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General discussion

ILO mp3 player....

Dec 18, 2004 11:17AM PST

I was looking into purchasing the ilo mp3 player from walmart. It holds 256 mb but i cant seem to find any reviews from anyone anywhere. If you own this player please give me some feedback.

Thank you very much

Discussion is locked

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ilo mp3
Jan 9, 2005 3:51AM PST

I bought this mp3 and a 1GB memory chip to add to it. The only problem I have is it doesn't play more than 130 songs even with the chip in. Does anyone else have this problem? Or know what to do about it?

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ilo mp3
Jan 19, 2005 7:29AM PST

I recently bought an ilo and I am impressed with it. I think its a great little mp3 player. it says it only will play so many songs

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song limits ? memory limit set at 256 regardless of 512 card
Jan 23, 2005 2:18AM PST

It says in the manual that came on the CD with the player that it will only accept a 512 meg memory card. Also on the rave-mp web site it says that it will not support any cards larger than the 512. So I bought a SD 512 card, but I still have the same limit of songs as when I use only the internal memory. I can't find anywhere in the manual that states there is a limit on the number of songs that the player will play. On the outside of the packaging, it says that it will "store" up to 8 hours of music at 64kbps of WMA. I can put 488 meg of songs on my external memory card and it will only play about 239 megs worth. If I do a voice recording, or record from the FM tuner, then the player will drop a song or 2 off the "play meter" <grin>. I wrote an email to the customer support and I am waiting to hear a reply, but I'm afraid it's not going to be good. I think this may lead into a firmware update, but currently there is not update for the ilo 256.

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I meant up to a 512 meg card, the smaller cards will work
Jan 23, 2005 2:23AM PST

I didn't mean that the ILO 256 would only accept a 512 meg card, I meant to say that they will only accept up to a 512 meg card...sorry, I should have read it again before I posted.....

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Firmware Update
Jan 25, 2005 9:16PM PST

I too have the problem of my mp3 player only playing 130 songs. As a result I contacted the company and quickly got a response saying that a firmware update will be out in the following weeks to fix this problem.

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Firmware Update
Feb 8, 2005 2:20AM PST

This is the message that I recieved on 01-24-2005 regarding the firmware problem and update:

This is an issue that we have recognized and will be fixed when the firmware is released later this month or next month. Check our web site regularly for updates.

Jose Gonzalez
Customer Care
1-800-736-7679

GO-Video
7835 E. McClain Dr.
Scottsdale, AZ 85260

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Customer Service Reports Firmware update will be avalable
Mar 5, 2005 3:36AM PST

The Firmware update will be avalible on the third week of this month, a customer support representative said. He also said that it was Just CONFIRMED.

I hope that they get this fixed or I will never buy another GoVideo Product Again.

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Ditto - Firmware update end of March at the latest
Mar 16, 2005 2:04AM PST

I also spoke with the customer service folks via phone and heard that it will be available no later than the end of March.

They said, "the firmware is pretty much done, we're working out a final bug or two and getting ready to update the website soon".

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FIRMWARE UPDATE FOR THE ILO256 MP3 PLAYER IS HERE!!!
Apr 6, 2005 3:36PM PDT

Ripped this message from fatwallet.com (thanks skibum43)

Firmware update is available. Message received from rep follows:

"The firmware update has been tested to work with Windows 2000 and XP only, if you have Windows 98SE or ME, please do not use the update. We are still working on the update for Windows 98Se and ME and it will be out shortly.


Click on the following link and follow the instructions for downloading the updater. However, instead of opening or running the update, please save it to your desktop (or other location on your computer) and run it from there.


http://www.rave-mp.com/support/firmware.aspx "

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Update problems
Apr 8, 2005 9:22AM PDT

Hi! after updating my ILO does not turn on. What can I do?

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put songs on it
Jun 10, 2005 4:29PM PDT

when you update your ilo it erases all of songs you had on it so plug it in your computer and put your songs on your ilo

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firmware update
Oct 17, 2005 1:33PM PDT

Hi Rand, I can not tur it on too. Do you alread know waht to do? Please, let me know.
oswaldoof@gmail.com

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ILO
Feb 18, 2005 6:06PM PST

I thoroughly enjoy my new ILO. However, I have download about 35 or 40 songs and now it indicates it's full when I try to download more. What have you learned about he limit of songs? How can I increase the number of songs? Your advise is appreciated.

