Austonia - Read this when you get chance

[br0adband]

I've tried to access some of the reviews at www.dapreview.com (I believe this is your site). Can you possibly tell me if you still have all those different reviews available someplace or if you intend to get them up and running with the new hosting service you have?

I'm kinda stuck on making a decision and I respect your opinions as posted in your reviews.

I'm looking for something like this (and I'm stumped on finding it although I think something from Archos still falls closest to my needs):

- Portable HD mp3/wav player recorder
- Preferably AA battery powered and not a proprietary power source (like LiIon or NiMH packs)
- FM tuner (AM would be nice but it's a foregone conclusion that no one will ever offer AM support anymore)
- Ability to record from the FM tuner (this is fairly common on current models)
- Voice message/note capability with a built-in mic (again, fairly common on current models)
- USB connection (speed is of absolutely no concern, I took the time to encode with EAC/LAME -aps so I can wait to load them up)
- 10GB capacity or higher

Various other *wants* but they're not as important as the ones mentioned above. I am looking at that new portable from iRiver, the iHP-120. Looks very promising but geez... that price. I can find other 20GB units from other manufacturers for a helluva lot less (they just miss some features, of course).

Thanks for reading and I'd like to hear what you can suggest,
br0adband

 

[GSTom1]

Unfortunately, no HD based mp3 player has all of the features you are looking for.

1) the most popular players that can record on-the-fly include the Nomad Jukebox 3, iRiver iHP and Philips Hdd100.

2) I don't think any Hd based mp3 player uses AA batteries. These players require lots of power to spin the hds, plus it would be too expensive (you'll spend a small fortune in batteries).

3 & 4) An FM tuner is built into the iRiver iHp. You could buy the optional remote for the Nomad Jukebox 3/Zen and get FM. You can't record FM with the iRiver iHP yet (perhaps in future firmware upgrades), but you can with the Nomad series.

5) Again, you can record voice using the iRiver iHP, Philips HDD100 and the Nomad Jukebox 3/Zen (if you get the optional remote).

6) Almost all new players connect via USB 2.0 including iRiver, Philip HDD100, Nomad Jukebox 3/Zen, iPod, Rio Krama etc.

7) Various sizes avalable for all players, but all have at least 10GB.
iPod - 10, 20 and 40 GB models
Zen 2.0 - 20 and 60 GB
Zen NX - 20 and 30 GB
Zen Xtra - 30, 40 and 60GB models
Jukebox 3 - 20 and 40 GB
iRiver iHP - 10 and 20 GB models
Rio Karma - 20 and 40 (out shortly?) GB models
Philips HDD100 - 15 GB

Happy shopping.

 

[br0adband]

Wow, I missed that one. The iHP won't do FM recording... how stupid of them to fudge that before the product is even out. And making it part of a firmware update? Oh well... damn

As for AA batteries used in HD mp3 players, I thought the Archos series did that but I am probably misinformed.

Thanks for the suggestions
br0adband

 

[e-r0ck]

Quote:

Originally posted by br0adband As for AA batteries used in HD mp3 players, I thought the Archos series did that but I am probably misinformed.

The old ones did (Studio and Recorder models). The new multimedia units dont.

 

[JaZZ]

Archos Studio 20 and Recorder use 4 AA batteries. That's what makes them quite heavy.

 

[austonia]

sorry, dapreview.com is still under construction. we lost some data when our old host deleted the account for too much bandwidth use. we are also changing to PostNuke software to make it a better interface, but its a learning process. both me and rob are busy with personal obligations too, work and school. it just takes time guys, and its only a hobby. but i love mp3 players, so does rob, so we'll get it back up and better than ever. stay tuned

 

[br0adband]

Cool, thanks for replying. I just left CompUSSR earlier on the way to work and boy, making a decision on one of these things is driving me batty.

They have a Nomad Zen NX 30GB for $299 but the fact that Creative devices won't show up as external drives without installing drivers is really pissing me off. The iRiver models (the 100 and the new 120) seem to be a great buy but the initial capacity just isn't worth the money IMO.

Oh well, the iPod sure looks pretty though don't it? Too bad it's too damned expensive for the limited things it does (plays music and NOW it does voice recording... oh, but wait, that's another $40 out of my pocket... blah)

Thanks again,
br0adband

One more thing, you really seem to like that NJB3. Think it's worth the cost these days compared to other units? Just wondering... later

 

[GSTom1]

Even 1-2 years after its release, the NJ3 is still one of the most feature packed mp3 players out there for an incredible price. Plus the fact that you can upgrade it up to 80 GB makes it that much better.

Unfortunately, a lot of people are turned off by its size even though it's not much bigger than an average CD player.

If I were you, I would go for the Zen Xtra (not the NX). Unless you really need your mp3 player to show up as a drive everywhere you go, this player has a large blue screen, removable battery, great sound plus several capacities to choose from (30, 40 & 60 GB) and it's quite cheap compared to its rivals.

 

[br0adband]

Looking at specs/info on the Xtra right now.

Thanks,
br0adband

ps But the need for drivers to see it as external storage... oooooohhh man that just irks the crap outta me

 

[GSTom1]

Quote:

Originally posted by br0adband Looking at specs/info on the Xtra right now. Thanks, br0adband ps But the need for drivers to see it as external storage... oooooohhh man that just irks the crap outta me

Even with the iRiver iHP series and it's "plug and play" capability, for some reason, not too many hard drive based mp3 players allow for this.

The new Rio Karma requires software. As you mentioned, the Creative Labs products do as well. The iPod has some kind of restriction that won't let you copy music files from it to other hard drives.

Perhaps companies are worried about copyrights and lawsuits?

 

[mdmania]

Actually there is one exception hd player that would show as a removable disc drive. It's made by creative lab and it's called muvo2 (pronounce square) 1.5gb at 229 retail price and muvo2 x-trainers flash base player with two versions (512mb at 269 and 1gb at 399, I think...anyhow I'm waiting for these babies to show up at BB or CC.

 

[br0adband]

GSTom1: I agree about the copyright issues. But with the iPod the main reason IMO for their accepting AAC as the next audio encoding format is because of it's copy protection features.

Oh well, the Nitrus looks ok but once again it's just not enough space.

The search goes on. Found someone around here dumping a 15GB 3G iPod for $250 and I might just get it next week. Depends on the cash flow but I might be able to squeeze it. Like anyone else I just don't want to be buying something useless.

Thanks for the info,
br0adband