Ntro’s Official Opinion

I found myself in the market for an MP3 player, and decided on the Rio Carbon. Here is the article that convinced me. It’s 5GB, which didn’t seem like very much at first, but after I loaded it up with everything I wanted to carry around with me I still had two point something gigs free, so I guess it will do.

Now for the interesting part. I bought this little toy at CompUSA during lunch last week, and the guy at the counter asked if I wanted the purchase protection or warranty or whatever. Usually I immediately refuse, but this time I listened to his little presentation. Apparently CompUSA has followed Best Buy’s lead in their new warranty policy, and transformed it into something useful and attractive.

Here’s the deal: On a $199 purchase (minus $20 mail-in-rebate, but I never count on those things) such as this one, the new plan is $17. Like a normal purchase protection plan it covers damage to the unit, et cetera, but this one has an added benefit. Any time in the next twelve months, I have the opportunity to bring the device back, sans receipt, sans packaging, with only my identification, and tell the customer service guy I’d like a credit for the original purchase price. He gives me a gift card for $199, and I go pick out whatever I want. So, effectively, a year from now I’ll be able to sell my old fashioned MP3 player for $3 more than I paid for it, an appreciation which is unheard of in the world of useless technology.

I’m looking forward to my free 2006 version of the Rio Carbon, maybe it’ll have 20 GB and Ogg Vorbis support.