TechnoLust - The World’s Most Expensive MP3 Player

3741 Views | 9 Comments | Posted August 28th 2006 | Andrew Tingle

mp3gold

The first entry in Thoughts from the Sidelines’ TechnoLust section is the world’s most expensive MP3 player – the i.Beat Organix Gold by TrekStor. Costing a cool £13,600, its shell is composed of 18-carat gold set with a total of 63 one caret diamonds (taking the jewellers over 100 man hours to construct).

Initially designed following a personal commission from the Russian-Canadian billionaire, Alex Shnaider – who also happens to be the owner of the Midland Formula One team – the player offers one gigabyte of memory, which is roughly equivalent to 240 tracks, as well as a host of other high-level features.

Feature List:

Playable file formats: MP3, WMA, WAV, ASF, OGG
Integrated stereo FM radio
2 headphone jacks
Integrated voice recorder (MP3)
Folder navigation
Extremely sharp 2-colour OLED display
Direct recording from the radio (as an MP3 file) (optional)
Line-in recording (MP3)
Supports WMA-DRM9 (supports DRM-protected files)
16 station presets / automatic station search
ID3 tag display
Maximum operating time of 25 hours
Hi-Speed USB 2.0 (downward-compatible to USB 1.1)
Lithium-polymer battery (charged via the USB)
Equalizer visualization
SRS WOW - Surround Sound
11 equalizers + user equalizer
Digital clock, alarm function, stopwatch
Mobile data storage device (”USB Mass Storage Device”)
German and English user guide
Firmware update possible

Personally, though I can certainly appreciate the craftsmanship required to produce this player, I have to be honest and say that it really doesn’t float my boat (so I’ll be sticking with my Samsung player in the meantime). Besides, I can imagine what would happen it I flashed this on the packed commuter train on my way into work and I can also envisage leaving the train some minutes later, heavily concussed and with it no longer in my possession.

Top points for quality, undoubtedly, but for us mere mortals could such a device even be considered remotely practical? (Out of interest, at 1 gigabytes of memory, the price per megabyte equates to £1,360 per MB storage - ouch!)

Nevertheless, if you have that sort of money burning a hole in your wallet, and you are in the market for a new MP3 player, you can visit Treksor’s site here.

(And if you have that sort of money spare and don’t know what to do with it the following applies to you…..Hi, how are you, great to meet you, you’re looking well….what a present? For me? Cash? Oh, I couldn’t - oh on second thoughts, it would be rude to say no….:-)).

Linked Externally? Click here to return to main site or click here to go directly to the post archive.

View Related Posts | View/Add Comments

Want to catch up on our latest content quickly? Now you can.

Reader Comments & Responses

Worm | August 29th, 2006 at 1:33 am

1 GIGABYTE????? BWAHAHA! I can’t even comprehend how they could give this MP3 player all those features and all that bling… but restrict it to a measly 1 Gig.
I bought Ms. Worm a Creative Nomad with 40GB two years ago for $200 (£105). Shoot, even my phone Methinks I’m gonna get some bling and pimp my phone…
AT | August 29th, 2006 at 10:22 pm

Yes, the memory is extremely poor, isn’t it. Even mid-range players have a great deal more thse days.
Adrian | September 10th, 2006 at 5:41 pm

I think its a bit poor to be honest. Looks like the firmware is 1st gen basicness. Much prefer my 4gb Ipod Nano (with Linux Installed (www.ipodlinux.org)

Although having a platinum back and diamonds would be cool. My girlfriend would rob me of it in a second, then lose it in the depths of her handbag
Adrian | September 10th, 2006 at 5:42 pm

And even 4gb is not enough seeing i have well over 120gb of music…

Just thought id get my 2pennies worth
Alicia C Simpson | September 10th, 2006 at 6:34 pm

I think about all the people in this world who could be helped by the money this things costs. Nobody needs this sort of thing, a unit 1/10th the price will be just as goods. I would not want to meet anyone who buys this piece of hubris.
Liz | September 10th, 2006 at 6:52 pm

it’s for people who have more money than sense.
ors | September 10th, 2006 at 8:52 pm

You cannot buy class. Money can be used much better to help the needy. Shame some individuals waste it on such rubbish or wars.
kasper | September 10th, 2006 at 11:01 pm

I saved up for a couple of weeks (just took a little overtime with my flourishing male modeling career) and bought one of these, and let me tell you, the sound quality isn’t that great and the UI is pure crap. It’s almost as if they DON’T EXPECT ANYONE TO ACTUALLY USE IT…
Andrew Tingle | September 11th, 2006 at 8:26 am

anyone who buys this is buying it, not for its functionality, but as a status symbol. Which is odd, because personally I think it look vulgar - but there’s no accounting for taste is there.

Got Something to Say? Add Your Comment.

Prior to adding your comment please be advised that we rigorously check for spam prior to publishing any comments so any blatantly off-topic, self promotional or offensive comments that offer nothing by way of valid discussion concerning this post will simply not appear.