Jim

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Memory
Feb 19, 2005 9:30AM PST

you only put 60 songs if your Mp3 has 256Mb.

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songs
Mar 10, 2005 12:31PM PST

You're right, thanks. I bought a 256 SD card and added 30 more, giving me a max of 60.

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More songs without buying another Memory Card
May 4, 2005 10:33AM PDT

I too was frustrated with the limited amount of songs I could load. However, when I ripped the songs at 96kps instead of 128kps, I increased the amount of files I added from 41 to 94. Do the math...256MB divided by an average 96kps song ripped at (say) 2.7MB = 94 songs. The playback is better than what I expected too. Now this rocks! Good luck and save money!

BTW...contrary to what the booklet says DON'T drop and drag files into the player--it locked my system up. Tech Support couldn't stress enough the importance of using Windows Media Player to "Synch" the files to the player.

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no problems with drag and drop
Mar 11, 2006 9:30PM PST

hey

I have the 1gb model iLo and have had no problems with drag and drop

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song limits
Feb 27, 2005 2:01AM PST

I have the exact problem with my ilo 256, I bought a 256 sd card, but the player will only see 129 songs no matter the amount of room left on the internal or external memory. I also sent and email to support but have not heard back yet.

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You got a Gig card to be recognized?
Mar 4, 2005 10:43PM PST

That is strange the Max for the ILO is 512 MB and I have problems with the the 130 song bug.

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Mee Too
Aug 26, 2005 3:04AM PDT

Someone I work with wanted to hear what it sounded like and all he had was a 1G card. It took a while to load up, and the lights dimmed a bit, but it took.

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Ilo 256 slowing down the computer?
Jan 10, 2005 4:33AM PST

I seriously doubt that this is slowing down your computer on its own. I have had it hooked up to a computer much less sophisticated than yours and have had no problem. True, there are still a few "bugs" with this player - but probably not any more than most others out there. I think firmware updates will fix these problems - these should be out in January '05 from what I've heard.

I've used mine fairly extensively and have found it to work quite well. It can "lock-up" - but if you stop pushing buttons it will generally catch up and come back online rather quickly. This usually only happens when you are switching between functions (Radio to Voice to Music to Record). It really hasn't proved to be a real significant drawback. Just a minor irritation.

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you don't know what you are doing
Feb 21, 2005 9:45AM PST

It has never locked up my computer at all. Never had trouble with it. Sound is great. I think you just are not sure how to run your computer.

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Computer Slow Down May Be Real
Mar 15, 2005 4:30PM PST

This (regardless of the flames) is an issue that can occur, and one that I've seen on a few systems.

The most noteable was on my father's computer (and please note he just purchased an ILO 256 from walmart, thus why I was reading this).

There seems to be an issue in Windows XP when connecting a large number (7-15) of USB 2.0 and 1.0 devices on the same controller.

This may be your issue as well. I first identified this with my father's system when he purchased an external DVD burner for his computer. Immediately his fairly efficient 1.3GhZ system dropped to a crawl.

After some trial and error, we were able to alleviate the problem by directly connecting all 2.0 devices to an add-on, 4-port USB card, then using the system's built in USB ports, connect an externally powered USB 1.0 hub to his 1.0 devices.

By turning off the power to the 1.0 hub, these devices were not seen as connected, and the conflict was alleviated.

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I Wouldn't Buy It
Jan 16, 2005 12:43PM PST

My wife's iriver mp3 player went belly up today, so we went to Walmart to find a replacement. Took a chance on the ILO256. First problem we encountered was that, while it allows you to use Windows Explorer to create folders/directories on it to separate your songs into categories, these folders never appear on the player itself. Instead you have the option to list songs by album, track, or genre...period. I got around this by changing the song's properties in Windows so that each song's album became what I wanted it to be. 2nd problem appeared when I went to open an album on the player and, instead of giving me a list of tracks/songs to choose from, it just immediately starts playing the first track. 3rd problem: went to their website. Not only do they not acknowledge this model's existence, but the site is piss poor and no help at all. I've only used the iriver and this ILO, so I'm no expert, but the 256 mb iriver is only about $150 and it has so many more features than the ILO it's ridiculous. Oh, and the ILO came with an armband...no way to attach the player to it, but a lovely armband nonetheless. ***??? Oh, and the earbuds that come with the ILO are uncomfortable, to me anyway.

