MobiBlu DAH-1500i: still small, now with 2GB

Remember that "world's smallest" digital audio player: the MobiBlu DAH-1500? Well, it just got a bump to 2GB and still includes MP3/WMA audio support, an integrated FM radio, built-in mic for voice recording, and itty-bitty OLED display packed into a 14.4- 0.63-ounce pendant. Not only that, but Wal-Mart lost their exclusive rights to sell 'em so go ahead, click the "read" link and stick it to the current whipping boys of the free-market by placing your $160 pre-order direct with Amazon. Mmm, feels good.

[Via Anything But iPod]

[x24 @ Feb 9th 2006 9:50AM]

Hopefully they have fixed the firmware quirks with this new release.

[Mark @ Feb 9th 2006 9:51AM]

It weighs a pound, does it ;)

[Tim UF @ Feb 9th 2006 10:03AM]

yeah, im guessing it weighs closer to 14.4grams than 14.4 ounces...
verification anyone?

[PodMonkeys @ Feb 9th 2006 10:04AM]

I think this would be one of the only small non-iPod mp3 players I'd consider. fm radio sure would be nice on the nano.

[Thomas Ricker @ Feb 9th 2006 10:50AM]

er, right-o everyone, amazon's specs are wrong which I missed in my blind copy & paste rage. Here's a better source for the weight...the manufacturer:

http://www.mobibluamerica.com/dah1500.html

DIMENSIONS
0.94" x 0.94" x 0.94"
24mm x 24mm x 24mm

WEIGHT
0.63 Ounces (18 Grams)

[Brian @ Feb 9th 2006 10:57AM]

So, what's the release date? I have a long vacation coming up and I'm interested in this.

[Cdog @ Feb 9th 2006 11:14AM]

I just got a 1gig for christmas and now they come out with 2gig, that sucks!

[Hellejoep @ Feb 9th 2006 12:05PM]

I have had the 1Gb, it's nothing short of brilliant!
But the oled screen was behaving badly and know I have some credit at the store and know what my next buy will be!!!!!!!

[Pong Generation @ Feb 9th 2006 2:04PM]

I remember reading a month or so ago on one of the review sites that they will soon have a multicolor OLED display,any other info about this(& when we'll see it)?

Good to know they upped the storage to 2GB,now I'd like to see a user replaceable battery(on ALL flash MP3's,having to send a product back for a battery is just lame & just a way to try to suck more money out of us) & some confidence that support will actually get back to you when you have a problem(they're own blog site for these seems like nobody's home,LOTS of questions/complaints with no answers.)That doesn't really inspire confidence & I'm not sure if the firmware upgrades fixed any initial bugs although it does get pretty good reviews.

[BlahBlah @ Feb 9th 2006 2:46PM]

Are there any photos online that convey the relatve scal of this device? Say, in someone's hand or something? This seems like a perfect DAP f/me, assuming it is, indeed, of the form factor I think it is...

[Iceman @ Feb 9th 2006 2:58PM]

Yea. Anyone heard anything on the release date?

[Tareq Ashry @ Feb 9th 2006 3:04PM]

Kinda small for my liking

Heres a better and cheaper 2GB Flash MP3 Player
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000E9Q1CS

[J. Stewart @ Feb 9th 2006 3:27PM]

Better hope you don't have problems with it. The first 1G model I bought was dead out of the box, and the second went haywire after about 5 months. They refuse to respond to my numerous email or phone requests for support despite a supposed 1 year warranty.

It was cool while it worked though...

[Steve @ Feb 9th 2006 5:05PM]

They have these over in Japan, i'd have to say they feel pretty cheap IMHO. Nice to see a 2gb version though i guess.

[Lane @ Feb 9th 2006 5:31PM]

I got the 1gb for Christmas. It was an awesome little thing except for the fact that it didn't work right. If it wasnt used for a few days it would freeze on the loading screen so i sent it back. I don't think all of them have that problem but i may be wrong. You really can't tell how small they are until you see one in person. When i first got mine i was amazed. I would definitely recommend it if that bug of mine isn't widespread.

