Buying some iPod shuffles...

[ddrueding]

I plan on buying some 512MB iPod shuffles for my GF and I. Any experiences?

 

[Handruin]

I'd like to know also. Been wondering if the 512MB is worth the money, or is it better to spend another $50 for the 1GB.

 

[i]

I plan on buying some 512MB iPod shuffles for my GF and I.

Aww, thanks ddrueding ... and it's not even my birthday. :wink:

 

[ddrueding]

I'd like to know also. Been wondering if the 512MB is worth the money, or is it better to spend another $50 for the 1GB.

My logic is this:

I just built some playlists that I would like to have. They all fit with 20% to spare. Also, since they don't have screens, much over a hundred songs would become unmanageable.

 

[Handruin]

That's a good point. I'll have to see what my playlists would consume. I normally encode my MP3's as 320kb, so I was planning to use more room at 7-10MB per song.

 

[Gilbo]

Personally, I'd stick with the 512MB. It's plenty for the type of usage the Shuffle is great for. If you get bored you can always change up the playlists.

I can't really see any need for the 1GB.

 

[Handruin]

I'm glad to hear the comments on the 512MB vs the 1GB. It seems bestbuy is out of the 1GB anyway.

On a side topic, I found this to be an interesting use of the ipod shuffle.

 

[Howell]

Yeah, I have a Cflash based MP3 player with 256MB and a 20G disk drive based player. The 20G is great for road trips or sitting around the park but the other one is essential for impact activities. The 20G holds my entire music collection (@128bit) and the upgraded batteries (2400mAh) last 10 hours or more. There is no way I would take the 20G running. The space on the small one and the battery life are great for why I need it. Coincedentally, I payed about $130 for each.

 

[Fushigi]

Maybe it's just me, but I just don't understand the appeal of separate iPods, USB drives, etc. when a phone can do all of that in a single device, including streaming audio from the net.

 

[Gilbo]

I need battery life in a cell phone and extraneous activities like playing music off it seem to cause that to suffer dramatically, so even if they had better storage, I don't think I'd ever find that route practical.

I also like getting a well-tuned tool for a purpose, and the convenience/simplicity of dedicated music players is nice. The phone interface will always be less efficient, and more cluttered. In the end, considering the size of flash-based players, particularly the Shuffle, it's not exactly an inconvenience to carry one around.

 

[Fushigi]

I need battery life in a cell phone and extraneous activities like playing music off it seem to cause that to suffer dramatically, so even if they had better storage, I don't think I'd ever find that route practical.

I also like getting a well-tuned tool for a purpose, and the convenience/simplicity of dedicated music players is nice. The phone interface will always be less efficient, and more cluttered. In the end, considering the size of flash-based players, particularly the Shuffle, it's not exactly an inconvenience to carry one around.

People are getting 16+ hours of MP3 playback with the phone turned on and still not fully running down the battery. How much longer do you need?

I find the interface to be pretty easy, and this one is skinnable. http://www.pockettunes.com/ for a screenshot. It also allows you to stream content from the net, including your home MP3 collection, so your storage space isn't limited to the unit's RAM or whatever SD card you can plug in to it.

I suppose if you only carry a cel phone, USB drive, MP3 player, PDA, etc. on occasion, carrying separate gadgets might make sense, but if you find yourself always carrying two or more of the devices, a convergence device seems the better option from a convenience standpoint and probably, in the long run, a cost standpoint as well.

 

[Tannin]

(Tannin wonders about asking "what's an ipod shuffle?" and decides against it. Wanders cheerfully back to the Century of the Fruitbat. Ignorance is bliss.)

(As an afterthought, makes a mental note not to revisit this thread, just in case someone tries to explain what an ipod shuffle is. Something to do with wasting a perfectly good computer by playing noise on it. That's as much as I need to know.)

(What century was it again?)

 

[Gilbo]

People are getting 16+ hours of MP3 playback with the phone turned on and still not fully running down the battery. How much longer do you need?

I had no idea battery life was so good. In fact, I have little doubt I'm behind the times with respect to Cell phones. I'm not really a big cell phone person at all as a matter of fact. It's probably my one big condescension to the neophyte point of view.

