MP3 Player For Adults

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2910405,00.html">http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2910405,00.html</a><br /><br />Pocket PC is starting to be recognized in the general media for some features that you and I take for granted. In 2000, I had this conversation more times than I could count.<br /><br />Ed: Look, it plays MP3 files too.<br />Luser: Why would you want to play music on your PDA? :? <br /><br />Well, now people are coming around.<br /><br />"I don't like stand-alone MP3 players. It seems to me that an electronic gizmo should, whenever possible, do more than just one thing--whether that one thing is making phone calls, tracking appointments, or playing music."<br /><br />Rock on dude! :rock on dude!:

[ctmagnus]

:D

Last weekend I "borrowed" the 256MB CF card from my dad's camera and loaded it up with MP3s for a trip we were making down south, rather than take my Nomad Jukebox 3 which already contained all those songs.

[Corn Bread]

I don't know about you guys, but I get a completely different reaction. All the people I meet is totally impressed when they see me use the xda as a MP3 player.

[wizardmaster2k]

I love multi-use items, that is why I think the ppc is such a great lil item. I cant wait for the day.... They release a PPC with a great processor, nice display, phone built in, wireless net through the phone services, and an actuall supple amout of storage space. what I am trying to say is "laptop all in a PPC"

i think that will be great.

[spursdude]

I love multi-use items, that is why I think the ppc is such a great lil item. I cant wait for the day.... They release a PPC with a great processor, nice display, phone built in, wireless net through the phone services, and an actuall supple amout of storage space. what I am trying to say is "laptop all in a PPC"

i think that will be great.'

That's actually not that far off, it seems...the processors speeds are getting up there (though the OS is not optimized), displays are great (yay for transflectivity), phones are built in in the PPC phone editions, wireless net also on the phone editions and PPCs with WiFi...

Storage prices are definitely coming down, although having 1GB of integrated RAM would be awesome for sure. :D

But back to the story, being able to play music on my PPC is awesome. Not only is it easier to find my music on a PPC using File Explorer rather than my 2-line screen Rio Volt, but I can easily carry my PPC in my pocket and not have to take up extra space for a separate MP3 player. It also reminds us of "W? BIC!"

[szamot]

Sad but true I still meet people today who say, my palm is better. There just is no end in sight to the massive production of Lusers

[dean_shan]

I use my PPC as a music player. It's nice because it's one less item to carry and buy. I never had a MP3 and why should I buy one when I have my PPC. The only MP3 I want is a hard drive based one such as the Nomad or an iPod. If only I was rich and could get one. For me using my e740 let's me consolidate devices and save money.

[ricksfiona]

Now that Flash memory pricing is coming way down, there's really no reason why you can't put a couple of hundred songs on your PPC. For the money, PPC + Flash memory is the best way to go.

The only reason I would get a 1-function-MP3 player is for exercising... And it would have to use only flash memory. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of these devices tend to overprice these products and not put enough memory in them either.

[jizmo]

From the entertainmental point of view: Why have a device that can play mp3 files, when you can have a device that plays mp3 files and music videos to go with them.

I still think that mpeg4 video on PPC is the most amazing thing to date. When I work in video edit for a day, instead of having to output the results to a VHS for viewing purposes, I can just convert it to divx, and show it to the workgroup on a cafeteria on my Toshiba. Naturally with full stereo hi-fi MP3 soundtrack.

/jizmo

[Fzara]

Luser. So I guess we're making new english words now, ehh?

I showed some luser in my History class my PPC, and then I played an mp3 really low. He was pretty impressed, and was deciding on whether to get one of the things I have or a laptop.

I'm so dissapointed I didnt have my Matrix Reloaded trainer on my PPC. :evil:

[Len Egan]

One of the reasons I think we all are interested in PPC is the many cool things we can do! Be nice if songs didn't take up so much space.

[woa1]

While I like the idea of using my PPC for MP3s, my only problem with this is battery life. If you run the battery totally down playing MP3s, you risk loosing all your "real" data also.
If there was a way to use AAs as backup or all the PPCs had replaceable batteries, then it might not be too bad.

I probably also own the PPC with the worst battery life (HP1910) so until I buy an extra battery for it, I am not playing MP3s on it.

What kind of battery life are you folks getting for playing MP3s with your PPC?

[jmarkevich]

Am I the only one that doesn't think MP3 on a PPC is that useful? Oh sure, it's very cool, but to get any amount of time on a card you have to reencode everything to a point that really loses quality. Most of the ones I have are very "sparkly" kinda "compressed" (in the music sense) and have no great harmonic range.

