Price Paid:  $199.00 from received as gift

Summary:
I've had my sensory science mp3 player for a little over a year now. It has 64mb of ram (which isnt a lot now since various portable jukeboxes have come out with 6GB or more of memory)with a slot for another 32mb flashmedia, a microphone with a line in jack for recording sound, and provides an adequate number of hours of playback with one AA battery. It also has an AC adapter jack although it doesnt come with one. The price I paid was hefty since I got it when it first came out. I would recommend it if I did this review a year ago, but with the newer, better, large capacity mp3 players available now, it would be better to leave this one alone.

Strengths:
Good sound, above average battery life, mic w/ line in jack, sturdy

Weaknesses:
uploads files with parallel port instead of USB, low volume output

Similar Products Used:
rio mp3 cd player

Price Paid:  $250.00 from outpost.com

Model Reviewed:
Rave MP 2200

Summary:
Love it. It was rated #1 by PC World, and ZDnet. The headphones could use some work but the in-line remote is great and convenient. Sensory Science really did great in upgrading the rave mp. The 2200 is compact, light, has great internal memory and the voice recording and fm stereo are excellent. I highly recommend this product and it is definately worth the price.

Strengths:
Compact
Good battery life
Great Organization

Weaknesses:
Poor quality headphones

Similar Products Used:
Diamond Rio

Model Reviewed:
RaveMP 64

Summary:
Update to my update... the unit has completely stopped working. I just ordered a Rio for $169, and a second smartmedia card to give me 128mb of memory. The ravemp is going in the trash, I'm pissed that I wasted my money on this in an effort to save a few bucks.

I'm giving it 1 star simply because "none" is not an option.

Strengths:
none

Weaknesses:
everything

Similar Products Used:
None

Model Reviewed:
RaveMP 2100

Summary:
First of all, I'm very pleased with this product. I bought it mainly because the price was right ($160 on mercata.com). I'd seen some reviews on it and it seemed to be a decent dependable product.
I must agree with the low quality of the headphones though. They aren't really horrible, but if you use the eq settings they distort quite a bit. I figure with the addition of some quality headphones the sound would be a lot nicer.
The software is very user-friendly, and doesn't take long at all to learn. It is slow however, and I would really like some USB support. The parallel port just isn't fast enough and uses too much of the processor. I max the transfer out at 170 Kbps, and 140 Kbps if I'm running any large programs.
The microphone is useful, and I've used it in class before. It seems to be a bit too sensitive though, and if there is any background noise it gets picked up very easily.
I haven't used the phone number stuff, so I don't know how useful it is.

One important note: I did also experience the loud static problem with the original unit I had. I emailed mercata.com about it though, and they were very helpful. They just needed confirmation from the company that the problem was not a problem I caused. This was very easy to get, Sensory Science responded very quickly and noted the problem that I guess was a recurring defect with early units. Needless to say I got a new unit in less than a week and haven't had any problems with the new one.

Strengths:
--price is right. even for $200.
--good customer service

Weaknesses:
--no USB
--low-quality headphones provided

Similar Products Used:
none

Model Reviewed:
Rave MP

Summary:
I have owned the Rio, which eventually broke. The main problem was the cheap plastic and the 32 Meg storage, which was inadequate. I buy these MP3 players mainly for running, and I am not too picky with listening to the same stuff all the time, as long as there is a good amount of songs loaded. Therefore, I lower the bit rate to 80k per second. Thrilled to have 64 meg, and I just ran out and bought this, which was the first 64 meg unit, expandable to 96.

Good storage capacity, file options (recording, phone numbers, computer file transfers).... I have not had any technical difficulties with the unit. Also, the shape makes it very good for carrying in your hands when you run. I am not a big fan of belt clips, as the plastic case seems to suggest that if the clip became loose, you are breaking or cracking you MP3 player. Overall, fairly satisfied with the unit.

Strengths:
First 64Meg unit available. Shape of case. Voice recorder and file transfer capabilities.

Weaknesses:
Cheap plastic case.

Similar Products Used:
Rio PMP300