Conclusions

Overall design

Philips has done exceptionally well with their new line of high capacity MP3 players.  While they may not quite be good enough to convince those hardcore Ipod lovers, it is certainly a much better product than a majority of other competitors, and an excellent alternative to both old and new generation Ipod players.  Philips is the first company other than Apple to implement touch sensitive controls quite nicely.  Only Olympus was able to do this but they have no further plans to support nor expand their m:robe line of players.  In fact, they have decided to drop from the DAP market altogether.  I especially like how "smart" this player really is and how only the keys that are operational based on the function and/or menu you are in are lit up.  Its overall design is highly impressive and on par with Ipod models in terms of form factor.  It is much thinner than older Ipods and sports a very impressive two inch color display and high-tech graphical user interface.  As far as design goes, this player is simply unmatched.

Connectivity

It seamlessly integrates with a WinXP system running WMP 10 and is capable of file transfers without the need for drivers or software, including WMP itself.  This may be a major plus for many who tend to travel, swap files on a consistent basis, or use their MP3 player as an external storage device.  It was a nice approach to stick with Microsoft's Windows Media Player and not with some "bloatware" or proprietary software suite that may have a learning curve or that may not satisfy users.  Also, the optional docking kit provides additional functionality and works quite well.  Their high-end docking kit is also reasonably priced at $45 and includes a remote.

Playback Features

The Philips GoGear HDD6330 may not offer some of the rather useless extra features found in Ipod models, but does do well in terms of music playback.  This is, in my opinion, the most important feature and it is nice to see they focus more on this area rather than offer too many extras that are seriously unnecessary.  While its on-the-fly playlist support does function well and certainly much better than any Ipod on the market, it is still not quite up to par with other excellent players from Rio and Creative.  Yes, you can easily create playlists from the player, but it tends to have a mind of its own in terms of ordering the tracks.  For example, when adding a second track to the current playlist, it may or may not play next depending on the additional tracks that are added.  However, it will let you add tracks "on-the-fly" while actually listen to a tune...something Ipod players simply cannot do, even in their fifth generation.  This is also happens to be a feature I find to be most important, and I'm glad Philips did take the initiative to implement it quite well.  When you have an extensive collection of MP3s as I do, browsing through such a collection can be a hassle.  Fortunately, the touch-sensitive controls let you browse your large collection of music with ease.  The scroll bar reacts differently depending on its touch and you'll quickly get the hang of it and browse through all your files with ease.  However, it is not quite as good as the older yet excellent Rio Karma.

Picture Viewing

Picture viewing on its two inch screen is quite pointless, but certainly much more pleasant when compared to the Ipod Nano.  However, when paired with one of the excellent docking options, it can prove to be quite useful.  They offer not one, but three different docking kits to satisfy a wider range of users.  The docks are all well designed and blend in well with the player itself.

Final Thoughts

Unfortunately, no player is perfect.  As impressive as it is, the HDD6330 does have its fair share of flaws.  For one, it is not to be confused with a PMP as it does not offer any video playback support.  Also, its playback features can certainly use some improvement.  It lacks some of the excellent options found on other products, such as the Rio Karma and a select few Creative players.  While the player does allow you to rate your music directly from the player, the option to play four or five star rated music is not available until you plug the player back in and sync the device using WMP 10.  Another disappointment was the lack of lyric support.  Fortunately though, a majority of these issues though can indeed be corrected in firmware.  However, the continued support from Philips is seriously questionable and I don't have high hopes for additional improvements and/or long term support.  Being such a large company, they've got too much on their plate already and many other products to focus on.  Currently, there have been no additional firmware releases from the company since its initial release...a bad sign.  As far as design goes, it is honestly the best I've seen and you can't help but be lured into purchase or at least put it on the top of your list.  It is truly that impressive.  Due to its rather poor playback features, it fails to earn my highest recommendation.  However, its highly innovative design, ease of use and excellent recording and presentation capabilities earns my recommendation.

More information on the GoGear line can be found on the Philips Website.

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