MP3 Players:

[self biased]

while i'm not in the market, my mother is. she'll be mostly using it for audio books. she was leaning towards RCA's Lyra, but asked me to snoop around. she said "there's no way i'm paying $300 plus for an Ipod or the like"

so she asked me to ask around, and i figured 'polytown would know. your suggestions?

[Dinner]

Hmmm, to bad. The one I was going to recommend was around $300 (a Zen Touch 40GB). You can get a 4GB Zen Mico for around $180 which is much smaller zince it is a flash player instead of a hard drive device. How big are the audio book files she wants to listen to? Will 4GB be enough?

[Asher]

The Zen Micro is not a flash player, it has a 1" harddrive.

[DRoseDARs]

I've been very happy with my RCA Lyra. Got it on sale for $70 (or was it $60?) from Shopko a few years back. Has built-in memory plus a slot for the postage stamp-sized memory cards. Runs on a single AAA battery (invest in rechargable batteries; it's not that difficult). The sound is a little tin-ey, but it has served me well. I plan on selling it to my boss (for a bit less than I paid for it) since I've moved on to a Zen Micro 5GB ($200 plus I've dropped some more money into extra stuff for it).

[Asher]

http://news.com.com/Problems+surfacing+with+iPod+Nano+screen/2100-1041_3-5880307.html?tag=nefd.top

Problems surfacing with iPod Nano screen
Published: September 24, 2005, 12:38 PM PDT
By Michelle Meyers
CNET News.com Staff

Some owners of Apple Computer's new "impossibly small" iPod Nano are starting to wonder if the device is also impossibly delicate.

The most widespread complaint about the otherwise highly-praised device seems to be that the color display screen gets scratched extremely easily.

Nano owner Brian Cason posted one of 250-some threads in response to a recent post on Apple's discussion board about screen scratching.

"I don't really care if the case on my Nano gets scratched but my screen has scratched up so badly that all the images are starting to become distorted," Cason wrote, echoing the sentiment of many others in the discussion. "I have only carried it in my small pocket in my shorts and nothing is in there to scratch it. I still can't figure how the screen looks like it has been rubbed with sandpaper when the entire time it has been safe in my pocket (with absolutely no items)."

But this week several users also started complaining about screens cracking, or failing, inexplicable. A Nano owner set up the site, flawedmusicplayer.com (formerly ipodnanoflaw.com) to tell the story about how his Nano screen shattered after just four days, to see if others have had the same problem, and to suggest that Apple recall the Nano and use stronger screen product.

"It is way too fragile. Apple markets it in a pocket. Hell, Steve Jobs himself pulls it out of his when he announces it," wrote the site host, who himself was smitten with the Nano upon its release. "It was in my pocket as I was walking and I sat down. No, I didn’t sit on it."
Big plans for the small screen
Google builds empire to rival Microsoft
Making sense of worms and other pests
Microsoft's nightmare
Previous Next

An appropriate Apple official was not immediately available for comment on the alleged problems with Nano screens.

Some Nano owners have written to flawedmusicplayer.com, challenging its premise and arguing that they haven't had any problems with their screens. They chalk problems up to user abuse and reference an Ars Technica report that shows the Nano holds up to extreme circumstances.

Several, however, emailed with similar screen failures and debated whether the problem is caused by a design flaw or poor manufacturing, maybe just in an isolated batch.

iPodnn pointed out that at least one iPod repair company, iPodResQ, has temporarily raised the price of Nano LCD repair "due to LCD availability and overwhelming demand."

Last June, Apple agreed to settle several class action suits over the battery life of earlier iPod models, offering extended service warranties and $50 store credits to consumers who lodged complaints.

tsk tsk...

[Verto]

lol, I doubt that screens problem was caused by rubbing against the inside of a jean pocket.

[Asher]

Have you seen how thin and disproportionately tall the things are? Moderate flexing when in the pocket when sitting down would be a problem.

LCDs when flexed = cracked = fubared.

[Verto]

Originally posted by Asher
Have you seen how thin and disproportionately tall the things are? Moderate flexing when in the pocket when sitting down would be a problem.

Then don't sit down

[Asher]

[Verto]

[Asher]

http://www.betanews.com/article/iPod_Nano_May_Have_Some_Big_Problems/1127743011

iPod Nano May Have Some Big Problems
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
September 26, 2005, 9:56 AM

What some analysts have billed as the "top MP3 player this fall" may have just hit a potentially damaging roadblock - its own frailty.

Complaints have begun to circle on both Web logs and Apple's own support forums surrounding an issue with the polycarbonate plastic that covers the front of the iPod Nano. Some users claim the player scratches extremely easily, enough that it makes the screen difficult to read.

The problems have even led one anonymous Nano owner to set up a Web site to gather complaints of defects surrounding the diminutive player. flawedmusicplayer.com, was registered September 21 by Matthew Peterson of Hazel Park, Michigan.

While the site was originally created to demand some kind of recourse for what Park called a defect in the LCD screen that causes it to crack, in recent days reports of the scratching problem have become the primary complaint.

"My thoughts are that the nano is way too expensive to scratch so easily like this. In my case, the only thing my nano screen touched was the inside of my cotton shirt's pocket," a customer named Curt wrote.

Other users experienced similar problems to Park, with varying degrees of success in getting a resolution from Apple. "I have brought it down to the Apple Service Centre (and called Apple Customer Care Australia) and was told by them that this problem is not covered by Apple's warranty," a Nano owner named Ed wrote.

But some had their units replaced. "Went to the Apple store... and as clearly there was no sign of external damage, they agreed to replace the unit," Amanda from New York reported.

Microsoft even took time in an internal meeting with employees on the company's reorganization to mention the Nano issues. "I have to tell you that I did get the iPod Nano the first day it came out and it only worked one day," Windows chief Jim Allchin said. "True story. I think they have a moisture problem."

Apple has yet to make any public statement regarding the scratching issue or cracks in the Nano's screen. BetaNews had a request out for an official position on the matter, however no response was received as of press time.

Apple was bragging how quickly this product was developed (9 months), but now it looks like it's kicking them in the ass.

[Q Classic]

And yet, that one review on the Ars Technica site... strange.

[Provost Harrison]

Arse Technica?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
And yet, that one review on the Ars Technica site... strange.

They dropped it and ran over it and stuff, with a flash player that's not too surprising.

Regular wear and tear (scratching) and flexing were the obvious problems.

[Q Classic]

See, this just proves that the modern consumer is too picky. Back in the day, they'd be happy if they could have a product that would work after being run over and dropped from 40 feet in the air!

...or something.