I was thinking of buying a new mp3 player/recorder, the Iriver H340. It’s a high end product costing $350-400.
H340 can play .wma files, which is a real plus. (My local library lets you download .wma audio books). That is partially a reason I need to buy this. On the other hand, a firmware upgrade from the iriver Korea site allows you to use the LCD to view videos. Now that is cool but, if you use the Korean firmware, you disable your ability to play any DRM-protected content. Apparently iriver hasn’t figured out to have video playback work with DRM. Or maybe it could, but it doesn’t want to spend the time and development resources. So what do I choose: video playback capability or DRM? This is one more example of the hidden costs imposed by DRM. I’m of mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I oppose what it does philosophically. On the other hand, if it makes content creators more willing to distribute digital content (especially in this case for free!), then I guess it’s still a bargain.