[frenchbat]

I'm putting my money on firmware corruption at some point. The firmware rewrite should have taken care of this yesterday. I've also had some corrupted file errors but they have never caused a crash, so it's unlikely for my unit I think. In any case it doesn't seem like a hardware problem here, since reset is working every time.

 

[alphaman]

Quote:

 In any case it doesn't seem like a hardware problem here, since reset is working every time.

My failed units also had working RESET function 'till the very end of their very short lifespans. Again, if its crash/lock-up frequency increases, the device may be getting ready to die. Sorry! (Wish the folks who manuf/designed it would chime in on this thread from time to time ... give us some support/advice)

 

[frenchbat]

I understand your frustration, I really do. But I have no way to tell if my unit has/had the same problem as yours, but to wait for failure. I haven't seen a rise in crash, as they actually only happened in a sequence of a few days. Nothing since the firmware rewrite and reformat, knocking on wood.
 
Problem with what you're asking is that Nationite is a small company, with likely few knowledge of the inner working of our players. Since they outsource/rebrand from other companies, they can only give us what they're told, assuming they have time for that. That's a bad way to keep good client relations, but the price reflects it. Cheap is cheap, and the business model is obviously based on quantity more than quality.  
 
Quote:

My failed units also had working RESET function 'till the very end of their very short lifespans. Again, if its crash/lock-up frequency increases, the device may be getting ready to die. Sorry! (Wish the folks who manuf/designed it would chime in on this thread from time to time ... give us some support/advice)

 

 

[alphaman]

Quote:

Cheap is cheap, and the business model is obviously based on quantity more than quality.  

No argument there!
Hmm...If crash freq. increases for you, I would assume the worst. Before that fateful day, maybe you could hock it -- with full disclosure of issues, of course! ?? Or better yet, gift it to a friend or "enemy". LOL!
 
 

 

[lee730]

I figured since this thing is pretty expensive (although considered cheap for what you get) I went ahead and purchased an extended warranty from square trade (including accidental care). So if it don't last 4 years I'll get my money back from square trade and just buy another one or the upgraded version they come out with; plus I save money in the long run . The warranty was about $25.00 I think maybe a tad less. Just look for square trades 30% discounts. I know some people won't agree with the warranty bit but I have definitely taken advantage of several of my warranties in the past. Most recently my Dell XPS 730 has gone through 5 mobo's (complete utter B.S). Thank God for the warranty.
 

 

[lee730]

Was wondering are any of you having issues with the battery life on the S:flo2? I am barely getting 4 hours of playback through the device using flac files. I tend to change tracks often on the device but not sure if that would cut the battery life in half? So to get it to last 8 hours do you have to not touch the screen at all? Not to mention this thing takes about 4 hours to fully charge I definitely expect it to last longer than the actual time it takes to charge it lol. I submitted a ticket to MP4NATION regarding this. Also had some other issues out of the box. My device came damaged out of the package. The bottom right hand corner of the metal case is damaged as if someone dropped it. The charger port is somewhat warped due to this I guess. Also the screen has defects on it. It looks like there is sand inside the screen. When I first opened it up I thought it was just some dust. But its actually under the screen itself. So other than these 3 big issues, I really do enjoy the player. Just hope MP4NATION can get this resolved in a timely manner. The shipping was surprisingly fast. It took 2 days for them to ship the item and I received it in about 6 days time, so much better shipping times then what I've been reading earlier on in this thread.
 

 

[ClieOS]

The easies thing to confirm if there is any battery issue is to takes a few hours to do a battery test. Just load some 320kbps mp3 and play them in loop to see how long the battery last.

 

[alphaman]

lee730: FLAC requires more processing from the Rockchip DSP, so 4hrs is not unreasonable. What takes HUGE amounts of power is DC-DC switching (step-up power conversion). This is one main reason the unit runs so warm (and may very well be root agent for this device's horrible reliability).
BTW ... 
I don't have an iPhone, iPod Touch or any of the new-style cell/mobile phone devices (similar to the S:Flo2/Teclast device). How do warm do, e.g., the iPhone, iPod Touch, etc. usually run? Compare/contrast to S:Flo2/Teclast please -- thanks!

