Thumbs up for Akai's new portable MPC, but...

Yes, congrads to Akai for introducing another MPC to their current line of workstations. But what about those of us that are'nt quite ready to deal with this portability stuff? I mean like for one...taking care of this thing. I do expect a whole lot of threads to surface once folks get there hands on this, but how about the threads that pop up because of operational issues? Issues that come from the lack of CARE & not from OS glitches and etc. I noticed folks have a tendency to abuse things that are "small & portable" in nature, especially if it's delicate and requires special handling, that seems to make it that much worst. Of course physical abuse & water/liquid damage will void any warranty and that's what I expect Akai will be dealing with more sooner than later. So my words of WISDOM to myself & others...be honest. Do you really want to go this route? Do you want to play truth or consequences with the manufacturer and hope they won't catch anything? I'm sure they've briefed the Q&A department on this as well. So enjoy the newest member of the family, but just keep in mind...he's only a baby for crying out loud and that's all he will be.

definitely feel you on this one

but it depends on the build of the machine

this will come as a surprise to so many, but the mpc1000 is build RUGGED. i take that thing everywhere. i'm almost a permanent hunchback, fuggin aching all day cuz i carry it in a messenger bag.

it gets knocked against walls from time to time, never dropped it but the thing gets beat up. and it's still kicking.

so again...it depends on how rugged the 500 is.

I was going to ask how strong the 1k is, but it sounds like its still made pretty tough. That is despite the fact that people have been saying each newer MPC has been less tank-like every time there is a new one. I take my XL all over and don't have problems either. It even went through a moving truck crash. The easiest thing to break before was a floppy or zip. With no moving parts, I'd guess the next breakable part is the screen, but you aren't taking care of your expensive gear if you break that. Water and other elements that don't belong around electronics, even if its a giant MPC3k. When you open up any manual, it tells you these common sense warnings first.

I agree with both of you guys 100%, but this is where the problem begins...folks want instant gratification. "The hell with reading the f**k'n manual, I can hit some of these forums and the people there can tell me how to use it". Just giving a case scenario at which knowing that most if not all professional people in this line of work or play, will take the time to at least "brief" themselves when they get a new piece of gear. And the reason I brought this up was because of the hell I went through as a service/repair tech with one of the major wireless carriers. The general public can be a trip sometimes, so maybe Akai already has a plan intacted for the fiasco that will hit them in the coming months. Oh well...better them than me.

Yeah, never know what consumers are going to do... but I think a phone you carry everywhere differs from a music sequencer. Cellphones are pretty much a necesity now, so people are more likely to carry and drop them everywhere. You probably wont be talking on your MPC drunk in the bathroom and drop it in the toilet, but I bet it happens every day around the world. Now getting it spilled on at an event is another story, but that can happen with any MPC.

But I do agree that this product is more prone to accidents over the others simply because it is more likely to end up in places the others couldn't go before. As you probably know, electronics are harder to replace these days. A case, screen, buttons, etc can be swapped out easily... but once anything on the mainboard gets toasted, time for a new one.

I'm sure they have already learned some design ideas over the years. For example the MPC2000 had air vents on the top. Then the XL didn't. I bet they learned just like with the original Nintendo that putting vents on top of a flat surface is asking for someone to put their drink on it and... whoops!

People bring laptops with them everyday...and they get broken as well. If you don't take care of your stuff, it'll get broken...if you do...it won't. That's really the bottom line.