Price Paid:  $171.00 from Pogoproducts.com

Model Reviewed:
RipFlash Plus 256

Summary:
I purchased a RipFlash Plus 256 MP3 player/recorder in June 2004 to record voice interviews. Major flaws in its construction and in its download software mean you are very likely to lose your recordings. To make matters worse, customer support is very resistant to issuing refunds for faulty equipment (I bought mine direct at Pogoproducts.com).

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It produces decent sound quality, though the recordings have a constant low-level hum in the background.

Two main problems with the unit make it very problematic for capturing recordings:

1) The software provided (and required) to download the sound files to computer over USB is very flakey - sometimes it works, sometimes does not connect, sometimes downloads only part of the sound file but indicates it is "done." This happens on both of the newer Dell computers that I've tried it on. By contrast, all other devices I attach to the USB ports on these same computers exchange files flawlessly.

2) The RipFlash Plus is able to hold a SmartMedia card and record to it. This would seem to be an alternative to downloading through the USB connection - just remove the SmartMedia card, insert it into your computers card reader, and copy off the files. BUT . . . the ejector button on the RipFlash broke the second time I ejected a card, and appears likely to break on any unit. The ejector button pushes the card out with two very tiny brittle plastic tabs. It takes almost nothing to break one (in my case, just ejecting the card did it.) Then, you can't get the card out, or if you do fish it out, you can no longer position it in correctly without the button in place.

Regarding pogoproducts.com customer support . . . when the unit arrived in the mail, I discovered that they had thrown in a "voice activated TV remote" - at no charge, and without any advance notice - a device they don't sell on their site. I can't imagine anything more useless than that so I tossed it immediately. After obtaining an RMA from them and returning the broken RipFlash, they at first tried to charge me a "restocking" fee for the useless recorder. After I put my credit card company on their case, they finally refunded the full amount. Then, they decided they needed to charge me $40 for the throw-away remote that they had sent unsolicited, so they made a new charge on my card for it.

You might want to consider the options before you decide to try the RipFlash Plus.

Rob

Strengths:
Decent sound quality except for background hum.
Good battery life.

Weaknesses:
Fragile parts break easily.
Awful customer support.
MP3 download software is quite flakey.

Similar Products Used:
Sony voice recorder.