Compared with many other flash MP3 players, this is not the most compact device: It measures 4 inches by 1.9 inches by 0.4 inch, so it's not huge but a bit on the long side.
The face of the Pilot features an ample 2.4-inch color LCD screen on the left and a control pad on the right. The latter consists of a menu button and mechanical scroll ring with four-way clicking capability surrounding a Play/Pause key.
The Insignia Pilot offers a laundry list of features and rock-bottom pricing: The 8GB tags in at just $160, while the 4GB version runs at a slightly less-impressive $130.
Unfortunately, the Pilot isn't all that impressive when it comes to sound quality. Overall, the player sounds OK, but audio enthusiasts will find that music is lacking across ranges.
Doubtless, a big draw of the Insignia Pilot is the breadth of the player's features--it's almost insane. There's extensive music, photo, and video support; integrated Rhapsody DNA; an FM tuner; voice and line-in recording; dual headphone ports; and the star of the show: built-in stereo Bluetooth. Best Buy has also built-in an SD card expansion slot into the bottom of the player, which is handy for users who don't want to be limited to 8GB of memory.
A Power/Hold switch and the rather unique star-rating toggle line the top edge of the player, and the ports--headphone, line-in/secondary headphone, and standard mini USB--reside along the right spine. The rather unusual star toggle can be flicked in to the left to take away stars, to the right to add stars, or pushed straight down to access a contextual menu for changing playback settings or for placing bookmarks.