I don't think standalone RAM-based MP3 players are a good idea either. Exactly the same problem.

Why should I pay $200 for a memory card when I can pay .20 for a CD with about 10 hours worth of high-quality music?

[gorkon280]

Just buy a bigger card! Thats what I am going to do. 1 GB is fine for me. I don't necessarily WANT my whole collection with me. 1 GB is enough for more music then I have battery. Those 1 GB cards cost as much as one of the better CF MP3 Players. You can get a 1 GB CF card for about 200-250. If you can't find those, the IBM microdrive will cost about the same. With that much space I don't have to re-encode. Even with 64 MB I can get enough to listen for most of my trip to work in the morning.

gork

Am I the only one that doesn't think MP3 on a PPC is that useful? Oh sure, it's very cool, but to get any amount of time on a card you have to reencode everything to a point that really loses quality. Most of the ones I have are very "sparkly" kinda "compressed" (in the music sense) and have no great harmonic range.

I don't think standalone RAM-based MP3 players are a good idea either. Exactly the same problem.

Why should I pay $200 for a memory card when I can pay .20 for a CD with about 10 hours worth of high-quality music?

[PlayAgain?]

Am I the only one that doesn't think MP3 on a PPC is that useful? Oh sure, it's very cool, but to get any amount of time on a card you have to reencode everything to a point that really loses quality. Most of the ones I have are very "sparkly" kinda "compressed" (in the music sense) and have no great harmonic range.

With you there mate.

When I had my PocketPC, I found that after a few hours of music listening (or a few minutes if I used a Microdrive), I didn't have the battery power to check my appointments, contacts and so on.

I think it's great to have multi-function devices, but remember, that then brings us down to a single point of failure - one device goes, many functions go with it.

I prefer a MiniDisc player at any rate. Not only can it hold more than 5 CD's worth of music and still have excellent quality, but the battery consumption is low and, if the batteries do run out, I can buy some AA in a newsagent or, even if I can't, at least I can still make phone calls on another device.

Of course, the above problems don't apply if you're plugged into a leccie socket, or you have afew spares batteries with you......

[Ed Hansberry]

Luser. So I guess we're making new english words now, ehh?
No, I didn't make it up. http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/l.html#luser :lol:
I'm so dissapointed I didnt have my Matrix Reloaded trainer on my PPC. :evil:
You have a trainer from the Matrix? Kewl. Do you know kung foo? :wink:

[Deslock]

Any recommendations for a freeware MP3 player that lets the user map controls to the hardware buttons? The HP1910 has 6 buttons + a 4-way pad... it'd be nice to utilize them. Ideally, I'd like to be able to assign one button to toggle "hold" mode so that the HP1910 doesn't stop / go-to-previous / go-to-next in my pocket from the screen or a button being pushed (not to bring PalmOS into this, but even my old Clie T665 has a hold button... now before you flame me for writing about a PalmOS device advantage, I should add that it also has disadvantages as-an-MP3-player with its max of 128MB RAM and poor battery life).

[welmoed]

The only reason I would get a 1-function-MP3 player is for exercising... And it would have to use only flash memory. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of these devices tend to overprice these products and not put enough memory in them either.

I use my Casion E125 at the gym for both entertainment and to keep track of my workout. I listen to books on "tape" (CF card, really) and just switch over to the workout program to record my progress. It sure beats carrying around both a player and a clipboard. Now, if I could just incorporate the water bottle and the towel... :wink:

--Welmoed

[manga8]

Yup, my main reservation for PDA mp3 is batterylife. I've placed my bets on the CF format and fortunately they've come down in price enough for me to use them the way I wanted to really use MDs (data and not just damn ATRAC). I'm only using my 256mb CF for my digital camera for the moment and my IBM Thinkpad X has a CF slot (strangely enough).

I bought myself an Iriver CD/mp3 player a few months back. Really nice bit of kit but skipping was still a problem and file xfers was not as convenient as CF.

I'm just waiting for manufacturers to pay real attention to expanding (not just stretching out) battery life. But do you guys/gals have any info on what the best PDAs currently for mp3 playing are w.r.t to battery life?

[Ed Hansberry]

Any recommendations for a freeware MP3 player that lets the user map controls to the hardware buttons? The HP1910 has 6 buttons + a 4-way pad... it'd be nice to utilize them. Ideally, I'd like to be able to assign one button to toggle "hold" mode so that the HP1910 doesn't stop / go-to-previous / go-to-next in my pocket from the screen or a button being pushed
WMP allows you to assign buttons. Don't know about the DPad though. And if you toggle the screen off, screen taps don't work so your music won't be affected by inadvertent taps.

