What is this?
The 20GB MP3 jukebox by Dell tries to take on Apple iPod with its closely matched hardware specs as well as online music download service.
User Review(s)
"dell dj is very good besides that" it some times freezes for unknwon reasons, also that when you want to make playlists on musicmatch if you us it it doesn't show the playlists in any type of order not even alphabetical order so when you are trying to add song on to a playlist you need to search for sometime. but besides that, the dell dj is great and far better in price and in other little features like a integrated microphone if you are trying to decide wich one to buy it's a simple choice look at the price difference and what you'r getting for that price and than you going to have you answer:THE DELL DJ KICKS THE IPOD IN ALMOST EVERY ASPECT!!!!!!!!!! From moko, January 12, 2005
"Okay, but freezing when i'm running" i recommended the dell DJ 20 if you are not going to work out with it. I bought it shorthly before i was to take my trip to Montreal this summer, and i received it promplty, the next morning i take it on my run with the special arm band case i bought for it, not even two full laps and it freezes on me. I had to run the rest of my laps without music. Not so great, also when you try to add music to compile a customized playlist, it usually tends to freeze after a couple of songs. And oh not to mention musicmatch(software) it doesn't allow you to upload all the songs you want it uploads what it wants and then the rest will be on your computer and when you finally realize "hey where's that song?" your on the subway and not in a good mood. Overall if you just want to listen to your albums and not run or workout with it its fine, don't shake it either, and don't try to customize a playlist. It will freeze. I just send the ist gen(version 1) back for there newer gen 2 version, hopefully its worth it. If it freezes the screw it, i will send it back and just pay for the Ipod. From Alan, December 04, 2004
"Sweet 9 out of 10" Dell DJ is great i just got it a few days ago. I thought that it would suck compared to the Ipod. This player is really good. It mey not have games or some other features but its great at what its meant to do, MP3. I recomend this to everyone who inst sure between the two. From Evan B, September 30, 2004
"Had it for less than 24 hrs and now broke" I had the DJ for less than 24 hrs and the drive crashed. All I did was load some songs and then listen to them, it never left the computer desk. For no reason it just quit! Called Dell, was on hold for a little over an hour. They said they would ship me another one. I really loved it while it was working but it didn't last long. What really gets me is when I got on the Dell web site to get their customer service number they had just dropped the price by $56.00. Maybe, when it gets here, the new one will last longer. From Don Ray, August 08, 2004
"dell is great" what the hell is everyone complaining about? The dell is most excellent, seriously if you said the dell was crappy then you are an IDIOT, i have used both the ipod and the dell and would reccommend the dell, WHO CARES IF IT IS A FEW OUNCES HEAVIER, OR THAT IT DOESNT HAVe GAMES, TO ME THAST NOT WORTH AN EXTRA 100 $ that you have to spend on the ipod From mike, May 26, 2004
"Awesome Product, Excellent Value, DJ Rocks!" I was finally ready to buy a portable mp3 player. I was very familiar with the ipod. I had only heard and read about the dell version. Despite several negative dell dj reviews, and clueless dell sales people, I decided to purchase the dell DJ20 and return it within 3 weeks if it stunk. The first mistake I made was using the provided MusicMatch software to transfer music files. This kills the sequence of the album tracks. Before I purchased the DJ, the idiot salesperson at dell insisted that I would have to create playlists to play album tracks in order. NOT TRUE. All you have to do is download DJ explorer, and use that to drag files over. You will then have all album tracks in order. DO NOT even bother installing MusicMatch. You do not need it, and it will jumble the track order. Dell customer service (technical help) is excellent. They explained how to solve my track order problem, and quickly replaced my remote that I thought might be faulty. My overall experience with the DJ 20 has been excellent, the best part of my day is my commute! The negatives are the extra 2 ounces in weight. I figured that a couple of ounces would be negligable, but the Ipod feels much lighter. A sleep timer would be useful, as