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Help me buy an MP3 player (1 Viewer)

StephenK

Stunt Coordinator
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Jun 1, 1999
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Frankly I stick with 160 nowadays, I can barely tell the diff between 128 and 192 on my ipod ear buds, only when I line out to my stereo, so I compromise at 160k.

Ryan, yes, formatted as fat32, I plug it in the dock, it appears as my f: drive. Don't know about transferring mp3's from ipod to pc, never had to do it.
 

Vince Maskeeper

Senior HTF Member
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Jan 18, 1999
Messages
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Off the top of my head, I don't know. I haven't tried it- but I know it's possible in general, just don't know if Ephpod does it or not. If not, there are probably 3 dozen tutorials on the web related to this.

I can check later to see what you can do using Ephpod...

-V
 

Ryan Wright

Screenwriter
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Jul 30, 2000
Messages
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However, I thought the VBR setting does not improve audio quality, only saves space by squeezing out the blank periods in the song.
It doesn't improve audio quality. It just reduces size. However, a 128-320 file is a minimum of 128, maximum of 320. End result? You get a file that is larger than a 128Kbps MP3 by only 20-30%, but sounds the same as one encoded @ 320Kbps (which would normally more than double your file size).
 

Peter Kim

Screenwriter
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Jun 18, 2001
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Well, VBR sounds like the way to go...glad I've only transferred a small portion of my cd library, otherwise I'd be reencoding like mad.

Thanks for the heads up!

P.S. But as I've said, with 30 gig's, does anyone here even come close to approaching that limit? :)
 

Ryan Wright

Screenwriter
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Jul 30, 2000
Messages
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Actually, I suppose what is even more important to me is whether I can access the MP3s natively from the iPod. In other words, when I'm on the go, I'll let the iPod play them. But when I'm at work, I'll want to plug the thing in to my 1394 connection and use Winamp to play the MP3s right from the iPod ...

That's going to be the question that determines sale/no sale for me. I don't want the MP3s on my work PC's hard drive, I want them to stay on the iPod. But at the same time I want the iPod to be able to address them when I'm on the go.

See, I don't understand these stupid anti-piracy measures. I mean, if I'm going to trade entire MP3 collections with a friend, I can just put it on any portable hard drive. By limiting the iPod like this, Apple is doing nothing to help prevent piracy - people will just use other devices. Rather, they're simply annoying their users and making people like me jump through hoops to be able to use the device in a reasonable manner. There's no reason why the iPod couldn't just scan it's built in drive for MP3 and M3U files and present them to the user. No reason to separate the music from the portable hard drive option...
 

Ryan Wright

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What about hooking up the speakers to the iPod?
I thought about that, but I'd really rather use Winamp to control it.

I suppose I could put two copies of my MP3 collection on the thing. One in "audio" mode and one in the data mode. Annoying, but it would work.
 

MarkHastings

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Jan 27, 2003
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12,013
Yow, who'd like to lug around a pound as an mp3 player!
Well, I keep mine in the car so the size isn't really much of an issue. I can see if you are using it as a more "portable" device, but considering when I bought it there was nothing else above 10GB...I got the Jukebox. Even still, I've been using the 40GB's for a while now and everything else is just starting to get close.

Oh well, no biggie, I'm happy with what it does.
 

Vince Maskeeper

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YOu should be able to do this without issue. The only thing is all the file names would be digits and so you might have trouble geting winamp to realize they are mp3s...

But if you could add the specific directories that IPOD puts it's MP3 files, then it should read fine. I've never done it, but making an educated guess.
 

Patrick Larkin

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May 8, 2001
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See, I don't understand these stupid anti-piracy measures. I mean, if I'm going to trade entire MP3 collections with a friend, I can just put it on any portable hard drive. By limiting the iPod like this, Apple is doing nothing to help prevent piracy - people will just use other devices. Rather, they're simply annoying their users and making people like me jump through hoops to be able to use the device in a reasonable manner. There's no reason why the iPod couldn't just scan it's built in drive for MP3 and M3U files and present them to the user. No reason to separate the music from the portable hard drive option...
Jobs is sympathetic to the anti-piracy cause and big media. He's a tycoon rubbing elbows with all the honchos being the CEO of Pixar and all. Apple, as a big media player wannabe, had to install a small amount of anti-piracy measures knowing full well that they weren't drastic enough to be deal-breakers. Apple got grilled when they used, innocently I think, the slogan "Rip, Mix, Burn" and needed to not piss off their partners and future partners... Its obvious that Jobs is turning Apple into more than a computer company both by getting into the media business and developing and acquiring lots of hardcore media creation apps...
 

