Portable music player recommendations wanted

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Portable music player recommendations wanted

taniwha

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#4114 22-May-2005 12:51

it's time i got a hard drive based music player - and i'm looking for recommendations.

my music collection is all oggs, and i'd rather not re-encode it all again
I think that rules out ipods.

I need at least 20GB, but 40+ would be better.

it needs to be small, to fit in my pocket - maybe with a belt clip since women's clothing often has no pockets.

and it needs to be light - i'm already carrying a pda and a phone, don't want it dragging my jeans down :-)

tonyhughes

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#14930 22-May-2005 17:29

I am going to buy an iPod photo very soon. Its got the cool factor oozing out of it.
I looked at iRivers today in town - nice, but just not as funky as the iPod.

My music is all Mp3 and AAC. Re-encoding doesnt bother me - i would set up a box to do it, and leave it running for the whole time till its done.

I am looking at a 60GB. I currently have around 20GB of music and 10GB of photos. I can see a 60GB filling up real soon and being replaced with a 200GB ipod when availabel LOL

I am also going to get a 512MB shuffle for things like cycling so I dont have to carry the bigger unit.

The iTrip i was talking about (over in Audioscrobblers PMs) is an FM transmitter - so I can sit on the couch with a 60GB music player - choose a track, and it plays through my home theater....

Thats the ultimate in ease i think. Once I have that, I will never need to change a CD again LOL

taniwha

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#14934 22-May-2005 18:41

i'd be concern about loss of quality if i transcoded from oog -> mp3.
so, if i did it again, i'd be ripping from CD all over.
(that's just for the one i have a CD for)

right now it looks like i'll get a 6GB ipod mini. they suit my budget, and they're small. i would like 40GB+, but size if more important than capacity.

i wonder if any ipod mini owners will stumble apon this thread and share their opinion?

The other contender is the iAudio M3 - it's slim, but it's also rather long for a jeans pocket.

tonyhughes

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#14935 22-May-2005 18:45

I was undecided whether to go with the mini due to its small size, and 6GB will more than cover the music I like to listen to regularly - but im a bit of a gadgetfreak sometimes :-)

(edited to show "6GB" instead of "^GB")

taniwha

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#14953 23-May-2005 15:51

I'm also intending on getting a PalmOne Lifedrive.
That has 4GB storage, but i'm not sure if it'll also be my music player.

my purchase is on hold while i do some research.

I did buy 2x 1GB cards from flashcards.co.nz - that'll keep my going for a while.

patdude

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#15134 30-May-2005 17:15

I tried creatives players and they're not bad - the only real issue is the bundled software which really blows something chronic - after haivng my Mp3 collection's ID3 tags screwed up by this software I dumped creative and went with an iPod - their audio isnt as good but iTunes rocks utterly and the iPod is scarily well designed with fantastic ergonomics....

Your other option could be to dabble with an iRiver - they have superb audio reproduction and the newer models are not too bad in the usability stakes, but once again the bundled software blows compared to iTunes... If you're an Ogg user however, iRiver may be the way to go as I understand that they have native firmware support for Ogg and FLAC....

taniwha

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#15136 30-May-2005 17:44

bundled software isn't relevant - because i doubt it runs in linux.
so long as i can mount it as a hard drive, then i'm happy

speaking of which , can I just copy files to the ipod, and they'll play? is that correct?

DawneM

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#15167 31-May-2005 09:38

I have a Creative Zen, had it for a bout 6 months now and I think its fantastic. Very reliable. I walk for 2 hours every day with the Zen clipped to my jeans. The Zen with a set of Sennheiser earphones has fantastic sound.

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taniwha

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#15173 31-May-2005 11:04

i was looking at sennheisers just hte other day - but decided against them because of sound leakage.
(i don't want the whole bus to know i'm listening to Bryan Adams)

Creative Zen. :-) they look so big, but they have high capacity for a small price tag. i will go seek one to play with.

freitasm

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#15174 31-May-2005 11:08

Microsoft presented the webmasters attending last year's Microsoft Expert Zone Sites Summit in Redmond (name drop

) with a Zen Micro. It is a very nice player, 5GB, really small and looks good. Have a look at it - they have at Quay Computers, across the street from The Beehive (but you know that).