Philips GoGear HDD6330 (30 GB) MP3 Player

HDD6330...this is my first MP3 player, so it’s hard for me to compare it to anything else. So I’ll tell you my experience with it.

The first thing it does smear easily, but who cares. I’ll prefer smear marks to scratches any day (i.e. my wife’s i-Pod Video 5th gen. scratches very easily, just touch it). My HDD6330 does lock up sometimes when turning the power ON, but it’s easy to unlock. Hold the power ON button and volume + for a couple seconds. I find the scrolling easier then the wheel on the i-Pod. I like the bass enhancement SRS WOW, the 10 preset equalizer settings and the 5 band custom equalizer on my HDD6330. The FM tuner comes in great! My favorite radio station is 60 miles away. The ear-buds are comfortable.

Now, what I don’t like. Since the AC/DC Wall Charger and USB cable are connect together I can’t keep them from getting tangled up. The battery indicator is not very accurate. About ten minutes after I fully charger it, it’s down to ¾ full. My battery life is about 16 hours though, which is a good thing. I have no problems connecting my HDD6330 with any Windows XP computer. The Windows Media Player 10 I used to transfer the songs to my HDD6330 works for the songs great, but only sometimes for the album artwork. This is for songs from my CD’s and purchased songs from the internet. The Apple i-Pod is much better then the Philips HDD6330 in holding the artwork to the songs. For the Apple i-Pod I don’t have to go through all these extra steps and since Philips doesn’t have instructions on transferring the album artwork to the HDD6330, I’m not sure if I’m doing it right. It’s just trial and error on my part. For my HDD6330 I save a JPEG (named album_art) to the artist album folder on my computer. Then edit the songs to link the album art to the JPEG’s I just saved. Again…I may be doing something wrong, but if I don’t do these extra steps none of the album artwork would show up. I hate that Philips has a lack of accessories for the HDD6330. The accessories they do have are over priced. $40 for a Philips case (pac002), $70 for the AC/DC Wall Charger/USB cable? I wanted one for work, but not for that price.

So, in the end would I buy another one in the future? I really like my HDD6330, but the lack accessories make this question hard. I definitely would if there were more accessories for the HDD6330.

I have had many MP3 players...from Samsung, LG, Sony etc, etc. This HDD6330 is all you need. It's touchscreen is simple and responsive. The menu is easy to follow and the performance is fantastic. 30 GB for your music and pics is plenty. I would also suggest getting the optional dock with remote control. Grab one these days (05/2008) cheap! You won't be disappointed, it's a great player.

First this is my first 30GB mp3 player I have purchased. I had a Dell 5 GB and I have an Ipod shuffle 1 gb and a GoGear 8gb. compared to the Ipod I can put music on it with out having to do it with a special program and not be tied to that program. The ease of use with the touch controls and the look are what I like and love about the GoGear. Phillips has done a great job in the layout and ease of use. I needed a unit that I can put all of my music on.

Everything went perfectly. Great price, communication. Arrived as quickly as is possible. 100% PERFECT! Nice MP3 player.

I am brand new to EBAY with this first item that I won on the bidding system. I was very excited and I really wanted to continue, and I did just that. Then, after I received it, I found out that it DOES NOT WORK! I am very upset, still I tried another item, and again I won. It is an APPLE IPOD. And, in that same order, I actually won the bid on three more thru another seller. And, guess what? it DOES NOT work. After this happening not once, but twice, I am very upset that I lost my hard earned money here in EBAY- and I surely am not as excited about-EBAY! I went and even bought insurance on these when I won them, and now I am stuck with 2 items that DO NOT WORK! I was robbed, and I was taken advantage of to someone that wants to make "A DOLLAR", and does not even care that they both sold something that does not even work!

Kathy

I have owned one of these players previously, and enjoyed it immensely. It has great quality sound, an easy to use interface, and good battery life. With 30 gb to store music and pictures, it definitely gave the same era iPod a run for its money. The only downfall to this player is its fragile firmware. Many users have complained of lockups and complete failure of their device due to this. I believe that is probably my favorite part, though. Because of this, the device often has problems with freezing at the loading screen. I have found a way to fix this, meaning I paid next to nothing for the 2 I've had, and if yours has this problem, you can contact me and I will be glad to help you fix yours, as well.

