Review: Gateway DMP-X20 MP3 Music Player
Jan. 6 -- Gateway has been in the music market for a while, but offered only low-capacity flash memory players.
The 20GB Gateway DMP-X20 Digital Music Jukebox marks the company's entry into the market for hard drive players, which have much greater storage capabilities and often can double as external hard drives. Undoubtedly the company hopes this attractive model, which is nearly a twin of the e.Digital Odyssey 1000, will take a bite out of an Apple — the iPod, specifically.
Gateway partnered with e.Digital, refining the little-known company's existing player to make a slightly improved model. The DMP-X20 hard drive is the same capacity as that in the Odyssey 1000, but requires less room, shrinking the player from 4.4 by 2.9 by 1.0 inches (HWD) and 8.2 ounces to 4.0 by 2.6 by 0.8 inches and 7.7 ounces.
The Good and the Bad
Finding songs on the DMP-X20 is also much quicker and easier than with the Odyssey 1000 because of improved software that, although not quite as intuitive as the iPod's, is still easy to learn.
Our biggest complaint with the software is that it incorrectly displayed album information for several of our tracks, even though the tag information was correct on our PC. Unlike the iPod, the DMP-X20 doesn't let you store contact and calendar information or play games, and the seven-band equalizer has a scant four presets (versus the iPod's 22), but you can store voice notes.
There's also a good playlist editor that lets you create and modify lists quickly. The DMP-X20 can play WMA, MP3, WAV, and Audible.com content (a feature Gateway added), and like the Odyssey 1000, has an FM tuner — an extra the iPod lacks.
Gateway has improved navigation by introducing a "Back" button and junked e.Digital's ineffective voice navigation system. Battery life is about 9 hours 10 minutes, comparable with the 9 hours an equivalent iPod lasts, although slightly less than the 10 hours the product literature claims and surprisingly less than the 11-
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