[manga8]

Having read another article from the main page, I'd like to suggest the Dell Axim X5 Advanced for decent mp3 playing battery life.

"The test plays a WMA audio file continuously from main memory with... volume both set to half their limits and all other power saving options turned off."

With the backlight turned off on power save:
9 hours 14 mins

Not bad, especially taking into account the removable battery feature allowing spares to be carried.

[Foo Fighter]

In my opinion, PDAs and smartphones will likely replace flash memory based MP3 players like my Rio 600. However there will always be strong demand for large capacity media players that carry ones entire music library. I also expect HD based MP3 players to get smaller and smaller...like something the size of IBM's Microdrive. That would be incredible! :rainbowafro:

[shawnc]

WMP allows you to assign buttons. Don't know about the DPad though. And if you toggle the screen off, screen taps don't work so your music won't be affected by inadvertent taps.

D-pad does allow you to assign buttons. And if you were fortunate enough to get the 5-way patch before Dell pulled it, it really enhances the MP3 experience.

I remember when my wife brought me my first handheld as a xmas present about 4 years ago. It was the Ipaq 3650. I tried to act excited but having an organizer simply didn't do much for me. Then I discovered the joy's of Avantgo and taking internet content with me and I thought...hmm, this is pretty cool. Then my son introduced me to MP3's and how I could play them on the Ipaq. Well that took me over the edge. You can't imagine the joy of being able to totally tune out cell phone users (lusers :D ), loud talkers, etc. when riding the bus at 6:00 in the morning. I'm groovin to George Benson AND reading the latest on CNN. Without MP3, there is no way I would have brought my Dell. I would have either stayed with my Ipaq or (perish the thought :evil: ) considered a Palm.

BTW, those of you who have battery issues that have scared you off of listening to music on your PPC, consider the Dell. It is AMAZING for me to be able to listen to 3 straight hours of music and see the battery meter at 75%. With my Ipaq I was able to listen to 60 minutes MAX before getting the battery warning.

[Kati Compton]

The only reason I would get a 1-function-MP3 player is for exercising... And it would have to use only flash memory. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of these devices tend to overprice these products and not put enough memory in them either.

This is what I did - it's overall a bit more expensive, but I got an mp3 player that takes CF so I can trade cards between it and my Axim....

[jgrnt1]

I started using my iPAQ 3630 as an mp3 player a couple years ago. I bought a 128MB CF card and a Silver Slider II. At the time, my mp3 collection was pretty small. Being a music nut, I did not want to sacrifice quality to fit more music on the CF card, so I bought a 1GB Microdrive.

Since that time, I have ripped my entire CD collection to my PC. Last fall, I bought a Toshiba e550g. I now have my music on a 20GB Archos MiniHD and access it via USB. I have also added a second 128 MB CF card and a 128MB SD card. The 20GB drive holds my music, the Microdrive holds my Audible.com books (725MB), one CF card has now replaced the 8MB card that came with my digital camera and the other holds games for the PPC. The SD card is used for backups and Mazingo storage.

I used to put movies on the Microdrive. Though it was a long process to rip and convert a full-length movie, it was great to be able to watch movies while traveling. I got interesting looks on planes while watching the Matrix on my PPC (and Ed, I do know kung fu). My new laptop has a DVD/CD-RW drive, so I watch movies on it instead.

Related story -- I recently built a dedicated mp3 server for my home theater system. Shuttle SS40G, Athlon 1700+, 256MB RAM, 80GB hard drive and MusicMatch Jukebox. The onboard video has an S-video out, which I ran to my HD-TV. I also have an old 15 inch monitor attached. The SS40G has S/PDIF optical out, which runs to my receiver. I use a wireless Gyration Ultra Mouse and keyboard. It's networked with my other PC's and.....my wife hates it. :confused totally: She doesn't like the mouse, doesn't want to learn to use MMJB, etc. So I reinstalled the 50 CD changer I had removed from the home theater system and now have both it and my mp3 server attached.