When I received the player, it was indeed frozen at the GoGear screen. Within 30 seconds, I had it fully operational.

I would highly recommend this player.

Better than an iPod, better value, same features, 30GB for 65 bucks, we've purchased 2 used on ebay for myself and my husband and we love them!

I love the size, the sleekness, and the storage. Very easy to navigate, had mine 18 months and still no battery problems like Ive heard of, maybe my generation machine has problem fixed??

THe ONLY downside is that accessories are limited and the ones they do have are over priced. I have an iPod cover on mine and it allows me good access to a majority of controls, but not perfect fit. Works ok though, allows me to put on my arm or hip.

Definitely a great buy though for the money and great size and weight as well. Go for it.

RAW//

Get a look at this first, and then you choose if you still believe it or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFKYVE__Mug

Don't get fooled by those other people claiming that you can get a Free Ipod, they're just trying to get people to complete offer for them and they really don't care about the people who does.

I'll e-mail every people that completed an offer and send them pictures of the Ipod I've received as proof so that you can get your refferal faster, I'll probably put a video too.

To make it clear, you register through the link I give you, you choose refferal account type and you complete an offer. You'll only need to do one offer.

There's this new offer called Care Bear something... You pay about 10$ for Care Bear stuff and you get your credit instantly. The good thing is that it's not like these other website or offers, you don't have any commitments about having to pay a huge amount of money each month like, I don't know... COLOMBIA HOUSE...

And if you don't like Care Bears that much, you can send them back their crap and they'll refund you.
After that, the hardest part for you to get your Ipod. Refferals... You'll need to get 5 to 8 people to complete an offer like you just like you did. Talk to friends (if you have some) or do as me (it doesn't mean I have no friends).

It's not that hard and it's pretty useful if you don't have the money to buy one.

So register with this link and complete an offer.

http://www.YourFreeVideoiPods.com/index.php?ref=4359581

and if you still have a hard time believing me. Just search for "Trainn Proof" on google. Trainn is the name of the enterprise letting you have free stuff.

I'm not some lame spam bot or anything, I'm a real person and I have bought things here on ebay, just look at my feedbacks.

I'm usually an optimistic person, but with the Philips 30GB Go Gear, it's hard to be!

I've had this MP3 player for less than four months, and the battery has already began to die on me! After looking at reviews on Amazon, I found out it's a common problem, and the main reason to avoid this device.

One year warranty, you say? Don't count on it! Philips Customer/Technical help is both unapologetic and rude. They've sent me in circles many times. Giving me false "reference numbers" and worst of all, false hope that my MP3 player will every function normally.

Remember; you get what you paid for. Sure, the Philips Go Gear is much cheaper than most other MP3 players, but the quality and service that goes along with it is terrible.

Think about it before investing your hard-earned money on a substandard music player.

I've purchased 3 different Philips Go Gear mp3 players--two for myself and one for my daughter. We love them: they have great sound, are easy to use, and the light-up touch controls are cool.
Downsides: most accessories are made for iPods. Even Philips makes accessories for iPod that don't fit the Go Gear (what's that about??). If anyone knows where I can even get a car charger that will work with my Philips, I would be ever so grateful. I would also like to be able to get a sports cover for my 30GB like I had for my 6GB.

I did like the scroll feature, it worked very well although it smudged very easy and created "Dead spots" on the screen from finger prints etc. The built in radio worked perfect and got suprisingly great reception! I did not like the fact that this item frequently froze up! If you have very large play lists (1000+ songs) it will start off great then slow down after awhile, then eventually stop and freeze up about 70% into it. I finally was able to download about 4500 songs (30GB holds about 7500)then it froze up on me, when I restarted it it would not come on-line so I had to reboot it by holding down the start and volume button to "reboot" and when I did this it deleted everything I had on this player! VERY frustrating! This happend 3 times before I finally gave up. Like I said... unless you have a huge amount of patience or just want to listen to the radio... STAY AWAY from this player! Philips needs more R&D into mp3 players! BEWARE!

