Finally

For all the blathering about portable MP3 players I’ve done, you’d think I’d have already bought one long ago, but no, I somehow managed to keep putting the final decision off further and further and further…

I’d previously been interested in the iRiver line of flash players, but at the time there were still concerns over low capacity, high cost, and a confusing mix of features (only some supported acting as a USB drive, only some supported Ogg, and it didn’t seem like any had both). So, unable to find a ‘perfect’ model, the decision was delayed further yet…

After going back and reviewing some of the more recent models though, I discovered the iFP-799, which has pretty much everything: high capacity, long battery life, FM radio, recording capabilities, USB drive support, and at a not-too-bad price. Perfect!

Except for one thing: ordering the frigging thing. It’s not listed at a lot of places, ordering from smaller sites from the U.S. is a pain, Amazon wouldn’t ship it to Canada, and the major Canadian suppliers were either vastly overpricing it or didn’t have any available. NCIX listed it, but wouldn’t even let you backorder it.

Until today. I finally managed to catch it online, in an orderable state, and at an acceptable price, and so *finally*, I have an order in.

It took me damn near forever, but I’ll finally have a replacement for this crummy PocketPC player…