RCA Opal 8 GB Video MP3 player with 1.8-inch Display, FM Radio, and Voice Recording (Black)

A little about me and this purchase. I'm a middle aged guy that is fairly techy, but not like some of you folks who keep up with the latest and greatest. That said, I had bought an MP3 that cost (at the time) quite a bit more than this one. And after about 3 weeks, it was so bugged up, I returned it and got this one.

That was about 18 months ago. I started using it with about 5 gigs of music on it, and it's just about full now. In that time, it has never crashed, or required a reload or reset. Not once. The battery lasts forever, and after 18 months, I don't see any changes in battery life. The sound quality is okay for something in this price range. I found that using a high quality pair of headphones made a night and day difference in sound quality. Of course, you have to ask yourself how much will you pay for headphones to go with a $60.00 MP3 player?

It has a couple of quirks or nuances, if you will. As others have mentioned, sometimes when you...Read more

When you first start the player it says "Please Wait" and you really have to wait at least 3-5 minutes (depending on the number of songs) for the device to get started. If you copy music using folders it shows up as "unknown". It changes the order of the songs as it likes.

The whole look of it is cheap. Navigating between menus is slow and it took forever to update firmware.

The sound quality is just alright.

Overall I am dissapointed with the product and would not recommend it.

I bought it on Black Friday and don't have the box to return it.

Unfortunate that three stars means "OK" rather than two stars-- 3 stars is a bit high. I, like others here, bought this on Black Friday, since my son had been begging for an .mp3 player and I needed one to listen to at work. So I got two. Packaging was nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get into - had to rip the cardboard box to shreds just to get the player out.

I agree with what others have said:

-- the player randomly orders the music, even if it's numbered. This is a real problem when you're listening to a seminar or audio course, which is now completely out of order and no longer makes sense.
-- long wait time after adding anything, while it "builds a database"
-- more often than not, after adding and waiting for the database, the player will shut down with a message that the "operating temperature is too high!" (yes, it has an exclamation point). Note that the player has not been used at this point and is, in fact, cold. Literally.
-- menu is...Read more