RCA's Gem Line of DAPs - RCA Jet Stream, Jet, Opal, and Pearl

RCA hasn't gotten a ton of traction in this space, but they're rolling out a new "Gem Line" of flash-based digital audio players today. Here's the rundown:



RCA Jet Stream - They're maddeningly opaque about what standard they're using, but the Jet's big feature is that it works with a pair of wireless headphones that they're promising will "seamlessly deliver crystal clear music". The splash-resistant player, which has 1.5-inch OLED display, an FM tuner, and 1GB of storage capacity, 12 hours of battery life, and also comes with a stopwatch and a body mass index calculator. MSRP is $149.

RCA Jet - This one is pretty much just a wired version of the Jet, with a 1GB version selling for $69 and a 2GB version going for $89. Guess removing the wireless headphones stuff shaves a more than 50% off the price.


The RCA Opal - The big selling point of the Opal is that it can double as a digital photo viewer (which, honestly isn't all that novel of a feature by now). That is, assuming you don't mind looking at JPEGs on a 1.5-inch OLED screen. Battery life is rated at 15 hours, MSRP is $79.

RCA Pearl - Heading up the low-end is the new budget RCA Pearl. The Pearl has a microSD card slot for adding storage, a built-in digital voice recorder, and support for playback of MP3, WMA, and protected WMA (they don't get specific, but do mention that it'll work with "most Internet download services"). Gets 15 hours of life on a single AAA, retail price is $49.

[ben @ Jan 7th 2007 6:20PM]

They are joking right?

[Chris Merchant @ Jan 7th 2007 6:26PM]

Unfortuantely Ben, I fear they aren't.

They're almost depressing, except for the decent battery lives they claim.

Chris

[Shell @ Jan 7th 2007 7:03PM]

Oh god, those look so terrible.

(P.S. Check out my blog at http://blog.dotshell.net)

[Jon Gilkison @ Jan 7th 2007 8:04PM]

RCA still exists?

[iGotNoTime @ Jan 7th 2007 8:19PM]

Thank you Pete.

I am quickly becoming an Apple fanboy with my new iPod and soon to own a Macbook, but if you compare these prices and storage capacities to the screen-less Shuffle RCA is not too far off a decent target audience.

A 2GB player with a screen for only $10 more than the Shuffle is pretty decent. On a side note I bought my kids RCA Lyra's because they were affordable where as Apple is not for most parents. These old 512mb models run on a single AAA battery for nearly 20 hours and are virtually indestructible. All these players still work great after more than a year of preteen and teen sporting abuse.

[Galley @ Jan 7th 2007 8:20PM]

I bet they're twice as craptastic as they look.

[tho @ Jan 7th 2007 10:39PM]

And that is why you hire decent designers.

[SearchingWorks @ Jan 9th 2007 8:30AM]

Just a side note: The RCA Jet Stream uses the Kleer wireless protocol (www.kleer.com) to deliver the battery life and audio quality that is mentioned.

And while the design may not be perfect, my kids can't wait to get their hands on wireless - and as a parent, I like the price.

[shoeshine @ Jan 10th 2007 1:33AM]

RCA actually makes really sturdy mp3 players. My first mp3 player was one(forget the model, but it was the one that got replaced by the Lyra). That thing could take a beating. The only reason I don't have it any more is because my sister lost it.

[Brittney @ May 17th 2007 4:29PM]

I have a Pearl MP3 and it been working fine until today. I had over 100 songs on it and when i turned it on today it was only 16 songs on it, and most of those songs were skipping like a record player. I don't know what happened to it all of a sudden. Last night I added a few new songs and even listened to them before I went to bed but today it was ruined. And now my computer won't even read it. I was going to delete the songs left on there and start over but my computer can't locate the device. WHAT SHOULD I DO????

[Brittany @ Dec 22nd 2007 2:25PM]

LOL! I am sorry I do not have a solution to the problem. However, I had this exact same thing happen to me!!! I have about 80 songs on it, and then, the next day, only 13! One of them sounds like it skips just like a CD player!

I wish I knew what was wrong.

[joker @ Jun 3rd 2007 8:08PM]

My dad (72 im in my 30s) witch is not ... vary " Hi tech " jest got the 1 gig pearl.The down side is they run on a yahoo jukebox POS . and are a POS. but for some one that has never had one before.It works for them ... but it has vary small buttons ...and screen ...OK it sucks .all but the fact it takes micro SD card witch i can load at my house for hem ,with rechargeable battery's ya cant beat it for $40 I think I'll stick with my I pod video for now

[Carl @ Nov 7th 2007 8:57AM]

I was lookin for a small easy to use mp3 player, and purchased the Jet, loaded up a bunch of songs. First off the sound quality sounds like something from my old 70's transistor radio. So, I decided to add more songs, and nothing. The thing is dead....crap. Cant access anything.
I will be returning for my money back.