Only one person willing to query my appraisal of the 500 series?
Aww, this forum ain't no fun no more!
FG... Think of the number of posts bemoaning the mechanical and electronic failures of iMP's, iHP's, iFP1xx's and iFP3xx's. Think of the number of times that unhappy posters have been advised 'Send it back to iRiver under warranty', how often has this advice been given concerning the 500-series? Not once to my recollection... though I may perhaps have missed one or two... I've certainly seen a multitude of complaints about the failings of the others!
There's a possibility that the 500-series controls, comprising 4 comparatively large buttons, a positive-action, short-travel joystick and a smooth-sliding 'hold' switch, could withstand quite a bit of your type of 'abuse'. Looking at some detailed disassembly pics, the buttons are travel-limited, activating what appear to be fairly substantial operating switches, not the usual SMT 'pads' that you generally find. The buttons themselves are rectangular, have about a half-millimetre or so of movement and require very little pressure to activate. I suspect that the designers may have learned some lessons from earlier models and applied them to their latest creation.
Glad to see that you seem to be in agreement with points A to N, anyway!
