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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Cyberus on December 17, 2003, 11:42:44 AM
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I've decided that its high time I got a portable one, any recommendations? I was half considering one of those ones that plays the 3" CDs....but I think I'd rather just have one that I can plug into a USB port....
Suggestions would be welcome
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Maybe a commodore one as discussed in a prev thread??? =0D
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I suggest you get a player with Ogg Vorbis support.
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oh and here i belived it was about amiga mp3 players :)
oh well my answer again... would be...
MAS PLAYER..
:)
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If you get one with solid state memory (as opposed to a little hard disk or a CD-drive), you'll need to figure out the optimum in terms of encoding quality (read: what you think sounds good) versus file size. This is a very personal issue, and the only advice I can give you is to experiment and listen a lot with various encoder settings. That said, I would go for a device which can store about 4 CDs of music or more. That'll keep you from getting bored (and frustrated with uploading new music all the time) too soon. Most devices have a FM radio tuner too: a useful addition.
As for the age-old MP3/WMA/Ogg Vorbis-discussion: let your ears do the talking. My player (an iRiver MP-190) unfortunately cannot handle Ogg Vorbis due to rather arcane hardware restrictions, otherwise I'd probably be able to fit 4 *CDs* rather than 4 *hours* worth of music in its memory at the quality I want. (Newer iRivers can do Ogg Vorbis, by the way.) That said, after MP3-encoding my collection of 200+ CDs I'm not going to go through that again.
Oh, another thing to watch out for is battery life. I get about 12 to 13 hours worth of music out of a single rechargable NiMH-battery (AA, 1600 mAh) which I think is pretty good. Some devices have a built-in battery which charges itself through the USB port: while an elegant solution, I prefer classical batteries as you are not always within reach of a USB port.
Don't expect the sound quality of the little players to match your top-of-the-line stereo installation; on the other hand, don't expect it to be abysmal too. I was surprised to find out that I can almost as easily distinguish between good and bad encodings on my stereo as well as my player; in fact, I had counted on the fact of me not being able to hear all the nasty artefacts introduced by a lower quality (and thus space saving) encoding. I was very wrong indeed :-P.
Hope you found this useful, and let us know what you bought!
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Go on... get an iPod, you know you want to! ;-)
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Mike_Amiga wrote:
Go on... get an iPod, you know you want to! ;-)
The unreplaceable battery in the iPod only lasts 18 months.., and that is offical from Apple.
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Unreplacable? With a soldering iron i dont think so...
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!
I've had my 'pod for almost 2 years, when the battery finally does die, it'll just become a HDD!!!
iPods rule!
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I have an i-bead (http://www.mp3playerstore.com/buy_it_now__/ibead.htm). I have the 128 MB version myself, since the 256MB version wasn't available when I purchased it quite a while ago. I love this device. It is an USB memory stick with MP3/WMA player, 16-channel FM-radio, Voice-recorder, Nice blue-lit LCD display. You hardly notice you have it on you, since it's that light. The only downside is that it doesn't do Ogg.
I use it all the time. It recharges its internal battery through the USB-port and I have been using it at work for up to 3 days in a row without recharging and it was still playing after that. I've never had it run out of power, but that's probably because I use it a lot as pendrive as well, so it gets recharged pretty often.
Maybe not the ideal one for taking with you on a long vacation though, unless you have an USB-port ready for recharging when needed (I usually have :o).
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MaDDuck wrote:
!
I've had my 'pod for almost 2 years, when the battery finally does die, it'll just become a HDD!!!
iPods rule!
iPod's rule.
iPod + iTunes = One fantastic musical lifestyle 8-)