This is all so. The problem that I had with the Nomad (I had a IIc, doesn't have the FM tuner, but for me that was a plus as I never use the radio while working out, I've always been a cassette-only Walkman kinda guy, and although I do talk to myself I've never felt the need to save it for posterity on a voice recorder) was the support it was getting from Creative; to say that it sucked would be kind. Their drivers were a nightmare and I had to do an OS reinstall just to get things working the way they used to before the Nomad came into the picture.
If you go to nomadworld.com you'll see them cheerily advertising products that don't, in fact, exist anymore, such as the Nomad MG or the docking station for the Nomad II. Whether or not they're even selling the Nomad II anymore is unclear. It seems to have mysteriously vanished from all retail shelves in my area, so based on that lack of support it seemed prudent to go with somebody else while I still could.
On paper, you are correct sir, they do seem fairly equivalent. But subjectively I'd say the Bantam smokes the Nomad. It seems more ruggedized, and the button and menu interface is great. It's got a lithium-ion battery that recharges while it's connected, so the form factor is smaller than the Nomad (it's smaller than a business card), plus no battery expenses, plus longer life on a charge vs. a new AA battery. The amplifier is also key, which was definitely a failing of the Nomad and a common failing of a lot of these smaller players; it wouldn't drive phones loud enough to drown out the typical background noise, for me.
It uses MMC cards for expansion, and 128MB MMC cards were announced at CES, so I'll have a full 256 once I pick up one of those. For what you get, it is definitely a solid deal for the dollars. The package that comes with it is just loaded. Yes, you get the silly faceplates, but you also get a solid set of phones, plus a cassette/car adaptor, plus a carrying case that's not some cheap naugahyde thing but actually well done and useful, better than a third party one. And thorough, printed documentation on both the software and the hardware (as well as a full audio tutorial pre-loaded on the player itself). I'm impressed, if you can't tell. The thing just bears the hallmarks of people who thought about the consumer first and made something that they'd want to use. Just based on my experience of this alone, I'm definitely going to check out the BA800 when they put that out.
Now, if I could just upload to it in MJ...that would be paradise.
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Topic: A request for one-legged Steve (Read 1391 times)