• PC World
• » MP3 Players

I2Go EGo

WHAT'S HOT: With a bubblelike design and a pagerlike readout, you'll have friends guessing what you're toting on your belt or using in your car cassette player. The unit's USB port makes for a speedy file transfer--a 4-minute song took 30 seconds to zap to the device. With 64MB of on-board memory, you can store about an hour's worth of music, encoded at 128 kbps. The unit also comes equipped with cassette tape adapter and cigarette lighter plug for your car stereo, which allows you to listen to MP3s in your car. The EGo comes with audio software that allows for e-mails to be read back to you as voice. Once we got the unit working properly, the sound was very clear.

WHAT'S NOT: We had a lot of difficulty getting the EGo synced up with our e-mail client. The e-mail software is clunky and difficult to use. We experienced installation hassles and system crashes. The one-line LCD display is hard to navigate, and its blocky text makes it look like a digital watch circa 1981. Both PalmPilots and other handhelds offer far more complete e-mail syncing than that of the EGo.

WHAT ELSE: Like the HanGo Personal JukeBox, the EGo was one of the biggest players we tested. If you want to carry it in your pocket, you'd better be sporting baggy cargo pants. Aside from the size, the unit's translucent blue case looks sharp. And the company provides a bit more tech support than most.

BEST USE: If you want to listen to MP3s in the car and really don't want to go to a Radio Shack to buy the cassette adapter and cigarette lighter AC attachments.

SUMMARY

I2Go EGo $269; 64MB of CompactFlash memory, supports MP3 format, parallel port, two AA batteries, MusicMatch software, 1-year warranty, 24-hour, toll-free tech support. I2Go 888/388-4246 www.i2go.com