Haier America ibiza Rhapsody 30 GB Media Player - Design and Interface
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Design and Interface
Haier has designed this player to have similar features to the iPod and the Zune. The size and overall look of the player resembles an iPod. The ibiza has the same 2.5 inch screen as the iPod with 320 x 240 (QVGA) resolution. The square touch-pad used for navigation is very similar to the new Zune Pad on the second generation Zune. This touch-pad is much like a laptop's touch-pad. It can also be pushed in, which sort of acts like the ibiza's "enter" or "return" confirmation button. The ibiza comes in five different colors including white, silver, blue, pink, and black. The body is made out of a lightweight painted metal with a matte finish. This player's body will not show scratches from normal wear and tear.
Surrounding the square touch-pad are four straightforward buttons. These are the back, forward, reverse, and play/pause buttons. The back button will return you to the previous screen or if you hold it, it will return to the player's main menu. The forward and reverse buttons are used to fast-forward or rewind music/video.
The dedicated volume controls are located on the right spine, along with the power button. On the top of the player you will find the 3.5 mm headphone jack, a lock switch, and the 1-touch Wi-Fi button which turns Wi-Fi on or off. The back of the player sports just the Wi-Fi antenna, which is very low-profile, only sticking out about 1/16 of an inch. Finally, the bottom of the player offers a mini USB port for syncing, as well as a proprietary dock connector. As far as I know, a charging/syncing dock does not come in the box, so it must be an add-on accessory.
In the Box
earbuds
standard USB cable
AC charger
protective case
Rhapsody software
1-year warranty
The interface is a lot like the iPod Classic in terms of looks, but it's not quite as snappy as the iPod's. Here's what PC Mag has to say about the ibiza's interface: " The interface isn't very pretty, and it's definitely slow at times." The GUI does give the ibiza a cool look with some nice graphical animations throughout the menu system, but this may also be the reason for the less-than-stellar interface performance.
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