From: Mark Allums <mark_at_allums.com>
Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:05:29 -0600

Erin M. Chaves wrote:
> Hi all!
>
> For those of you who own one of these players, would you tell me how you
> like it using Rockbox? I'm blind, so I would need to utilize the voice
> option, and I'm wondering how easy the installation would be without
> sight. I do recall some discussion concerning some issues people had
> with installation, but as I haven't heard anything in a while, I assume
> everyone is enjoying their players.
>
> I'm also wondering how I would know if the player is a V2. I certainly
> don't want to buy something which is incompatible with Rockbox. I
> assume the description would mention the player's version.
>
> Any responses would be really appreciated!
>
> Erin

I do like mine quite a bit. I have not owned an IPod, but I have owned
other players, and the E200-series has been my favorite. Using Rockbox
with it is a good experience. Installing Rockbox was easy, the
instructions are clear. (There are different instructions for the E200R
models, but the instructions work perfectly.) The control ring thing
works well, although I get a bit confused over which direction to turn
it. They are a bit heavy, but the newer ones are lighter, for some
reason. The only charger I am aware of is the USB cable, although the
Sansas are sufficiently popular that there may well be after-market
chargers for them. I don't know. A charge running Rockbox lasts about
14 hours. The only problem I have is a noticeable noise mine makes
during quiet passages and between songs. I am told that it is not
easily eliminated, as it is a problem that Rockbox has on the E200. I
am told that certain earphones are better than others at minimizing the
noise. (They may need to be fairly high impedance.) The noise doesn't
prevent me from understanding spoken-word files, like audio books. I
would recommend the player with the standard-issue software, as an audio
player to anyone, but blind users would want to use Rockbox. I cannot
recommend the player with Rockbox for absolutely highest fidelity audio,
but one doesn't buy an MP3 player for hi-fi audio. For general use,
it's great!

Mark Allums
Received on 2008-02-02