[babbitblob @ Feb 9th 2006 7:30PM]

I got the 1GB as a birthday present. It was great, and I took pretty damn good care of it. The headphones went out, but that was okay, as I planned to get new ones anyway. Then one day I tried to pull the charger+plug out of the mobiblu, and it was a little stubborn. So I tried again, and this time, it came out, but... without the tip of the plug. The tip was stuck inside the player. Noone had tools small enough to remove it, so I sent it to Mobiblu for repair. After a bit of trouble with customer service, I got it into them, and it came back 3-4 weeks later. The mobiblu was replaced. So there was no piece in there. The problem? The mobiblu seemed to be someone else's, it had scratches I had never seen, and was missing the small scratch in the labeling on the back. I think they take in broken players, takes time to repair them, and in the meantime they send the person another repaired player. Additionally, The charger was not replaced or repaired, the same with the headphones. Both were specified in included note and related email, and covered by warrenty. So now I had a charger/file transfer cable that could only charge, as it seemed the tip of the cable was what was needed to transfer the files. Still possible to work with it though. I sent an email complaining, and in the mean time I borrowed a friend's Mobiblu cable, so I could use the player. I had gotten new headphones in the mean time, so that wasn't too bad. Then a few days ago, I was listening to the music, paused it for a second to talk to someone, and when I tried to get it to play again, it would not. The screen moved jerkily, no sound came out, it reset every time I attempted to access the settings, and eventually it froze up, the setting menu stuck on there, which couldnt be removed without resetting the damned thing. Even after resetting the same problem occurred again. I've given up on the damned thing. I now have an overused, defective mobiblu with dings in random places that wont play, defective headphones, a transfer cable that only chages, and customer service that hasnt responded since my first email.

Fuck this. I'm getting an ipod.

If you by chance get a working one, it is good though

[Navstar @ Feb 9th 2006 10:13PM]

I bought a 1GB for a road trip and was pleasantly surprised. It shows up at a USB mass storage device on my Mac. While I couldn't use iTunes to sync, I could drag and drop songs via the Finder.

The only downside is that it charges & syncs through the headphone port via a special USB cable. So there's no way to listen and charge at the same time.

[rasbill @ Feb 10th 2006 12:10AM]

babbitblob apples not so great, after loading some music videos on the video ipod my friend got it froze up, and every computer we plugged it into froze up as well, when he called apple they said he needed to run a program to reset it, but since it kept freezing up the computers we plugged it into that was not an option, the cust service rep assured us it would work if we ran the program before plugging it in, wheres where the bullshit starts, so we get home from his work to try it and of course it doesnt work, i was ranting that it wasnt going to the whole way back, he calls back, because its not the same issue as his 1st call they want to charge him 60 dollars because the ipod comes with the most retarded warrenty u can get, only 1 service call a year, and if u need to call about something else in the same year, its 60$ a call. the rep was a total asshole fightin with my buddy over the phone, finally he had to pay 60 bucks to be able to return it, he got it back ok but still.

[retsel @ Feb 10th 2006 11:37AM]

change the name to "the cube thing" this thing might have a neice market with the ipod hating kids i know...

[ranMa @ Feb 17th 2006 7:34AM]

I'm still looking for the perfect mp3 player.

I want it to be small, to have built-in rechargeable battery, radio, flash memory (1GB or 2GB at least), UMS drive firmware, built-in USB plug, ... and of course good sound.

So far I have found the iRiver T20 1GB FM. It meets all my demands BUT... it has some background noise when playing mp3 files, not very much, but since I have very sensitive headphones (shure E5C) this noise is very noticeable. I think this noise is not noticeable with regular headphones (in-ear or whatever).

[eXcelonGT @ Mar 5th 2006 2:46PM]

I have the 2gb version for about 3 days now. I absolutely love it. I have a 40gb Ipod which I use for the car and office. However, I grab the mobiblu when I'm off to the gym or studying. I got the black one and with the OLED display it is aesthetically brilliant...girls think its cute;-). FM functionality is pretty good too. It seems to use the headphone wire as an antenna. Reception is not so good with expensive headphones since they have good shielding. The cheapie Ipod headphones have good reception though. The one thing that ticks me off is that when I turn off the player, when I turn it back on, it doesnt resume exactly from where I left off. Some firmware updates would be nice..