Peter Kim

Screenwriter
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Jun 18, 2001
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My urge for the iPod has never been so strong, yet I've still got my eyes open on things on the near horizon:

Philips HDD100 Recording Audio Jukebox

Features:

Direct MP3 recording (unlike iPod, which doesn't have this feature + sing, dictate and record notes) - create MP3 files
USB 2.0
5-Band programmable equalizer
MP3 + WMA playback
High gloss magnesium and hardened glass (the only competitor to the iPod in terms of aesthetics and industrial design)
15 GB
167 grams

Looks really, really cool! Currently not released, but I've heard sometime in July.
 

Michael*K

Screenwriter
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May 24, 2001
Messages
1,806
Chalk up another iPod fanatic. I rip all my CD's at home, throw them on my iPod and listen to them on the road or on any machine at the office that I plug it into. As for their durability, mine has been dropped twice (from two feet and four feet, respectively) with no harm done. I will recommened highly that you check out the cases from XtremeMac.com. It's by far the best case I've ever handled. And the swivel clip is just awesome. The cases for the redesigned iPods should be coming out soon, but I can't speak more highly of the one I have for my "old" 20GB model.
 

Pamela

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 14, 2001
Messages
779
Chalk up another iPod fanatic.
Same here! I love the iPod so much, I have two: a second generation 10 gig and a new 30 gig. Actually, the 30 gig crapped out and was sent back to Apple for a replacement. The replacement is sitting here, still in the shrink rap. Since I got my Etymotic ER-4Ps, you can't get me to turn the darn thing off. The iPod and the Etys...what a great combo!
 

Peter Kim

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Messages
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The iPod and the Etys...what a great combo!
We've now officially entered into the audiophile zone. ;)

Actually, sincerely Pamela, I'm very interested in the ER-4P's. But I guess I'd try and justify the cost first - is it worth it (we're talking about nearly doubling the cost of the 30 gb iPod with the earphones).

Also, what happened to your 30 gig? And what are your thoughts on the design/functional changes between your 10 and 30 gig (namely, the controls/layout).

Thanks in advance (from someone who is slowly but surely unable to resist temptation)!
 

Pamela

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 14, 2001
Messages
779
Also, what happened to your 30 gig? And what are your thoughts on the design/functional changes between your 10 and 30 gig (namely, the controls/layou
The 30 gig had two problems. First, I had to reset it constantly. That is a widespread problem. Not a major problem, but annoying. Should be fixed with a software patch. The bigger problem was that the battery would not hold its charge. I'd get a full charge, turn it off, and the next day the battery would be drained when I turned it on. I have to say that Apple was really great and I had no problems getting a new one.

I like the actual buttons on the 10 gig better. The touch sensitive buttons on the new iPods, which are backlit, are a little too sensitive, but I guess I'll get used to it. The selling point is that there are now no moving parts. I have to get used to the new button layout, too. The new iPods have a dock, with a proprietary firewire cable. The dock is nice, but you can't use the standard firewire cable.

The new iPods have the ability to make on-the-fly playlists, which the older ones are unable to do. Also the new iPods only have an eight-hour battery charge, whereas the old ones held 10 hours. Again, I can live with that. The new iPods also have a audio line out, which is a nice feature. All-in-all, I'm happy with the new iPod.

Wow... I wrote a book!
 

Peter Kim

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 18, 2001
Messages
1,577
Many thanks, Pamela! I really appreciate your thoughtful analysis.

So, if I were to buy a 30 gb iPod tomorrow, should I not freak out when I find that it needs constant resets? In other words, does this problem afflict all new generation iPods, or just a bad, big batch?

I found a review of the ER-4P's that confirms your thoughts:

BestStuff review of ER-4P

EDIT: Thanks for the links...I had to chuckle when I saw that they offered a ER-4P 2-Pair Pack. ;)
 

Pamela

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 14, 2001
Messages
779
So, if I were to buy a 30 gb iPod tomorrow, should I not freak out when I find that it needs constant resets? In other words, does this problem afflict all new generation iPods, or just a bad, big batch?
This seems to be a fairly common problem, if you look on the Apple boards. I don't know if that's a good indicator, since people are more apt to post if they are having problems, rather than if everything is working fine. Apple has indicated in an AppleCare document that they don't consider it to be a flaw. I don't know, though. If I had to constantly reboot my TiBook or G4 Tower, I wouldn't consider it normal. But, I've heard there will be a iPod software fix.In fact, 2.01 is right around the corner.

Yeah, a two-pack. I briefly thought about it, but that would be a little too extravagant. :laugh:
 

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