Is there an independent site that gathers information on cell phones and features? You seem to know what's going on Fushigi. A google for "cell phone reviews" turns up:
Mobiledia, whose 'reviews' are a little non-critical and superficial. Overview maybe...
C-Net has a section which I have yet to examine at all.
Anywhere else I should look for information? I'm kind of curious about what features modern phones pack beyond the phone and address book ones I'm used to .

Lastly, I have one specific question. Are cell phones beginning to feature storage media slots? Are they genreally CompactFlash or something more proprietary?

 

[Mercutio]

Portable audio = poor quality audio.

 

[ddrueding]

Portable audio = poor quality audio.

No doubt. But lugging the receiver and a generator on a run or an airplane seems like more of a workout than I had in mind. One of the reasons I'm looking into this is to supplement my laptop battery on trips. If I'm not running my laptop at times where I JUST want to listen to music, than that should give me enough juice to not break out the charger at airports. This is another reason why a 512MB would be plenty for me, changing playlists will be easy with my laptop one minute away.

 

[ddrueding]

I really ought to just break down and buy an OQO

 

[Fushigi]

Gilbo, my phone is the PalmOne Treo 650. It's a 3rd or 4th generation convergence device with a current-gen Palm OS PDA & phone (CDMA or GSM) put together. As such, you get the capabilities / performance of a modern cel phone combined with the usefulness and expandability of a PDA. What the Treo does better than others is the integration of the two. Now, some of the advanced functions take third party apps, and some of those aren't free, but they are all relatively inexpensive and at least the capability to extend the platform is there.

As for cel phone reviews, I don't think I've had any better luck than you have. I think there are fundamental problems when comparing phones unless you get very specific in feature-sets. Comparing based on price doesn't do much good as some phones are pricier than others yet lack some of the features. Motorola's Razor, for instance, is a fashion statement more than anything else. Decent phone, but it's formfactor does not allow for a sufficient battery and some other features are missing from what many would expect from a $500ish device.

When cel phone feature expansion, by and large SD is the slot of choice. I'm sure it's due to the physical size more than anything else. 1GB SD cards are very common for well under $100 and 2GB cards are days away from hitting the market (priced in the $160-225 range to start). 3-4GB cards are possible, although most cards are formatted FAT16 so to break the 2GB barrier on the card may pose compatability problems for devices that can't handle FAT32 (or whatever filesystem it uses).

Here's how my Treo is loaded:
- Service provider: SprintPCS (CDMA), $10/month unlimited data (grandfathered; new subscribers pay $15). Data speed is 80-120Kbps. I also have 600 day minutes + unlimited night/weekend. Total with taxes & data plan is under $70 a month.
- Sprint Business Connection Enterprise Edition email/calendar/contacts syncronizes over the air with our corporate Exchange servers. Also supports regular POP3 email.
- VersaMail comes with the unit free and can be used for POP3 and I think IMAP mail. Can be used with GMail.
- RealPlayer comes built-in, but I added PocketTunes as it's a better product and I hate RealAnything. PocketTunes supports WMA, MP3, OGG, etc. and also supports ShoutCast, which lets me stream audio from a ShoutCast server, which can be my home PC.
- Ringo Pro lets me play MP3s (via PocketTunes) as my phone's ringer.
- SMS: built-in
- Productivity: DataViz Docs to Go lets me view/create/edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint docs on the Treo.
- HotSync backs the unit up to my PC.
- ZLauncher: Replacement application launcher & file manager, skinnable, lots of features.
- Mergic VPN for connecting to the corporate VPN
- Mochasoft TN5250 for Telnetting into my AS/400s.
- MobileTS for establishing Terminal Services sessions on the corporate Windows machines. From the phone.
- 138000 word dictionary
- Zip file processor
- World Clock for the time anywhere & figuring time zone differences.
- Calculator w/scientific mode, calendar, addess book, etc.
- Address book is integrated with the phone. Go to Contacts, find the person (type their initials), hit the green button. For that matter, find a phone number on a web site and click it to dial.
- BackupMan Backs the unit up to SD card. Handy for regular scheduled backups and I can restore the device w/o being connected to my PC if necessary.
- Blazer web browser, javascript-capable, supports Favorites, etc.
- SplashID: AES encrypted password manager
- Card Export II to use the Treo's SD card as a USB Flash Drive
- Games: lots
- BlueTooth for wireless HotSyncing, network access (sharing file on my laptop), printing, and most important, a wireless headset (Cardo Scala 500). Very nice for taking calls while driving as it's a true hands-free solution.
- Camera: VGA res camera w/2x digital zoom. OK in low light conditions. Nothing fancy but useful for quick-n-dirty pics. Has a mirror next to the lense so you can face the cam towards you and see yourself to center the shot. No flash. Records to RAM or SD.
- Camcorder: 176x144 or 320x240, 15FPS, records straight to RAM or SD. Duration limited to storage available. Uses the phone's mic for audio.
- GrxView image viewer
- Adobe PDF for Palm. Crappy product as it requires PDFs be 'converted' for the Palm platform.
- SD slot: 1GB PQI card that holds MP3s and low-use applications
- Infrared port for syncing, printing, beaming contact info or apps, or using as a TV remote control.
- QWERTY keyboard, 5-way nav, etc. Really, go to Best Buy or a phone store and try it out.
- 320x320x65K color touch screen.
- Removeable battery so if your runtime still isn't long enough you can buy extra batteries for $30 per.

