How about your Glacier player?

Que · #1 (**permalink**) 11th Dec 2006, 12:18 pm

Got it today, first impressions:
It's small! Sound is very clear, even with the headphones that comes with it.
Charger charges for 5 seconds, then player reports " finished charging", though battery is only half full.
It charges when connected to an usb port, lucky me.
The player is black, but the earphones are white, ugly!
The usb connector is hidden under a rubber lid, really hard to get it off, had to use a knife, anxious for damaging.
The phone jack needs pretty much force applied to get the phones in, so much I hardly dared to!
Did not have to pay any import tax or vat, so it's a steal for 41 euro shipping included. And as a bonus, a $5 off coupon for my next order!

So, what do you think about yours?

Louie · #2 (**permalink**) 11th Dec 2006, 5:11 pm

Here's my review of the player that I won on this site recently.
I agree with most of your points on the player. It's a great little unit that really has a lot going for it. I also tend to compare it to the first clone I bought which didn't have the best build quality to it.
The Glacier has very responsive buttons that don't require you to press very hard to activate it.
The sound is outstanding, both from the headphones and from the built in speaker. Crisp and clear. Sound is what it's all about after all.
The screen quality is impressive. The photos and videos play quickly and with excellent visual quality unlike the old clone I had that made viewing a chore and not worth the trouble. I'm very impressed with this feature. One that I will definately be using on the Glacier.
The USB cover was extremely hard to pry up to expose the connection. The USB plugged into my computer and recognised the unit right away with Windows xp. I didn't even bother with the CD's it came with.
The USB cable is a bit short, which disappoints me. I can't leave the unit on my desk while charging as it just won't reach. With my old player, I was able to use my Fuji camera USB cable which was longer, but it's not compatible with the Glacier which is unfortunate.
I liked the colour of the headphones (white) even if the player itself is black. I won't use them though as I personally don't like that style of headphones. They always tend to fall out of my ears with even the slightest movement. I've got a Sony folding compact over the head set that works for me. Folds right up and fits in my pocket.
The headphone jack was a bit tight for plugging in the phones, but since it feels like a durable player, I wasn't concerned about damaging it.
The back cover is a bit loose, I can move it side to side ever so slightly, but not enough to bother me too much. Depending on battery life, I may look into getting another battery for it. A real Nokia battery to greatly enhance battery time.
I'm not one who usually needs a voice recorder, but because this one works so well, I'll have some fun with it a work and record some conversations. Shhhh, don't tell anyone I'm bugging the place! :lol:
The ebook feature is there, but I've never been impressed with the way words are chopped off at the end of the line. Makes reading very hard to do smoothly. I prefer my pocket pc Book reader for reading ebooks and text.
Only one game came with the Glacier, a Tetris type game which didn't keep my interest, since I pushed the wrong button with my fat fingers and was thrown out to the main menu. I had a decent score and had to start all over again. I'll stick with my Nintendo DS for my gaming pleasure.
The MP3 features have improved, and now there is file viewing and folder browsing, something my other clone just doesn't offer. Made finding songs impossible. Now I can find the folder I want, scroll down the list of songs, press a button and immediately get that song to playback for me.
I've only just started using this unit so I've still got to try creating some videos for it sized for the 1.8" screen to test out. The photos I copied to the player were very lousy quality compared to the samples so I've got to figure out how to improve the quality settings before I copy them. Uncompressed raw JPEGS take ages to load, so some form of optimum compression ratio has to be perfected yet.
All in all, I'd give this player an 8 out of 10. It lost a couple of points due to the short USB cable. The poor fit of the headphones (maybe it's just my ears!),rough fit of the USB cover, and the inclusion of only one game.

Que · #3 (**permalink**) 11th Dec 2006, 11:53 pm

Nice review Louie! An update, charging is better now, since I've drained the battery empty. I left it on the charger overnight, and the battery is full. Also found new li-ion batteries for it with 1300mah, delivered home for about 6 euro! This is one of those things you keep getting happier with, over use.
A tip for a fw-update: more games (sudoku?), something done to the sound on the radio function while charging, because the radio ticks like a clock then.

Louie · #4 (**permalink**) 12th Dec 2006, 6:01 am

If you want more games or Applications to use with this (or any) player, then check out these Portable Apps.
You can install these programs onto your player and access these by USB linking to your computer and running the executable files directly from Windows Explorer.
This works great for me at work, where I am able to use Firefox Portable and not leave any surfing history/viruses/unwanted installs on the work computers since the programs run from the player and doesn't install anything to the PC. There is quite an assortment of programs to choose from.

Que · #5 (**permalink**) 12th Dec 2006, 6:19 am

Thanks! Now the misses can play Sudoku at her lunchbreak at work, and I don't have to worry no more about her breaking my Mio pocket pc.

Que · #6 (**permalink**) 13th Dec 2006, 4:14 am

I just put an .ogg file on the player, and it plays!! I love .ogg, clearer sound at the same rate as mp3.

larrylwill · #7 (**permalink**) 14th Dec 2006, 10:54 am

I just got a Glacier player yesterday and seem to have a problem with it. It reboots without reason. Sometimes I page through the menus to get to an album and hit play and it reboots and I have to do it all over again, sometimes I unplug the earphones and it reboots, sometimes when I plug in the earphones it reboots, it has rebooted at other times also, mostly when I hit the play key upper left one. It also resets the clock.

Also is there a way to turn off the display when its running? The manual is a laugh to read and try to understand.

Louie · #8 (**permalink**) 14th Dec 2006, 11:15 am

Sorry to hear about the player problems. Mine is working perfectly. Can't offer any advice on how to solve your trouble.
To turn off the player, I press and hold the play button (upper left button) until the Bye screen appears. Turning it back on later returns me right back to what I was listening to. I only just glanced at the manual when I got the player, but I know what you mean about trying to understanding it!

larrylwill · #9 (**permalink**) 14th Dec 2006, 11:17 am

Update I think the problem is the battery connection. The 3 tits that set on the battery are very week and hardly touching. I noticed a solder tit on one of them and it was not sticking out as far as the others. I pushed a piece of cardboard at the bottom of the battery and it seems to not reboot now. Time will tell.

Louie: Can you push up on the bottom of your battery or is it tight? Mine had some slack.

Que · #10 (**permalink**) 14th Dec 2006, 11:24 am

LarryIwill: Maybe taking the battery out, pressing the buttons, will unload all the capacitors and get the anomalies out. Check the battery contacts too. Your phone plug might be bad and shorting, is it the same with another headphone?
In the main menu go to settings, lcd, set darkle time at the desired time. To save the time you will need to exit with M, or it won't save.
EDIT too late, well luck with the player, you'll love it.