Tech Spotlight

A few weeks ago I was looking for the cheapest MP3 player I could find.  I came across the red Centon moVex 2 GB model and decided to try it out.  On first glance, it is a pretty cool looking device.  It has a cap that hides the USB connector and a tight battery cover that holds one AA battery.  The Centon even has an LCD display, and was surprised when I noticed you could choose a background color from 7 different ones.

Putting your MP3 songs on this device is extremely easy.  Plug in the unit to an available USB port, and the device will appear on your computer with its own drive letter, just like a thumb drive.  Simply drag over a folder of songs onto the drive and it will transfer them onto the MP3 player.  The transfer speed is quite slow, especially if you are copying 100’s of songs at once.

The headphones that are included are quite poor and annoying.  There are no covers on the hard ear-buds which makes them quite uncomfortable.  I tried another pair of headphones I had lying around the house, and the sound quality of this cheap device was quite good.  There is even an equalizer built-in to the Centon that lets you further tweak the music.

Navigating through music on the Centon moVex is very poor.  The fragile controls on the device makes me wonder how long it will last before breaking or snapping the weird buttons.  It took me quite awhile to learn the menu scheme as it is very quirky.  There was also no manual included with this player, so you have to learn it completely yourself.

The Centon does have a voice recorder built-in which is a nice feature.  You can store other files on this device, not only music.  Easy setup with no need for any drivers or CD-Rom discs.  Truly a plug and play device.  Overall, for the price I would have to say it is worth the $15 bucks it costs.  2 gigabyte storage is a plus.  I am just weary about the cheap controls and I suspect it wont last too long.

You can view more specifications or purchase this device through Amazon by clicking here.