Love it, I bought 2 (one for each of my twins) More memory and storage than they will probably use in their lifetime. Everything works great, easy to download to. Sound quality is great, with the right earbuds. I even have one of the fm transmitters and find it works well, but the audio is a little low and does not have the static-less quality that you get with the earbuds. I recommend it to everyone. I wish there were more accessories to go with it (like there are for the ipod).

I am giving this MP3 player a perfect score. I couldn't be happier with it and it looks so cool with the touch-pad controls. I've had it for over a year now and it still works great. Battery keeps a charge and it functions perfectly. I found that 30 GB is A LOT of music. Too much to easily scroll through. Now what I do is create playlists ahead of time and limit the amount of music I have on there. Whenever I want to add/subtract it's very easy to do.

Why this is far superior than an ipod:
When I was researching mp3 players, I found the ipod to be inferior. The Philips GoGear also has an AM/FM radio and Microphone for recording. Also saw the Cnet gave it a GREAT rating.

In addition to the unit, I bought the docking station to play through my home stereo. Also bought a skin case for it off of ebay.

This MP3 player is great!

Like: features FM Stereo Tuner, Radio Recorder, Voice Recorder which iPod doesn't have, not easily scratches, includes wall outlet charger, supports both WMA & MP3.

Dislike: uses Windows Media Player for pc music synchronization, lack of video support, small display screen, not recognizable on many PCs (can't use as a USB hard drive at most public computers), unrealistic MSRP.

Philips Gogear HDD6330 could have been a strong contender against iPod and Creative. However, its lack of intuitive PC sync software makes it a player for frustration. Simply put, Windows Media Player draconian DRM scheme is not the most friendly software to use if you have a large MP3 collection that you want to be able to play all your MP3s on. Of course, you can drag your files to the device but you can't create Playlist without WM.

Also Philips is slow to release software/firmware updates which meant that this device is NOT on the company's priority list. For a device of comparable pricing to 5th generation iPod, it should be able to play video. Philips is trying to make up for its video deficiency by including FM tuner and voice recorder. These are nice features that other manufacturers should make standard. The voice recorder is good at close distance but don't plan to use it to record lecture if your speaker is far away. FM tuner utilizes the antenna on the earplugs. The earplugs has a nice fit and is better than the cheap Apple iPod's set.

Aesthetically, it is appealing with a tough coating not easily prone to scratches. Accessory is limited to what the manufacturer has to offer; so far it is mainly Philips.

Recommendation: Until Philips get serious about creating better software for their MP3, I say avoid it. Personally I would get a Creative Zen due to Creative's expertise as a sound hardware manufacturer. iPod would be my second choice since it must convert all WMA to MP3 which takes time.

THE PROS:
this player is the ultimate! its "windows play for sure" software has made file transfer a breeze, and it is compatible with windows media player,as opposed to other mp3 players such as ipod, which FORCES you to use only the software that comes with the player. customer service at philips.com is easy to understand. with no hassle downloads of updates. it also has a docking station (sold seperately) which can connect your mp3 player to outside sources, such as a television: to view pictures in a slide show format, or to your home audio system: to play uninterrupted hours of music.
THE CONS:
its usb cable comes ATTACHED to the ac power cord,i wish that philips would introduce a SEPERATE usb cable, the reason i say this is because i have purchased an auto adaptor and the ONLY cord available is the one that comes with the system. can you imagine the CLUTTER of the cords in your car? i contacted philips, and at the present time, no seperate cords are manufactured.

The Philips HDD6330 I recently purchased was an outstanding buy. The unit itself is an excellent player and is very elegantly laid out for use. The design is sleek and ergonomic (prettier than an i-Pod!). I find that the unit is also easy to add music to using my MS based PC system.

