The player is even smaller than it appears in pictures, or at least that’s my impression. Build quality seems solid, and the weight feels right. Nothing is flimsy or fragile on the D2, except maybe the cover for the USB ports. The slightly rough-textured plastic frame and back plate appear to be scratch resistant, and the back plate has four small bumps to further prevent abrasion. The D2’s housing doesn’t overly attract fingerprints.
The included FM radio feature is certainly a welcome addition, as some devices require a 3rd party accessory to use this feature. The ability to record FM radio transmissions and save them as WMA files (from 32kb-256kb) is pretty sweet. The ability to schedule radio recordings on the device is key (it’s a DVR for your radio), especially because it keeps us from missing Angie Martinez while we’re working. Our only beef with the radio recorder is the filing system. It would be nice, for example, if the player would insert the date, time and station of the particular recording, as opposed to going through after the fact and making the changes on your computer. Not to mention it would make it a lot easier to find later. The D2 also includes a recorder, which records through a built-in microphone.
The touchscreen interface is surprisingly simple to use. If it weren’t for the fact that most functions took two touches to execute instead of one (one to highlight, one to confirm), we’d rate the experience as high as using Apple’s Click Wheel. A stylus that doubles as a kickstand is included in the box, but we had no trouble using our fingertips. Our test unit was loaded with 4GB of flash memory, and you can add capacity using the SD/MMC slot.
The D2 is dominated by a 2.5-inch color screen, which makes it look quite similar to the iRiver Clix. Unlike the Clix, however, the D2’s display is touch-sensitive, which means the majority of navigation is accomplished by poking at the screen PDA-style. Your finger will do the trick, or you can use the included stylus–which also acts as a nifty kickstand, by the way. The D2’s touch screen is responsive, but we prefer tactile controls for MP3 players since a touch interface makes blind navigation impossible. All in all, the D2’s user interface is pretty straightforward, with an icon-driven main menu that reminds me of Archos’ PVPs, but deeper navigation will take some acclimation. Still, anyone with a bit of tech experience should catch on swiftly.
Features:
- Video & Audio Player / FM Tuner / Voice Recorder / Text & Photo Viewer
- 2.5 inch 16 million color 24bit TFT-LCD - QVGA (320×240) Touchscreen
- SD / SDHC Memory Expansion
- Up to 52 hours (Music) of continuous playback (Movie 10 hours)*
- DRM-protected content Support (PlaysForSure, etc.)