Stuff I haven't loaded on yet:
- JVM (IBM WebSphere Micro Edition)
- NES Emulator for even more games
- PDANet to use the Treo as a wireless modem for my laptop
- Kinoma or MMPlayer for video playback. Plenty of folks are ripping DVDs or TV episodes to fit the screen size. Seems like a decent way to pass a lunch hour.

I'm sure there's stuff I've forgotten, but there is just a ton of functionality in the product. For Orange network users in the UK, the phone is Push-to-talk capable a la Nextel. Sprint should be enabling that in the US sometime. The phone should run the BlackBerry for Palm app once PalmSource (not PalmOne) gets off their lazy butt and releases it.

 

[Mercutio]

Portable audio = poor quality audio.

No doubt. But lugging the receiver and a generator on a run or an airplane seems like more of a workout than I had in mind.

Or perhaps you could find a form of entertainment better suited for your needs. Like a book.

It's really sad that popular music these days is essentially mixed with the idea that it will be heard through crappy headphones.

 

[Handruin]

Not everyone demands the highest quality audio in a portable environment.

You could also say the same many portable things:
portable laptop = slow
portable toothbrush = small
portable phone = cancer
portable toilet = smelly on hot summer days
portable shower = unrefreshing
...

 

[ddrueding]

I tried reading a book while jogging once, the broken nose healed well and the tree has forgiven me.

Seriously, with the amount of time I'm spending on planes these days, a basic audio source and some noise-cancelling headphones seem the best way to tune out the surroundings and get the old lady next to me to SHUT UP about her new recipie. It also helps me focus on my work or book (currently re-reading "Friday" by Heinlein)

 

[LunarMist]

How does the Ipod Shuffler compare to the MUVO TX FM?

 

[mubs]

David, I had no idea you looked like a chef!

Gilbo, the book marks I have for cell-phone info (in addition to Mobiledia) are:

HowardChui.com

HowardChui Forums

Steve's Southern Ontario Cell Phone Page

 

[ddrueding]

 

[Handruin]

How does the Ipod Shuffler compare to the MUVO TX FM?

I don't know, but now you sparked my interest on the MUVO TX FM. Having an FM tuner would also be an added bonus. Not to mention that unit has an LCD screen. It's a little bit more expensive than the shuffles which I'm guessing is for the LCD.

MUVO:
1.32" x 2.58" x 0.51"
Weight: 0.8oz without battery

Shuffle:
0.98" x 3.3" x 0.33"
weight .78 ounce (assuming with battery)

 

[ddrueding]

MUVO:
1.32" x 2.58" x 0.51" = 1.73cu/in
Weight: 1.2oz with battery
15hrs Playback on 1 battery

Shuffle:
0.98" x 3.3" x 0.33" = 1.06cu/in
weight .78 ounce with battery
12hrs on single charge

Significantly larger, significantly heavier. Still sold on the Shuffle.