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ilo arm band and album list
Mar 8, 2005 9:41AM PST

You must have missed the belt clip included with the packaging. I almost did too because it is the same color. Most mp3 players in this price range won't create playlists(unless you purchase one that comes with the extra software needed to do this). You can however create one master list by renaming the song files on the player so that a number precedes the song title.
01 Fly
02 Jump
...
By the way I liked their web site and service responded with a couple days of my questions
Hope this helps

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ilo has many bugs
Mar 8, 2005 6:34PM PST

I am an ILO 256 mb MP3 player user. I've heard that a firmware will be available in the 3rd week of March.
There are also some bugs that I realized.I do not know if these will also bi fixed or not?
These are the points that I realized:
1- there is a song limit of 130. no matter what size memory u use it will not show the rest
2- when listening to radio and if you are listening to a preset then you do not have a choice to record from the radio
3- if you are listening to audiobooks(but in mp3 format) you would certainly like your player remember where you left. but ILO does not remember where you were which means resume function does not work. 4- it is not possible to record from radio or record a voice higher than 8 Khz bitrate.
5- when listening to a a preset station in radio you can not return to manual seek screen without loosing the station frequency. it jumps to where you left last. funny
and a useful site for ilo users http://www.xmission.com/~jstanley/ilo256/

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Beware of mp3 players from china and korea..
May 1, 2005 9:36AM PDT

Its stereotypical, many of our technologies, especially mp3 players and cd players come from china and korea and are practically thrown together in months, sold, and shortly after remarketed under a different name, this is to prevent the effects of negative market feedback like this.. Go with mp3 players that have been around a while.

BTW, Mp3 players with hard drives, you drop the player on the ground, while its running, there is a good chance it will destroy the hard drive.. This is what just amazes me about how idiotic the american market is..

If you want a reliable mp3 player, get one of the mp3 CD players.. The Target store near me was selling memorex mp3/cd players for about 20 dollars, there is one brand going around that has a case opener switch on the bottom, a cantilever switch on the left side, and a readout that greets you with goodbye when you turn the player off, this model is the best mp3/cd player I know about, and its sold under many different brands, thus its rebranded, but the model doesn't seem to change. I got it once under a company called Audiovox and once under Memorex.. You think memorex makes CD players, doubtful, its a brand that Americans trust, brands are like commodities, you just plop them down on some anonymous stuff made in China and people trust it.. So you can never tell what you are getting, instead, look for the "form" of a popular player, don't pay too much attention to the brand..

BTW, the LCD display on these CD players I speak of, have a orange backlit LCD display, it comes on for a moment the minute you turn it on, and then it will darken.. You can ask a service person at the store where you are to show you the player and ask them to turn it on, and off.. If you see a orange backlit display followed by the words GOODBYE, you have the right CD player.. CD's with mp3 songs on them store about 6 times as much audio as a normal CD.. The player comes with 8 MB of internal memory, this can store about a 45 seconds of audio.. The process is called buffering, here is how it works.. Your CD player spins up, the head reads 45 seconds of data really quickly, it slows down, and it plays the data, before the 45 seconds of audio data is used up, it spins up to take 45 seconds more, then is slows down.. This action conserves battery life, many times over a CD player. However if you jump through the songs, it has to refill the buffer with 45 seconds of audio, this causes a delay.. But if you play the music right through, it will magically have the songs connected with zero delay.. Try setting the mp3/CD player to shuffle mode and experiment with this..

BTW, this 45 second buffering of music is the "Anti Shock" method that players claim to have..

CD players are bulky, but all they would need to do is add 32 or 64 MB to a CD player, and nobody would have much use for the HD based mp3 players or the memory based ones, other than for the smaller size. I haven't looked for it, but I'm sure someone has created such a player..

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hmmmm wonder about cd players
Mar 11, 2006 9:35PM PST

Have to wonder where do you think just about all small portable audio products come form, you got it the far east so while you are talking about that bulky cd player remember where it may have been assembled.

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ilo mp3
Jan 22, 2005 2:54AM PST

the ilo mp3 player is a good little toy for the price I own one and i was very impressed with it.