[duct tape]

Alright, here is my dilema. I have been looking for a new mp3 player for the past couple weeks, I am quite frankly stumped. Here is what I want, and what I have looked at.

Want:
No boot time. My friend purchased a Zen Xtra, and that thing is ready to play music as soon as you hit the power button. My old Archo Juckbox Recorder FM takes about 10 seconds to boot and that has been driving me insane for years.

The ability to plug it straight into a computer, install no software, and put music/files on and take them off. I would be using this to take files to and from school so this is sort of a must have.

The ability to sort the songs based on their idv3 tags. My old one could only play based on the file tree system, and that also got on my nerves. Maybe I want to load all of Band X's albums and shuffle between them all; not possible, quite irritating.

That's pretty much it. In my search I havn't found any mp3 player that has all three attributes. The H320 (which I was almost going to buy) has a huge load time, averaging at least 12 seconds. Neither the Zen Xtra, nor the iPod can be used as a driverless mass storage device.

Right now I am looking at the Rio Karma, but it's sort of hard to find specific information about this thing. Like, can I use it as a portable hard drive with no drivers, to transfer music and data? And is there one of those annoying boot times when you are turning it on?

If anyone can help me out with this predicament, please do. I'm at my rope's end (which is a weird saying)!

 

[proximal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by duct tape Right now I am looking at the Rio Karma, but it's sort of hard to find specific information about this thing. Like, can I use it as a portable hard drive with no drivers, to transfer music and data?

No. Every player has a boot time (the Karma is about 7 seconds for me, in case you were wondering) except the iPod, and that's at the expense of a little battery life. The iPod drains battery when it's 'off' because it's actually in a standby mode that allows it to turn on and resume playing practically immediately. I'm pretty sure you can use the iPod as a generic drive for files as long as you don't want to play them back on the device itself. So you can't drag and drop music, but otherwise the iPod is probably the closest to fulfilling all your requirments.

 

[Zappa74]

The karma's boot time is low... it's never come close to making me think "this is taking forever!"

You need to use Rio's software to upload songs, but honestly, its a painless procedure and the software is as minimal as it gets. It's quick and very easy to use... I was surprised at how well it works (I too was really looking for something that didnt require software).

Seems like it comes down to whats more important- boot time or the need to use software. If you can live with a long boot time- go with the iriver. If you just cant get over that- the Rio is your best option.

 

[PeterR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by duct tape (...) nor the iPod can be used as a driverless mass storage device.

Like proximal said, you sure can do that with the iPod, I use it for this purpose almost as much as for listening to music.

 

[cerbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterR Like proximal said, you sure can do that with the iPod, I use it for this purpose almost as much as for listening to music.

Can music be transferred to the Ipod without using iTunes?

 

[SDLeMire]

No.

I don't really understand people requiring drag n drop, though. At least with jukeboxes. I think it's nice having a software keep track of what's on your player. If I update some songs or add new ones I don't have to go digging to put them on or replace.

 

[BendixBoogie]

How about the iAudio M3 / M3L?
I do know about boot time but i should act like a external harddrive.

 

[proximal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cerbie Can music be transferred to the Ipod without using iTunes?

Well you could use something like ephpod (which I do, becasue it's so much simpler), but the point is that you still need software to load music. I haven't really tried it, but I think it's possible to actually put ephpod on the iPod and run it from there. That way, you'll always be able to upload/download music even if the computer you are using doesn't have a suitable program for doing so.

 

[YamiTenshi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDLeMire I don't really understand people requiring drag n drop, though. At least with jukeboxes. I think it's nice having a software keep track of what's on your player. If I update some songs or add new ones I don't have to go digging to put them on or replace.

I think it's nice to use drag n drop, especially when I'm about to run out the door I might not want to start up a program just to load my songs, and if i'm at a friends house I can take songs off his computer without having to load software. And if you use ID tags most players can sort them for you.

Anyway, I recommend the iriver H320. It can be used as a external hard drive (drag n drop), and can play video (with the firmware upgrade

) I don't know exactly how long to start time is, but this page might help.

http://www.misticriver.net/boards/sh...ad.php?t=11603

 

[giocas]

mmhhh...probably Ipod is the best choice for you, but don't forget iAudio products, like M3 or the new X5

 

[cerbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDLeMire No. I don't really understand people requiring drag n drop, though. At least with jukeboxes. I think it's nice having a software keep track of what's on your player. If I update some songs or add new ones I don't have to go digging to put them on or replace.

