Got my Procyon about an hour ago. Thanks Marisa, especially for the help with the tracking information.
It was packed well for shipping. The only complaint in packing is that the manual seemed to be shoved in the box and the cover is torn along the spine from the top for about an inch and the top of edge of it is crumpled. I'm disappointed about that but I am happy that in this age of CD, or worse, online manuals, that a hard copy is included at all.
My only other experience with L/S machines is my old Zygon SuperMind. That one was metal with membrane buttons. The Procyon is plastic with pushbuttons. I dislike membrane buttons, so the pushbuttons are a plus. And the plastic doesn't bother me as most portable electronic devices are plastic nowadays.
I own a portable digital stereo recorder manufactured by M-Audio which is about the same size and also plastic. This has a rechargable lithium battery in it that can only be replaced at the factory. I like the fact that the Procyon can be run on easily replacable AA bateries. I read a comment or two on the forum where the user prefered a rechargable battery. My biggest complaint with the digital recorder is that there is always battery drain. The engineer I contacted on this explained that the recorder is always energized so it can receive an "on" command. This eventually discharges the battery to the point that it needs to be recharged for some time before the unit can even be powered on, even when powered by the recorder's USB connection. Also a built in battery eliminates the ability to change batteries in the field. The engineer's fix for this was for me to purchase a cell phone emergency battery that plugs into the USB port and uses a replaceable lithium battery. So the fact that the Procyon doesn't contain a rechargable battery is a plus to me.
What I would like to see in the next generation of the Procyon or its upgrade is a LCD display with alpha numeric characters. Again though, this is a minor point.
I like the glasses with the flat LEDs. They are a better quality than my Zygon glasses. The Zygon ones have been patched several times and the bows are held together with heat shrink tubing and dowel sticks now. Like the Zygon, the weak point of the glasses looks like it may be where the cable enters the frame. I had to resolder my Zygon cable several times as it would develop an open in the wiring at the entry point due to flexing. I hope the cable for the Procyon is sturdier as these glasses don't look repairable as they are put together in a better fashion. The Zygon used double sided tape to hold the led circuitry onto the frames. Again, I really like the flat LEDs. I hated getting poked in the eyes with the Zygon glasses and eventually put foam weatherstripping along the top of the frames to keep thim higher off of my face.
The headphone designe is retro cool. I like the fact that the cable only comes out of one earpiece instead of both, which is common now. The padding is minimal and a bit hard on the ears at first, but not too uncomfortable. As I will be using this probably mainly at bedtime, I will often be using clip on earphones instead so I can lay on my side if I wish. Sound quality is good, so again, the comfort complaint is minor.
I was on my way for a relaxing bath when the Procyon arrived but I wanted to try a quickie, especiially to see how the tri-color glassed worked. So I tried out #46, the 10 minuite "Fast Trip." WOW! Talk about kaleidoscope eyes!
All in all, first impressions are that it is a well made unit and I'm going to have fun exploring its capabilities. I'm looking forward to participating here and sharing my experiences.
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