Discounting

After an extended absence, the London Ebay sellers are again making available ‘as new’ condition Creative Zen recorders that record analogue audio via line-in to WMA files for convenient uploading to your blog. These devices have been refurbished by the manufacturer. Prices listed below include airmail shipping to Australia and a seven day warranty. Keep in mind that buying a new one with a one year warranty from the USA is still preferable. Unfortunately, no MP3 player is engineered to last very long because of technical obsolescence. Discounting means the refurbished models are less than half the price that my Zen Neeon cost secondhand.

The exchange rate has also improved markedly since Christmas. Take a squiz at the graph. On February 10th, Ben Amrany commented:

Since the turn of the year the pound has constantly weakened against the Aussie Dollar. With Australia pretty much recession proof compared to the ongoing issues in the UK the pound has weakened to a 27 year low against AUD.

Every device I own plays WMA files but the internet is clearly not so ‘accommodating’ of Windows Media. When uploading WMA recordings (which are created by the newest Creative recorders) to this blog, I can’t use the normal WordPress.com audio plugin because it only streams MP3 files. Worse, WordPress.com does not allow users to store WMA files even when they have purchased the space upgrade for some explicable reason, yet MP3 & Wave files can be stored. What the hell? Wave files but not AAC or WMA?

Solution? Store the files on Box (below right) which is supported by WordPress.com. Readers simply download the WMA file. Who needs Flash streaming anyway? Enough about the peculiarities of WordPress.com, here are some offerings.

$34 or $39
Creative Zen V 1GB

$37
2GB Creative Zen V Plus

$72
1GB Creative Zen V with one year manufacturer’s warranty

As per usual, this blogger has no affiliation with any Ebay seller, Creative Laboratories nor Microsoft Corporation. Windows Media is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. This entry should not be construed as an endorsement of any particular model. Prospective buyers should carefully make their own enquiries. The longevity and build quality of new Chinese-made models may be inferior to the older models which were manufactured in Malaysia.