Topic: suspect H120 - how to test it before buying?

[mauri]

Hi guys, I'm about to buy a used H120. The owner had told me it was in very good condition, but now he says he hasn't any mp3 file loaded in it, and he doesn't even have the usb cable. I am thinking of taking an appropiate usb cable when I go to see it so that I can test it, but I wonder what test should I do to it to make sure (well, as much as one can) it is working well?
As it will be my first mp3 with hard disk, I don't know exactly what kind of tests you can put it to, so I'll ask you some questions:

- When you connect it to a computer with the usb cable, it shows as a removable drive, just like a pen drive?
Can you then right click on it and choose "format drive", for example?

- What kind of tools can you use to test the hard drive? I saw this auction in eBay, they sell a Toshiba hard disk for H120, and the seller says he used "HD Tune" and shows a picture with the results:
http://cgi.ebay.com/iRiver-iHP120-20GB-MK2004GAL-Toshiba-Hard-Drive-Parts_W0QQitemZ160143390128QQihZ006QQcategoryZ114622QQcmdZViewItem
http://members.shaw.ca/dvd_ai5/iHP120_20G_HD_Scan.JPG
Is that a good test? Do you think of any other tool to be used, and what results would one expect?

- I will push every button in the unit, look if the the display is ok... sadly I will not be able to test the line-in, as I currently don't have any mics with me (a friend of mine is bringing some mics from the US, as I asked him to, so that I could do my recordings with the H120). Well, as I write this I remembered there is a Philips microphone somewhere in my house, one of those used for karaoke... I will take it, at least I can do a little test. I hope I manage to find out how to record with the H120. I'll try to get the user manual from the internet and read it now.

- Testing the battery is another matter, I don't think I'll be able to do much about that.

Well, I don't know... any help you can provide will be much appreciated. I can not simply let this one pass by and wait for another H120 to show up, as it is very hard to find these devices where I live.
Thank you very much.

[petur]

you can always record a bit from build-in mic and playback again?

[Gawain]

it should show as removable drive when you connect it, correct. And then you can do right click and see the properties, format or whatever. And also you can access any of the folders and upload something something to it or download to the pc.

[mauri]

Ok, I think I'll test it in the next week end.

Thank you very much.