Scumbag

Right, I’m looking at buying a new ipod/MP3 player in the near future as my Sony minidisk is just about giving up the ghost.
Requirements: I mainly use it when running/rowing in the gym, and running on the roads, and have found the minidisk skips too much, hence something with a bigger cache. I’m also hacked off with the “remote”…it tends to get in the way, and the clip slips off my ultra-sweaty wicking tops!!
I have shed loads of CDs that I would like to transfer specific songs from them to whatever format. Downloading tunes might be good, but to be honest cant see me doing it too much. Would be good to be able to play said tunes in the car, but again, I’ll be selling the car in 1-2 years time, and I can always see what is around then…but being tied into a format that wont be available then would be a bit of a p1sser.

Anyone got any ideas…I don’t give a stuff about looks, CD level quality is not an issue. Is iPOD the way, or just too pricey? Cost isnt a huge issue, usability is far more important

Any thoughts?

TIA
SB

lpski1

ipod the mini now has the add-on to allow you to use in the car via the head unit. £200

or the ipod 15gb, just under £300 i think.

lpski1

also see this link

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=345538

unclebuck

I bought one of these in the States a couple of weeks ago.

http://www.dealtime.com/xPO-Creative..._Zen_Xtra_40GB

Cost the USD equivalent of 150 Quid. Not bad for a 40Gb player. It plays all regular mp3 files which I understand the iPod won't do and has a longer battery life.

UB

lpski1

UB the ipod does play mp3, if you mean the pod doesnt play WMA WAV, these arent exactly mp3 files, but i dont think it does play them.

(reaches for the edit button if ive made a mistake)

Dracoro

The guy wants something for when he is running. Wouldn't an iPod or any other HDD based player be unsuitable as it's more prone to jump/skip? Probably should go for a solid state player than won't jump/skip. Lower capacity obviously, but many should be big enough if you're not going to put your entire collection onboard.

lpski1

my ipod mini doesnt jump/skip whilst running like a loon on the treadmill the only thing that it has done twice, recently, is that if im too quick navigating the screen it freezes up ! but a quick reset and all is fine. ! battery is shiiite though imo.

unclebuck

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm sure I heard that you have t ojump through certain hoops to be able to playback regular 128kps mp3 files. Don't you have to 'tag' them first or you can only play 'official' mp3s from the Apple website or summat?

But yeah, you're right that the Creative machine can playback other formats also. You can also use it to store/move around other media file types such as movies as well.

djuk

I have an ipod and have taken it to the gym and out running a couple of times and after 20 mins or so of hard running it does start to skip ... not always though.

My solution (although not the most fancy machine) was a creative muvo 64mb solid state player for £30 inc postage from ebay. Its tiny (about the size of a cigarette lighter) and if you encode the songs in a low enough bit rate you can get a good 20 tracks on there. They also do a 128mb version for not much more.

The beauty of it is the fact that because it is so cheap i really dont mind dropping it, falling over on it or whatever might happen one day. If that happened to my ipod I would be devestated.

Hope this helps

David

lpski1

its actually much easier than my netMD, in regards to putting tracks on it. the itunes software will rip ANY Cd straight to mp3 at its own conversion rate (not sure if 128kps or higher) and then just drag n drop into a play list ! i also have previously ripped CD's (that i own) and these were ripped at 128kps +. no problems. It also self tags them either from the txt file on the CD or it uses a database similar to CDDB I havent downloaded any mp3's from the itunes website yet, no real requirement.

Thats the only downside to the mini ipod, i doesnt (via the app) transfer data, as you say, i havent tried accessing the file system to see if you can fool it.

unclebuck

Yes, thats the problem for me. I have a huge collection of mp3 files from all sorts of sources and at all kinds of bit rates. An iPod wouldn't like them, whereas the Creative player just accepts any file.

UB

lpski1

if they are mp3 and not wma/wav, the pod will accept them, whatever rate they are.

CooperS

I've just ordered myself an iPOD MINI from amazon, £174.99 and free delivery.

Scumbag

Thanks for the comments, guys

I tend to spend at least a couple of hours in the gym 2/3 times a week, and it doesnt take me that long to get bored of 40 tracks on an MD, so I didnt think a solid state would really do the job.
I frequently run reps, so often have a walk/slow jog in between fast running, so if it can buffer enough from the disk I should survive.
As far as the ipods go, I might just wait a few weeks, watch for any announcement Monday, and see what I can pick one up for

lpski1

just to update, i was wrong about file types that the pod can play, see below.

Apple's fourth-generation (4G) iPods are svelte hard disk-based portable digital audio players, currently available in two models: one has 20 gigabytes of storage space, enough to hold around 5,000 average-length songs ($299), while the other has 40 gigabytes of space, enough for 10,000 songs ($399). They're capable of playing the world's most common digital music format, MP3, as well as the most popular audio book format (Audible) and several other formats, namely Apple's proprietary AAC (MPEG-4) and new Apple Lossless standards, plus older WAV and AIFF formats. Each iPod fits easily into a small pocket, and with included earbud-style headphones, serves as a complete replacement for both your entire CD- or cassette-based music collection, and your larger prior CD or cassette-based player.

CooperS

I had an iPod MINI pre-ordered from Amazon, but Apple have just released their 3rd gen 20GB iPod for £219 delivered.

So I've got that on order instead now.

Madjay2

personally i would buy the I-River which Richer sounds sell at 249.95 which has a 40gb capacity, fm radio and the menus are supposibley alot better than the fashion icon that is the ipod. not that i work for RS ofcourse just a thought