First day or two with the Treo 10
Well, I spent many hours moving some music into the thing. That 10gb is a lot of music! I usually use CDEX as my CD encoder, and sometimes ripper. For the Treo I am using WMA format, not MP3 format, and use dbPoweramp for the ripping and encoding. No problems there.
The Treo Explorer is very very simple and basic. It looks like a Windows Explorer screen. You open the Windows Explorer full screen. Open Treo Explorer partial screen. Select the music you want to transfer....highlight it or select all. Then click on Treo Explorer to bring it over the Windows Explorer, then just drap songs into right area of Treo Explorer, and into the Treo they go.
The Treo has strickly enforced structure. It works based upon, they say, "Genre/Album/Track" format. It is really "Folder/subfolder/track" format. Flexible. You can't copy at the folder level. On the Treo device screen are the three levels.
You move up and down to select one of the above, then left or right to select in each folder. Basic. The screen is hard for me so see though. It is crisp, but smaller than I would like and looking at it from a non 90degree angle is not exactly wonderful.
The play options, like random, etc, are incredible. I have never seen a player like it. But no playlists. It displays battery , volume, eq Folder/Subfolder/Track info, format (WMA, MP3), and time played.
It is a bit quirky. There IS a hiss with some headphones. It is constant, so is probably the output amps. My current phones I am using now don't show it at all. Volume is slightly louder than Nomad Jukebox but sound quality, at lower freqs, is not as good as the NJB. No Line out. Has Headphone, USB, and Power jacks.
I managed to lock the unit up totally today, trying to scan a track....don't expect much in this department. They need a bit more firmware work here. But Tech support is there, and they answer quick. He gave me the reset sequence, and that worked.
Then the display was weird. Power on/off after that fixed that. So back to worky/ok.
I do love the build. Aluminum! MADE IN USA! Batteries available now (a flat Lion type) for only $20!
The USB cable connection is a bit, well, weak to me, but works. Easy to knock loose during connecting. Startup is very fast too, not slow like the NJB.
The OS/interface of the unit seems to be a mix of NJB and Archos.
Archos being on the PC/Windows Explorer type of interface, and NJB like a Database.
This one seems to work so far. I went through two Archos 6000's, the crummy pieces of s&*t. I am on my third NJB.
I did not expect to give a mini review, but what the heck.
It's nicely made compared to competitors. The Archos is nice case, but horrible battery charging and sound. NJB is plastic. Rio Riot is Plastic.
Only problem with the Treo is returning it within 14 days to COMPUSA, and being hit with a 15% restocking fee. Best Buy does not have that, or Circuit City. Circuit City has the CLASSIC brand jukebox, very very very similar to Treo, but more expensive in price, and a bit on the chinsy side.
The Treo is not an audiophile device. It makes good music. Better than a cassette, similar to many CD portables. It could use some more low end kick. But one of the equalizer settings (and the eq mode controls are also superb design) is USER, and you have about 5 BANDS! Someone did some thinking with this user interface.
I think with a few more passes at their firmware (like all the manufacturers do), this will be one well thought out product.
Oh year. 3 hour charge time. Walwart charger into side. Headphone and USB on top of unit. Battery comes out the front.
My complaints???? Need more punch in bass (it is not thin sounding). Some of the lettering on the Treo unit screen should be bigger. The backlight time out is a maxium of 5 seconds....to short, make it about 20 max.
Wish I could afford the PJB-100, but at about 1/2 the price, this will do.
