[blessingx]

Just thought I'd mention it as seems a decent deal. See here [BestBuy].

 

[CrazyDiamond]

I picked one of these up today and have been enjoying it so far - the screen is tiny but fairly hi-res and the controls are intuitive. My initial impressions of the SQ are that it's very good, but then again my ears aren't as sensitive as I wish they were!

I think it's a great buy for anyone looking for a decent-capacity flash player.

 

[SFbayArch]

is it subscription compatible?

Janus...PlayForSure...

for streaming media such as Yahoo Music Unlimited and Napster?

 

[Bionic Gecko]

Can it be put in/Does it have a lanyard?

 

[blessingx]

The ad says 'PlaysForSure compatible'.
Music Service Compatibility:Napster|Napster To Go|Rhapsody|Rhapsody To Go

 

[CrazyDiamond]

It does have a tiny hole at the end of the player for a lanyard, but it would have to be a very thin one to fit (the hole is a bit under 2mm in diameter).

 

[Asr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SFbayArch is it subscription compatible? Janus...PlayForSure... for streaming media such as Yahoo Music Unlimited and Napster?

It's supposed to be PlaysForSure Download and Subscription compatible. It was part of the advertising that I've seen.

 

[Nick Post]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyDiamond It does have a tiny hole at the end of the player for a lanyard, but it would have to be a very thin one to fit (the hole is a bit under 2mm in diameter).

Go to a craft store and get some 10mm jump rings. You only need one, but they sell about 10 for a dollar or so.

My lanyard is made out of a shortened extension ball-chain pull for a ceiling fan and a 87 cent swivel clip (go to Lowe's). The jump ring stays connected to the player, but I can disconnect very quickly.

You know, I have to have a bunch of jumprings around here somewhere.

 

[CrazyDiamond]

I actually found the lanyard that came with my Sandisk jump drive last night - it has a small loop at the end that fits fine in the small hole and also has a little plastic junction that can be quickly disconnected.

I'm not sure if they sell these separately, but it might be worth a look.

Thanks for the advice Nick, I think I'll give that a try later - even though the pre-made lanyard is nice it says 'Sandisk' all over it and is a little too long.

 

[SFbayArch]

can anyone verify or confirm whether

PlayForSure compatible
=
Janus Compatible

are we talking the same thing here?

or are these different standards for subscription compatibilty

it's rather confusing, if you ask me!!!

 

[blessingx]

Yeah, I'm confused too. Is Janus the technology and PlayForSure the marketing lingo? Did a search and couldn't find anything. One post mentioned requirement for a player clock so maybe there's a difference. I'm tired of hunting (on a Mac so can't use either), but you may find something at the below.

http://www.playsforsure.com/

Anyone else know know the background here?

 

[Inkmo]

Wowwow! another player I might have to go with. Assuming I don't end up with a Karma or iPod (any opinions on the better value?), I would have to say this has edged out the mobiblue cube I was considering. Looks like a pretty functional thing.

edit: What does the actual capacity come to after the formatting?

edit2: How powerful is it? does it have any trouble driving good headphones? Also, not being rechargeable could be the dealbreaker for a lot of folks. I think the price and inconvenience of conventional batteries would make the difference in price not worth it in the longrun.

 

[CrazyDiamond]

Quote:

Assuming I don't end up with a Karma or iPod (any opinions on the better value?)

I have a Karma and a 4G iPod Photo, and I would say that your individual preferences would dictate which one is better for you. The Karma is excellent - real gapless playback, FLAC and OGG support, and great sound quality. However, the form factor is kind of awkward - it is quite thick and ends up being a brick in your pocket. Plus, there are only a few accessories for it, and the unfortunate demise of Rio puts any future servicing in question.

I enjoy my iPod (has a case so it's easier to carry around, plus shows album art which I like), but the Karma still wins hands-down in terms of firmware and features.

Quote:

How powerful is it? does it have any trouble driving good headphones? Also, not being rechargeable could be the dealbreaker for a lot of folks. I think the price and inconvenience of conventional batteries would make the difference in price not worth it in the longrun.

I recently bought the Sandisk player to use for working out and as a player to quickly transfer an album or two from my PC - I'm not a fan of using music managers and both the iPod and Karma require one (without third party software). It gets fairly loud - not as loud as an iPod but I would roughly say 80-90%. At first I also didn't like that it doesn't have a built-in battery, but I had a couple AAA NiMH laying around and these work fine - plus, you can have one charging while the other one is in use. I haven't done any battery tests so I'm not sure how long it will run on one of these.

One issue that I have found with the Sandisk player is that files that have track tags in the format "1/16, 2/16" won't organize properly - the player will put them in alphabetical order instead. Not a huge issue, but people who use iTunes to rip music will probably run into problems.

 

[CrazyDiamond]

Quote:

What does the actual capacity come to after the formatting?

With no audio files, the capcity is 988MB (1,036,910,592 bytes).