Which player for Mom?

[JimZipCode]

My mom is 67, in a nursing home as of these last 6 months.  She wants a music player...

Specifically she wants a CD player.  But I doubt that's the correct solution.  She has very limited space; I think that keeping CDs in her room + swapping them out when she wants to listen to something different, I think that's going to be a pain in the ass in her limited space.  Plus it's not a modern solution, either.

I lean toward a Rockboxed player for her, where I will manage the music files on it.  But my beloved Sansa Clip is not the appropriate choice.  Bad enough that I have to squint when I look at that little screen: I think for her it would be well nigh unusable. (Even the Clip Zip.)

Is there a player that would be a good choice?  Maybe a Fuze or a Fuze+?  (I don't know either player, but Sansa has some credibility with me.)  Or an old iRiver?  Something else?

I'm looking for:

• Decent sized display, easily readable
• Easy-to-use controls
• A relatively "mature" Rockbox port.  Will consider a port that is officially "unstable" (as the Clip Zip is), if it's stable enough for day-to-day use
• Reliability
• Medium-high  capacity, like over 16Gb (maybe achieved via an inserted card); but capacity is less important than other features

I think I would also prefer a flash-based player over a HDD player.  But really it depends on the player.

Any advice? 

Am I overthinking this, and should just get some old iPod?  (shudder)  Or maybe I'm really overthinking this, and should dig up a discman somewhere?


Thanks

[whiskers75]

For the Sansa Clip+, there is the theme "fep (for elderly people)" http://themes.rockbox.org/index.php?themeid=1122&target=sansaclipplus

[Falco98]

I'm with you on this actually - a rockboxed player may be the ideal solution if you think she'll get over the learning curve AND if you think there isn't an overly high risk of loss.  For my mom it would be more of a challenge for me just because I'm not sure what-all music I'd give her, but my mom also doesn't have many favorite bands to speak of.

I have an original Fuze but for her I would probably recommend trying out a Fuze+ - it has several advantages (ya know, other than actually being still available, which is important too).  I say Fuze+ over an ipod 5.5 for about the same reason.. plus the ipods could be annoying to navigate for an older person if they're not used to the touch-based scroll wheel.
AFAIK the fuze+ has a few advantages: microUSB plug-in (so no more sandisk proprietary cable, which is the single thing I hate about the original fuze), bigger screen, and non-wheel navigation.  I must add the caveat that I haven't tried a rockboxed Fuze+ yet, so the navigation may be totally irritating on it (hopefully someone else will comment on this), but I've used the simulator version of the device and it seems at least reasonable.  I'm sure you'll be able to find a theme which has the optimal combination of visibility & good looks, esp since if push came to shove you could customize which font a particular theme uses with very little drama.
Plus, as you say, it can be expanded oh-so-easily with a nice 32gb microSD card (last i checked they're available on amazon for around 20 bux, which still kinda blows my mind).

Good luck, i hope you'll update us with what you do (or maybe have already done by this point!)

[wub]

As far as players, I have very little experience.  I've only had RockBox on my Fuze+ for about an hour, so I can't vouch for stability and completeness, but overall the touch interface seems pretty usable (now that the original crap has been shoved aside).

As for content:  don't forget about podcasts.  There are a >lot< of podcasts and net shows around these days.  I am not sure what she's interested in, but I'll bet there are shows she enjoy.  PRI (essentially National Public Radio) might be more here style than SMODcast, but you would know that better than I.

I'd like to suggest audiobooks, but I really don't know the details and how that might work with RockBox.  The OF does Audible, but if she hasn't achieved sainthood she get frustrated by the horrible interface before she could complete a book.

Good luck and I hope you find a workable solution.

[JimZipCode]

Hmm, refurbed Fuze+ for $25 buy-it-now on eBay.  Certainly cheap enough to take a shot.  Thanks.

[JimZipCode]

Update: Mom likes it. 

The touchpad is as finicky as advertised.  Mom has trouble with it, esp the difference between a short-click and a long-click.  She gets lost in the menu structure sometimes.  But just knowing that it's a common problem, that many other users encounter this same issue with the model, helps her peace of mind about it.  Esp since the player was just $25!

It's really very nice, other than the touchpad.  I'm impressed with the player.  Nice size, it looks great, and of course Rockbox is terrific on it.  It's great for the nursing home: small enough to stash, big enough to see the screen and manipulate the controls, pretty.  She's super happy to be able to listen to tunes, in that otherwise oppressive setting.

Thanks all.

[cela]

The touchpad is as finicky as advertised.  Mom has trouble with it, esp the difference between a short-click and a long-click.  She gets lost in the menu structure sometimes. 

Some tips that make the Fuze+ more user friendly for the elderly:-

1) Set the player to resume playback on start
Settings/General settings/Startup/Shutdown/Start Screen/Resume Playback

2) A Theme for visually impaired "BadEyes":-
http://themes.rockbox.org/index.php?themeid=1744&target=sansafuzeplus

3) If you press and hold the top button you can lock the keypad, prevents accidental presses

4) If you can make your own build, you can remove popups and volume setting from the keypad in the WPS screen

Just comment out in file keymap-fuzeplus.c as below, this just leaves the keypad operating only the select (centre) and skip left and right actions on the
WPS screen:-

   

Code: [Select]

    { ACTION_WPS_VOLUP,                 BUTTON_VOL_UP,                     BUTTON_NONE },
    { ACTION_WPS_VOLUP,                 BUTTON_VOL_UP|BUTTON_REPEAT,       BUTTON_NONE },
    //{ ACTION_WPS_VOLUP,                 BUTTON_UP,                         BUTTON_NONE },
    //{ ACTION_WPS_VOLUP,                 BUTTON_UP|BUTTON_REPEAT,           BUTTON_NONE },

    { ACTION_WPS_VOLDOWN,               BUTTON_VOL_DOWN,                   BUTTON_NONE },
    { ACTION_WPS_VOLDOWN,               BUTTON_VOL_DOWN|BUTTON_REPEAT,     BUTTON_NONE },
    //{ ACTION_WPS_VOLDOWN,               BUTTON_DOWN,                       BUTTON_NONE },
    //{ ACTION_WPS_VOLDOWN,               BUTTON_DOWN|BUTTON_REPEAT,         BUTTON_NONE },
 
    { ACTION_WPS_MENU,                  BUTTON_BACK,                       BUTTON_NONE },
    { ACTION_WPS_BROWSE,                BUTTON_SELECT|BUTTON_REL,          BUTTON_SELECT },
    //{ ACTION_WPS_PITCHSCREEN,           BUTTON_BOTTOMLEFT|BUTTON_REPEAT,   BUTTON_BOTTOMLEFT },
    //{ ACTION_WPS_QUICKSCREEN,           BUTTON_BOTTOMLEFT|BUTTON_REL,      BUTTON_BOTTOMLEFT },
    //{ ACTION_WPS_ID3SCREEN,             BUTTON_BOTTOMRIGHT|BUTTON_REPEAT,  BUTTON_BOTTOMRIGHT },

    //{ ACTION_WPS_HOTKEY,                BUTTON_BOTTOMRIGHT|BUTTON_REL,     BUTTON_BOTTOMRIGHT },