizing your money on online shopping.
Short Take
I bought the LDP-200 without any SD cards... which is the cheapest option. There are bundles with a 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB low speed Lexar SD card which significantly increases the price. Personally, I would buy the SD card seperately unless you really need the blue colored LDP-200 (only packaged with the 512MB and 1GB SD cards) otherwise you get the red LDP-200 (the 256MB package also has a red LDP-200 packaged with it).
Overall, the LDP-200 has simple controls, simple operation, and surprising clear sound. However, simple is the word of the day... the unit is very basic in operation with no user defined playlists, extremely limited equalizer functions, difficult navigation for large SD cards (1GB and higher). However, considering the price for the basic hardware and the sound quality, it is an acceptable tradeoff... especially with the flexibility in storage since you can utilize those old and small capacity SD cards. The LDP-200 is not the smallest unit out there but it is pocketable.
The other function of the LDP-200 is a USB 2.0 flash hard drive... where it is as speedy as other USB 2.0 thumb drives on the market. Note that the SD card used will make differences in the transfer speed as well.
At the end, the LDP-200 isn't the best flash based MP3 player on the market... but it makes a great companion or starter unit and doesn't hurt your wallet to boot!
Who do I think the LDP-200 is for?
Overall, the LDP-200 is most suited as an entry unit especially for people who have extra SD cards for their other electronics. I think it is a decent companion unit to those of you with a hard-drive based MP3 player that uses WMA (Windows Media Audio) files. iPod users should stick with the iPod Shuffle if their collection has many downloads from iTunes or burned from a CD in a non-MP3 format through iTunes. There are smaller and more fashionable units than the LDP-200 if that is your concern.
Size and Specs
The LDP-200 is pocketable but it isn't small by flash memory MP3 standards... likely due to the fact that the LDP-200 has no internal memory and relies on user changable SD cards for playback. The package with no SD card included is a bright red color with gray/dull silver sides and a 3 line blue lit LCD screen that is easy to read and below it a power button, a "menu" button, and a 5-way joystick. You have a hold switch on one (left) side with the SD slot. The other (right) side has the headphone port with the mini-USB port and lanyard hole. The back has the cover to the single AAA battery slot.
There is no doubt that the unit is made of plastic... the unit is rather light although a bit on the bulky side compared to other flash unit players (Note that the LDP-200 is overall 3/4 the size of a deck of cards although a bit thicker than a deck of cards because of the curved shape.
Powering Up
The large silver button to the left of the mini-joystick is the power button. The unit takes 1 to 2 seconds to power up... you have to wait for the Lexar logo and several vertical lines to cross the screen before the main display appears. It takes about the same time to shut off the unit. The LDP-200 will remember the last song playing on the system but will not remember where during the play of that song when you shut off the unit. The unit will forget if you need to change the battery.
Sounds
Impressive for the price and build quality... a non-discriminating user should be satisfied with it. The included earphones are decent and adequately comfortable. You might notice the sound distortion at the high and low ends. Volume is adequate and can reach a somewhat high setting although I didn't feel like my model (firmware 0.5) could really blow out my ears at the highest setting.
Navigation
The mini-joystick controls fast forward, reverse, and volume control during playback. Depressing on the stick acts as the play/pause button.
Given the basic feature set... there are two ways to navigate the songs stored on your SD card. First is going through the list via fast forward and reverse on the joystick. This takes you one song at a time to your desired song. This is a pain if you used a large SD (512MB and higher) card and/or have greater than 20 songs on your LDP-200. Note that a 512MB card should hold up to 120 songs at approx 4 minutes a song encoded into 128kHz MP3 files. I have 80 songs in MP3 and WMA files at higher bitrates (128kHz up to 256kHz encoding) which gives me less space to play with.
The other method is to press on the Menu button. This will get you a windows style file menu where it is a bit easier to find the song you want to play... assuming you organized your music before transferring/storing it on the SD card. If you created directories on the SD card say by album or artist, you will have an easier time with navigating through your music. If you threw all your songs onto the SD card, it is frustrating to find the particular song you want. Note that WMA protected files must be transferred via Windows Media Player (I'm using version 10 by the way) since Lexar does not include any additional software with the LDP-200!
Note that your music files are organized alphabetically with the contents of subdirectories display higher on the list.
LCD
On regular play, it will display the title on the middle line... this will scroll across to display long titles. The top line shows the play/pause icon, equalizer setting, time into the song, battery power (4 bar display) and the repeat setting (i.e. normal, repeat 1 song, or repeat all songs). The bottom line shows the file type, recording quality, and output to L and R speaker zones.
Battery Power
It uses 1 AAA battery that should last 10 hours of continuous play. You get an Energizer AAA battery in the package... so far, I've gotten 6 to 7 hours in on and off use.
Menu Settings
If you hold the menu button for 3 seconds, the LDP-200 will enter a limited menu that allows you to change the following:
1. Repeat- Set to Normal play, Repeat 1 song, and Repeat all songs
2. Play mode- Normal playback versus 10 sec intro for each track when you turn on the player
3. Equalizer setting- choose from Normal mode, Classic, Rock, Jazz, and Pop
As a Flash Drive?
As per HDTach 3.1:
Sequential Read Speed in 0.8 MB/sec
Random Access with 35.5ms
This was done with a standard Sandisk 512MB SD card.
I have not tried a Sandisk Ultra II 1GB SD card in the unit as of yet.
Packaging
The LDP-200 comes in a blister pack that also includes a USB to mini-USB cable and a lanyard. This is on top of the earphones and the sparse manuals.
Biggest Downsides
The lack of a playlist function and the bulkier size versus other flash memory players are the biggest drawbacks. However, there are very few flash based players that allow you to upgrade the size of the storage memory.
Tips
Buy the SD card seperately from the LDP-200 package... you're more likely to get a bigger card for less money. The 1GB LDP-200 package costs $179 MRSP! You can get a base LDP-200 for $40 and a SanDisk Ultra II 1GB SD card for around $80-90. That's $40-50 cheaper with a much faster SD card that you can use in other devices like a digital camera or a PDA!
