Why do the idiots at EE Times think they can buy an hour of my time, for some stupid market research, with a chance to win an iPod? If I wanted to stupify myself with music 24 hours a day, I'd do it myself.
And besides, if I was of the iPod generation, why do they think my opinions would be worth anything?
The world is populated with people who are not as intelligent as you but are paid enough money for doing something useful to have a residual income that is available to others who do nothing useful other than sucking the residual income from the people who are useful.....
It's a big complicated world out there, you're just caught in the crossfire.
The idiots at EE Times, or more generically Reed Business, are amongst the worst offenders for churing out spam mail. I personally have them added to the kill file list. I would like to bounce everything back at them at an email that would receive the bounces so that they can choke on all their crap.
I've got a Sony Minidisc portable here (the MZ-N710, second-generation NetMD) and I do pretty much the same thing. Audiobooks, music (mostly classic rock - Journey, etc.) and recordings of lectures. Basically a digital tape recorder that fits in a shirt pocket.
I've actually got an MZ-RH1B on back-order. It's a third-gen HiMD Minidisc portable, with digital upload and download, optical and analogue inputs, a cute little OLED display and a ton of other stuff I can't remember right now. Minidisc.org are calling it "the most perfectly realised Minidisc instrument to date". Only thing I can see wrong with it is there's no external power port
- I guess the solution to that is to scavenge a mini-USB connector and hack together a 2xAA-to-5V converter.
Audio Books are great! I've got a MuVoTX-FM, doubles as a 1GB memory stick, and no cables. Terrific. An FM transmitter connects it through the car stereo, better than talk-back shows.
BTW, how damn cheap are the asian copies of these USB stick MP3 players these days!! For only a few dollars more than a regular USB stick you get an MP3 Player with funky LCD display built in. Incredible.
About a year ago I bought an MP3 player that plugs into an automotive AUX connector (aka cigarette lighter). It takes standard USB sticks and plays over the FM radio. $30 at WallyWorld.
For you, maybe. Around here the authorities go "Hey, it's foreign technology, let's tax it", then the resalers go "Hey, imported technology is for the rich and well-off, let's put a huge margin". Sort of self-fulfilling.
I buy lots of stuff from from the US via eBay that is wayyyy cheaper than I can get here in Australia. GPS's and brand name headlamps are two examples.
Computer and other consumer products though are best got from Singapore via eBay. The postage usually costs more than the actual product does!
BTDT. Importing by a private citizen is an automatic 60% tax, with the postage added, on top of that any sales and other taxes they can get away with, usually pulled straight out of their asses.
Marking it "gift" doesn't help, they'll look up the market value of any "similar" goods and charge you for the bother. Importing second-hand goods is definitely verboten.
And they still complain about the huge contraband market...
Oh boy! I have seen those crap MP3 players go for hundreds of dollars, and they have ONE function. Weeeeee...
I have a PSP, and it plays MP3, UMD movies (now dying), MP4 videos, a picture viewer, and has WiFi connectivity to the world, so it also has a web browser.
Oh yeah... did I mention the wide format hi res screen?
Last but maybe least for some, it plays games. Older versions can even run an emulator and can play some Mame games or other DOS type games.
$249 for a kit pkg with a 23MB mem stick. $200 bare bone, and buy your own Memory stick (1GB for $40).
Hundreds of accessories being sold online.
Only complaint is that it has weak audio power, and requires an amp in front of your headphones, but hey, Sony saw this and sells the fix.
I have never seen a Sony audio product this weak on power. Must have been a trade off to allow to time allotment for a complete film to play.
They used to do that here in Australia, and a few people were unluckly enough to get caught doing the "gift" thing, as the duty tax limit was about $250 or so. But now the limit is like $1000, so you can now import some great stuff leagally without paying any duty.
That was a couple of years ago, they may have eased up on things now. Now that the exchange rate is getting favourable again I may try to get something cheap off ebay and see what happens.
A friend of mine ended up spending the equivalent of $40 for a $10 item. He still thinks it was a good deal as it's unavailable here and going through an importer would have cost even more. Some bit or piece for an RC car, his latest hobby.
ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.