I have heard others slam the tech service provided by Philips but my experience was positive. The unit I purchased was priced minus the USB/Charger cable. I did not realize at the time how unique that element was to the use of the system. I called Philips to enquire how I could obtain the missing unit, and they said my unit was still under warranty- they then shipped one to me at no charge! Awesome service!!!

i love it, it works like a charm and was way cheaper than an ipod with the same attributes, but does the same thing, and i think that it is better than anything apple can come up with.

The interface on this device is one of the easiest that support windows file protection to use. I have to admit I am still and Ipod fan, but since Ipods cant play all my napster music I choose the Phillips.
I would brag on the computer interface to upload songs, but i mainly just use windows media player fo that and that is the exact same on all devices.

The HDD6330 is the first mp3 player I've owned and it suits my needs perfectly. I mainly bought this to listen to at work and it's great. I've got so far 1200 songs and 500 pictures on it and have only used 6 of the 30 GB of space on it. The ability to record from the FM tuner or from the mic is handy also. With the Philips dock, you can record from any audio source. The only things that slightly bug me about it is that the FM radio is doesn't always work in the building where I work and that the power always comes on when it is plugged into the charger, which doesn't bother it but I would think it would stay off. Overall I am very pleased with this product and would recommend it to anyone who wants to carry along music and pictures but don't have a need for the video playback.

-In today's modern technology, it is ridiculous to have a product that freezes often with no recourse to revive it.
-This product will stop responding on startup and at other moments during use (don't count on that On and volume button trick to work all the time either). At that point your only option is to wait for the product to automatically turnoff then you can try again.
-Occasionally the product will continue to play but the buttons will stop responding. then you must simply wait for the battery to run it's course then recharge it.
-The most infuriating occurence I've had was when the player stopped responding to the on/off button. I attempted to charge it with no result. Moments before I retuned it to Phillips to get a new one I plugged it in one last time (just for giggles) and it decided to return to life (no it was a problem with the other outlet either).
-I have constantly checked for firmware updates to see if Phillips has any interest in fixing these continual problems, after 6 months of owernship not a single update has been released.
-Additional nuisances include the constant smugging during use, and the inconsistant auto scroll lock that can occur when rapidly flipping through songs (sometimes it happens sometimes it doesn't)

-There are a few positives: this device is very easy to use with a computer-all you need is Windows Media Player 10 which comes on the installation disc, it will automatically transfer all your songs and pictures if you want it to.
-This device is very slick looking I've receive many compliments on its appearance (if only they knew how unpleasant it is to use)
-Outlet charging is far superior to the I-Pod's USB Charging

Bottom Line: The lack of reliability is an absolute deal breaker for me, I want to know I can use a device without any hassle. My last hard disk MP3 player was the Creative Zen Xtra (no color screen, no picture capability). I would trade back at a momemts notice given the opportunity.

Ok, one review this clown is talking about his HDD100 from the 90's another guy sounds like he cant work electronics. Trust me, I did an experiment by buying both an Ipod and the Philips at the same time. My 89 year old grandma could handle the Philips way better than the Ipod. As for the accessories issue, Ipod would be nothing without those $20+ gadgets. Its to make up for their lack of content included within the player, LIKE, A built in mic for voice recording, fm tuner, line in recording etc. Oh yea you might be able to do those same things on your ipod after you pay about $150 for some little crappy ad ons. What a rip off.

I like the display, shape, and sound. It everything you need wrapped into one. I will recommend this player to anyone. I have several people let me they like my player than their ipod. So this player is a good investment.

This is the best MP3 player for the money, PERIOD! It compares well with some of the others that cost $400+++ and these are only $300 brand new. I have never had any problems with it and it's sooo simple to use. I also like the fact that is stores pictures. I put pictures on it and bring it to friends and familys houses and just plug it into their tv. I don't have to develope film now. The Best!!

I really love this MP# player. I have owned about ten other expensice MP3 players such as the IPOD Video, and this one blows them all out of the water. I like how easy it is to use. I think it is the most user friendly mp3 out there. I plug it in the computer, download a song and put it on my MP3 playe wih just a couple clicks of the mouse. I wouldn't own anything but a Philips GoGear mp3 player now.