However, each of the Hit Clips (£3.99 each, right) that are available contain
just a mere 60 seconds of each track. Given the ever-changing rate of
technology these days this length seems like something I would have expected
a few years ago and that now we should be seeing the full tune included,
especially since every kid to whom this appeals will have a CD player and
CD singles retail for the same amount.
Of course they don't play on their own. You need something to plug them into
and these come in the form of a Personal Player with its single earpiece
(£7.99, see top of review) or a "Rockin' Micro Boombox" (£9.99,
right), but once you insert them and press 'play', the sound that comes out is
like a medium-wave radio that hasn't been tuned in properly.
The tracks that arrived on my doorstep were Nsync's Bye Bye Bye
and two from the Backstreet Boys: Shape of my Heart and
Larger Than Life, but there's a range of popular teen bands and
artists available. What no Slipknot or Muse then?
The one thing I did like was the FM Radio Receiver (£7.99, right).
Plug it in, switch on and more often than not you'll hear Radio 2 blaring
away in tinny mono. A press of the 'scan' button will automatically move the
tuning in process to the next station along that can be picked up. The cynical
side of me will point out that even if you do like this item, you'd be spending
2p short of £16 to hear FM stereo radio in mono and I'm sure a tenner
would get you some kind of standalone battery-powered unit at Argos which
provides much better quality.
Overall, I was perplexed at the start and I still am now because with the
advent of MP3 and the cost-value ratio of these products I fail to see the
where the target market lies. My girlfriend liked them though particularly
because the dinky little toys have key-ring clips on them that she can use
to attach to her TGI Friday uniform.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
When I first tried the range of Hit Clips
that I received I was rather perplexed.
Of course they don't play on their own. You need something to plug them into
and these come in the form of a Personal Player with its single earpiece
(£7.99, see top of review) or a "Rockin' Micro Boombox" (£9.99,
right), but once you insert them and press 'play', the sound that comes out is
like a medium-wave radio that hasn't been tuned in properly.
The one thing I did like was the FM Radio Receiver (£7.99, right).
Plug it in, switch on and more often than not you'll hear Radio 2 blaring
away in tinny mono. A press of the 'scan' button will automatically move the
tuning in process to the next station along that can be picked up. The cynical
side of me will point out that even if you do like this item, you'd be spending
2p short of £16 to hear FM stereo radio in mono and I'm sure a tenner
would get you some kind of standalone battery-powered unit at Argos which
provides much better quality.
