Norcent shows us a surprisingly mediocre MP3 player, seemingly aimed at buyers interested in mediocrity. What left us sour? Read our impressions.
It isn't often that a company representative warns us about how poor a device is before they hand it over, but that is exactly what the Norcent representative at the CES unveiled show did as he demonstrated the new Norcent Xias music player. As the icons on screen moved beyond his selection, he complained to us that the touch sensitive buttons didn't work properly, and that we had to be very delicate when we touched them.
He was absolutely right, the buttons were way too sensitive, and the menus seemed to overcompensate for our presses. Definitely not the best first impression for this new entry into the crowded, highly-competitive digital audio player market.
To Norcent's credit, the device is exceedingly light, but for its size the low weight makes the product feel cheap, or perhaps our opinion was already colored by the touch buttons. The device also has a strange shape, with a sort of teardrop / onion top that gives it a goofy look.
Norcent reps were enthusiastic about an upcoming music store, which will be DRM-free and will include music from EMI, one of the few major labels to support DRM-free music. Honestly, between the poor hardware we tried and the lack of complete support from all the major labels, we can't imagine this device isn't dead in the water.
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Pros:
Lightweight design
Cons:
Poor touch sensitive buttons | | |
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