So, after I got done posting last time, and after all of the files got copied, I started playing with the Spirit 20.

My first impressions were not so favorable.

Upon restarting the device, it took almost an hour to index everything that was added. Granted, I dumped 270 CD's worth of songs on the poor little unit. Every time since, it takes a few moments when starting to verify that nothing's changed. I found another on-line note that suggested not turning the unit off; in "standby" mode it draws little or no power--and, in fact, when I pull it from my pocket, even when I'm certain that I've powered the unit off, it's back on. I think the effort needed to press on the Play button (also the power button) isn't so demanding, and my keys or whatever else is in my pockets does it for me.

The interface is a little sluggish. There's a small lever on the side that can jog up and down, or be depressed to make a selection. It allows you to dig into an on-screen menu. To get out, or go back to the parent, you need to hit the Menu button on the face of the device. Additionally, if you're browsing playlists, albums, or tracks, and you want to play the one that's higlighted, pressing the jog button does nothing--you need to hit the Play button on the face. Just something to get over.

The interface is also a little hard to read. Of course, it's a grid of pixels that make up the display. It looks like someone had the bright idea to get a few more letters on the screen by cutting out every tenth column (or so...no I didnt actually count). When you read the words, you can see every N-th letter is missing a column of pixels--this makes the letters l and i and the number 1 really skininy.

It's a little pokey, but I can live with that; it's not a screaming computer we're talking about, just a small menu to make some simple selections. At the same time, it's just a small menu to make some simple selections, certainly that can be written in an optimized form.

The sound on the unit was horrible. It was very quiet and covered with static. Turning up the volume to nearly full got adequate sound, but it skipped and would reset the unit. I'm not sure if the skipping was clipping; where the sound is chopped or turned off, either on purpose to protect the listener, or due to limitations in the electronics--too much volume might overwhelm the little amplifier.

The sound problem turned out to be an obnoxious inserted the earbuds too far issue. If I carefully insert the earbuds until the stereo sound comes through, I'm gold. I've got a note into their support to see if this is normal or if I should get replacement buds or a new unit. I'm guessing this isn't normal, but I'm sure they don't want to give me another unit, either.

I did get an e-mail back from support suggesting I reload the firmware to correct the sound problem. This was before I found the earbud-plugged-in-too-far solution. The version in the unit was the same as the file, but I installed it anyway thinking if there were corruption in my unit this might correct it.

Since finding the earbud solution, and doing the upgrade to the firmware, the unit's been fairly reliable. It's still a little sluggy. It stops playing when you scroll through some of the menus. Turning it off and on again makes it forget what you were doing.

I might offer to help with their interface...

What does one expect for $100? Hmmm.