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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 41 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 found the following review helpful:
 Yes it really works. Mar 05, 2010
By Dave Reiley
Had the Dolphin in the pool 4 times now after a couple of weeks of hesitation. Touch screen works well enough. Screen locks after a few seconds so you don't trigger a song change by accident. Still learning the system, and as a novice MP3 user (yes, at 47 I did not grow up with one in my crib), I find the instructions rather lame. That may be less of a problem for more tech-wise folks. I saw the volume control option on the touchscreen exactly one time in several attempts to locate it. Luckily, I set it at a tolerable level the one time I saw it as I've never been able to find it again! Controls are managed through the on/select/off button and a touch screen with 4 "buttons" and buried menus. Confuses the hell out of me, but I never learned how to use Windows Media Player to set up a playlist to give you some perspective! Need to rent a teenager to explain how to move around on it...
If you screw the waterproof headphone jack in WELL, I can't imagine having leakage (as per other review). I am not thrilled by the earplug headset, but am getting used to it. There are a number of different size earplug covers included so perhaps I am just trying to shove too large a plug in. Mine came with a better quality normal set of earbuds for out of water fun. In the water, you aren't getting high-fidelity, but you DO GET MUSIC. I am a right side breather when doing the crawl, and my right earplug doesn't fit as well as might be possible. I get water in that ear (as it is often held upward and acts as a water trap) that gets past the earplug. Surprisingly, that doesn't much affect the sound. Generally better sound when ears are submerged, but in all cases, I can hear the music clearly enough to keep my head occupied with something other than counting laps. Tonight for the first time, I eliminated the slower songs from my initial upload and swam HARD for 6-7, 3-4 minute songs. While I can swim a mile without too much trouble, I swim fairly casually. I am sure I did at least a half mile in at least 20 minutes of hard swimming and was hardly aware of the strain. The power of music!
Finally, there are wires on this of course. And the unit is designed to be attached to swimming goggle strap. No goggles would be less than ideal I think, though mine also came with an armband I have not used. With goggles, the wires can be tucked up under the strap in the rear to get them out of the way. With the Dolphin strapped onto the goggle strap with the included flexible clips, and the wires tucked into the goggle strap as well, it has held up for 4 long and/or hard swims. I don't notice the Dolphin at all while swimming. Others certainly do. Been asked about it a bunch already at the pool after swimming! I'm quite pleased in general. Wish me luck on getting past my technical limitations with navigating the menus.
15 of 16 found the following review helpful:
It's okay, but....... Aug 15, 2010
By B
I bought this as a gift. The sound is great and yes, it is waterproof, but there are some issues. First of all, what you really cannot tell from pictures or the description is how small the screen is. Had the person I bought this for not had excellent closeup vision, we may have had to return it. I don't need glasses at all and had a very hard time. Second of all, it seems that the player requires charging a bit more often than usual and uses the same mini jack the headphones use to charge so if that cable becomes lost or damaged you will probably need to get that from the manufacturer. The controls take some getting used to, but are fine once you do. Also, the headphones, since they use a mini jack, if you need to replace them, you will either have to order them from the manufacturer, use an adapter or find ones with mini a mini jack. Hopefully the jack and headphones will last. All in all it is an okay buy and a good value. If the manufacturer finds a way to make the changes to the mini jack and enlarge the screen, it could be great.
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 I LOVE my new Dolphin Underwater MP3 player Jul 05, 2010
By S. Wingfield
I had an older Dolphin Underwater MP3 player, but it was only .5 GB. It was great! It lasted approximately 1 1/2 to 2 years and then failed to hold a charge. I decided to get the new 4 GB with stereo headphones. It is wonderful!!!!! I haven't had it long enough to really determine how long it's going to last and whether I will encounter any problems, but so far, it's even better than the old one. I loaded my whole music library onto it, and the stereo earphones have an excellent sound quality - MUCH better than my old Dolphin.
