[Edvard_Grieg]

I can get a brand new Carbon 6GB for $150 w/shipping, as I understand it, all static issues were fixed, and the newest firmware supports Janus DRM.

I already have a Karma that I love, but I am looking for something smaller to take to the gym, work, and probably snowboarding. I already take my Karma snowboarding without problems so I'm not too worried about the Carbon

At the gym I would just leave the Carbon on the machine in the cupholder etc, so I'm not too worried about 'shocking' the HD. Is there anything else at the same price range that would be better than this? I know it isn't a color screen but that isn't 'that' important to me.

Thoughts?

 

[Sparky191]

Better in what way? Cheaper?

 

[Teriyaki]

I don't think things get much cheaper than a 6gb carbon. As for other 6gb players, you have the zen micro and H10, but both have the touch sensitive pad which would be a pita to use when trying to burn some calories on the treadmill.

 

[Sparky191]

I'd think hard before spending any money on a discontinued product with a limited warranty. because HDD players are not the most robust of items. If it fails will you be leaft out of pocket?

I agree with the touch pads. I have a Zen Micro. Not a fan of the touch pad myself. Its ok, but theres better ways of controlling a device.

 

[kurt_fire]

I'd say the Zen Micro is the most comparable product out. It is very similar to the Carbon. Supposedly, a little shorter battery life, better sound, different looks and control scheme. The best buy on a Micro is the 6 gig version at BestBuy for $200 wth a $50 gift card.

Carbons are on closeout and may be hard to find.

 

[IpaqMan]

Here is a comparable deal.

I got a "brand-new" Rio Carbon 5gb for $99 plus $7 shipping on Ebay. It was a factory refurbished Carbon in a sealed white box. The player and the accessories looked new and unused. The player was well cushioned with foam. I have been heavily using the Carbon for two weeks now and it has performed above my expectations.

At this low price, if I get one year's use, I will be satisfied. All of my other players cost more than this except for the Shuffle.

Personally, I have not been able to find a comparable miniHD player with similar specs to the Carbon: slim/pocketable, controllable by feel, bright readable useful display, Audible.com support, bookmarking, very long battery life, no proprietary cables or adapters, drag and drop, folder browsing / tag browsing, and proper FF/RW design (treat tracks as one long track and acceleration).

Wishlist: sleep timer, OTF playlists, track named bookmarks, replaceable battery, power-on immediate play option.


My Iaudio 5 1gb has a lot of these features and wishes. It is missing only the miniHD, Audible.com support, and tag browsing.

Iaudio advantage: replaceable AAA battery, track named bookmarks, sleep timer, OTF playlists, smaller size, power-on play option, FM tuner, FM recording, line-in recording, multi-color screens, more rugged construction.

Carbon advantage: larger capacity, Audible.com support, longer battery life, tag browsing, stopwatch, cheaper.

 

[Edvard_Grieg]

My concern with the Micro is the battery and more importantly, the headphone jack. I don't know if something has been fixed, but externally it looks like nothing has changed much, and I have read far too many complaints of the headphone jack breaking on it.

I have also been seriously eyeing the new Philips 1630, my biggest concern is that I will have to use WMP to do album art etc, although that is something the Carbon doesn't do in the first place (same with OTF Playlists).....iAudio needs to make a microdrive player

 

[Behemot]

I got my Zen micro replaced once creative support person told me new batches have the headphone jack problem fixed. From what I see on forums affected units must have been mainly those sold with extra battery around Xmas last year.
They apparently do things differently now so the jack does not break.
Very good player

 

[Edvard_Grieg]

Yeah, so I had a nice long talk with a Creative rep at Best Buy who told me the same thing that the problem had been fixed, and we had a nice long talk about DAPs in general (nice guy). Nonetheless I picked up a Philips 1630 from WallyWorld later that evening, and roughly 6 hours later I returned it. For as nice as it is aesthetically, it has some SERIOUS flaws. First, it does not charge via USB, it has a dumbass wall wart that has a custom dock connector and usb cable attached to it (yes that is attached, not connected, meaning that you can not disconnect them and are stuck with that cord length....it sucks). Also, it has a fairly nice sound, but the internal amp really is crappy. Finally, the software was complete ********....you need Philips special plugin to get a photo to appear on the player (using MTP or WMP), after you upload the picture, the plugin runs for over 5 minutes (this was for less than a meg worth of pictures) doing who knows what. Suffice it to say it was not worth the hassle (I won't even start on trying to deal with WMP10) and I have relatively little confidence in Philips improving the software/firmware significantly.

This leads me to my next purchase of a Zen Micro Photo from Best Buy since they are doing 25% off all Creative players I got my ZMP for 187 + tax. I must say that I am quite impressed with the little guy, it has some quirks (scroll pad takes some getting used to), and I hope they allow for silmultaneous picture and music playback, but I have a lot more faith in Creative to offer an upgrade than Philips.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[jumpinjohn1234]

Archos gmini xs100, Cheap and Good

 

[chrisfromalbany]

i would think solid state would be the type of player you are looking for. Anyone with a HD will lock up from time to time when runs or being in a machine at the gym that is jumping around. Along with the fact HD units are more prone to HD failure in unstable environments. I have had number of Rio and creative products that failed. I prefer not get to a HD unit for portable use.

 

[Edvard_Grieg]

Ummm thanks for your input Chris...I actually have an original Karma that I have taken snowboarding for quite awhile...I'm not exactly concerned about the ZMP in the stationary cupholder on an Elliptical machine or while i'm sitting lifting weights....thanks for the concern though. If I were actually running outdoors I might consider a solid state instead, but for it to sit on the machine itself I'm not really worried.