In a world (said in best Don La Fontaine voice) where your choices in MP3 players are as varied as the actual ingredients in an average fast food hamburger, finding one that stands out can be tricky. Everyone wants loads of features nowadays, from simple equalizer settings to video playback. Some MP3 players even boast radio tuners and recording capabilities. This is rare, and putting all these features into one unit is usually pretty expensive.
Enter the Insignia NS-DV2G Video MP3 Player and Image Viewer.
Loyal readers will remember Insignia as Best Buy’s in-house brand. Simply unpackaging the NS-DV2G brought back to mind some of the features I really liked about the DVD player. It also brought up some questions.
Let’s start with the technical specs. The NS-DV2G boasts 2 gigs of internal memory, a 2.2″ LCD screen, Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port, two headphone jacks (one of which can also be used as a line-in jack), rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack, FM tuner with 20 presets, microSD memory card slot for expanding its capacity, hold button, and upgradeable firmware. It manages to pack all that into a 2.4-ounce frame that is a mere 4 inches long by 1.8 wide, and barely more than a half inch thick. A mini-USB cable, earbuds, transparent belt case, and software CD round out the package.
It feels sturdy. Not quite as industrial as the first-gen nano, but nice and solid. The entire back is made from the same micro-textured plastic they used on the cover of the DVD player, that sort of almost oiled-leather feel of the old Thinkpads. The front is shiny and slick with the screen dominating about two thirds of the surface. Controls fill out the remaining area. Not very assuming, it reminded me of the LG Chocolate, without the whole phone part.
I was perplexed that there was no wall wart included to charge the unit, meaning that all your charging will be done from a USB port on your PC. Normally I wouldn’t complain about something so trivial, but if you happen to be traveling with a laptop, well, that’s slightly inconvenient.  Chargers with mini-USB plugs are available, though, so it isn’t a big deal. Also of note is that the unit goes into a sort of stand-by when connected, so you can’t charge and listen at the same time.
The earbuds are adequate, in the same way that iPod earbuds are adequate. The sound fine, but my (apparently) odd-shaped ears do not like being tortured with round pieces of hard plastic.
On to the good stuff. Plugging the unit into my laptop was simple enough, but I ignored the instructions to install the included software. Although the unit supports Plays for Sure, I don’t. I also don’t have an account with Best Buy’s Digital Music Store, so I was unable to test that functionality.
I skipped the software because I mainly use a MacBook, and apparently that pretty much precludes using either Plays for Sure or the Best Buy service anyway. Oh well, a minor inconvenience, as the included manual indicates how to transfer music to the device manually from iTunes. It’s a simple drag and drop affair, although users should be warned (they are not, in the manual) that Apple DRM-protected tracks will not play on the Insignia player.
If you do not wish to install the included software on a PC, you have two options. Use the same drag-and-drop method from iTunes, or open the device in ‘My Computer’ (it’s recognized as a removeable drive), open the ‘Music’ folder, and drag your folders in there. For those not really computer savvy, this could be a little problematic, but the iTunes method is there for that, not to mention the included software.
The interface on the Insignia is nothing short of amazing, especially considering its budget status. The screen is clear and bright, once again reminding me of a good cell phone. The oddly green welcome screen gives way to a blue and silver screen displaying current artist (with artwork if available), album, and track information. There is also a clock, charge indicator, and track progress bar. All very similar to the iPod. One feature I never noticed on the iPod, and one that I really like on the Insignia, is that at the bottom of the screen is displayed the name of the next track in the queue. Really cool. Browsing through the music library menus are a breeze, allowing you to look by track, artist, album, genre, all at the turn of the wheel.
Hitting the Menu button takes you to a fluidly animated scroll menu, reminiscent of the T-Mobile SideKick. The menu has Settings, Music Library, Audio Books, Video, Photos, FM Tuner, and Recording options, which allow easy access to all the functions of the player. There are decent presets on the equalizer, control of the backlight and repeat/shuffle functions, control of the recording quality and FM station presets, time, and other mundane stuff. The only function not included that I thought might have been useful is a way to control the idle interval before the player shuts itself off. Once it does, hitting the Play button does nothing, and holding down the Power button for two seconds is required to power the unit back up.
Sound quality is fantastic through my preferred headphones. I mean, there really isn;t anything more I could say about that. Clear, crisp sound. Photos display well on the screen, and browsing through them is simply a matter of clicking through. Video playback is a little streaky, which is perfectly normal for a tiny LCD. And although I probably wouldn’t watch full-length features on it, the included music videos were a nice diversion. Don’t take that as a negative, though, as there aren’t ANY small screens I would watch movies on, my vaunted iPod included.
The recording functions are basic, but useful. You can choose from four recording ‘qualities’, whether to record in PCM or WMA, and as mentioned previously, there is a line-in/mic jack, though you will need a pre-amp for the mic. There is, sadly, no way to record from FM that I could see.
I did not get a chance to run the battery down. It is advertised as having ‘up to’ 20 hours of music playback, but based on experience with other players, I would probably put it closer to 16. Still, not shabby at all.
All in all, this player is a spectacular value for the money. At only $120 on Best Buy’s site, you could do a lot worse for a gift this holiday season. It has many features the iPod Nano does not (video, FM, recording), and a smaller price tag to boot.
