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mp3 player comparison (iPod, Zen, Zen NX, Archos, Odyssey, iRiver)
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| darklink |
hey b1_, I have an archos jukebox recorder 20 for about a year now and I can tell you the goods and bads about it. When I first got it, the default firmware sucks. This is when I found rockbox. Rockbox is amazing. The only beef I had with it was the 400 file limit in a directory(which they fixed due to whiners). I upgraded to a USB 2.0 and transfer speed are so fast now. Backlight options can be modified. It even has a 7 second anti-skip. About the game Doom, it never really existed. I downloaded the abjerez file and it said it was an april fools joke! The games that are in rockbox are good if you're bored. Battery capacity can reach up to 2400 mah(if you got the money and if that exist right now). Currently, I'm running my Archos with 1500 mah batteries and it doesn't seem enough. I like the playlist setting. Rockbox can even alter pitch so you can make a song longer or shorter. I'm not sure you mentioned this, but Archos recorder 20 has a built in mic so you can record conversations etc. One time, I was bored and decided to record a whole day at school. The file came up to 300+ MB and it was a couple of hours long. The only problem with the built in mic was that you could hear the disk spinning to buffer the file. I sugest you get an external mic and record lectures and convos. Whatever. I was really impressed by this. Rockbox can also read .txt files so when I purchase it, I typed down my schedule on my computer and read it on my rockbox when i forgot it. It's a text viewer, I don't think it can write text. I also use the sleep timer frequently when I listen to vocal trance late at night. The main reason I bought Archos 20 is because it was alot cheaper than apple's ipod and the ipod has restrictions on recording. When my power supply borke on my computer, I used my archos for transfering data and songs from my friend's DSL connection. It is very handy. All I needed was my Archos and my USB wire. No other software is needed becasue the Archos is also a mass storage device. Archos is a little big and heavy but it is definately the BEST thing I ever bought with my hard earned cash. I listen to it all the time. My livesets transfers so fast with usb 2.0 and with rockbox, it is definately worth your money. I highly recommend the Archos Jukebox Recorder 20. I have it, I love it. Worth every penny. B1_, aside from the cons, and the girlfriend thing, it's good. If you have any questions, let me know okay?
[edit] I need to add something because this is a Trance addict forum. If you have a liveset and you want to fast forward to a certain spot, Rockbox has a really nifty trick that I use all the time. Lets say, I'm listening to PVD live@creamAtAmnesia and I want to fast forward to the 100 minute mark. Okay, I hold the fast forward button and Rockbox starts to fastforward. It starts to seek up a minute every 5 seconds(?). Then after seeking 3 or so minutes, it starts seeking faster, and faster. Eventually, it will seek 10 minutes every second or so. This is a very nifty feature if you have a bunch of livesets and you want to listen to a specific spot. |
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| b1_ |
| quote: | Originally posted by Sir. Lunchalot
w00t!
Never knew about Rockbox but it changed the way I look at my Archos forever! It now has the two features I desired the most: Resume and fast forward.
Thanks a lot for the tip and the great review & effort!  |
No problem. If there's one type of music fan who would benefit from an mp3 player it would have to be trance addicts - nothing like listening to trance in some idealic natural surround like over looking an ocean or something.
Thx for the info darklnk - exactly what I was after: first hand player experience worts and all. Cheers. |
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| darklink |
| no problem :D Just glad I could help. |
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| physe |
| quote: | Originally posted by b1_
- Annoying copyright protection that blocks any attempt to transfer your music from one computer to another (player recognises only one computer for music file transfer). There are ways around this, although I'm not sure how easy they are, and you shouldn't have to jump through copyright hoops anyway (in Apple's defense perhaps this is an anti-lawsuit stratagy what with all the RIAA crap goin' on in America at the moment; then again it's more likely to be a lame attempt to get more people using their music download site).
- No line in/out (line out from the docking cradle? Not sure; post if you know).
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First of all I have a 30GB iPod and a Mac computer and the dock does indeed have a line out.
As for the copyright protection I know I have had problems with transferring files from my iPod to my buddy BryZe's PC. I'm also not sure if it may be because my iPod is formatted for Mac? He was mentioning something to me just yesterday that he was able to take his 15GB iPod and transfer files off of it to a coworker's PC. He was mentioning something about the mp3s being hidden files or something but it seemed to work for him. Again it may have worked becuase his iPod is formatted for a PC I don't know. If you have questions feel free to PM him and if you can't get a hold of him just PM me and I'll bug him about it. He can give you a complete explanation on how to do the file transfers.
I hope this answers these two questions.
In reguards to the music download site, I think it's a great idea. I'd have no problem purchasing music that way if it were offered in Canada and they had the songs I want. I'm hoping that music service improves in the future.
Also about the dock, the only advantage I see with it is the line out. You can charge the iPod without the dock because you just plug the firewire directly into the iPod.
About the software for the PC, it's a valid point that it doesn't interface as well as with the Macs but Apple designed both the iPod and iTunes so they should work perfectly together right. I am quite sure that when iTunes gets released for the PC this problem will be solved as well. BryZe posted a link in another thread somewhere about the PC version of iTunes but I can't remember where it is. =p
Scrolling through songs is no problem either. It can be done, it accelerates and it is quite simple to do. That's all I'm going to say about that.
I have had no problems with the battery life yet but the only time I can see it being a problem is on long car or plane trips. What is needed for the car is an adaptor to plug into the ciarette lighter but I haven't seen any yet and am anxiously awaiting it's release. For plane rides I honestly can't think of a solution.
One other thing, the 30GB model is slightly larger than the 10 and 15 GB models. The height and width are the same but it is slightly deeper.
Sorry I've tried to keep this post as organized as possible but there are things I need to keep adding. I've already edited this post about five ro six times. =)
Hope this helps,
Cheers. |
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| webmeister |
All I can add to this is that I bought the Creative Zen 10gig model last October, and I absolutely love it!
Normally when I've spent a good deal of money on something I have second thoughts, or spend the next few weeks thinking "hmm I shouldn't have done that" -- but this is like the only expensive thing I've ever bought where I don't think like that!!
I've never had any problems with it, the software has crashed twice (not too bad when you consider that I've used it probably 2-3 hours a day, every day for the last 10 months). The battery life is good, I get about 8-9 hours out of it before it needs a charge, but I just plug it in to the wall and keep listening :D
I haven't used any of the other MP3 players so I can't really compare them, but yeah I've had basically no problems with the Zen and would totally recommend it :cool: |
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tranceaddict Forums Archive > Other > Frequently Asked Questions / Tutorials / How do I?
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