well as a display on the remote. I am neutral on the comparison in sound quality. It sounds as good as the ipod. (though with both units you MUST DISCARD the provided earpiece, and buy a decent set of headphones). Also the other negative is attempting to buy through a dell salesperson. They are completely unfamiliar with the product, and actually underestimate it's capabilities. Buy it online. The main advantage over the ipod is the battery life. I get over 17 hours of usage as compared to 5 & a half hours for my brother in-law's 20 gig ipod. (Probably because of the extra couple of ounces), the Dell DJ has a real solid feel. The metal casing and buttons are sturdy. It is nowhere near as fragile as the ipod feels. If you need help, the technical support is great. A knowledgeable live person will help you out. Another positive is the price. For only $251 I received a 20 gig DJ, a case that clips to your belt, an inline remote, and 20 free song downloads. The whole package is worth every penny. I suggest you try it out! From Ray, May 25, 2004
"Great product!" I was torn between the iPod and the Dell DJ for quite some time, and finally decided to buy the DJ after the opportunity to compare them side by side. The differencea between the two devices are minimal, and it really comes down to personal preference. The Dell is heavier by a couple ounces (compared to a 20 gb iPod), and is likewise slightly larger in other dimensions (by fractions of an inch). The one big difference is battery life - the Dell really does perform for about 18.5 hours for me. This is especially nice when I have to pull 15 hour shifts in the lab every couple of days - the 3rd gen. iPod I borrowed could not keep up with it, usually getting about 5.5 - 6 hours before I would have to charge it. The other difference is subjective - the style of the two devices. I personally like the Dell's interface a bit more. Its not bright white, for one, and the scroll wheel is actually quite easy to use, and I can use it while wearing gloves, something that I couldn't do with the iPod. In terms of sound quality, I could not tell any difference between the two devices with vbr mp3s with Koss Sportapro headphones. In my opinion, save yourself money and get the Dell DJ instead of the iPod. Especially since the 20 gig DJ is now 251.00, a full 150.00 less than the 20 gig iPod. There is a lot of negative comments about some of the early DJs' shortcomings - it won't copy voice recordings to another device (it does now), you can not play all songs or albums in order (it does now), and so on. These problems were all fixed with software and firmware releases in March. I would only suggest getting the iPod if you have a lot of songs from iTunes in AAC, or if you are into really trendy devices. Otherwise, get the Dell. From Mike, April 11, 2004
"Playlist and software" More of a question as I'm looking over the MP3 players out there. Does Dell DJ allow you to create playlists as is, or is a software change needed? If a change is needed, what would everyone recommend? I like the way iTunes is set up actually, is there anything close out there? From Paul Scott, March 29, 2004
"Excellent, better than any apple product" I have read every comment in this thread about the Dell DJ 20, and I have to say that I agree with the ones who like it. I purchased my DJ 20 through Dell online and love it. I am not sure what the other guys problem is but I had no problem with the interface or using the player at all. I did not enjoy the Music Match software so I found a better alternative, DJ Explorer. This software enables the drag and drop that windows users are comfortable with and also enables the player to used as a portable hard drive, contrary to another persons testimony. All in all I love this player, has a very quality feel and with the DJ Explorer software (free download from dell) it is a great tool and is fun to use. From Kenny Marjerrison, March 27, 2004
"9/10 Excellent Value" After 2 months of research I chose to purchase the dell dj and I am not disappointed. It's very well put together, the weight of the jukebox gives it a "high-value" feel. The buttons on it are firm and solid.
I really wanted to read the manual this time, but when I opened the box and turned the jukebox on, it was so easy to use that I slashed the reading idea. I wasn't happy with the musicmatch software idea at all, so I tried windows media player which seems to work fine so far. The only thing I'm missing is the sleep timer, but I can live without that.
I highly recommend this product to everyone.
