Chaucery Blog

I was recently given an LG UP3# (pronounced sharp). It's a tiny 2GB MP3 player with a nice OLED screen and popout USB adapter. Although it's functionally competent, it does have a few flaws.

The volume buttons are the wrong way around. As you look at the screen the '+' is on the left and '-' on the right. In menus where you can move horizontally, such as setting the date, the '+' (on the left) is used to move right and vice-versa. I think LG must have noticed this error before printing the manual, because they've subtly reversed the buttons in the manual's diagrams, showing the '+' as being on the right.

This is one of my rare electronic devices with a reset button. I wondered why the power button couldn't be used for this purpose, but after crashing the player within an hour of getting it, with the screen stuck on, but non-responsive, I discovered that the power button also does not respond. The solution is to find a pin (paper-clips are too large) and press reset.

It takes 5 seconds to turn the UP3# on. The manual says 'at least 2 seconds', and I guess that's strictly true, but 5 seconds is patently too long. It's hard enough to find and press the power button as it is that I can't imagine it ever being pressed accidentally. Still, it stops anyone else using the device - out of seven similar tiny metallic buttons, would you randomly hold the third one along for 5 seconds to see if it starts?

Whilst I'm talking about the buttons, I must mention that ergonomics and user-friendliness are very much lacking. Apart from the aforementioned volume keys being reversed, there's the fact that the buttons are all tiny and identical. There should be dimples, or bumps, or varying sizes, to help the poor user. There is plenty of room to make the play/pause button double or even quadruple the size, and that would also help locate the adjacent next/previous track buttons.

The manual goes to great lengths to explain how the device synchronises with Windows Media Player 10. As I installed WMP11 on its release over six months ago, I don't have WMP10. Unfortunately, the syncing does not work with WMP11, so I can't experience the UP3# as LG intended. I've contacted LG support asking about WMP11 compatibility, but have not received a reply. The menus within the player itself are laid out with WMP syncing in mind, so you have to go through extra button presses to navigate through to your sound files directly.

The 2-colour OLED screen is lovely compared to the backlit LCD screens of yore. It's perfectly visibly in all light conditions, and flicker-free. I'd prefer it to show the ever-varying track bit-rate rather than the never-changing equaliser setting of 'normal', but overall the information displayed is adequate.

Highlights from the "Engilish manual" (yes, that's what it's called):

• DRM: This service prevent their rights and duties from digital contents of free of charge.
• In case of injury and damage cause from offence these instructions.
• It can occur error when area has full of static electrics.
• Be sure that earphone line could be stuck by automatic door.
• Makers are free data loss you have created.

In conclusion, it's a nice cheap (AU$99) MP3 player with a great display and so-so ergonomics.