[alphaman]

Quote:

The more I hear about S:flo2 the more put off I am; it seems a lot people is having problems with theirs.

As my experience documents ... Not just the S:Flo2, but the OEM Teclast T51 base model. S:Flo2 is Mp4nation's Nationite re-badge. House of DAP (and others) carry Teclast T51. Probably best to avoid them all.
 

 

[nizarp]

Sorry for digging up an old thread. 
 
My Teclast T51 player is also in trouble. When start playing it it heats like hell and the battery lasts only for about 30 minutes. The player is out of warranty. Do you guys know of any place when I can get it serviced ?
 
I am from India and I don't think there is any place here where I can get it serviced locally.
 
 

 

[alphaman]

 
Quote:

Sorry for digging up an old thread. 
 
My Teclast T51 player is also in trouble. When start playing it it heats like hell and the battery lasts only for about 30 minutes. The player is out of warranty. Do you guys know of any place when I can get it serviced ?
 
I am from India and I don't think there is any place here where I can get it serviced locally.

At least your unit lasted past the warranty!
Are you in Bangalore? If so, take it to the acclaimed IIT (EE dept.). Some youngblood may be able to figure it out, and fix it, for free. It's a compact and fairly complex device, bit IIT labs should have instruments and human-skillsets to tackle the job.
 
BTW: How many hours/day (week, etc.) did you use it? 
 

 

[nizarp]

 
At least your unit lasted past the warranty!
Are you in Bangalore? If so, take it to the acclaimed IIT (EE dept.). Some youngblood may be able to figure it out, and fix it, for free. It's a compact and fairly complex device, bit IIT labs should have instruments and human-skillsets to tackle the job.
 
BTW: How many hours/day (week, etc.) did you use it? 
 

Actually Its a long sad story.

I have ordered the SFlo2 from an indian dealer Lynx-india on Jan 2010. After I made my order he told me that he does not have it in stock and even MP4Nation is out of stock, so he will source it from some other place and send it. I had no other option and I said yes. Then after long 2 months, I received this player called Teclast T51 on Mar 2010. It was working fine for about 6 months and then the battery started to drain quickly, so my usage also became very less. By Dec 2010 it had became almost non-usable and I contact the seller regarding this issue. He said since he got the product from a not so popular source, he can not claim guarantee and he will try to fix the issue by himself. So I had no other way but to send it back to him. Now it is May 2011, he has not fixed the issue or send the product back to me till yet. I have spent almost the same amount of money as of the Player by making phone calls to him.

Now I am almost gave up my hopes with the player and I am trying to get it back from the seller. May be I can throw it away after getting it back, I don't know...:mad:

 

[AnAnalogSpirit]

I'm sad to hear about the difficulties ppl are having with the T51/S:FLO2 units...
 
Here's my "bad experience" with one of the units (bought two of them, the one without problems I sold, the one with problems I RMA'ed and now have a returned perfectly functioning unit).
 
So, I really enjoy the seriously superior sound quality that comes from these units. That isn't the burning issue. Apparently though, like every mass produced, complicated electronic item, there CAN be defects. Just a fact of life.
 
I guess I was "lucky" to purchase from MP4Nation for 2 reasons; the S:FLO2 was available in the higher storage capacity of 16GB onboard flash memory, and also they have a one-year warranty period. I don't know about the warranties of other sellers,  but I'm not sure they're as good.
 
My malfunctioning S:FLO2 functioned perfectly fine from an audio standpoint. It was like it was a perfect unit. However, mysteriously, there was a problem that developed with the LCD Screen. 2 black bars in the pixel array appeared after 6 months or so with the unit. Upgrading firmware didn't help; obviously this was a hardware defect.
 
So I put in a support ticket to MP4Nation, and went back and forth with them on the problem, etc., until they issued an RMA. The only real beef I have about the experience was that the repair process took 2-3 MONTHS. Yeah. Months. I to this day can't comprehend WHY they refused to just swap out the defective unit for another one, which is what apparently happened at the end of the affair, because the unit I received back after that LONG wait appears NEW. Lucky me. And it works perfectly as well as no defects (nor the minor dings I'd put into the original problem unit's metal rear case).
 
So my experienced left me with mixed feelings.
 
On the one hand, I was glad to be able to get a unit with high capacity in the first place. However when it had a failure the RMA and repairs/replacement process was a nightmare. Though I still count myself lucky in the end to have a replacement unit due to the 1-year warranty offered by MP4Nation, without which I would have had a broken player and/or something to chuck in the trash.
 
