Well.. after the fiasco that was 3 bad playlists, I finally got to spend some quality time with the Karma. I want to give some brief thoughts while they are still fresh in my head. Most of it Im sure has been said before.

For starters, the earphone cord is too short. With no case and no belt clip, dropping the Karma in my pocket, it always feels like it's pulling out of my ears.

You guys really should consider enlisting someone to do a case. Maybe you could toss that worthless bag and perhaps even include it with future retail packs. I would suggest contacting Lajo at lajo.biz. He makes by far the most popular iPod case and his materials and workmanship would be a perfect match for the Karma.

AAC file support. Again.. if this can be done, it should be done. I was browsing iTunes tonight wanting to buy but since I can't use the songs on my Karma, it's kind of pointless. 10,000,000 songs sold the first week to Windows users. How many Windows users do you think will walk right by the Karma because it doesn't support iTunes music. Maybe Apple has it locked down and won't license it.. dunno.

The interface.. it's a little clunky but very robust. I think it could be improved some and Im going to think about it long and hard because I know my opinion matters (LOL).

That being said, that's about all I can bitch about. The unit sounds better than my iPod. Same tunes, different players, the Karma sounds better than the iPod hands down. The VU meters are pretty cool (Give Tony the big head) and the screen real estate seems to have been proportioned out very nice.

RMM.. the beast.. after getting the tag scenario solved and using RMM for a bit, I have to say that it's most everything I had hoped for. There are a few things I would like to have seen and again, I'll think about that some more and comment later.

Keep in mind that I'm basing most of my comparison on the iPod and it's Windows software. Unfortunately there is no perfect piece of software for the iPod. Everyone has their favorites and they all have been a compromise for me. RMM is very close to perfect, for me anyway. Others may disagree.

More to follow.. feel free to flame away.