In The Box

Once we have cut through the hermetically sealed packaging, we are left with the player, a set of earphones, a USB cable, a lanyard, a cloth bag for storing your device and accessories, a small instruction manual and a driver/utility disk. You will have everything necessary out of the box to handle your needs except the media content. Let's take a closer look at some of the key areas of this device.

Starting with the accessories brings us to the USB cable. While not that different from any other USB driven device component, it is important to note that this player is completely powered by this connection. There is no other external power source used for this player. Even the internal rechargeable battery is recharged by means of the USB cable; very nice.

To be able to hear your media content, you will need some sort of earphone device. Included with the MP4 F610 is an in-the-ear plug that delivers acceptable sound. I am not a big fan of this type of earplug, but that is a personal preference and not a fault with the player. X-Micro was simply looking for a means to deliver your audio output in as small a package as possible, and they succeeded in this aspect.

For those (like myself) who don't prefer this type of speaker setup, you will be pleased to note that the speaker jack used on the earplugs are of the industry standard variety and your favorite headphones will work easily. Just realize that if you are working with any sort of powered speaker device, you will want to make sure that the speakers are powered externally since this device will not deliver enough power to make them work otherwise.

The CD disk shown above includes drivers for Win98 based systems and a utility that allows you to play nearly any media format commonly used. It is the mini-CD format, so make sure your optical drive has the center cutout for the smaller disks. Before we go into more detail about the conversion process, let's take a peek at the actual device.