Next MP3 and Video Player

[Thasp]

For the love of god don't go for an iPod.

 

They have always gone for looks and ease of use over functionality and performance.

 

For example, the cheapo capacitors they used before the fourth gen one caused a 9dB bass rolloff on headphones below 32 ohms... most portable headphones fit into that impedance. I still don't trust them after the horrowshow that was the ipod mini and the older ipods in terms of the op amps and capacitors they use in the pc boards for the onboard headphone amp.

 

Or making a battery that lasts five hours just with lower bitrate music so it can be a whole 5 mm thinner.

 

I dislike creative also. The whole 10000000 SNR they advertize on all of their products annoys me. Especially their soundcards that force oversampling because they use cheaper components so they can afford to stick sound processors that save you 5% CPU into a $90 soundcard. Even worse some of the newer creatives I believe work on MTP, which requires you to use certain programs in order to transfer music. Anything not UMS should not even be considered because it's a huge limitation on what you do with what you buy.

 

Go for a Cowon A2. Why watch video on a small screen when you can on a higher res, 4" 16:9 screen? It's not just a gimmick or a novelty on this player, it's actually good enough to enjoy a TV show or a movie while you're at work/school/on the bus.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...82E16855603834R

 

I have the 20 gig version, it's been dropped/scratched and ran with enough times to get my approval on durability. There's even an experimental sega and SNES emulator out for it, you can't go wrong.

 

It plays ogg vorbis and flac in addition to MP3. This was a large selling point for me, since I like using formats but MP3.

 

If you have to stop a movie because your boss came by, and have to turn it off, no problem! You go to the recent files menu and it remembers the last ten files or so of video and audio and can start them exactly where you left off, or you have the option to have it load that up again right when you turn it on again.

 

Lastly, it is quoted for seven hours of battery life for playing video. And yes I have tested this. For music much longer. Seven hours of video has always been more than enough for me unless I forgot to charge it. That is not with 20x10 video with no brightness, but at a good res with the screen brighter than it was set to by default.

[red930]

Thanks for the recommendation Thasp, I've been looking at that player recently and haven't seen a helluva lot of reviews for it. Definitely going to take a closer look now.

[ShadeZeRO]

Same, nice recommendation. Looks nice too.

 

Problem is, that thing is open box

The pictures shown are from the NEW version of this item. If you purchase this Open box product you will receive an OEM BAREBONE, meaning it is just the item itself. Accessory items are NOT INCLUDED with Open box products. Accessories are shown in the pictures so that customers will know what is missing from the item.

 

So I don't know what it comes with, and it is a tad more then i wanted spend. I will try and find a good deal. Maybe something with Google checkout.

 

Also, how about the arhcos AV700. I found one for $150

http://f3multimediasl.net/index.php?page=s...emid=1&vmcchk=1

 

I also found the Zen Vision W for $210

http://f3multimediasl.net/index.php?page=s...uemart&Itemid=1

 

Actually, after 2nd glance at that site...seems unreal hmm..You think it is a scam? I found it off Froogle.com (Google's sub site).

[dr_bowtie]

steer clear of Archos products....I bought the wife one and they suffer hard drive death pretty often...

 

1st month I had it..it started clicking...even the tech guy told me they're crap...

[ShadeZeRO]

We'll I'm looking at that jet audio product. Looks nice.

 

But this Creative Zen Vision W looks good too.

 

http://f3multimediasl.net/index.php?page=s...uemart&Itemid=1

For a damn good price at that $210, I just want to know if the site is Legit.

 

Nevermind, It's fake. Credit card transactions are not encrypted.

 

Time to look again =D

 

That COWON A2 looks so good, I'm still trying to find a good deal on it with google checkout (it's $20 of $50 right now)

[dr_bowtie]

pop the model number of the product you're looking at into the search engine at pricewatch.com and see what you come up with...sometimes you find pretty good deals..

 

I did that on my Gigabeat and got it for $100.00 less....

[DuTcH]

creative vision M are amazing if the cash is not a problem, definately

[ooztuncer]

I have couple of recommendations for you:

 

1) iriver h120/h140/h320/h340 >>> ipod killer

2) cowon iaudio X5L >>> bigger ipod killer, hahaha (be careful with the L in the end)

 

Above mp3 players are better options than ipod for sure >> IMO.

 

iriver's also have an usb output, which is rare.

 

I am using a h120 as my portable rig and also use it in my car directly connected to a kenwood unit.

 

Please do your research on these units then decide...

 

 

EDIT: sorry i missed your video playing capability requirement - X5L seems the only one that you can play video on it; iriver h320/340 can display jpegs I believe... In any case, you can check them.

[Thasp]

iAudios have amazing feature sets but I can't recommend the X5 series at all.

 

I have RMAd three of them due to the headphone jack breaking. If you open it up you'll see one of the worst solder jobs ever done, the pcb around the headphone jack is put together so weakly I wouldn't trust it to stay together if it were used in a single position, much less carries around.

 

iRiver H120 is a class act.

 

I think anything but a full fledged video player with at least a 4" widescreen(I know 5" and slightly higher res is possible), isn't real video. It's video to show your friends to impress them, but it's no fun to watch. Especially on iriver's and iaudio's meant for music line that can't do more than 12 FPS without issues.. even on cartoons it can look like crap.

 

My favorite MP3 player ever, for just music, is the Rio Karma. It can be found for under 150 used. Here's why.

 

a) Due to the way it buffers music and pre buffers music, with MP3s there is _no_skip, not a millisecond, going from track to track. With Vorbis it's a few milliseconds, but nothing big.

 

B) Physical wheel > ipod clickwheel. Same thing, much easier to use.

 

c) Gapless playback.

 

d) Using a physical wheel to scan through tracks makes finding the parts of the songs you like to listen to a breeze.. it's better than a computer.

 

e) No crappy EQ presets, it's parametric.. you set it yourself.

 

f) Strong headphone jack.

[ShadeZeRO]

So I bit the bullet.

 

I ended up getting my sister an iPod Video 30gb (I found a used one for $160, adult owned, and minimal scratches).

 

For myself I purchased the creative zen vision M, since I couldn't find the Cowon at a good price.