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Thanks for your very detailed rundown on the DV2G. I just bought one for my son, it’s still in the box, and I know nothing about MP3 players. So I was encouraged by your review to think that I made a decent choice. $99.99 at Best Buy! Thanks again. Merry Christmas!
Piggybacking on Bob’s comment, my brother just bought two of these as gifts, pretty much based on this review. Hopefully I’ll be able to post back in a few months with some “long term” updates on their usage.
Make sure you check out the fabulous support this device is getting over on http://www.dapreview.com. You’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that there is a user named DigitalDel who works for Insignia who frequently (truly!) inquires about and responds to problems that might arise w/your device. He’s achieved almost cult-like status over there.
Anyway, I can’t speak from the ownership perspective, but I’m hoping Santa will put one of these under the tree for me
um, i dont know how to put movies on this thing and its really pissing me off lol? i need som help with this, please
You have to copy it to the ‘movies’ or ‘video’ folder. I hope you aren’t using the app for it.
I’ll actually be reviewing the updated version of this device in the next few days.
If you care to email me at carl@bostongeek.com, I will be happy to help if I am able.
I just wanted to point out that you CAN set the time when the device turns off after being idle. You must access settings, then display, then auto power off. I actually have the 4 gig version and I can change it on that one. The software included to transfer videos is actually really great, don’t know why Carl said it was bad…
Well, of course there is an amount of subjectivity involved in any review. I think if one compares it to the almighty iPod (and that might not be a fair comparison) one might be disappointed in the interface and the ease at which music is moved to and from the device. But, you can’t deny that it is a nice device for the price.
I have gone through 3 Insignias so far. I have had a problem with the Audiobooks portion of the device on 2 of them. At any given moment (while listening to the book “Dune”) a loud “helicopter” like sound filled my headphones. It sounded like the device was skipping. This happened even after rewinding/fast forwarding to differents spots on the book and restarting. It happened to 2 out of 3 of the Insignia devices so I finally (and reluctantly) returned it and got a Sandisk. But then I found out that the Sandisk doesn’t support Audiobooks at all. Bummer. I really loved my Insignia. It was the 4gb e260r by the way. I have decided to give it (the Insignia) another shot because it offers so much so well for so little money. I hope the Audiobooks works fine on the Insignia this time. I will let you know.
I have bought a new insignia NS-DV2G a coule of months ago. At first i had a problem wiht one of the headphone jacks. The sound wouldnt come out of one headphone when in that jack. I just ignored that problem and used the other headphone jack.
Now, just a couple of days ago, I turned on the MP3 player and the screen was messed up. Half of the screen was completly blank, and the rest of the screen was fuzzy and you can berely tell what it’s saying.
The blank part of the screen also feels soft. You can just barely touch the screen and it pushes down.
I think it got this way bcuzz i either got water on it, or somehow it got really hot.
Hey, i was thinking about getting one of them, i have the nsda1g version and it has worked wonders for me! It went through the washer twice and it still works! Lol i just found out today after owning it for a year that it CAN display the track art(i still don’t know how) I hope that this one is just as good. I am still having problems believing that it supports avi, not even zune supports it! I am also wondering if it’s worth the extra money for 2 extra gigs.
We use these (2Gb and 4Gb versions) as a backup recording device for the podcast and they have suited our purpose just fine. I use my iPod as my regular portable media device, but I have been pleasantly surprise by the quality of these [Insgnia] inexpensive gadgets.
i bought the insignia and it works great but when i try copying movies to the video folder i unplug the usb and try it but there is no new video in the section
Was up, thanks so much for the in depth review. I can’t find anything like this anywhere else.
Thanks again man…
YO i got a ingsignia 4gb but ma brother broke the cd anybody know how to or where to dowload the software from. if u know tell me at sufian_jamil@hotmail.com
i’m trying to put a video. i used .avi and .mpg but it says”file cannot be play”
=(
can anybody help me please…
Hi,
i have a 2gb player and i cannot add any videos to it neither it has a folder saying video.
please sujjest
Hrm. People having lots of problems with them. I am not sure what formats it accepts. What tools are you guys using to convert vids or are these vids that have been downloaded (torrents, etc).
how do i record on this devise.i cannot record it.
Using the Arcsoft Media Converter software that comes with the player I was able to convert video to a format that would play on the player. Only problem was it flipped the video upside-down and backwards! I suppose I could use some other software to flip the original so that the converted file comes out correctly, but…
To record, plug your source into the auxilliary jack on the lower left of the unit. Use teh menu button and scroll wheel to select “Record” (icon looks like a cassette tape). Use teh play button to start recording. To change the recording format and quality use teh Settings menu.
My screen cracked, and really the only thing i need this mp3 player for is to just shuffle the songs while i listen in the car…sooo, because i can only see half of the screen, i was wondering if anyone knew how to get to shuffle songs? i can only see the right hand side of the screen–the rest is unviewable. thanks
Not to sound like a fanboy or anything, but my Insignia NS-DVB4G mp3(etc) player went through the wash and survived! A complete wash, rinse and spin, plus a full hour cycle in the dryer. The screen is a little cloudy, but perfectly legible.
Hi Y`ll
I have Insignia NS-DV2G I lost my cd and i can find that please if some one can send me how and where can i download that please let me know
best regardless