[eclecticelectrix]

so after frying my iriver h140 when the voltage switch on my car power adapter switched from 4.5 to 9 by some magic, ive decided that no matter what the warranty people do, im gonna get a new hd mp3 player. the features i would really like are as follows:

at least 40 gb
small, pocketable
good sound quality (line out to car stereo and not quite as importantly for unamplified headphones)

i narrowed my choices down to the iriver h340 and the pocket vaio. i have experience with the ipod(got stolen) and the iriver(got fried, as i mentioned before) and i like the ipod ui, which seems similar to the pocket vaio. on the fly playlists are nice, but the freedom of file transfer with the iriver was really nice, as was the noticable improvement in sound quality. the video capability on the h340 is tempting, but i have not had a chance to have any hands-on experience with either. does anyone have experience with both these that could give me any advice based on the features i mentioned or any other features that i might be overlooking? also, are there any comparable players that might be better for my needs? thanks.

 

[zaguar]

Anyone on the forum would be mad to suggest anything other than what you had, with the h340 a close second. If you hate windows file system, try the rio karma.

 

[eclecticelectrix]

thanks, but that didn't really address any of my questions. what i had was the outdated precursor to the h340 which im asking for opinions on in relation to the pocket vaio and as far as i know, the karma isn't available in a 40gb model. does anyone else have any experience with the iriver h340 and the pocket viao and woud like to give me some comparitive opinions?

 

[nashi]

Hi,
Well I started with the same iHP-120 as you and now have a Vaio Pocket. Whilst I haven't used the newer iRiver 340 I have also used an iPod, Karma and iAudio. In my view the Vaio pocket is a really good player and very good value for money. It sounds great, at least as good as any of the others and through good headphones it has a very detailed and punchy sound. The user interface is as good in its own way as the iPod. It is incredibly well built and feels good in the hand. The remote works well. SonicStage is no iTunes or WMP10 but it is perfectly useable and not really a reason not to buy the Vaio Pocket. Of course the Pocket can't record so if that's important then it's not for you. But if you want to listen to music and view photos then I can recommend the Pocket over the other players I have tried.
nashi

 

[Hellknight[FA]]

Hi there!

I am owner of an iRiver H320, my brother has a VAIO VGF-AP1 (20 Gig). Here a short description of the pro's and con's.

VAIO VGF-AP1

+ very good sound-quality
+ very solid manufacturing
+ ATRAC 3+ Support until 256 kbit/sec
+ LCD-Remote-Control
+ can be used as harddisk (through the cradle though)
+ stylish outfit
+ very easy innovative handling with touch pad (Grid-Sense)
+ good Software (Sonic Stage 2.3) included - improved 3.0 coming soon
+ shows album-artwork

+ automatic creation of Track-Database
+ very fast booting...

- ... at the cost of battery life (drains battery even if the device is off)
- max. volume could be louder (but since my bro uses shure e3c phones this isn't a real problem

)
- after firmware-update only rudimentary support for mp3 (for example you can't use Sonic Stage to encode your CDs in mp3)
- quite few accessoires for the VAIO


iRiver H320

+ very good sound quality
+ nice looking device
+ very solid manufacturing
+ many supported Audio-Formats (OGG, MP3, WMA, ASF,...)
+ can be used as harddisk without a cradle
+ FM-Radio
+ very high max. Volume
+ integrated Microphone
+ many stuff included (case, external micro, battery-pack, even a docking station - but only for the H340, ...)
+ many accessoires available
+ good firmware-support
+ no battery drain when device is off...

- ... at the cost of slow booting time (especialy when db function is activated)
- 3rd Party Software neccessary (for example TDT for creating db's, EAC + LAME for creating mp3s)


Greetings

Timo

 

[eclecticelectrix]

thanks for those replies. they were more like what i wanted. i ended up going with the vaio pocket for the cooler looking ui, otg playlists, pictures while listening to music, battery life, hibernation(for quick startup) and to try out something i havent tried at all yet. i guess ill have to live with the shortcomings of sonicstage, the added bulk, and whatever else i encounter. thanks for everything and i hope this thread is useful to others.