Hrm... I may have a second opinion.
I also had problems installing the software. When I first got on the unit my computer was occupied. So I plugged it into the wall, dumped everything out of the box, and put everything back in. Apparently, I didn't pack it too well, because my CD was bent and unusable when I tried to install. I had to wait the weekend out until another kind beta tester sent me a .zip with the software.
After the software was installed, I found it easy to transfer all my songs. The software uses Digital Rights Management, but it isn't the harsh Rights Management you'll find on an iPod. You can upload songs from any computer with the DMM software installed. However, you can only download songs onto the computer they were uploaded to. Any recordings you have made can be downloaded onto any computer. Speaking of the recorder... With line in recording, it splits the tracks into 2 to 3 minute segments to cut down on memory usage. No problem for me, as with simple splitting and joining software it takes about 15 seconds to put together 25 of these segments.
Also,
as a warning to all of you that want this instead of iPod.
This unit's firmware is in the early stages. You're going to have to wait a few months until this unit is PERFECT. The iPod has had 3 years to perfect it's firmware, and the same can be said about the Nomad Jukebox version. When I had my old Nomad Jukebox with the original firmware, there was a 10 second pause in between tracks and it took 2 minutes to boot up. The firmware will improve, but you can't expect everything to be perfect in the first firmware. That's why I'm beta testing, I'm actually providing input to Philips on what to do with their firmware.
Finally, the unit does sometimes freeze. It's happened to me about once every other day for the past 2 weeks. This is when I am transporting it in my pocket, cutting the grass, unplugging it, etc... I think it's semi-acceptable for this to happen once in a while in the first firmware, but I don't expect it to happen in the next one, for sure.
To answer a previous question, you can transfer data files through Windows Explorer, and you may (!) even be able to install a Linux or Windows OS on the data partition and boot up anywhere. You'd have to have a pretty nice motherboard to do that, though. You can upload mp3's to the data partition as well, but they won't show up on the player.
To conclude, I would like all Head-Fi members who may buy the HDD100 to give me reccomendations on what I should tell Philips to improve with this product. I've told them about the weak headphone output, the freezes, and the firmware improvements that need to take place. But I need your help to expose all the flaws