It's not quite an iPod, but

[varjohaltia]

...the MobiBlu MP3 player that Wal-Mart carries is pretty neat anyhow. Here's more info.

Comments

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

That is cool. I wonder what the sound quality is like? It's hard to imagine a very robust analog headphone stage in that small a package. If it equals or betters the iPod shuffle it'd be a no-brainer, though I'd worry about misplacing it or having someone drop it in their coffee by mistake. :) I also wonder if it is very friendly to operate, given the form factor and size.

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

I'm a sucker for using displays that look like just another surface of a device until lit. And having FM tuning and recording is neat as well. I wouldn't expect it to be an audiophile device, really, but I think the design is really neat, and the price point is pretty decent too.

Now I need to figure out how to de-scratch my nano to keep my gizmo-ego whole ;-)

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

I have no illusions that ANY portable music device will be anything remotely approaching "audiophile" in quality (heck, just a really good portable headphone amp section would take several times the space of this player just in batteries) - but designers can bias towards sound quality and away from features for a given set of criteria and price point.

Unfortunately this market segnment seems to have little interesst in quality and lots of interest in features and bling, which is typical of most consumer purchases but still makes me sad.

Try Brasso on the Nano - lots of good testimonials out there for its use on the Nano/iPods in general in removing scratches, though it takes patience and shoudldn't be used frequently (it does remove very small amounts of plastic).

[elusivetiger.livejournal.com]

Here's one I found recently btw:

http://todd.dailey.info/archives/2005/09/27/restore-your-ipod-nano-to-new-condition-with-a-4-can-of-brasso/

[varjohaltia.livejournal.com]

Neat! Thanks!