[Jaytor]

Hi folks -

I'm in the market for a portable hard drive MP3 player with 20-30GB storage. I'll probably use the player in conjunction with a Headroom Total Airhead amp and Etymotic ER-4P earphones. Important factors to me are sound quality, battery life (at least 10 hours), size and weight, battery rechargability, ruggedness, and ergonomics (probably in that order). Can you provide recommendations for products to look at?

Thanks very much for your help.
- Jay

 

[dokebi]

ipod.

 

[austonia]

Quote:

Originally posted by dokebi ipod.

Yo. dude said battery life was important. iPod is best suited for people that like to recharge every 7 hours.


For $400 or less you can get better players with more features The iRiver iHP-100, Phillips HDD100, and Rio Karma are the best choices. The Phillips and Rio will be in distribution in the next month. Personally, I say go with the Rio Karma

 

[jack963]

I'd say go with the Karma too, the only thing that holds me back from getting one (besides the fact that I have been MD loyal for a while now) is that it does not have a line out on the unit, just an RCA connection on the back of the charging cradle. I don't know if this would be a problem for you, but for me, it would.

Another thing I don't like about the Karma that the iHP-100 (and of course MD) has is a digital input. I like the idea of not only being able to get songs from my PC straight to my HD player, but also the fact that I can record from any other source (anyone know at what bit rate the iHP-100 encodes these files? I don't know if bit rate is the right words, but hopefully you'll understand what I mean).

The iHP has digital and analog I/O's, 4 separate jacks if my memory serves me.

As for gig/price ratio, the Karma definitely has the iHP beat, and in size also.

Another thing, I am not sure about the iRiver, but I know that the Karma supports FLAC and Ogg/Vorbis, or whatever that's called.

So those are just a few things to consider, and I hope I have helped somewhat.

 

[williamgoody]

Probably suits you concerning everything but size, but the Nomad Jukebox 3 could work for you as well.

 

[richpjr]

Quote:

Originally posted by williamgoody Probably suits you concerning everything but size, but the Nomad Jukebox 3 could work for you as well.

Agree 100% here - add a second battery and get 20+ hours.

 

[Nick3D]

Gotta love this quote:
Quote:

Originally posted on The Register The Toshiba player has a built-in equalizer, but it seems limited to off, enhanced bass, even more enhanced bass and loud settings.

Soo yeah, Toshiba's player's smaller than the iPod, don't know anything else about it yet, won't be able to truly recommend it until I've tried it out myself but I love it that the iPod's finally starting to be challanged, maybe Apple would finally start getting creative with their iPod OS capable of SO MUCH but limited to SO LITTLE

Nick

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by Jaytor Important factors to me are sound quality, battery life (at least 10 hours), size and weight, battery rechargability, ruggedness, and ergonomics (probably in that order).

Given your specific requirements -- yes, some of us actually pay attention to those things

-- I'd recommend finding one of the previous-generation 20GB iPods. They're a tad bigger than the current 30GB models, but they're cheaper, have longer battery life (I used to get 13 hours), sound a bit better, and were, IMO, more ergonomic.

 

[JMedeiros]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF Given your specific requirements -- yes, some of us actually pay attention to those things -- I'd recommend finding one of the previous-generation 20GB iPods. They're a tad bigger than the current 30GB models, but they're cheaper, have longer battery life (I used to get 13 hours), sound a bit better, and were, IMO, more ergonomic.

Do the last generation of iPods have that chrome baqck that scratches easily like the newer ones?

John

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by austonia For $400 or less you can get better players with more features

Depending on your preferences. For some people, the "more features" are irrelevant. For other people, "better" isn't so clear-cut. As I mentioned above, the 20GB v2 iPod seems to fit his preferences quite well -- better than some of the recommendations being made here. (I'm not saying the older 20GB iPod is perfect, or even the best for Jaytor. But it's clearly something he should consider before some of the other recommendations being made here given his stated requirements.)


(As I wait for someone to flame me or call me an "iPod fanatic" just because I have the -- *gasp* -- nerve to rationally consider Jaytor's requirements instead of desperately trying to recommend anything but the iPod.

)

 

[williamgoody]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF (As I wait for someone to flame me or call me an "iPod fanatic" just because I have the -- *gasp* -- nerve to rationally consider Jaytor's requirements instead of desperately trying to recommend anything but the iPod. )

LOL, here I am!

j/k

I'm pretty devoted to MD's anyway, but the only question marks concerning the Ipod and Jaytor's requirements might be battery life and ruggedness, IMO.

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by williamgoody I'm pretty devoted to MD's anyway, but the only question marks concerning the Ipod and Jaytor's requirements might be battery life and ruggedness, IMO.

Hey, apart from his requirement for 20-30GB, I think MD would be better for his uses than a hard drive-based player

 

[strohmie]

I'll toss in my usual vote for the Nomad Zen (the old version, not familiar with the NX or whatever it's called), and give some reasons behind it:

Sound quality: very powerful headphone amp, as good playback as you can probably get for mp3s.

Battery life (at least 10 hours): the player held up through my entire drive from Maryland to Illinois, which was over 11 hours. There was still enough juice after that for most of a visit to Chicago (4 hours round trip). That's about 14 hours playing time on a single charge.

Size and weight: square and a bit hefty, but very solidly built.

Battery rechargability: rechargable battery takes a couple hours to fully charge.

Ruggedness: could probably be run over by a truck and still work. Won't scratch up like the ipod, and takes its licks.

Ergonomics: Fits pretty easily into pants pocket. I wouldn't have bought it otherwise.

 

[PeterDLai]

Quote:

Originally posted by JMedeiros Do the last generation of iPods have that chrome baqck that scratches easily like the newer ones? John

Yes I believe they do (correct me?).

 

[williamgoody]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF Hey, apart from his requirement for 20-30GB, I think MD would be better for his uses than a hard drive-based player

I'm 100% behind you on that. IMO not many HD MP3 players could touch something like a Sharp MT831 for any of his requirements. Or probably a DR7 for that matter.