So, uh... did one of you mail me a Zen Micro?
- Thread starter GasBandit
- Start date
The Rock says....
Ha ha ha, just kidding. I know it'll take some getting used to. Change can be scary and uncomfortable.
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Does that mean Gas no longer has a can-do attitude?
No, but I have had people tell me I look a lot like Geddy Lee. Does that count?
(Note that I have my hair pulled back in my pic, unlike Lee, but I promise mine is just as glorious)
--Patrick
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That doesn't count then. Unless . . . was his name Tom Sawyer?
Also. What kind of car do you drive? Is it red?
Bill.
https://www.halforums.com/xenforo/threads/rant-viii-the-reckoning.27941/page-119#post-1209642PatrThom in the rant thread said:
--Patrick
Seriously. @PatrThom you have broken an illusion.
@stienman posted my pic back in the meetup thread. Also I stamped my mug over @ThatNickGuy's for his er, contest.
I posted my "Jesus" pic a long time ago but can't seem to find it. That's the one that made a woman actually back away when I showed it to her due to the resemblance.
--Patrick
Much like prison sex...
...says the guy who doesn't actually have a sweet set of muttonchops.
(Alternately: "Put...put the mask back on.")
--Patrick
fade
Staff member
Seriously. Words cannot describe the disappointment I felt the day I realized that was just a shadow on @Chad Sexington 's face.
Oh snap. TIL.
Current level of beard. Not going to leave mutton chops when I shave.
I had a jesus time too. I need to find a pic. My hair wasn't that long though. Glorious mane bro.
I once had a glorious mane, until genetics decided that my hair was going to be like France and surrender.
GasBandit
Staff member
No, I've kind of been distracted by other things, and haven't followed up the social media leads.
GasBandit
Staff member
I never figured out who sent it, or why.
But I started using it, just to see if it was any good.
Long story short - Meh. Not so great.
It needs a Mini (not micro) USB cable, which I haven't needed in, like, 10 or 15 years. It's slow and cumbersome to transfer music to it, and getting it to play music without using its proprietary software (which I refuse to load) was non-intuitive. The touchbuttons are fine, it's just the UI is reticent and alien. I actually had to go into the device's settings 3 menus deep to enable a "play all random" selection to appear, which should have been standard. I still can't figure out how to tune its FM receiver other than by attempting to let it autoscan-fill its presets and then jumping between them, which just gets me a bunch of presets full of garble and static.
And on top of all that, the sound is drastically inferior. Comparing it to my phone using the same aux jack and cable in my car, the same music coming from the Zen Micro is much flatter and seems to have much less dynamic range. The bass is weak, and while the sound isn't as "tinny" as some old MP3 players used to be, it is noticeably worse than a current gen smartphone. Even attempting to compensate using the Zen Micro's built in EQ helps so little it's almost indistinguishable.
Even the power button is inconvenient. It's a slide/switch that you have to slide and hold sideways for 5 seconds to get the thing to softswitch on or off. And the slide is RIGHT NEXT to the headphone jack, in probably the least convenient place. And to top it all off, the thing locked up on me today. Couldn't even power it off, had to pull the battery.
Soooo... I guess it's just good for a backup device for 6 gigs of music.
But I started using it, just to see if it was any good.
Long story short - Meh. Not so great.
It needs a Mini (not micro) USB cable, which I haven't needed in, like, 10 or 15 years. It's slow and cumbersome to transfer music to it, and getting it to play music without using its proprietary software (which I refuse to load) was non-intuitive. The touchbuttons are fine, it's just the UI is reticent and alien. I actually had to go into the device's settings 3 menus deep to enable a "play all random" selection to appear, which should have been standard. I still can't figure out how to tune its FM receiver other than by attempting to let it autoscan-fill its presets and then jumping between them, which just gets me a bunch of presets full of garble and static.
And on top of all that, the sound is drastically inferior. Comparing it to my phone using the same aux jack and cable in my car, the same music coming from the Zen Micro is much flatter and seems to have much less dynamic range. The bass is weak, and while the sound isn't as "tinny" as some old MP3 players used to be, it is noticeably worse than a current gen smartphone. Even attempting to compensate using the Zen Micro's built in EQ helps so little it's almost indistinguishable.
Even the power button is inconvenient. It's a slide/switch that you have to slide and hold sideways for 5 seconds to get the thing to softswitch on or off. And the slide is RIGHT NEXT to the headphone jack, in probably the least convenient place. And to top it all off, the thing locked up on me today. Couldn't even power it off, had to pull the battery.
Soooo... I guess it's just good for a backup device for 6 gigs of music.
Tangentially related...
MP3 encoding to no longer require purchase of license
Basically this means that the tools to make MP3s will no longer require royalties be paid to Fraunhofer as part of their cost.
--Patrick
MP3 encoding to no longer require purchase of license
Basically this means that the tools to make MP3s will no longer require royalties be paid to Fraunhofer as part of their cost.
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
Nah. I'm not sure I'm motivated to mess with it much more, honestly.
Time to get a Zune, like everyone else?
I hear it holds like... 300 songs.
