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  • #1

    mp3/music player advice needed

    My brother has asked my advice on which mp3 player he should get . I now ask you 'poly tech experts - which one is the best from a technical standpoint ? My brother does not care for style , looks , or any of that stuff . He wants value for money . A few main question : -

    1) Does it provide linux drivers ( or are linux drivers available for it ) ?

    2) Is the software/firmware extensible ( or can it be hacked/patched/upgraded/extended to play more music formats as and when required ) ?

    3) How long does it play continuously on one battery charge ?

    4) Does it use standardised batteries ( in other words , are you dependent on the vendor for batteries , or can the batteries be replaced locally ) ?

    5) How much storage capacity does it have ?

    I know that a flamewar/flamefest is inevitable , but I'd like it to be a productive war/fest , so that I can get an idea of the merits and demerits of the rival camps .

    Remember that "coolness" or stylishness is definitely not a factor . Value for money is ( and stylishness is not considered value for money ) .
    Tags: None
  • #2
    I hesitated between the Zen micro and iPod mini. Both sound very, very good, provided you buy a decent pair of headphones. So if he's serious about sound quality, he'll have to invest in a decent pair of cans. However, according to some people, it seems the Zen micro has a slight advantage in the sound department. But Stereophile gave the iPod a very good review. I certainly can attest that it sounds very good with a decent pair of headphones.

    The choice was a hard one, but I finally bought a iPod mini. It was 80$ cheaper than the Zen micro, and for that price I'll get myself a decent pair of cans, maybe Sennheiser PX-100's. Or maybe your brother could get himself a nice pair of Grados GR-60. Unfortunately, Grados are overpriced here in Canada: they're like 69$ in the States and 130$ here in Canada

    I tried both and I also prefer the iPod's interface. Its more intuitive. The new iPod mini's also enjoys a longer battery life. I haven't tested it, but it's 18 hours according to Apple.
    The battery is standardized, but it's very hard to replace in a Mini. You can send it to someone and for about 60$, they'll replace it for you.

    I don't know if your brother listens to House or techno. But the iPod inserts a one second gap between each song. So if your listening to a dj mix, there's a gap between songs. That sucks. The only way around that is to rip the whole dj mix album as one song.
    Last edited by Nostromo; April 9, 2005, 14:40.
    Let us be lazy in everything, except in loving and drinking, except in being lazy – Lessing

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    • #3
      Yeah, me too. I may well soon ditch my CD player and huge CD carrier, so what I'd be looking for is a compact, easy to use player that will play mp3s with respectable sound quality and long battery life (I have no idea how long a normal mp3 player battery life is, but my CD player is supposed to play for about 15 hours before it craps out IIRC, so I'll probably be pleasantly surprised.)

      I'm not particularly interested in huge capacities, I won't listen to 4GB of music before I return to my computer unless I walk to Tierra del Fuego.

      How big is an iPod mini or a Zen micro? I want to take these things in my pockets, which already have cell phone, papers, pencils, pens, batteries...

      And for those of you that use mp3 players, give your own personal information that I won't see in magazines. Like the iPod putting a second between each song, that could end up pissing me off, or having to send away your precious iPod to get the batteries fixed. Screw that.

      edit: the Zen Micro 4gb actually looks pretty good. it'll be a while before I actually buy one so maybe it'll be cheaper by then.

      Plus, I drink a lot of Pepsi and they have the promotion going on where you get a free song code on the bottle cap. It's a pretty minor reason to change my mind, though. Could I possibly download a song in iTunes using the Pepsi code and then listen to it using any other player (or burn it to a CD), or do I have to have an iPod to listen to it?
      Last edited by mrmitchell; April 9, 2005, 16:00.
      meet the new boss, same as the old boss

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      • #4
        Zen Micro is business card size in height and width, and a bit thicker than a cell phone.

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        • #5
          How big is an iPod mini or a Zen micro?
          About the size of a cell phone. The iPod is 3.6 inches high, 2 inches wide and 0.5 inch thick. The iPod comes with a belt clip so you don't have to put it in your pocket.

          or having to send away your precious iPod to get the batteries fixed. Screw that.
          You can always buy a battery and do it yourself. But its harder opening Minis than other iPods, since Minis are basically flattened aluminum tubes, without seams. But I don't think its that big a deal, really. Like I said, the battery is good for about 18 hours, according to Apple. If you take care of your battery properly it should be good for 300 to 500 full charge cycles. And you'll need to do a full discharge/charge cycle about once a month. So the battery should last you a couple of years before you need to replace it. So overall, I think I made a fairly good choice. Of course, if its a big deal for you, get a Zen micro. You can easily change the battery. Some micros even come with two batteries.
          Let us be lazy in everything, except in loving and drinking, except in being lazy – Lessing

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          • #6
            If you want Linux compatibility, I think iriver is your best bet.
            Only feebs vote.

