Well, I got the unit in. It is a little larger than an ipod with media readers on both sides of the unit which is a primary reason for the size difference. The reviews are correct, the equalizer makes the sound sound much worse, don't bother with it.
I decided to check all of the functionality. The unit I got is 80gb because it was the same price as the 60gig unit from elsewhere, so I paid the same price regardless. It is already set up with the correct ROM to read Nikon, so I didn't need to update it. Canon users might not be so lucky.
It reads the photos and displays the photos, it has a bit of a problem because of the dynamic range of RAW, however, I am using that low/high end display issues as my histogram reference and that actually works well. I can interpret just how much of the image is on the low/high end of the RAW due to color compression artifacts. The rest looks pretty decent. I am still trying options, there are a lot.
Anyone have any tests they want me to try?
It plays shakira good enough... mmmmm
Anyhow, it is not going to be used as a audio device I will leave that for the iPod4G, which does have a good equalizer and better battery life for playback. This will be my photo storage which will be significant. I can fill up my camera pack 80 times. I may be copying older images back onto CF cards to "simulate" live use and see how many times it can copy the card on a single charge.
I also bought the 12v power source adapter, and 4AA battery charger, it will actually charge from 4AA batteries not just run off them. The input source is 5v, so the 6v of 4AA NiMh cells will charge the unit between runs. That will be another test after I see how much copying I get out of a single charge, how much of a recharge I get out of dumping 4AA cells into it. I have LOTS of rechargeable AA cells.