iPod vs. iRiver (1 Viewer)

[cwhite]

The downside of "joined" tracks is that it will cut down on the charge time of the iPod's battery. If the music file can't fit inside the internal cache, then the hard drive is spinning more often just to play the track.

 

[Angelo.M]

I haven't.

Although I can certain see why folks would want gapless playback, and I do hope that iPod eventually supports this natively, I really don't have any use for it. Even with live albums, the gaps don't bother me.

 

[MikeH1]

I hope they manage to do this and their firmware release isn't six months from now

 

[Phil Kim]

For those in the US, Amazon now offers $50 rebate (until August 1) for both 20 GB ($249 after rebate) and 40 GB iPod ($349 after rebate).

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The only problem then is that you have all the inherent distortion of FM radio. My friend is really hot on the iPod. I don't have enough places to listen to music where I can't already to justify the cost.

I DO love iTunes for Win2000, though. Easily the best Jukebox/Music store I've ever used. I've seen a couple with more options but none with such an efficient user interface. And while I don't like AAC as much a good high bitrate LAME encoded MP3, of all the rights-managed formats, it's by far been the most transparent for me.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Regular AAC -- the type that iTunes creates when you encode music from your own CDs with appropriate preferences -- does not have DRM.

Only iTunes Music Store tracks come with the DRM crud.

 

[Herschel]

Yes, unfortunately they posted this in their official forum back in March or April. They announced a firmware update for May with some new features, and another update for June with gapless playback and on-the-fly playlists. Neither of those updates have shown up yet. And I can't recommend going to their forums now, because they have completely abandoned them. The forum software they use allows anyone to post any HTML they want, so kiddies are having fun posting nasty pictures and IE exploits.

I'm trying to choose a HD MP3 player, and the Rio Karma sounds like the best one for me. I'd hate to not have gapless playback, and the Karma's the only option for that right now (joining tracks for the iPod isn't an option). The iRiver may still get that gapless firmware update, and will record, which the Karma won't, but everyone on the iRiver forum is complaining that recording is buggy and just isn't really usable. So my options are to wait until a gapless firmware update for the iRiver actually shows up, see if it really works right, and then decide between those two, or just get the Karma now.

The other advantage to the Karma is that it'll support FLAC. With all the live concerts I download (which are normally distributed in FLAC) that's a nice feature to have...

The downsides to the Karma (for me) are

1) There seem to be firmware issues with the hard drives they use, so more players dying than other devices.

2) Can't mount it as a hard drive yet (supposed to be coming in a future firmware update, no idea when)

3) No recording

4) Only a 30-day warrantee. Add that to number 1, and you really have to add the cost of an extended warranty to it.

Oh well. Maybe in another 6 months there'll be an easier choice for which is the right player...

 

[Angelo.M]

To be fair, I think you have to add it for any of these players.

 

[Tim Markley]

The Rio Karma is a great MP3 player and doesn't get nearly the recognition that it deserves. I've had mine since Christmas and I'm 100% satisfied with it. If the 30 day warrantee bothers you, buy an extended warrantee for $10. That's what I did (from Mack).

 

[Herschel]

I thought most other players at least had a 90-day warranty, though. Or are you saying that they all have a high enough problem rate that 90 days isn't enough, either?

I'm still definitely leaning towards getting the Karma, though, for all the reasons I mentioned earlier (probably with an extended warranty from Circuit City or Best Buy so I can just walk in with it if there's a problem).

 

[cwhite]

The iPod has a 1-year warranty and Apple offers a extended warranty plan for $59. I'm a regular at the Apple users' forums and it is becoming apparent that this new 4th generation iPod is more PC-compliant than previous generations. The 4G iPod seems to prefer USB2 over Firewire.

 

[Angelo.M]

I'm saying that a miniature portable hard-drive or micro-drive or whatever is, by its nature, a fragile piece of equipment. It's mechanical, and a certain number are going to fail. I don't usually advocate extended warranties, but in the case of both of my iPods, I have the Apple warranty.

 

[Angelo.M]

I'm saying that a miniature, portable hard-drive or micro-drive or whatever is, by its nature, a fragile piece of equipment. It's mechanical, and a certain number are going to fail. I don't usually advocate extended warranties, but in the case of both of my iPods, I have the Apple warranty.

 

[James Zubb]

The Karma has a 90 day warranty not a 30 day.

 

[Chris-V]

iRiver and Rio are both supposedly gearing up to release their next generation HDD players stateside as well. iRiver's is already available overseas, and you can apparently order it here via the Korean website for about $550 (see the Misticriver link in Michael's post on page 1). The Karma 2 has been rumored for months, but there's not much out there about it that I've seen other than it's supposed to be smaller than the original and have a color screen. IGN got a prototype preview last year and because of NDA's hasn't been able to say much, but did say it's worth waiting for. One rumor has it launching stateside at the beginning of Q4 this year. If you're willing to wait and pay a premium, it may be worth holding out. Depends on whether the current ones do everything you want them to do.

 

[Kaj]

i've got an iPod 40GB and loving it. Especially with all the add on bits you can get. The smart card reader was a life saver when going on holidays and lots of photos.
I haven't compared it, so i'm probably commenting out of ignorance, but its small, sounds good, works well, looks good and suits my every need.

there's my 2 cents

cheers

KJ