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            • #7
              I just bought an IAudio U2 1 GB (will get here in a few weeks unfortunately). Jetaudio seems to have the best flash based players in terms of sound quality, so that was the deciding factor, and this was the cheapest (and smallest) of the current generation Jetaudios. I have some reservations about the battery (one charge lasts only 15-20 hours, and it's proprietary), but seems like a good player. And I like how it looks.

              http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00063G0BO/qid=1113093672/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-7434792-8666527?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846
              "Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way. "
              -Bokonon

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              • #8
                Originally posted by mrmitchell
                And for those of you that use mp3 players, give your own personal information that I won't see in magazines. Like the iPod putting a second between each song, that could end up pissing me off, or having to send away your precious iPod to get the batteries fixed. Screw that.
                I have a Rio Nitrus (which yes,other people will tell you is ****) but, interesting facts include:

                It can be dropped in the bath for several minutes (ie completely submerged) and still work fine.

                Similarly, throwing it at people, dropping it in the street and general man-handling has no effect.

                It's much smaller than the ipod's I've seen - smaller than a credit card and pretty slim too.

                No idea about the battery life....but its quite a long time. I've recharged it around a million times with no problems so far.

                It looks nicer than an ipod.
                Desperados of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your dignity.......
                07849275180

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                • #9
                  Am I the only one left who uses cassettes?

                  MP3 killed the Cassette Star.

                  Go the cassette!
                  Voluntary Human Extinction Movement http://www.vhemt.org/

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                  • #10
                    Re: mp3/music player advice needed

                    I have the Zen Touch:

                    Originally posted by aneeshm
                    1) Does it provide linux drivers ( or are linux drivers available for it ) ?
                    I have no idea, I haven't even checked what else is on the cd

                    Originally posted by aneeshm
                    2) Is the software/firmware extensible ( or can it be hacked/patched/upgraded/extended to play more music formats as and when required ) ?
                    Not sure since for now I have seen no missing features

                    Originally posted by aneeshm
                    3) How long does it play continuously on one battery charge ?
                    24 hours...

                    Originally posted by aneeshm
                    4) Does it use standardised batteries ( in other words , are you dependent on the vendor for batteries , or can the batteries be replaced locally ) ?
                    Unfortunatly it's not easy to change the batteries (the same problem as most ipods)

                    Originally posted by aneeshm
                    5) How much storage capacity does it have ?
                    Mine has 20 GB, but there's also versions with much more capacity

                    I haven't checked what the MP3 market looks like now, but when I bought the Zen Touch (the same day as it was released in Europe about 6 months ago) this was the one that gave most value for money
                    And as a free bonus: It looks much better than most other players
                    This space is empty... or is it?

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Bkeela
                      Am I the only one left who uses cassettes?

                      MP3 killed the Cassette Star.

                      Go the cassette!
                      Yes.
                      (Don't like MP3 players though, glorified cassette walk-mans, that's all they are, overhyped 25 year technollogy, just as cell phones)
                      Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing?
                      Then why call him God? - Epicurus

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                      • #12
                        Say, I have a 1GB Compact Flash card gathering dust in some corner.. Happen to know any good player to use those?
                        I've allways wanted to play "Russ Meyer's Civilization"

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                        • #13
                          @ Alva, Bkeela

                          I will never go back to casettes if I can help it. I didn't enjoy carrying around bulky casettes; I didn't enjoy carrying around bulky CDs. This was the main reason I decided against a MiniDisk player a few years back, instead opting for my first MP3 player.

                          MP3 > Casettes + CDs + MiniDisks
                          The cake is NOT a lie. It's so delicious and moist.

                          The Weighted Companion Cube is cheating on you, that slut.

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                          • #14
                            Im away from a plug socket for about 7 days this summer, anyone know any mp3 player that matchs the following:-

                            1) built in radio
                            2) runs from AAA, AA or 9v batterys (or has 7 day battery life )
                            3) large capacity ( >1gb)
                            Safer worlds through superior firepower

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                            • #15
                              You won't find a harddisk player that runs on AA(A) batteries. One GB Flash players from Creative or iRiver are as good as it gets...

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