[ShyAnne]

LOL on fast replies ... the MisticRiver forums are very active.

On AAA iriver players, T30 was actually their first and T60 is only the latest. Probably demand, on flash players everyone wants 'smaller and lighter' ever since Apple's Shuffle. Certainly understandable why you would prefer a AA player though, considering the vast difference in battery life.

I don't think iriver is completely alienating long-time users. At least they are still making new players with disposable batteries, most other manufacturers have gone to built-in rechargeables exclusively. (Again, blame Apple for setting that standard.)

For small capacity flash players I personally prefer standard AA or AAA batteries over built-in, for three reasons:

1.) I travel frequently and need to be able to easily replace a battery when I can't connect to a PC or electrical outlet for recharges.
2.) Don't like being restricted from using a device because it needs yet another recharge! Already have to recharge a cell and PDA and don't want yet another small device with periodic use limitations due to needing recharges at inconvenient times.
3.) Unlike some hard drive players, there are no user-replaceable batteries for smaller flash players that have sealed-in rechargeables. Instead the entire device becomes disposable. Not very ecological or economical!

As far as 'alienating long-time users', that is true on the recording options for which iriver was famous, those disappeared starting with the T-series. Recording is still there ... but no more user-selectable automatic gain control and no more ability to use an external mic without a preamp. Also line-in recording was split between models, T30 had it but not T10. With the newest T50 and T60, line-in recording is gone altogether!

But on T50 and T60 iriver went backwards with design by bringing back the joystick and latched battery door. T10's click wheel is much sturdier and less likely to break than any tiny protruding joystick. T10's battery door is nearly impossible to break. T30's battery door was less sturdy but still no protruding external latch to break.

Thanks for the links on where you found the 'outdated chip' info on T50. It is only one poster's speculation though, seemingly based on a possible file number limitation. I thought perhaps you had found definitive info from a site that may have taken apart a T50 and knew for sure what chip was used.

IN the meantime, if you want a T-series player that runs on AA and has at least 2GB then you might try to get hold of a T10 2GB. Discontinued so they are difficult to find, but not impossible. The chip on T10 does have a file limitation, but it's generous at 700 files and 700 folders. I'm not sure why anyone would want more than that on 2GB as quality suffers when people try to make files as small as possible just to cram more songs on the device.

(And yes, ... .ogg does sound better than .mp3 even at lower bit rates. But higher quality .ogg still sounds better than lower quality .ogg ... so why go for lower quality just to cram more songs on 2 measly GBs?)