Hello all,

I got my MK2 yesterday, but didn't have much time to play with it as I"m in the middle of a move from SC to DC area..

Anyway! Now that I have time to sit down and write a bit, here are some first impressions:

The face is smooth. I liked the original "plain" face, and I thought I would dislike the new custom-face, but it is actually really cool looking. It's already growing on me. The buttons on the left are sturdy, and feel well-mounted. The dial (as everyone as has said) feels kinda cheap. It is also relatively "hard" to twist.. I have to use two fingers to grasp it and twist it, rather than being able to simply "dial" it around with the tip of one finger.

The mounting bracket has been improved. The bumps that hold the empeg in are now mounted on tabs, which would seem to make in the long run, the empeg easier to remove/insert from the sled (I haven't installed it in my Jeep yet). With the mk1, after about 500 inserts/removes, I had to tamp the tabs down with a hammer because it was IMPOSSIBLE to push the empeg into the sled. This should remedy that problem.

I'm not so sure I like the "standard" ISO connector they have on the back of the thing. I've called 4 stereo shops around here and they have no idea what I'm talking about when I say "ISO Connector"... they think I am talking about the wiring harness that will tie into my Jeep. I'll probably have to end up cutting the damn thing off and just using the wires. Maybe I'll have to take the sled to a few shops and get them to LOOK at it and see if it rings a bell. Oh well.

Software.. the software that shipped with it.. EEK! Heh. Apparently they shipped a version that made the empeg only think it has 8MB of RAM that made it just do all kinds of funky stuff. Moot point - 11c is out and works perfectly (sofar). It's the same software we all know and love, same visuals. 11c has a couple extra menu options, "Set Clock" and "Dimmer". The Dimmer works pretty well.. tho I don't think I'd *ever* use that, considering how dim the empeg is in the first place. 8)

Ethernet: The ethernet is great. I can't wait until I get some time to start playing with it (getting inetd running, ability to ssh to the empeg via my LAN, etc). What I really want to get working is the ability to pull files off the empeg via the ethernet connection. Should be pretty easy to get working, that way I can use the empeg as a file storage, since I have to often move huge files between work/home and the empeg would be much cooler to use than the annoying Jaz drive.

Overall: Mk2 is the bomb. It's definitely worth the money. I can't wait to see stuff being developed for this thing.

Any questions or anything, feel free to ask. I'm off to try to get this thing working in my Jeep. 8)

(O|||||O)
Mk2 S/N: ...046