[epithetless]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadKase Flash wouldn't make sense for me until it was at least 10 MB worth.

Good news -- They've made it! Some even go up to 128 MB.

By the way, I'm in the Danfried camp on this one. I adore my 6GB Rio Carbon for its pocketability (it's not flash-based, but this seems to have become more of a low capacity vs. high capacity argument than a flash vs. HDD one), but the sheer depth of choices my iHP-120 affords me makes it my favored music-storage device. I agree there are both size and durability advantages to going flash, but I'm all for squeezing as much capacity as possible into the smallest shell. Bring on the high-cap flash drives!

 

[Headphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danfried I don't get it. You and Headphony make the same point -- you'd have too much on an HD player to decide what to listen to. But why not use shuffle to get you started? And why is it more of a hassle to decide what to listen to oh your HD-based DAP than it is to decide what to transfer from your computer's HD to your flash-based DAP? I mean, at some point, you have to pick something out of your collection, whether it's sitting at home in front of your computer or on the go, and whether you use a flash-based player or an HD-based player.

My problem is that I don't have in my own memory what all music I have in my collection. Using shuffle would bring up a bunch of classic rock crap that I'm rarely interested in listening too, but that I have in my collection. It's much easier to browse my collection with Windows Explorer every once in a while and pick albums that are new to my collection or good stuff that I haven't listened to in a while. Also, I'm getting new music all the time and rarely interested in listening to more than 20 CD's during a given period. Furthermore, making playlists is too tedious. Point is that it's definitely a benefit for me to have only 2GB for portable use instead of 60GB.

To reiterate some other benefits of flash: smaller, lighter, niftier, cheaper - mp3players are toys that break and go obsolete in about 1 year - no point in plonking down more money than you need to on one.

 

[Nick Christy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Headphony It's much easier to browse my collection with Windows Explorer every once in a while and pick albums that are new to my collection ... Also, I'm getting new music all the time and rarely interested in listening to more than 20 CD's during a given period. Furthermore, making playlists is too tedious..

Easier than just selecting the automatically created "recently added" playlist and just letting it play ? I dont get it .

If something you dont like comes on whilst its on shuffle, just skip forward songs until you hear something you like.

I personally love my 4g 60gig, i have my whole music collection wherever I am, whatever my circumstances - in the car, on holiday, commuting, staying at a friend's house , in the gym. Whatever i want is there and takes less than 10 seconds to navigate to. No frustration for not having what i want - ever.

I dont disagree that flash players are smaller with better battery life, but for me I'd rather have everything there all the time. Plus my 4g's been redwine imodded and none of the flash players I have heard come close.

 

[Headphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Christy If something you dont like comes on whilst its on shuffle, just skip forward songs until you hear something you like.

But that's cheating.

 

[K2Grey]

I'll weigh in on the HD camp. I much prefer having a wide selection of things to choose from when I take out my mp3 player (although this is in large part due to the fact that I use my iPod at home, and not on the go, so it's really my main rig).

 

[zip22]

when i had a hard drive player, i would skip around and spend a lot of time just going through everything on it. not really listening to anything for more than a song. with a smaller flash player, that distraction isn't there. you have what you put on it, so you just listen. its easy to say that you can do that with a hard drive player as well, but the distraction is always there.

when i'm sitting at my computer, i know i need to choose songs or albums that i'll want so i get it done.

when i explained how i deal with spontaneous urges, i admitted that it wasn't nerely as much of an option as with my entire collection, but i can include some songs that aren't things i particularly want, but are still songs i like to hear once in a while.

yes, you can accomplish all these things with a playlist, but you can also accomplish it with a flash player. i consider the shuffle to be a portable playlist. the fact that its so simple combined with all the other benefits is why i like it.

 

[apnk]

I have both HD and flash. Best of both worlds man!

I mostly use my Sansa on the go because all my classes are like 5-15 minutes away and I want something small. In between classes I have from 1 to 3 hours in between so I go back to my apartment and listen to music on my computer. I use my HD player for on the go portable around the house.

 

[rlanger]

HDD here (as per sig)!

I think the only time I would want a small flash player is for when I'm excercising. But even then, I don't find the gigabeat to get in the way too much.

I like the gig because, as many other HDD proponents here, I am both lazy and picky. I want to be able to listen to anything I have in my collection, when I want to listen to it, and I don't want the hassle of always deciding what to sync.

In fact, I waited until this year before I even purchased a dedicated mp3 player, because I wanted something that would hold my entire collection and 20 gigs isn't enough. Previously, I used my Pocket PC and like owning a flash player, I was regularly forced to sync. Didn't enjoy that.

 

[LaBreaHead]

Call me wishy-washy, but I have flash players in 256MB, 512MB and 1GB capacities and hard drive players in 5GB, 20GB and 40GB capacities. I can match my player to the intended listening environment or type (I admit there is way more overlap than is necessary -- or sane

... the 256 was my second DAP, just to try out flash players, after a 10GB 2G iPod that had maddening issues). I love my 5GB Rio Carbon, and would want a 4- to 8GB flash player if I needed to replace it.

In addition to the sheer portability of a small flash player with a fairly low capacity, I like the fact that it allows me when playing randomly to hear a given song more than once every couple of weeks. If I had to have only one player, though, it would be a tough call -- but a 20GB flash player would be nice ...

I have hundreds of CDs, but I don't feel I need to have everything with me at a given time -- that's just my preference ... YMMV. I certainly understand the various viewpoints put forth in this thread.

As for the original post -- I'm a little surprised that iRiver and Cowon released micro hard drive players in the face of the flash onslaught ... I guess there's only so much flash to go around, right now. And I would hope that there are at least a few "audio-dedicated" players available in the future -- either flash or hard drive.

 

[redshifter]

hd camp here: i get to pick music i'm in the mood for at the moment, not the mood i was in last night when i had to choose 5 albums for the day.

 

[Mr Do]

I feel the need to own both hd dap and flash dap. My hd dap is used mainly when hooked to my car stereo. I'm looking to purchase a flash dap to use for biking and portable use. Throw on my latest cd's converetd to flac and i'm off. 5 or six albums is good enough for me on the go and flash is perfect for that.

Enjoy.
Do!