[Fzara]

Luser. So I guess we're making new english words now, ehh?
No, I didn't make it up. http://info.astrian.net/jargon/terms/l.html#luser :lol:
I'm so dissapointed I didnt have my Matrix Reloaded trainer on my PPC. :evil:
You have a trainer from the Matrix? Kewl. Do you know kung foo? :wink:


Heh. EdH. Gotta love EdH.
No comment about the the luser comment.
I didnt realize I said trainer. I meant trailer, as you knew ;)

btw: its Kung Fu. I think you've been talking to Foo Fighter a bit too much this week Ed. :roll:




D-pad does allow you to assign buttons. And if you were fortunate enough to get the 5-way patch before Dell pulled it, it really enhances the MP3 experience.



When did Dell pull the Nav patch? I never heard of any news that they pulled it. Any reasons why they did?

[WindWalker]

Any recommendations for a freeware MP3 player that lets the user map controls to the hardware buttons? The HP1910 has 6 buttons + a 4-way pad... it'd be nice to utilize them. Ideally, I'd like to be able to assign one button to toggle "hold" mode so that the HP1910 doesn't stop / go-to-previous / go-to-next in my pocket from the screen or a button being pushed
WMP allows you to assign buttons. Don't know about the DPad though. And if you toggle the screen off, screen taps don't work so your music won't be affected by inadvertent taps.

pocketMVP allows you to map hardware buttons, including the center action button, if I am not mistaken. I user Left/Right for volume, Up/Down, for track change, center press for stop, and the Calendar button as the screen toggle....

And finally, I have to say it..............thank you Lord, the Axim finally arrived yesterday....

[Ed Hansberry]

BTW, those of you who have battery issues that have scared you off of listening to music on your PPC, consider the Dell. It is AMAZING for me to be able to listen to 3 straight hours of music and see the battery meter at 75%. With my Ipaq I was able to listen to 60 minutes MAX before getting the battery warning.
Are you turning the screen off? I could get 8 hrs on a fully charged iPAQ 3630 listening through the headphones and still have 15% left.

[Janak Parekh]

Are you turning the screen off? I could get 8 hrs on a fully charged iPAQ 3630 listening through the headphones and still have 15% left.
... and much more on the new devices. I've played 6 hours on my 3870 (with CF+ sleeve and second battery), and the second battery would be drained/turned off but the first would be around 90% or higher. This is with a Microdrive and a caching player (e.g., read file from Microdrive, turn it off in 10-15 seconds); with a CF memory card I'd expect getting much, much more.

From what I've read, the Axim would get similar stellar results.

--janak

[Janak Parekh]

Any recommendations for a freeware MP3 player that lets the user map controls to the hardware buttons?
PocketMVP (www.pocketmvp.com) also has hardware button mappability. Not sure about the locking mechanism though. I'm pretty sure the buttons still work if the screen is off, but they may have changed it in later versions. If not, you should put a request in for it :)

--janak

[Ed Hansberry]

I didnt realize I said trainer. I meant trailer, as you knew ;)

Have you got the Matrix trailers in WMV? I'd love to get them.

[JMountford]

Old news guys....

I have stepped up my Pocket PC to a full fledged Media Player. I get Music videos and convert them for the PPC. Now I have not only music but the video to go with it. This is great in the car on a PDA mount...

Yeah it takes more memory, but so what?

ANd you ask why I do this... Because I can...

[acronym]

the only time I use a mp3 player is @ the gym or running / The ppc is way too big/expensive for that purpose. now, if there was a good way to stream music from the ppc to my car stereo - that'd rock. I've tried the rock-it without success. I'm thinking I just might hardwire the ppc straight to the amp...

[Jonathan1]

OK I have a dirty dirty mind "MP3 Player For Adults"
8O 8O 8O :D :lol:

[Deslock]

I have a RIO500, which I use it more often than the HP1910 for MP3 since I don't have to worry about dropping it, breaking the screen, or getting it wet (and the RIO is tiny). Additionally, it has 192MB, which is actually a decent amount. Since my 256MB SD card in the HP1910 is 3/4 full with apps and data, I don't have anywhere close to that capacity for MP3. I woulda bought a 512 MB SD card, but they're big bucks. I could get a second 256 MB card cheap, but then I'd have to swap cards and wouldn't be able to run apps while playing MP3s.

So I think dedicated MP3 players still have many advantages, depending on your needs. Also, I bought the RIO500 almost 3 years ago for $110 ($50 for the 64MB player after rebate + $60 for a 128MB SM card) so while you can spend outrageous amounts of money on solid state players, you don't have to.


pocketMVP allows you to map hardware buttons
LOL, color me feeling stupid. I use PocketMVP and didn't notice the button hardware mapping option! It doesn't have a hold function, but it does most of the other things I was looking for.

