Mach Speed Eclipse 180 Review

The Eclipse 180 from Mach Speed draws a host of criticism from users for a variety of reasons. The top two issues, according to Mach Speed Eclipse 180 reviews, relate to the controls and the navigation menu. Users who posted Mach Speed Eclipse 180 reviews at Newegg contend the controls are the opposite of intuitive and the interface is clunky and slow. Other users complain that tracks get corrupted, the player doesn't always recognize downloaded songs, and durability is questionable. In Mach Speed Eclipse 180 reviews at Staples users bemoan the poor sound quality and also gripe about the control scheme. Some purchasers who commented at Amazon like this model because it's so inexpensive, but many report the player simply cut out after a short period of use.

On paper, the Mach Speed Eclipse 180 looks pretty good. It features 4GB of storage, a 1.8-inch color LCD, and a digital voice recorder. The Eclipse 180 can display song lyrics and JPEG photos and play back AMV video clips. Its audio support is pretty basic, extending only to MP3, WMA, and WAV audio files.

It's hard to recommend the Mach Speed Eclipse 180 at any price given the problems users have experienced. If the controls were easier to manage and menus easier to navigate, it would be a decent, though not great, value. And while no one expects the sound quality of a budget MP3 player to rival that of a pricey home stereo, users still contend that the Eclipse 180 falls short in this dimension. These negatives, along with questions about reliability, overwhelm the model's greatest attraction -- its rock-bottom price.