The audio jack almost always has static

The jack for the output plug is completely useless if it's anything other than a 100% snug fit (and over time, the fit gets worse as the components gradually shift).

My player had a loose headphone jack

The audio jack started to fail, and then today the unit just failed.

The first surprise was finding that the player does not actually support WMA format files, though that capability is claimed in the User Manual as well as on the Amazon listing itself

just as great as it says it is