Hi, since this has been mentioned here before:

I just received my PJB-100 www.pjbox.com . Thats a 4GB MP3 player to take with you. It's COOL! It runs on a 10Hr. LiIon rechargable and connets via USB to the PC. It's roughly the size of 2.5 packs of cigarettes.

The syncronisation tool is not that professional compared to emplode, but it does the job OK. Not much to say about the thing since I have it just for a day but it's quit amazing to take 80 Hrs of music with you.

But there is one thing I just liked which is missing on the empeg: I can fast-forward/backward in the tracks! That's something I would love on the empeg.

Cheers, J.

....errr, you can on the empeg. FF/REW buttons on the remote. Ok, you can't do it from the front panel, but that's because we needed to put volume somewhere!

Hugo

Actually, this is not "Off-topic". We like to hear about other MP3 players. I specifically asked about the PJB-100 in the "ICE" thread elsewhere on this BBS.

So, what else can you tell us about the PJB? I have some specific questions:

- Can you get a bigger hard disk for it, and if so, how tough is that procedure?
- Can its firmware be upgraded, for example, to support other file types?
- How does it organize playing the music? Can you create different playlists or do searches?

Hmm, looking at that list above, it sounds like I'm trying to compare it directly to the Empeg. Hmm, let me come up with some non-empeg-related questions...

- Does it run on batteries? If so, how long do they last?
- Will it read ID3V2 tags and display that information?
- How much did it cost, and did you have to wait to get one?

Tony Fabris
Empeg #144

Ah, SLAP MY FACE. I got so many MP3 devices now, I'm busted! Sure you can do FF/REW on the EMPEG, but you cannot on the Yamakawa I have @ home! I was confusing players, unbelivable. Sorry for that..

The answers:

/- Can you get a bigger hard disk for it, and if so, how tough is that procedure?/

I guess you can but I dont know. This is not EMPEG so they do not tell you, but I have to admit, I didn't ask. From the outside (it's transparent green) I can see it's a standard notbook drive, so I guess it would work - mechanically.

/- Can its firmware be upgraded, for example, to support other file types?/

Yes, and they provide the firmware (flash) upgrades on their website. They will support new file-types they've promised. Check their website and the FAQ there. The upgrades are done via USB (hint hint)...

/- How does it organize playing the music? Can you create different playlists or do searches?/

Playlists yes, Searches no - I THINK. The tool to organize it is similar to emplode. Kind of windows-exporer type soft.

/- Does it run on batteries? If so, how long do they last?/

No standard batteries but one LiIon cell which is OK for 10 Hrs playback. They do disk-to-ram caching like the EMPEG, this saves battery-life.

/- Will it read ID3V2 tags and display that information?/

Yes, there is actually a cool thing which EMPLODE might want to get, you can directly rip CD's into the player without putting the tracks on the HDD. During that process, the soft does CDDB lookups and creates the ID3 Tags, all in one go. Pretty convinient.

/- How much did it cost, and did you have to wait to get one?/

Ehm... roughly $800. But keeping the long playtime in mind, compared to flash-based portable devides it's cheap. And I wanted long play-time. I am living in Germany and got mine from Switzerland within 3 days. I guess in the U.S. it maybe the same. The main distributor is U.S. based. I don't know where you are located. If you are in Europe, you may have to get yours from the swiss guys as well (www.uhu.ch). The price is roughly the same, compared to the U.S. price, so self-import doesn't make sense.

On all the answers,, don't nail me down on them. As I have said, I just got the thing. I just started playing with it.

Hope that helps, J.