 

[lee730]

lee730: FLAC requires more processing from the Rockchip DSP, so 4hrs is not unreasonable. What takes HUGE amounts of power is DC-DC switching (step-up power conversion). This is one main reason the unit runs so warm (and may very well be root agent for this device's horrible reliability).
BTW ... I don't have an iPhone, iPod Touch or any of the new-style cell/mobile phone devices (similar to the S:Flo2/Teclast device). How do warm do, e.g., the iPhone, iPod Touch, etc. usually run? Compare/contrast to S:Flo2/Teclast please -- thanks!
[/quote].
 
 
The iPhone 4 can get pretty hot itself while making Phone calls and more so when in a warm place such as your pocket. I haven't noticed it getting hot though while listening to music, and the battery life for music is very impressive on the iPhone. I think it's over 30 hours.
 
And regarding the player lasting 4 hours, if others are getting double my playing times on flac files as well, something isn't right. I sent in an RMA to MP4NATION and it seems they are going to replace the player with a new one. They just requested for some pictures of the warped USB port. Since my camera is pretty good I took some photos of the front screen. Zooming into the picture you can see the sand in-beaded into the screen. So my experience with this company has so far been a pretty decent one. I would highly recommend doing business with them. But I haven't experienced the issues that others posters have mentioned earlier. I assume they spread themselves to thin at that point, but they were trying (I think).
 
Below is a link to a few pictures to show the damage on the S:flo2. If you click to view the picture it will allow you to zoom into the picture giving you a much clearer idea of what I am describing.
 
[URL=http://www.head-fi.org/image/id/1328086/width/1000/height/800][/URL]

 

[lee730]

 
Quote:

The easies thing to confirm if there is any battery issue is to takes a few hours to do a battery test. Just load some 320kbps mp3 and play them in loop to see how long the battery last.

Hey ClieoOS how long does your battery on your S:flo2 last? Do you use flac files exclusively on the player? I notice after even 30 minutes of using the player the battery will drop 1 bar. I haven't tried the mp3 test yet but I'll give it a try soon as I have a 16GB SD card laying around with mp3 music on it. I still think something is horribly wrong though. Not only is the battery messing up but the device came to me with cosmetic damage to it out of the box. The corner next to the usb port is smashed in as if someone dropped it and due to this the usb port is somewhat warped. Also there is a gap next to the volume button (the frame is somewhat warped and not completely fitted properly). And finally, the screen has defects in it. It looks like bits of sand are stuck inside of the screen. I thought it was dust at first but it won't come off the screen. So it seems MP4NATION will send a new one after they receive my email with the photos of the damage.

 

[ClieOS]

I get around 6~7 hours or so on 320kbps mp3. I don't really use FLAC much on DAP mainly because I want to carry more music and it is hard to notice the difference between FLAC and 320kbps when I listen to music on-the-go.

 

[jsamp05]

I was considering purchasing an S:flo2 on Amazon but it seems they are no longer stocking them.  Does anyone know if this is just temporary?

 

[High_Q]

^I wouldn't be surprised from their customer service track record and the poor interface design and responsiveness.  You will get alot of complaints!  Amazon will not take that lightly.  For Amazon, its customer first from my experience.

 

[sluker]

What is also interesting is that they no longer have them on MP4 nation either.

 

[alphaman]

Quote:

^I wouldn't be surprised from their customer service track record and the poor interface design and responsiveness.  You will get alot of complaints!  Amazon will not take that lightly.  For Amazon, its customer first from my experience.

Yes. I wrote to Amazon relating my poor experience with this product. Maybe others did, too. But even if Teclast or Mp4Nation products were continued to be distributed by the major U.S. outlets (Amazon, etc.), the customer-rating/feedback system would have -- by design -- "done them in" if they did not get their act together v. quickly. It may not matter as Mp4nation have their own USA store ... as frenchbat noted above, "Cheap is cheap, and the business model is obviously based on quantity more than quality. "