[MacEachaidh]

Okay, I jumped into the pond!!

Dipped my toe in the water (right up to my armpit, it feels like), and went and bought an iRiver Story today. Now I'm kinda hovering over my USB charger plug, waiting for it to get a full charge. (Haven't connected it to my PC yet -- I know that'll charge it too, but a couple of months back I bought an iRiver B30 -- an MP3 player with a DAB+ digital radio included -- and found that if I connected it to my PC and tried to enable USB connectivity before it had a full charge, it just threw a sulk and shut itself down in the middle of file transfers. So I'm trying to be very patient, and do this absolutely one step at a time.)

Reasons for buying the iRiver: I know people have commented on how much better they feel the Sony YaddaYadda is, but Sony isn't sold in this country, and these days I'm just not game to buy electronic stuff that doesn't have local representation. I've been bitten a few too many times doing that. Besides, I'm a child of completely unreasonable expectations and superstitions: Panasonic is generally my manufacturer of choice when it comes to electronics, and I have a wholly unjustifiable dislike of Sony. Makes no sense, but what can you do? (Just like, after a fair bit of time in professional theatre, I won't say the name "Macbeth" in a theatre or rehearsal space. There are things you just don't do, like buy Sony.)

Anyway, it's done.

One little tip for Aussies:
If you're thinking of buying it at Harvey Norman, like I did (apart from anything else, it was the only place I could find where I could easily walk in off the street and actually put my hands on a working, powered demo model), then see if they'll do price matching. I did a bit of internet checking first, and found out Ryda is selling it online for $328, whereas Harvey Norman had it in-store for $399. So I just casually wondered out loud, in talking to the sales assistant on the floor, if she knew why there was such a difference in the two prices, and said I'd rather buy it there and then, but the $71 really made a considerable difference. (And really, it is a big difference!) She looked up the Ryda website, confirmed the price there, and matched it on the spot without turning a hair. Which I was really happy for, but sheesh -- what a mark-up HN must have on these things!! So if you're going to buy at HN, check out other websites first -- either through ryda.com.au (in this case), or through a really useful metasite shopbot.com.au -- and go prepared with a comparison to ask for a better price.

Anyway, it's done. Soon as it's finished charging I'll check if the firmware needs upgrading, and start loading books. Ooof, I really hope I don't regret it!!

Wish me luck ...