[Imyourzero]

So I'm in the market for a flash player...here are my requirements:

1. the smaller the better (will be in pocket or around neck)
2. screen is a must (sorry, Shuffle!)
3. great sound quality and strong output
4. at least 1 GB

The iAudio 5 and U2 seem to fit the bill nicely, but I'm having trouble deciding between them. I know the 5 is newer, has the 1000 color LCD and uses a AAA battery for an advertised 20 hours of playback. The U2 of course has the rechargeable built-in battery and is also advertised at 20 hours. The U2 also looks a bit smaller, but perhaps not by much.

Should the sound quality of the two be identical, or at least very close? I think the 5 is more appealing to me at this point since I don't ever want to run out of juice and have to wait for the unit to recharge. However, I want to be sure that the U2 holds no sonic advantages...

Also, are there any other units I should be considering? I love the Shuffle's size, but the lack of screen and options is the dealbreaker. I shied away from the iRiver units after reading about a white noise problem with them. I seriously considered the Sony flash player with the OLED screen but evidently the output is pretty weak on that one. And I don't think the Creative players are as small as the iAudio units (which is the ONLY thing stopping me from getting the iAudio G3 which runs for 50 hours on a battery and holds up to 2 GB!!).

Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

 

[PrototypeX2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imyourzero So I'm in the market for a flash player...here are my requirements: the smaller the better (will be in pocket or around neck) screen is a must (sorry, Shuffle!) great sound quality and strong output at least 1 GB The iAudio 5 and U2 seem to fit the bill nicely, but I'm having trouble deciding between them. I know the 5 is newer, has the 1000 color LCD and uses a AAA battery for an advertised 20 hours of playback. The U2 of course has the rechargeable built-in battery and is also advertised at 20 hours. The U2 also looks a bit smaller, but perhaps not by much. Should the sound quality of the two be identical, or at least very close? I think the 5 is more appealing to me at this point since I don't ever want to run out of juice and have to wait for the unit to recharge. However, I want to be sure that the U2 holds no sonic advantages... Also, are there any other units I should be considering? I love the Shuffle's size, but the lack of screen and options is the dealbreaker. I shied away from the iRiver units after reading about a white noise problem with them. I seriously considered the Sony flash player with the OLED screen but evidently the output is pretty weak on that one. And I don't think the Creative players are as small as the iAudio units (which is the ONLY thing stopping me from getting the iAudio G3 which runs for 50 hours on a battery and holds up to 2 GB!!). Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.

I like the U2 better. And there is a 2GB version U2 availabe in iAudio website store.

 

[apnk]

I say the U2. Its smaller and imo sexier.

 

[Soundbuff]

If size and lightweight are your primary concerns, and you don't mind having to use a charger, get the U2. It's much lighter and is smaller.

If you want a player to take it on the road don't want to be concerned about charging the player, and don't mind a little more size and weight, get the I5 or G3.

I've tried the G3 and U2. I decided to keep the G3 because at the time, only the G3 had a 2 GB version. The U2 is supposed to be coming out with a 2 GB version too, though.

G3 summary: flatter, more rectangular shape, somewhat heavier than the others since it uses a single AA battery. Very long battery life (longer than U2 or I5). Uses the togglestick which I personally like (easy to change volume within a jacket pocket, or skip tracks, without taking the player out to look). It's great and I love mine.

U2 summary: smaller, more of a square rod shape, extremely light, excellent as long as you don't mind using the charger, also uses the togglestick. I recommend waiting for the 2 GB version. Very small, almost too small.

I5 (haven't used): probably in between weight wise, larger screen, battery life comparable to U2 and less than G3, shape is more of a tall rectangular shape, uses togglewheels instead of the togglestick, which may be more difficult to use "blind" when reaching into a pocket to control the player.

 

[DRSpeed85]

I'd recommend the U2. It looks tiny than it looks in pictures (about the size of a thumb) and the sound is absolutely brilliant. I'm choosing between that and the iaudio m3. IMO iaudio has one of the best sounding DAPs.

cheers,

 

[Imyourzero]

Hmm, thanks for the help so far guys. Looks like the U2 is the favorite pick so far. I do like the fact that it's tiny, but I'm a bit concerned about the durability of the thumbstick. How do you manipulate it if the U2 is in its case (does it have a cutout or do you have to take it out of its case)?

If the thumbstick is not protected, I worry about it getting moved around while I'm jogging/mowing/etc. and possibly breaking. How far does it stick out? It would be nice if someone could take a pic of the U2 on a table with the thumbstick facing up so that we may see how far the thumbstick sticks out.

Also, it looks like Newegg has the 2GB version for around $250. Is that about as cheap as it's gonna get for now? I assume the prices will gradually drop over time and as 4 GB flash players get introduced, etc...

 

[Asr]

I own the U2 and love it, the lithium-polymer battery is a non-issue. Just plug it into your PC whenever you're not using it. As far as its size goes, it's only a tiny bit larger than a standard USB memory key. It's the smallest MP3 player I've ever seen. Not as thin as the iPod Shuffle but as we all know the Shuffle lacks an LCD. Creative Labs' Muvo Micro N200 is a tiny bit smaller than the U2, but I heard it can't read folder hierarchies greater than 1 depth off a root.

I've used the U2 on a few outdoor workouts already and it gets ruggedized quite a bit if you put it in the leather carrying case, so I just leave it on all the time. There is a "cutout" for the thumbstick, but I wouldn't worry about it breaking, it's indented into the player pretty good. If you're concerned about something moving it, the player has a "Hold" switch that will lock all the player's buttons.