Best of all I'm happy to have it back in my hot little hands, because honestly, it just SOUNDS REAL GOOD, esp. for the money.

 

[alphaman]

Quote:

On the one hand, I was glad to be able to get a unit with high capacity in the first place.

By 'high capacity', do you mean its internal storage capacity? As has been pointed out by others, the T51s internal memory is not as useful as it may seem. First, it's much slower to up/download (via USB) from than a dedicated SDHC card reader. Second, and much more important IMO ... if/when the device fails (as noted in this thread), you're gonna lose EVERYTHING. I wish they still offered the 2GB model, which was cheaper, too.
 
 

 

[AmadeusRock]

I just got one and I'm sending it back.  Even the latest firmware (2.3) is a total disaster.  It skips from song to song, the controls are useless.  The glitches make it unusable.  
 
Any recommendations for a teclast t51/S:flo2 alternative with similar or better sound quality with gapless playback and line out?  Oh and it has to be flash based.

 

[flaming_june]

Good good.  Mine died a month or so just outside of the 1 year warranty period.  ATM you can go with the flavour of the month Cowon or clip+.  People still love the alg solo with the ipod amped. 

 

[alphaman]

UPDATE:
No problems yet with HoD T51 ... but (and this is a big BUT) my DAP-use time has dropped to about 1/4 of what it was prior to 5mos ago. So disaster could very well happen again. I've got other toys to play with including the overall-better-performing CK4, which I put into use 25 August 2011. All that said, the current T51 that seems to be holding has none of the glitches which, from day one, plagued the prev. (failed) T51.
IAC (and based on OTHERS' feedback above) ... neither the S:Flo2 nor the T-51 are worth a risky purchase. Get an iPod Touch, Sony or Cowon ... they're pricer in terms of up-front cash but way cheaper wrt long-term peace-of -mind.

 

[kiteki]

 
Thanks for the update.
 
T51 is the best DAP ever I LOVE IT
 
Mine has been physically abused and still sound great, whilst dented, never had a UI glitch or anything of the sort.
 
 

 

[daydesiang]

bought one reach my home - cannot open at all~ 2nd unit fail~ first one is teclast own fault i open the unit they solder the battery wrongly!!!!! but still can use with usb power but the latest unit just arrive(this morning) cannot open at all!!!!
 
how am i gonna send it back to china for warranty!!!

 

[alphaman]

Quote:

bought one reach my home - cannot open at all~ 2nd unit fail~ first one is teclast own fault i open the unit they solder the battery wrongly!!!!! but still can use with usb power but the latest unit just arrive(this morning) cannot open at all!!!!
 
how am i gonna send it back to china for warranty!!!

Sorry about your issues.
 
If you got it from House of DAP, I can vouch for them (but just barely!).
 
MP4Nation ... singularly the worst merchant I've ever dealt with. BOTH my S:flo2's -- sent in for in-warranty service -- disappeared.
 
BTW: I got a Colorfly CK4 from China and it has been my main player for months. So the HOD Teclast T-51 I have may very well be unreliable in the long run. But I no longer use it as the CK4 is superior.
 
On ordering from China ... cheap prices and (usually) fast/prompt delivery ... but after the sale ... you're pretty much left for the wolves ... both with product manufs and online merchants. E.g.,  taobaofocus.com (where I/others buy DAPs, like CK4) ... horrible service during sale. Many say I got lucky in getting a DAP from them that worked at all. And Colorfly, the company itself, has a reputation for bad cust. service incl. NOT honoring warranty.
 
Better to order from Dimitri at http://musicaacoustics.com/Store.html
Also, QLS HiFi has excellent customer service, before/after sale, and great-sounding products that are built like Panzer tanks. I have a QLS- QA350. Too bad, it's big/clunky and only plays WAVs.
 
EDIT:
Just saw frenchbat's post:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/584230/my-experience-with-mp4nation-customer-information-inside/
SIGH!
 
 

 

[alphaman]

UPDATE: Although I use this Teclast device infrequently now (1/2 hr per day; with 3-4 pwr cycles/day (i.e., on's and off's)), it seems to be going strong. So it FINALLY seems like I got a device that's reliable. But I'll shut up ... don't wanna jinx anything

 

[alphaman]

Still goin' ... except for the batt. I use an external USB batt. pack. But no other issues.
Ditto with Colorfly dap, which is about 9 mos. newer (but roughly the same mileage); it's orig. batt. is still goin'.