The other day I showed both the iRiver and Creative Portable Media Center to my cousin. Tried turning both on and both didn’t work, figured the battery had died in both. Today I finally remembered to plug them in to charge to test them out. I noticed the Creative had this black spot in the top right corner of the screen and some weird dark thing going on. Tried powering it on while plugged in and nothing. Figured I should reset it. Tried opening the back but couldn’t. Pressed down hard enough and finally got the case open. Sure enough the battery exploded. It damaged the screen and everything else. The entire unit plus the battery will need to be replaced. It’s been sitting on my desk in the same spot for over 6 months now. It’s not been hot and it’s not been cold so who knows.

Here’s the important information about the battery for reference:
Model Number:   PMA-BA0001
Date Code:      SMMJDHBC
Part Number:    BA20603R79913

Oh and here are four pictures for your viewing pleasure. While stating that the battery “exploded” would be pushing it, the battery definitely expanded. Note the curve in the plastic:
Photo 1 - shows battery standing
Photo 2 - shows battery lying down
Photo 3 - shows pmc screen distorted in bottom left
Photo 4 - shows pmc screen with spot in top right

So while the Creative PMC may have the best battery life of the PMC’s be warned that it’s physical life may be short lived.

Tags: Microsoft, Music, News, Rants