[clug] Portable Audio Players

[Paul Wayper]

> Paul Wayper wrote:
> IIRC, the Karma had a 90 day warranty and a half-life of
> about 2 months.  When it came out I really wanted one, but
> there were just too many  horror stories.

*shrugs* There were a few issues with early releases of the
software but all the lockup bugs were ironed out in v1.1, as
far as I know.  I'm part of a BBS (http://www.empegbbs.com)
that supports various Rio and other products, all based
around the empeg development team (http://www.empeg.com). 
For every horror story there, I've seen five people raving
about how great they are and how friends with iPods are
envious that it can do all the things that it can.

Rio's management and marketing, however, are quite distinct
from the empeg team, and are pretty much universally reviled
and mocked.

The car player, I should point out, runs Linux.  Such is its
power that, two years after the Rio Car officially ceased
hardware and software development, a kernel hacker guy
brought out a patch that could independently delay either
side by microsecond increments (or 3.33 centimetres,
whichever makes more sense for you).  A delay of ten
microseconds on the right channel put the stereo image
squarely between the drivers ears, which made a noticeable
difference to the sound.  Show me any other player in the
market where an after-market software patch can do stuff
like that.

Anyway, my Karma hasn't locked up on me once, and I've
ridden to work and caught buses and been travelling all over
the place with it.

Have fun,

Paul