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Interface & Features
The
GUI on the US2 is quite nice. The very first version was far from
appealing. However, after updating the firmware, it is a major change
and I do like the look of the main menus quite a bit. As I do with
every review, I take the time to feature a section just on the interface,
including pictures of all the main menus and/or features.
The
US2 consists of six main menus...music, FM, record, video, photo and
setting. Let's take a closer look at each...
Music
The
US2 does allow you to browse your music collection by category.
However, in order to do so, you must properly configure the player and also
use WMP to sync to the device. Getting to the category view is tricky
though and it could be simpler. You can browse your music by artist,
albums, song title, genres or composers. You can also load any
playlists you have created in WMP from here.
You
also have the option of browsing in an explorer-like fashion. It will
automatically create folders by artists, making browsing more pleasant on
the small screen. The now playing screen does show plenty of info,
including file quality, preset, playing time, volume, system time and
battery meter.
FM Radio
The
US2 has a built-in FM tuner and will also allow you to record directly from
the radio. The setup menu consists of your preset options, region
setting and recording quality settings. It will record FM in MP3
format. Testing and a sample of quality will be provided in the
performance section of this review.
Recording, Video & Photo
The
Record Menu basically allows quick access to the voice record menu, a
feature that is also supported on the US2. The Video and Photo menus
will allow you to browse through and playback any files you may have loaded.
Setting
Finally, a look at the settings menu on the US2. Can't possibly show
you every single screen, but we'll take a look at some of the key menus and
features available.
The
Setting Menu consists of six submenus as follows: Sound, Display, Time
Set, Play, USB Interface and Etc.
The
Sound menu will allow you to configure the SRS settings, configure the
built-in EQ and other sound related settings such as fading in or out.
The Display menu will allow you to adjust the contrast of the LCD display,
backlight timeout, scroll speed and ID3 tag options. Scroll speed may
be something you want to play with considering the overall size of the
screen.
From the Play menu, you can configure its playback features. You can
choose from Normal, Random, Random All, Repeat and Repeat All. The USB
Interface menu is one many will want to access. Basically, this is
where you configure the US2 to work with WMP or set it as a mass storage
device for quick file sharing or transfers on multiple computers.
Remember, in order to take advantage of its category browsing, you must have
the player set to MTP. It is set set as a mass storage device by
default.
Finally, a look at the "Etc" menu, which will allow you to configure the
recording quality, adjust play speed and view info on firmware and device.
Maximum recording quality for both FM and voice is 128Kbps.
As
you can tell from all screenshots, the GUI is certainly visually appealing
and does offer enough features. However, accessing certain menus takes
a few buttons presses and this certainly can be corrected in firmware.
Also, there aren't any decent playback features on the US2. There is
no on-the-fly support or other "DJ" type features found in other products.
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