Insignia Sport NS-2V17B
Date Published: 12/11/07The Insignia Pilot is part of Best Buy's ever-growing stable of private label products under the Insignia name. All are aggressively priced and positioned to compete with the brand names likely sitting right next to them on the shelf. But to really compete, Best Buy knows its store brand needs to offer a little something extra to really set it apart, and on this the Sport delivers via Bluetooth technology.
That's right, the Insignia Sport can stream music via Bluetooth to wireless headphones (sold separately). Add to that a host of welcome extras such as built-in FM tuner, its surprisingly stellar audio quality offers up a lot for the money.
But there are sacrifices, not the least of which is ease of use. The player promises to work Mac OS 8.6 or higher, making this one of the few devices to do so with drag and drop capabilities directly from Apple's iTunes. But it's an empty promise: after many tries, we gave up and switched to our PC, after managing to transfer only photos from our MacBook. Things got easier, if only slightly.
Once everything is loaded, the Sport performs well for a budget player. Sound quality is impressive; better actually, than its more expensive, more fully featured cousin the Pilot with the included ear buds. The Sport comes in black, navy blue and cherry red, each with its own matching ear bud for a color coordinated ensemble. There's the now nearly ubiquitous scroll wheel for navigation and Sport's somewhat rugged housing makes it feel durable.
The 2GB of storage is expandable via a Micro SD slot (media not included) and the FM tuner gives this a leg up on Apple's iPod Shuffle and Nano in the category, although the tuner itself seems weak and gets inconsistent reception. The 1-7/10-inch LCD display makes for poor viewing and sub par image quality if looking at photos or film clips is a priority, but a nice little feature in the display tells you what song is coming up next in the queue.
The Sport won't set the world on fire, but it's a fine option if you're looking for an iPod alternative. The Bluetooth feature is nice, particularly with a model marketed to those with an active lifestyle.
Pros: Bluetooth technology support, FM tuner, colorful options, good audio quality
Cons: Mac support debatable, small screen, poor image quality, no recording function
Warranty
1 year