Thanks!

[PapaSmurfDan]

If you are worried about expense and battery life, buy the 300mhz Dell Axim as a 2nd PPC. At 200 bucks, you have a PPC that you can worry less about than your uberPAQ. If you need endless amounts of music, there is still no better solution than a IPod or other harddrive based player. And speaking of the 400mhz axim's battery life, I just used it for about 45 mins of mp3 playing (screen off o/c) just a few minutes ago, and it is showing 95% remaning :) Size wise, my Axim (and most PPC's) is smaller than my mp3cd player. If you really are going to run outdoors with any PPC, forget about it, I don't think the screen would last long with that type of abuse.

But, If I worried about my Axim 24/7, I would never use it nor bring it along everywhere. Nothing beats watching tv shows on my Axim while at the gym. Yea your geek factor shoots up through the roof, however I will throw my water bottle at the TV if I ever have to look at another TV Judge show while working out again.

My soluiton to the storage issue is, I recompress my files from (160kbps abr OGG, or 224kbps ABR MP3 to a 64kbps abr OOG (max 96kbps, min 32kbps). Yes there is a noticable quality difference if I listen to them in the car but it is way better than any mp3 at that bit rate. The OGG's still sound very good, sometimes better than a 128kbps mp3 (assuming taken stright off a CD). But with the crappy headphones I use at the gym, I can hardly notice. My 256mb CF card holds about 5hours of music, 1-1.5 hours of Divx's, and a handful of PDFs containing science journal articles. Until the 4gb Microdrives come out, this will sufice for me at least.

For all of you PPC users who don't have PocketMVP, do yourself a favor and download it. Divx's are much smaller and higher quality than Mpeg-1's, that and PocketMVP is a much better MP3 player than WMP.

-Dan

[dean_shan]

Luser. So I guess we're making new english words now, ehh?
I'm so dissapointed I didnt have my Matrix Reloaded trainer on my PPC. :evil:

Trainer? So I guess you're making new english words too :wink:

[shawnc]

Are you turning the screen off? I could get 8 hrs on a fully charged iPAQ 3630 listening through the headphones and still have 15% left.

I don't use my Ipaq any more (since I brought the Dell). But the answer to your question is yes, I would turn the screen (and everything else) off and only have MP3. I wouldn't DARE try to multi-task and the most I got was around 60 minutes. Keep in mind that my Ipaq was a few years old and I was using a 340MB microdrive. I'm sure the MD was partially responsible for the battery drain.

[shawnc]

When did Dell pull the Nav patch? I never heard of any news that they pulled it. Any reasons why they did?

I am only repeating what I have heard/read 2nd hand, but my understanding is that there were problems with the patch for W/XP users. When I installed the patch I was running W/Me. I have since upgraded to W/XP and have experienced no problems. But that is what I have heard.

[Janak Parekh]

Keep in mind that my Ipaq was a few years old and I was using a 340MB microdrive. I'm sure the MD was partially responsible for the battery drain.
Not partially, completely. My 3650 with Microdrive and WMP had about 2 hours of life of sustained music with the screen off. That's largely because WMP sucked and couldn't cache the Microdrive. If you used a CF instead, you'd have stellar results.

--janak

[Jonathon Watkins]

When did Dell pull the Nav patch? I never heard of any news that they pulled it. Any reasons why they did?

I am only repeating what I have heard/read 2nd hand, but my understanding is that there were problems with the patch for W/XP users. When I installed the patch I was running W/Me. I have since upgraded to W/XP and have experienced no problems. But that is what I have heard.

Interesting. I downloaded the patch a few days ago with no problems. Having the action button is great!

I had never noticed the option to map buttons in WMP before. There you go, you learn something new every day.

I am looking forward to my 1Gb CF arriving so I can carry around a subset of my 30Gb mp3 collection. MusicMatch allows you to automatically convert songs over to your mobile player and I plan to take advantage of it. :)

[Jonathon Watkins]

OK I have a dirty dirty mind "MP3 Player For Adults"
8O 8O 8O :D :lol:

I have to agree - I thought it was very unusual to see a post like that at this site. :lol:

I'l give PocketMVP a go to see how it works out.

[Sheynk]

the Archos Jukebox 140 is coming out soon. 40gb HD that is used for Audio/Video playback. I thing the current media jukebox is cool but the screen is way too small. If PPC's had regular performance for movies and if there was a way to take all the guess work of playing a large file out, PPC would truly become full media players