But that's just it. What you are describing is how it feels to mess with media libraries. They are nerve-racking--I grew up on DOS, and I like *n*x. Simple directory structures are easy to handle and direct.

FI: Alice in Chains/1995 Alice in Chains/01 Grind.mp3

Also, it allows for software and hardware independence, which is important to me. It will be no harder to manage it on a basic Windows PC than a Mac running Ubuntu (though the auto-mounting still needs some work on most really free distros), and in any situation except OS X, I will have many GUI file managers ready to go (I do admit, though, that I like Finder better than anything but dFileman), and could even use command line shells if I desired.

I'm not against having a DB of meta-data to be used for organizing and shuffling, or to create playlists with the player itself (which would also solve the OP's issue of a single band shuffle, without sacrificing any UMSD goodness), and think such things are pretty cool, but that is simply something I won't go for as a requirement.

 

[rab10]

Do A Search, there has been plenty of information posted on
"Which DAP should I choose."

Every MP3 DAP will have a boot time. I own an iRiver H120 and I don't
think 12 Seconds is a long boot time. Infact I turn on the player and then
start connecting all of my cables, dac, amp, headphone, etc. and the music
is ready to be played once everything is plugged in. If you have to wait over
a minute or longer for you music to play then there is a reason for worrying
or depression.

The MP3 DAPs that I know of that do not need software to load music, or data files on, are those produced by iRiver, iAudio, and maybe Creative.

I also suggest you looking into iAudio. The already available iAudio M3 has been given great reviews (DO A SEARCH FOR THEM HERE.) Their next soon to be released "X5" is supposed to be even better: (USBOTG - I think, plays almost every music encoding including lossless, load music or data by drag and drop, Playlists on the Fly, etc. etc. etc.) Once the X5 is released the M3 price should drop even lower.

iRiver or iAudio sounds like a good match for you.

I am satisfied with my H120 and am looking into an additional iAudio player.
Unless if Sony gives you the option of using software or simple drag and drop on their next Mp3 HD DAP then I would be immediately interested in their
new player. Or if the Rio Karma2 Chroma is ever released with all of the Karma's features and new ones then I would consider them also. But a line-out and no software to load the player is also important to me. So an iRiver or iAudio sounds like what you are looking for.

If not then go for the Ipod, Sony, or the Karma mp3 players (they are good, but you need software to load them.)

Good Luck.

 

[SDLeMire]

My Sony Vaio Pocket has a 4-5 second boot time. Although the navigation is fairly sluggish.

 

[stargirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by proximal Well you could use something like ephpod (which I do, becasue it's so much simpler), but the point is that you still need software to load music. I haven't really tried it, but I think it's possible to actually put ephpod on the iPod and run it from there. That way, you'll always be able to upload/download music even if the computer you are using doesn't have a suitable program for doing so.

Has anyone tried this?
Is this really true?

Because if it is, I will DEFINATELY start saving up again. This is the only thing that is stopping me from getting an iPod and buying something like the Rio Carbon or iRiver Hxxx series that support drag and drop (no drivers!).

There are 3 computers in my house, all with music...plus the computers at my sisters homes that I use and at my friends houses and stuff. this feature on the iPod would end all question of weather i should buy one or not.

Somebody PLEASE tell me..i've been searching (yay google) but haven't found anything.

 

[duct tape]

Holy moly. Lot of replies. Alright, let's get this going.

First off, the reason why I like drag-and-drop support is because I keep my current mp3 player with me at all times, whether in my pocket, backpack or car. So in order for me to plug it in to any random computer I happen to sit at, I just need the cable, which is pretty easy to take with me. I seriously doubt that all my friends would want to install software on their computers just so I can put a movie or two on them.

Second, I didn't know that iPods could hold non-music data. My bad! I want to punch whoever told me that in the face!

And last, I think I am leaning towards the H320. I can put up with the loading time, but I really don't want to get DAP that needs software to connect to a computer.

Oh, and I was looking at the iAudio M3, but I know that the seperate controller would just drive me insane. Kind of a stupid reason, but I know that I would end up forgetting it somewhere or breaking it...

Wow, quite helpful, this forum is!
I've got to go to work, and when I get back in a couple hours, I think that I might just plop down the $280 for a H320.