I bought a 30 GB player online last week. Because of a mix up, I actually got 2 of the players. So before I get rid of one, I want to check to make sure the one I have is actually working. I haven't even bought the car this player is going into yet, so is there something I can do at home to make sure it's not a DOA player or something? That would be just my luck. Thanks.

When I get a new player, I power it up in the house to make certain the display works. That is the major thing you have to concern yourself with. After you see the display (VFD) come on, the player should boot to a mostly blank screen with a dim line through the center from left to right, and something like [--/--] in the lower right corner. If you see this, you should be good to go.

Even if it is DOA, it doesn't matter as the support team will simply repair it. Since the product has been EOL'ed, the only recourse for a DOA player is repair.

It has home connections and should have been shipped with a home power adapter (if you don't have a home power adapter, call support and they'll send you one), so that's a valid test.

There was another thread asking this exact same question recently. Does anyone have the link to that thread handy? He can read through that one for more details.

* install emplode on PC,
* connect USB cable to PC and empeg,
* connect power to empeg - check that it boots
* open emplode on PC - might need to select USB under Options in the Connection window, don't remember what's default after installation, close that window, select Connect under the file Menu for another go.
* when connected, drag a couple of mp3 files/folders from the explorer to the Playlist folder in the left pane of emplode.
* syncronise
* check that uploads completes
* check that music is available on the player
* if you have something to hook it up to in-house, connect the Home RCA-outs to that (amplifier, powered computer speakers etc) and check that you get audio
* move around the menus to check that all buttons and knob are OK
* do the same with remote so that one is OK too

That's about it... You might want to upgrade emplode and the player (in that order) to the latest stable version (currently 1.03) to check that it upgrades properly too...

/Michael