RCA TH1814 4 GB MP3 Player with Flipout USB and Display

 (21 customer reviews)

First off, if you are looking for a good MP3 player for under $100, look no further, this is about the best you will find.

Reasons to buy this MP3 player:
#1: It runs on a AAA battery as other less intelligent reviewers have explained. This is awesome if you're on a hike across Europe and have no means of charging your battery in a computer, socket, or whatever. And many AAA/AA battery rechargers will work with portable solar panels, score.
#2: It's light, compact, and will easily withstand 3 years of service so long as you don't throw it at a wall or step on it (I've owned the previous model as well).
#3: YOU DON'T NEED ITUNES, or the software it comes with, thank the heavens. I hate iTunes and originally bought the previous version of this MP3 player for the plain and simple fact that you can drag and drop music into it without needing to install the software. You will get a prompt to install software when you plug it in but it's optional.
#4: It does...Read more

I bought this yesterday(July 2 2011) and spent about an hour today messing with it before I decided to do things my way. at first glance it looks great,

usb built in flip out which means no cables.
comes with standard earbuds.
4gb capacity(3.7 if you look closer)
comes with software.

first major problem is the software. Requires your player to be connected(not through a hub but directly to the computer so that the software can detect it) as you install the software(located inside the player itself). This fraustrated me as I didn't figure this out for a good 20mins(I use all my usb ports and have 2 hubs). Creating playlists was crap. It wouldn't load a set of files with track numbers in the right order(no option to even sort by track numbers. Sending it to the player itself took forever, after reading so much about taking advantage of usb2.0 on the box/install notes this was disappointing. This may be because it was creating the playlist at the same...Read more

I have to agree with those who panned this player. You do not get lists of artists or albums as you do with the other rca players, such as the 2002, a 2 gig player. You can only go ahead or back to the next artist, then the next, and the next, and so on. The letters are thin, and they scroll constantly. You can't get the artist's name all in one screen. The sound quality was good, but the poor selection process and unreadable print are frustrating. Who needs it? I don't see why rca changed the navigation system, or in general why they would produce an inferior unit such as this. The managers were out to lunch when this unit got approved. We bought three and will be returning them.