Review – Philips HDD100 Jukebox – 15GB MP3 Jukebox To Eat The iPod Alive

Reviews - Philips HDD100 Jukebox - 15GB MP3 Jukebox To Eat The iPod Alive

"Minimalist white was the new silver, and now black is back

The HDD100 is the best looking MP3 jukebox & has the functionality to match"

MP3 players aren't new, most people who want one have them and yes we all know that there is one MP3 player that puts them ALL to shame. Sculpted much like their PC's & desktops, the Apple iPod is the king of MP3. Its got everything, a huge capacity, a tiny footprint, looks to kill and a veritable mountain of accessories.

If the technology is that simple why has nobody copied it? Well some have tried but most have failed miserably. There is the Creative attempt that looks clunky and lacks the swhishness of the iPod, then there are the various attempts by Archos, all of which have more chunk than a Yorkie bar. Why isn't there an alternative iPod for us Apple haters?

Well now there is, and to all of our surprise, its not Creative, Sony or even Panasonic… its Philips. Okay the name is good but as far as the brand is concerned we were exactly that; concerned. Philips products are good but their marketing needs something to be desired of. Remember the Fisio 800 series mobile phone? You probably haven't even heard of it even though it was an excellent little phone with bluetooh, gprs and a colour screen. Philips doesn't seem to be able to push its products even if they are good.

But back to the MP3 jukebox that is the saviour of our world. The HDD100 comes with a 15GB memory and the most important thing is… It looks a million dollars. Philips have crafted a product that can really scare Apple. The black and silver HDD100 looks like an expensive bit of kit and the Black LCD display reminds us of design classics like the Roto-Moto and Vertu mobile phones.

Feature-wise the HDD100 is equally impressive. It supports MP3 and WPA and when connected to your PC via the USB2 cable can be used as an external hard-drive. This USB2 is a good connection format, but we would have liked to see the options of serial and firewire for those speed-demons - Filling up 15GB could take some time otherwise.

As expected from Phillips, the build quality is high. We particularly liked the intuitive touch-sensitive scroller which allows you to scroll through your collection at varying speeds according to the pressure you exert upon it.

You were going to buy an iPod weren't you? It's a difficult one to choose between: They both have the looks, both have the features, but for us the new Philips just manages to clench it. For one, its more PC friendly and for those Microsoft-Junkies (yes they do exist) the HDD100 adopts to the PC better. The only problem you may have with the Philips attempt is its lack of accessories; that is, in comparison to the veritable sea of add-ons available to the iPod.

From a design perspective however, silver has definitely had its day. The stores are awash with silver gizmos and the real innovations are in black. Even minimalist white doesn't compare to this sleek seductive little number from Phillips