Olympus M:robe 500i MP3 Player and Digital Camera Review

As a person who has owned many mp3 players, I can honestly say that the Olympus m:robe 500i is one of the best mp3 players on the market. While, I seem to have unusually poor luck with any piece of technology, this seems to be the only exception.

It is both functional and stylish. It is operated entirely by touch screen, which makes it a lot easier to put it in your pocket while listening to music. So, you never accidentally hit the next button, or pause it in the middle of your favorite song. Basically, imagine the iPod Touch before Apple had the idea.

The screen itself is a high resolution LCD screen, which makes it amazing for your 1.2 megapixel digital camera. That's right. This mp3 player doubles as a fully functional digital camera. Also, with the pictures you take, you can mix them with music and make slideshows, or set them as album covers.

The m:robe 500i has a 20GB memory for both pictures and music, so you may literally never need another mp3 player ever again. Seriously, let's face it. I know there are 200GB mp3 players all over the place, but it doesn't matter how much music you listen to, anything over 20GB is just superfluous. Even 20GB will give you more music and photos than you can possibly want.

The m:robe 500i also operates with "pictbridge" technology, so you can print directly from the mp3 player to any "pictbridge" compatible printer.

Best of all, it is unbelievably easy to use. If you want to use the mp3 player, all you have to do is click on the headphones icon on the main screen. If you want to use the digital camera, all you have to do is click on the camera icon. If you want to make slideshows or "photo remixes," you just click on the cube icon. It's just that easy.

It has a charge time of about 3 hours, and can play music for about 12 hours without a charge, which makes it very convenient. You can charge it before you go out and have battery left when you get home again.

Now, for some of the cons. The camera, although it has very good resolution, is highly susceptible to motion blur... very highly. I had plenty of good pictures ruined by too much movement. However, if you are standing basically still, then the picture should come out fine.

Also, it's kind of bulky. It is a big mp3 player compared to most things out there. While, for me, that was not a problem. Some people can't get past a big mp3 player, so I thought I would mention it.

The only other thing is that the touch screen makes it a bit vulnerable to damage. The only reason that I no longer own this mp3 player, is that I dropped it outside my car, and the screen broke. However, if you are more responsible than me, then you should be just fine.

Overall, if you don't have a tendency to drop things, then you should be safe with this mp3 player. It has been one of my favorites and I would recommend it to anyone who needs an mp3 player or a digital camera.