And some users have complained that keeping a 1″ cube in a pocket or worn as an under-the-shirt necklace is less-than-comfortable (while the shuffle is much longer, it’s almost flat at 1/3″ thick).

Needing a proprietary transfer/charge cable diminishes my enthusiasm… if it had an integrated flip-out USB connector on the back face, I’d probably get one.

With this purchase I found out something else. Either I do not know how to wear earbud headphones, or the necklace style helps keep them in my ears. Normally earbuds do not stay in my ears, and I won’t wear them. The necklace style that came with the Mobiblu stay in just fine. Less dangling cord I guess.

We saw your recent review of the JNC SSF-8100 Cube Digital Audio Player and I wanted to clear up some facts with you.

Hyun Won, Inc. (out of Korea) is the creator and owner of the Cube MP3 Player that you reviewed. JNC is a branding partner for markets OUTSIDE of the United States. JNC branded the first generation model, also known as the DAH-1500. Hyun Won also sells the original DAH-1500 in certain markets OUTSIDE of the US market under the mobiBLU brand. In Canada, The Source by Circuit City (the former Radio Shacks of Canada) is selling a special version just for their market, which is the DAH-1500S (same as the DAH-1500 but without FM radio).

Here in the US, we recently launched the AUTHORIZED MODEL for the US Market. This is the DAH-1500i (uses the i suffix). We introduced the player on our US site last month, http://www.mobibluamerica.com and you can go right to the
product page here http://www.mobibluamerica.com/dah1500.html

We partnered with mega-retailer Walmart.com and they are currently our exclusive launch partner (and the only place currently to get the product). You can view the Walmart DAH-1500i pages here:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/search-ng.gsp?search_constraint=3944&search_query=mobiblu&ics=20&ico=0

There are TWO MAJOR product improvements over the JNC models and the original DAH-1500. Those being:
1. USB 2.0 (the original is only USB 1.1)
2. WMA DRM (Digital Rights Management). Now you can use the Cube with major music download sites (not possible with the original and JNC models).

In addition (and this is a biggy!), the DAH-1500i is priced much more attractively compared to the JNC models. We are right inline with the iPod Shuffle with our 512MB selling for $99 and the 1GB version selling for $129
(COMPARED TO $242 FOR THE JNC MODEL!!!). Of course, the DAH-1500i offers much more features per dollar than compared to the iPod Shuffle or other small form factor players (OLED Display, FM Radio, compatibility with
major music download sites due to DRM, etc…). The DAH-1500i has been dubbed ‘the Shuffle killer” by more than one source.

The mobiBlu version also can support DRM music. mobiBlu may be sending me one of this newer version so that I can update the review.

I am wondering just how different the player you reviewed and the Wal-Mart version really are. Mine is still charging up, but a couple differences between your review and my manual.

It does mention the ability to make playlists (although nothing about the m3u ext). Also you can turn off the fade-in for music.

Also, the US version gets USB 2.0….Ooooh.

By default, the display will go completely black after a few seconds of no button presses. This is all controlled through settings. You can set the backlight to stay on all the time if you wish.

Does the display go dark (go to “sleep”) after a period of inactivity during music playback? Or does it stay on all the time?

I’m guessing it goes completely dark.

I’m afraid not. It will only play .MP3 and .WMA (Windows Media) music files.

Thanks!

Julie wrote:

questionfear:
It fits in a pocket just fine as long as you don’t wear really tight clothes.

excellent….score another one for wearing boy shorts that are too big

Also, I’d probably suggest just wearing it around your neck with a lanyard, or something. It’s an inch-square cube, so it’s pretty pocketable in any pocket that’s not a shirt pocket or a tight jeans pocket, but you have to be careful of the corners.

aybara:
I didn’t try using iTunes with it. I just dragged and dropped folders (albums) of music to it. iTunes didn’t recognize it when I plugged it into my Mac. It just treated it as a mounted drive.

Julie wrote:

Post your comments here on the JNC SSF-8100 Cube Digital Audio Player review.

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/jnc_ssf_8100_cube_digital_audio_player

Just click the POST REPLY button on this page.

Does it work well with iTunes? I might have to get one for sheer geek factor.

And I would like to point out that Pete wrote that strip, and other iPODLING strips, BEFORE the iPod flea video came out.

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/jnc_ssf_8100_cube_digital_audio_player

Just click the POST REPLY button on this page.