[austonia]

Many new DAP were shown at CeBit 2004 in the last few days. here's some:

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/do...22/cebit05.htm

I have pics and info on another 2 dozen players but can't post them yet... property of another site.

It's an exciting time to be alive! In ~10 years portable digital audio/video players will be as common as cell phones.

 

[Igor01]

Wow, good stuff, can't wait for more pics!

 

[Sweet Spot]

Some of those products look like fly by night designs that will never truly see the light of day, and others look somewhat promising. One of them that could have been promising if not for its bizarre design, is the I audio HD contraption.
How silly to leave off an onboard LCD which forces the consumer to use that remote which is almost as big as the actual unit ! Plus it's SO not streamlined. Reminds me of the Irivers stupid remote for the IHP.

And christ ! Does MS have their filthy stinking hands on everything ? ! How annoying. OUt of those silly video players which make you go blind, I like the Creative the most, followed by the Samsung. The rest look really tacky, including the Iriver.

 

[mister__big]

I actually think that the iAudio looks very sexy, except for the remote which is obviously crap. No onboard LCD seems rather weird for sure but the design is great IMO.

 

[br--]

Moving the display from the player to the remote may have actually made the player quite slim (which would be nice for a HD mp3 player). We really won't know until we have the specs.

 

[Sweet Spot]

I don't think it's sexy at all. I love how thin it is, but that doesn't make it sexy. The design is quite dull actually. The only nice things are the silver buttons. I just find it Ironic that they'd make such a wonderfully thin player, only to cripple it with no display, which means that you have to carry round that god aweful huge remote. Which of course means more wires too...Stupid design.

 

[bangraman]

The Aiwa Gigapavit also takes a similar approach. It actually makes more sense if you think about it. While something with an inspired design like the iPod Mini makes you take the unit out and fondle it, it's actually an impractical design for the majority of commuters. Having a full-function and lightweight remote they can clip somewhere with a very thin (yet still quite weighty, as it has to contain the battery and HDD) transport that stays in their pocket will be easier for such people to handle.

 

[Sweet Spot]

Quote:

While something with an inspired design like the iPod Mini makes you take the unit out and fondle it, it's actually an impractical design for the majority of commuters. Having a full-function and lightweight remote they can clip somewhere with a very thin (yet still quite weighty, as it has to contain the battery and HDD) transport that stays in their pocket will be easier for such people to handle.

No dispute there. I've always said that not having a remote was one reason I never went with the iPod. After all, I own an IHP, and when I travel, the IHP sits in a compartment in my napsack, with the remote clipped onto one of the bags straps. But when I'm home, or anywhere indoors (friends place etc..) I do not use the remote at all. I'd hate to fumble about with all the wires indoors. Seems unnecessary.

 

[austonia]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman The Aiwa Gigapavit also takes a similar approach. It actually makes more sense if you think about it. While something with an inspired design like the iPod Mini makes you take the unit out and fondle it, it's actually an impractical design for the majority of commuters. Having a full-function and lightweight remote they can clip somewhere with a very thin (yet still quite weighty, as it has to contain the battery and HDD) transport that stays in their pocket will be easier for such people to handle.

I think it's a good design, personally. Seprating the mechnical part of the player may also help it survive longer. The main drawback that I'm concerned about is sound quality. I have average ears, and I've been able to detect a noticeable loss in quality through most in-line remotes, compared to a player's headphone-output. Hopefully that is not the case here since you have no choice but to listen through the remote. It would be better to have the option to plug your earphones directly into the player.

 

[Sczervok]

Just reading this, is a design gone wrong. Oh well. It's kinda bland... probably because it's missing the LCD on the main player, but oh well. Looks sorta like the MuVo2 with all that free space.

And sexy? Hell, that's what fully clothed girls are for! *wink wink*

 

[Zuerst]

I like the design/look of the iRiver iHP-300... much sleeker looking than the current iRiver HDD players...

 

[MajorGrubert]

Hi, I'm new here and on the lookout for an HD-based DAP. First I was going to get the iPod, then the iRiver, and now the Xclef HD-800 and the iaudio M3 have entered the fray.

Here's the M3 feature list taken from iaudio's site:

1. 20GB
2. Slim design
3. 6-line remote control
4. Charging cradle
5. JetEFFECT BBE Mach Bass
6. Multi Codec (MP3, OGG, WMA, ASF, WAV)
7. Direct MP3 encoding
8. High-quality voice recording
9. USB data storage
10. FM radio and FM recording
11. 480 Mbps USB 2.0
12. Long battery life (14h)
13. Anti-shock (12min)
14. Large LCD
15. Multi-folder navigation
16. Dynamic playlist
17. M3U playlist
18. Multilingual
19. Multifunction
20. Language study funciton
21. Free language contents
22. JetLogo
23. JetShell
24. Macintosh OS
25. Earphone - Cresyn AXE599BS
26. Carrying Case
27. JetAudio 6 Basic

The player measures 103.7 x 60.8 x 14.2mm and weighs 136g. The remote is 33.2 x 58.6 x 14.4mm.


There's a preview on the iaudio M3 in Korean here. And another in Chinese (I think) here

 

[AndyH]

Quote:

Originally posted by MajorGrubert Here's the M3 feature list taken from iaudio's site: JetEFFECT BBE Mach Bass {SNIP}

Oh darn, I was hoping it would come with Super Happy Fun Turbo Bass. Oh well, they just lost a sale

 

[PooJou]

Did i mention how awesome USB-on-the-go is?

*drool*

 

[austonia]

Quote:

Originally posted by PooJou Did i mention how awesome USB-on-the-go is? *drool*

Nomad Jukebox 3 and the original Zen (Firewire) has had this kind of ability for awhile now. Direct player to player transfers over firewire. Tried it once, very cool. But they limited you to sending one track a time so it's too manual to trade a large collection, but an album or two is fine.