I have a 1GB version and it works great for me, more than enough space for an MP3 CD-R. I'm not one of those people who needs to load an entire music collection onto an MP3 player, I just have several MP3 CD-Rs compiled, each containing a certain set of music.

 

[Imyourzero]

Asr, what is a realistic figure for the battery life? Will it meet or come close to the advertised 20 hours if you just let the unit play, without fiddling with the buttons too much?

Also, I have no need to carry my entire music collection with me either. I just want to throw a few dozen songs onto a player and be able to mow the yard or go for a jog without carrying a bulky HDD player or worrying about the hard drive failing due to the continuous movement. I think a flash player will be perfect for me, and I like the iAudio products a lot...now the only question is will 1 GB be enough or shall I go for 2?

I'd be tempted to wait for a 4 GB player, but the prices for those will probably be prohibitively high (compared to HDD-based players).

 

[Gigabomber]

i'll give my standard advice: wait as long as possible. Glad you chose Iaudio cause they have solid firmware updates and pretty good products, some argue the best. I am waiting for a 5 gig or larger mobile as well to switch from my M3L, and I don't doubt that the flash drives are going to get very large soon as the level of miniaturization is beginning to get really crazy (saw a preview of a chip almost a year ago that was the size of a stamp and twice as thick that was - i think - three terabytes?) So you might want to wait 'til the newest, big products come out, or wait til they do and buy one that you like used cause the product is likely to get few if any firmware upgrades past when its replacement is made. That sounds like a pretty sneaky trick to me, I should try it

Or you might do like I did and discover that you don't even use it enough to buy another one

Count your pennies, and I would be wary of any player that uses a stick for its navigation, Iriver just went from stick to non stick on their main player for a reason.

 

[Imyourzero]

As far as waiting for future products, the bad thing about that is that there is always going to be something better on the horizon. It's just like buying computer parts. You want to wait for a given CPU or mobo chipset, but they've already got something better in the works by the time that's released.

Should I really be concerned about the thumbstick on the U2? That's why I asked about its durability in my first post--I wasn't sure if it would get looser over time or if it was prone to problems after owning the unit for a while...

I'd love to get the 2 GB U2 for its size and simplicity, but man the i5 is sexy. It's so hard to decide!

 

[FattyFatFatHead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imyourzero I'd love to get the 2 GB U2 for its size and simplicity, but man the i5 is sexy. It's so hard to decide!

I like the U2's size, too, but saw the rechargeable battery as not worth the slightly smaller form factor. I like being able to swap out the battery in my I5 in a pinch (I use rechargeables that help me save on $$).

The large screen of the I5 and the LCD colors are also just sweet looking. One more aesthetic touch that I think the I5 has over the U2 is the clear carrying case. That pseudo rubber/leather case of the U2 doesn't appeal to me and bulks up its sleek body.

 

[ChicagoPhil]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imyourzero Hmm, thanks for the help so far guys. Looks like the U2 is the favorite pick so far. I do like the fact that it's tiny, but I'm a bit concerned about the durability of the thumbstick. How do you manipulate it if the U2 is in its case (does it have a cutout or do you have to take it out of its case)? If the thumbstick is not protected, I worry about it getting moved around while I'm jogging/mowing/etc. and possibly breaking. How far does it stick out? It would be nice if someone could take a pic of the U2 on a table with the thumbstick facing up so that we may see how far the thumbstick sticks out.

i bought the 512mb U2 for my wife a few months ago (the blue color was a hit

). i'll try and take a picture from the angle you requested. the stick is pretty durable feeling... the movement has a very defined action to it (it doesn't just "float" around). so the risk of it accidently being moved isn't too great.

it is very simple to use, and moving files is a drag and drop process, as if it was any other USB memory stick (you can use it for this purpose as well, moving data files from one place to another). you don't need to install any software.

cheers,
phil

 

[Imyourzero]

Phil,

Thanks for the info! The U2 is looking better and better. I just have to wonder if the i5 isn't getting as many recommendations because not as many people here own one yet...from what I read in another thread, it's newer and should have just about everything that the U2 has (except being slightly bigger and not having a built-in rechargeable battery of course).

A pic would be great, but if it's too much trouble I understand. What would be REALLY cool is a pic of the U2 laying right beside of an i5 so that we could make a more accurate size comparison, but I doubt many people have both units.

 

[erikzen]

For what it's worth, I was weighing the same choices as you. I even was strongly considering the Muvo but no subdirectories was a bummer. Plus, I like the idea of 2 GB.

I decided to go with the 5. I prefer the ability to use AAA batteries and I already have a bunch of rechargables. I also think the 1000 colors is pretty cool, although it's not like me to base my audio decisions on looks. Maybe I'm regressing.

 

[Asr]

Have you seen JetAudio's own U2 photo gallery? The company shows off every one of their MP3 players like a hot-rod pimp-mobile!

http://eng.iaudio.com/product/product_U2_photo.php

I believe their photo gallery will put your questions to rest.

You know it's almost crazy how much they pimp their own products, the company's got a lot of self-confidence obviously. (But for good reason, the iAudio players are the best-kept secrets in excellent MP3 flash players.)

About the battery life, well I haven't tested that aspect yet, but from reports I've read, you can expect ~16 hours in real-world use.