I swim laps usually at least 3 times a week, and it helps liven up my workout. It also comes with regular earphones if you want to use it as a normal MP3 player. It's lightweight, fits on my goggles, and is fairly easy to use. The display is bright and visible, but not for older eyes like mine (I have to wear reading glasses). My solution is to just memorize the sequences and deal with it. So far that has worked just fine. If the readout were larger, the whole unit would have to be larger, and I wouldn't want that, so I don't mind the display size. It's pretty easy to download from my music library and it didn't take long to charge it up and get it loaded.
The only drawback to this product (and my last Dolphin) are the earplugs. They go out occasionally, and I did have to buy new ones for the old player. The ones that came with this were defective, but the return/replace was pretty easy. As I said before, the sound quality is excellent. I have tried other ear plugs, but the Dolphin in-your-ear plug is still my favorite. This new stereo version is even better.
I really can't say enough good things about this. It makes my swimming experience so much better!
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
It is NOT Charging (only used twice) Mar 06, 2011
By msniemi
Update 4-22-11: I've been using this for a solid month for at least 1 hour in the pool twice a week. Last week there seemed to be some internal condensation on the LED screen which caused the display to stop working. After I let it sit for 2 days, the unit started working properly. I do like the sound quality, the earplugs are a bit big (stick out pretty far), but it works well. If this was $60 or less, I would recommend it to a friend but this product is too sensitive to be made for the water. Also, there is no indication that, when the headphones are connected to the device, it is a sealed connection. I just make sure I make that sucker as tight as it can be.
..... Amazon is being very help and sending me a new one. If this one doesn't break, I will update my review.
I am an electrical engineer, I AM very careful about my electronics in H20.
I used this device two times. The first time, was the break in period for me - learning how to use the device before going into the water & letting it play while swimming. (It's not a device made to switch music/songs while in the h20..even says so on the box) The 2nd day, worked great! Sound was better than the headphones I used for my ipod swimming device. (That was December 25 & 26)[I had PRK eye surgery, so I was banned from h20 until my eyes healed] Now it is March 5th and I want to use this tomorrow ...my device didn't turn on. So, I thought it needed to be charged - but it won't charge on my laptop and it didn't come with any other charging device! I paid "Grand Total: $137.25" FOR CRAP.
DO NOT BUY.
9 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 Disappointing in function and performance. Sep 06, 2010
By DSB
We orded the "dolphin" after an extensive search of options other than the very expensive and fragile waterproofed iPod nanos. The expectations were basic...would the MP3 player be easy to operate, easy to affix to goggles, and would it sound good? The product was attractively packaged with seemingly everything necessary for operation and utilization. Like many Chinese made products today, the instructions left a lot to be desired. The full instructions were available via the enclosed mini-CD. Lacking in the instructions were guides for utilizing the player with iTunes and converting ACC files to MP3. Once that was figured out and done, I moved about 5 albums over to the dolphin as it charged.
I was excited to plug in (and twist!) the headphones and listen to the music on dry land. With some review of the menu system and practice with the touch controls, I arrived at "play." The sound quality was good and it rivaled my previous nano. I quickly figured a way to mount the unit on my goggles and clipped the headphone wires into place. Unlike the nano, the controls are largely unusable by feel - one must look at the unit and touch the controls above the water. I finally slipped in and swam for 45 minutes enjoying the limited music I'd loaded. There was some water leakage into my ears, but for the most part it seemed ok.
When I arrived home, I noticed browsing the menus that the battery was a bit down (after one use), so I plugged the unit into my USB port. The unit neither indicated a charging battery nor did it auto-start a window to exchange MP3's. It did not connect to my computer. I tried other computers...no connection. I now owned a $110 disposable MP3 player with 50 songs on it. I went, got the box and packaging materials together and shipped it back to AMAZON.COM...which has to be the greatest company on Earth! Then I ordered a new waterproof iPod nano from the other guys...for over twice the price. Order the dolphin at some risk of disappointment, and keep your packaging together, because I'm sure you'll end up sending it somewhere for return, repair, or replacement.
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