(If you're buying music this is a much better choice than ipod because you can use napster, itunes, puretracks and msn music club to purchase songs. (with ipod you can only use itunes)) From Levente Orban, February 03, 2004
"Two Days - No Problems" I don't like having Music Match forced on me since I had a bad experience with MM re-naming file names (mixing up artist/title etc).
And I would like a drag & drop feature.
Media Monkey is what I use to manage file names and Tags - best I have found so far.
Battery charge time is "6" (not 12) the first time.
Capacity is huge.
Sound quality is Good.
Bought the accidental damage warranty for $39.
Bought it from dell
From Scott Quitadamo, January 07, 2004
"Dell DJ Comments" I've been happily using an ARCHOS 6GB player for some time, but needed more space (I guess 1,000 songs wasn;t enough...). I got the Dell DJ 20 package for $299 off eBay from Dell. Came with TWO AC chargers in addition to car charger, case, cassette adaptor, etc.
I like this player! MusicMatch was annoying to be FORCED to use to load the player (I'll try Dudebox soon)-- ARCHOS let me drag and drop all files easily. The gain though is that by "fixing" my MP3 files tags with MM, the player is "smarter." I can play all one artist, just one album and a particular genre -- even randomly. Sound is good, despite EQ "presets" not being useful (use custom). It's easy enough to use IMHO. From Chris Smith, December 31, 2003
"My Dell DJ is Great" I don't know what everyone is complaining about! I received my DJ one day before they said it would arrive. THe software suite is fine. I think the quality of the product is sturdy, and the sound is great. I bought the mobile kit for the car and it sounds good thru my car stereo...not to mention the long battery life and holding 3000+ songs! Bravo Dell! From JVC, December 27, 2003
"Dont waste your money. Buy the iPod" I had been wanting an iPod for a long time, but because my dad is one of the big guys at microsoft, i couldent get one. But when the Dell DJ came out, i imediately bought it. I was expecting everything they advertised "better than the ipod" and "a easier to use interface and DOUBLE the battery time" but none of that was true. When i got it the battery wasnt charged and it had to charge for like 12 hours because it was the "first time charge" or whatever. And when i finally got it, the interface wasnt easier but harder to manuver in, one because of the buttons and two because of the lists and things are so confusing. Next the software that came with it is horrible. We had boughten Dells best computer a month ago and the software wouldent load on that. When we got it to load, my computer froze up and would not boot up. And even though dell promised great customer service, we were on the phone for an hour. Once i got my music on it the quality was horrible and for some reason it named every song the name of one other song. A couple days later once it started to work, it was okay. But its so big and clunky and it didnt fit in the case it came with.The only high point is that it can hold alot of music. Basically its a 200 dollar paper weight that can play lots of low quality music. Get the Apple iPod. From Nate, December 22, 2003
"DON'T BUY FROM DELL..." I have heard Dell service was hard to deal with...but I thoguht, "hey, it'll be different for me." I was SO wrong.
Never got the product because their customer service reps are clueless and their systems are not in sync. They cannot give you consistent information. This was an xmas gift, which they stated would ship on time and even had them expedite the shipping. All lies. Oh gosh...I'm really disappointed and upset that they could be super heartless and ignorant of what is going on with their orders. Dell must have too much business to care about losing a customer. Is this the way people do business these days? I've cancelled my order after a whole week's attempt to work this out...
So, they've left me so stressed, giftless, and completely heated. Please...don't buy from Dell unless you absolutely have to. From jynki, December 19, 2003
We're currently upgrading our user review system; so we won't be accepting new reviews for now. DJ 20 (Version 1) Specs
Non-removable Li-ion Polymer battery (rechargeable via USB port)
Warranty
One year
Extras Lost a USB cable? Get a replacement USB cable.
Running out of USB ports? Get an extra USB hub.
You may need a new USB card to achieve Hi-Speed USB speeds.
Confirm with our USB 2.0 FAQ if you have Hi-Speed USB on your PC.
Where to buy Dell DJ 20 (Version 1)?
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