I've finally got my empeg (18gb, amber) and it is truely amazing. The user interface on the device is fantastic, it's amazing how fast you can get to what you want, especially with the remote and fuzzy matching.

Emplode on the other hand is a little disappointing. I have a few problems after a few days of use, which I've listed below.

1) Emplode doesn't pick up the correct ID3 tag when there are more than one in an MP3. Sometimes there are two tags (v1 and v2?? - not sure) in an MP3 that may contain different information. All my other MP3 software (Winamp, mp3-tag studio, mp3 manager etc.) picks up and edits one tag, but Emplode gets an older tag from somewhere else in the file, meaning that even if you've set all your mp3 tags to what you want, Emplode doesn't get it right. Very frustrating!

I eventually found a piece of software called mp3trim pro that will automatically correct/rectify the mp3 old tag to the new one (and also removes beginning and ending digital silence automatically - very cool), but this makes Emplode inconsistent with every other tag editing tool.

2)Drag and drop / copy-paste a directory structure into Emplode is a necessary feature to create playlists. However there is no way (that I've found) to subsequently sync the empeg playlist structure with that same directory structure, to add/replace/remove only files that have changed/moved/been added/deleted.

Often you get new MP3s that fit into the existing playlist structure and need to be added to the empeg. Or, you want to re-categorize files that already exist on the empeg. I want the same structure on my desktop hd as my empeg, but having to edit playlists separately in the directory structure and Emplode is time-consuming and a recipe for inconsistency. The only realistic way I have found is to delete the contents of the empeg (which takes about an hour to sync - why??? minimal data is being transferred) and resync (about 12 hours over USB, apparently the fastest)

Possibly this could be done by creating a CRC code for each file on the Empeg which can then be matched against the directory structure files to identify files that are already on the empeg and don't need to be re-uploaded, just moved? Alternatively there are probably several other ways to make maintenance much more automatic.

3) Sync is _so_ slow! I thought that USB was up to 11Mbit/s, I'm getting about 2.4 (quick estimate), with a brand new high performance Dell desktop running Win2k. Particularly frustrating is the long (10-15 minute) pause before anything happens at the start of a sync, where Emplode doesn't respond even to window redraw requests.

To be honest, though I love the visuals on the device, easy and efficient management of the files on the empeg are more my priorities, but just my 2 cents :-) Hope these things make their way into a future release.

In any case, GREAT JOB EMPEG! The wait was long and painful, but it was worth it.