 

[Fushigi]

It also helps me focus on my work or book (currently re-reading "Friday" by Heinlein)

I haven't read Friday since it first came out. Love the Michael Whelan cover. Heck, I love most of his artwork & have a signed print of McCaffrey's White Dragon hanging in my family room just a few feet from his dragon sculpture.

I think I have pretty much all of Heinlein's works in one form or another, including the posthumous Grumbles from the Grave. I think many of his works, especially the classics like Stranger in a Strange Land are just as relevant today as they were when first published. The Man Who Sold the Moon is certainly applicable to today's society, especially the marketing aspects.

Hmm. Just googled and came up with http://www.heinleinsociety.org/ .

He, Larry Niven (with or without collaborators), and John Varley have been my favorite SF authors for a couple of decades now.

Oh, and changing authors (and thread drifting again), if you didn't see it, http://hitchhikers.movies.go.com/main.html

 

[mubs]

Yeah, I really liked Friday, too. It's been eons since I read it though.

Creative MuVo TX 512MB Mp3 Player $106 at Buy.com

 

[ddrueding]

I just impulse-bought an iPod Mini...it was just sitting there :roll:

I'll get a shuffle eventually...

 

[LunarMist]

Wow, those Shuffles sure are small! The display must be miniscule. I was asking because I purchased the Muvo in November. I don't think the Shuffles were out yet. It is too bad that is has a rechargeable battery.

 

[ddrueding]

The shuffle has no display, and only about 6 buttons. Sweet, really. But I'm really liking the mini as well. I was able to get it up and running without using any of their software, which makes me happy.

 

[CityK]

I bought an iRiver ifp-790T a couple of weeks ago. I have since returned it, but will be picking one up again (or something very similar) in the near future. It had amazing sound. Supports ogg vorbis (provided >96kbps avg bit rate) too if that floats your boat. USB2 -- very fast transfers. UMS firmware. Radio, mp3 encoder for radio or mic. Mic is very good . Pretty easy to use. It also just dropped a bunch in price....There are some negatives too, but overall the player is a positive experience. For my needs, and most others I imagine, it fits the bill very well. Would like to test against a shuffle....but have a feeling nothing will touch the iriver - honestly, great sound.

 

[LunarMist]

That IRiver is a bigger beast, not really in the same ultraportable category.

 

[CityK]

Umm, Lunar, perhaps you should look at that picture again....and if I'm not mistaken, the shuffle is larger.

 

[Handruin]

The more I delay, the more I change my mind about which mp3 player to buy. I've been looking into the ZEN Micro. It doesn't fit into the ultra portable, but it has more space which might be nice. Not having a display on the iPod shuffle is making me delay my purchase. I understand why it doesn't have one, but I getting the feeling I'll want a display.

 

[timwhit]

Umm, Lunar, perhaps you should look at that picture again....and if I'm not mistaken, the shuffle is larger.

3.4in w x 1.25in d x 1.05in h = 4.5 cu/in

1.3 oz

A bit bigger.

 

[CityK]

ounces? inches? cubic inches? what kinda of wierd measurements or those?

My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it.

 

[i]

ounces? inches? cubic inches? what kinda of wierd measurements or those?

My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it.

Uzi, 9 millimeter.

Phased plasma rifle in 40-watt range.

 

[timwhit]

ounces? inches? cubic inches? what kinda of wierd measurements or those?

My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it.

I did that so you could compare to David's measurements, alright Abe?

 

[ddrueding]

I did it that way to comply with Handruin's measurements.

 

[CityK]

I stand corrected on the size thing. But I'm not certain on those iriver numbers Tim. Anyways, doesn't matter as I find the volume metrics trivial. The thing is the almost the same size as my index finger (its just bit wider). Calling that not ultraportable is ridiculus. You will never be burdened by its size or weight. In fact, one of the things I thought about it was that it might be a little too small.

Another plus for the iRiver is its battery life -- ~35hrs on single AA 2100mAh.