Go Swimming with the Hydra MP3 Player

waterproof

By: Jenn K. Lee on September 25, 2006 7:26 AM

Even though autumn is almost half over, you can still relive those hot summer days lounging by the pool with Ultra Product's water-resistant Hydra MP3 player.

Designed with the budget-conscious consumer in mind, the Hydra is a UMS device whose only bell and whistle is the inclusion of an LCD screen. The player supports MP3, WAV, WMA, and (oddly enough) ACT files and used to be available in both 1GB ($40) and 2GB ($70) varieties from the company's website. It's not listed on the site anymore for some reason, and no one else seems to sell it either.

But if you do manage to get one, please don't take the title of this post literally!

[Tech Digest]

Comments

Mike on February 24, 2007 7:57 PM

Don't buy it unless you don't mind reformatting the device weekly and reloading your files. Extremely prone to data corruption, something I have never experienced in a flash device before, this is a serious problem for me. Additionally, button position is poor, with the volume and fwd/rev buttons being opposed, so that when trying to adjust the volume, it is likely you will also change songs, or vice versa.

Don't count on the splash resistance for anything. From a standing position, I dropped from about 3 feet and the front cover popped off. There isn't anything there to seal it from sweat, let alone a splash.

Finally, for a device theoretically marketed for the youthful, athletically inclined target market, it has a very unfashionable lanyard and no way to secure it an arm or other part of the body. And the earphones wouldn't even stay in my ears.

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