The XA-F107 comes in five colours – black, silver, red and a rather startling bubblegum pink – but our review model is the more reserved silver version. With its 1GB capacity, it should be able to hold up to 500 tracks, depending
on how you store your music files.
On that subject: the XA-F107 can accept files from your Mac (drag and drop only) or from your PC (you need Windows Media Player 9 onwards if you use WMA-DRM files). Just plug in its USB cable, which also supplies power to the unit, and away you go.
Additionally, via its audio line-input, the XA-F107 can be used to record directly from an external source, such as a CD player. Simply grab a phono-to-minijack cable, and you're ready to record. This method doesn't transfer track details, but you can always add them in using your PC.
Better sound eats up the space. The default recording setting is 128kpbs, although you can up that quality to 160kpbs for better sonic results if desired. We'd certainly recommend doing so: whether listening to direct recordings, or computer-transferred files, we'd use as high a rate as memory space allows. Otherwise, the JVC's sonic signature is a tad thin, a dash brash, and a shade plodding. True, switching to higher bit rates boosts audio quality but, even so – and even when you add better earphones, such as our oft-recommended Sennheiser PX100s – sonic results fall notably short of those from the best similarly priced 1GB players.
Add a slightly clunky user interface, and we'd wouldn't be too upset if you threw this baby out with the bathwater. The sound falls short and the interface is slow to respond. While it looks cute this baby does not press all the right sonic switches.
Reccomended Retail Price $179.00
Rating: 
