New iPod models?

[4g3nt_Smith]

The menu is the same, but the addons are different. Thats not to say there are less, because its pretty much even, but its the fact that there as normal iPod versions of extras, and mini versions of the same addons.

[corncobman]

i have an iriver and i'm very satisfied with it. The case it comes with is kinda bulky, but it has decent headphones, the radio works great, you can watch movies on it if you upgrade the us firmware to korean or euro firmware, but you lose the clock function. mmm and http://www.misticriver.net is THE iriver community and they are all pretty helpful and there is a ton of info on there

What kind of software do you need for it? Does it function like a normal USB hard drive, where you can just copy files through the Windows interface?

And how is the sound quality? Ever hooked it up to external speakers, or through an amp?

On win2000-XP you don't need any drivers, the computer recognises the iRiver as an external drive.

Sound quality is fantastic, one of the best devices I have used.

You get a lot more for your money with the international version, case, remote, line-in recording cable, earphones, USB cable, external mic, and the international H340 has a dock bundled with it.

The US version has DRM in place of USB OTG, and as mentioned above, if you upgrade a US device with a different version of the firmware you lose the DRM and clock permanently.

[R00k]

Does the international version have the clock?

Have you worn it running or exercising? Does it have any problems skipping or locking up?

edit: thanks for the info btw :icon14:

[corncobman]

No, skipping or jumping yet, I've ran with it, walked, jumped, even dropped it a couple of times from about 2 feet up (unintentionally).

I don't recommend doing the last one too many times though.

Also apparently the shock the player can sustain is lower when it's accessing the HD is lower.

The international version doesn't have to clock, I think it must be something to do with the DRM. Never had much of a use for it though.

[Nightshade]

Just picked up a 1GB Shuffle and its great so far. If you're the type that listens to a playlist on random then you'd probably get a lot of use out of it, especially considering the tiny form factor. If you like to browse and pick songs though it would drive ya nuts due to the lack of display and options.

I got a 512Mb for myself and one for my wife. I don't need a playlist, nor do I need to carry around ALL my mp3s with me.
One of the best gadgets I've purchased to date.

[Eraser]

I've got an old fashioned 256Mb MP3 player/FM radio USB stick for like €50 and it works perfectly.

Never been bothered by the fact that I can "only" carry three full high quality albums with me. Because of that, iPods have always seemed a bit like overkill to me, especially since you can't copy anything off it to your PC if you use it the way it's legally supposed to be used. Considering the price, I don't think it's worth it at all.

[saturn]

It's definitely worth the money. I've been snowboarding last week with friends and I brought my iPod with me on the trip. It was great during the 14 hour ride to have a big collection of music. Cause I brought boxes with me, we could listen music in the house all week without getting bored with the same shit all over. I don't have to refresh my playlist all the time.

I've got a 4G 20 GB which I use to backup personal files as well. 6 GB is used for digital photos.

[saturn]

Just picked up a 1GB Shuffle and its great so far. If you're the type that listens to a playlist on random then you'd probably get a lot of use out of it, especially considering the tiny form factor. If you like to browse and pick songs though it would drive ya nuts due to the lack of display and options.

I got a 512Mb for myself and one for my wife. I don't need a playlist, nor do I need to carry around ALL my mp3s with me.
One of the best gadgets I've purchased to date.

Get a Gel Shield for your wife's Shuffle

[R00k]

It's definitely worth the money. I've been snowboarding last week with friends and I brought my iPod with me on the trip. It was great during the 14 hour ride to have a big collection of music. Cause I brought boxes with me, we could listen music in the house all week without getting bored with the same shit all over. I don't have to refresh my playlist all the time.

I've got a 4G 20 GB which I use to backup personal files as well. 6 GB is used for digital photos.

You can store photos and other files on regular iPods (not the photo models)?

[werldhed]

You can store photos and other files on regular iPods (not the photo models)?

My understanding is that you can store any file on them, but you won't be able to access them from the player. It just holds the data. I could be very wrong about that, though.

With the iPod, does it record sound out of the box, or do you have to buy an adapter for that? I like some of it's extra features such as recording and creating playlists on the fly, but don't want to pay extra for it.

I also found a place selling the Zen Touch for ~$220, but they're out of stock.
I need a player before next weekend, so I might have to pay full price when I finally decide what to get. :icon13:

[R00k]

Yea, I was dead set on an iPod, but after reading some of this I'm opening up a little more to the other brands that are out there.

I love iPod's interface/menu and controls, so it's going to take a lot for me to buy something else. But at the same time, I hate proprietary stuff, and the idea of being able to use it as an external hard drive, and just put whatever I want to on it, is a pretty big plus.

But I was under the impression that you couldn't do that with iPod's until I read Sat's post. So......what's up?

[4g3nt_Smith]

You can do all that. Just check enable disk use in iTunes, and the iPod pops up as an external drive, and you can drag/drop files to it. That, and you CAN take stuff off the iPod, with legal third-party software, or by just showing hidden folders on the iPod and browsing down until you hit the music.

[Tormentius]

I got a 512Mb for myself and one for my wife. I don't need a playlist, nor do I need to carry around ALL my mp3s with me.
One of the best gadgets I've purchased to date.

Quite agreed, the Shuffle is definitely the best gadget I've ever purchased.

[R00k]

You can do all that. Just check enable disk use in iTunes, and the iPod pops up as an external drive, and you can drag/drop files to it. That, and you CAN take stuff off the iPod, with legal third-party software, or by just showing hidden folders on the iPod and browsing down until you hit the music.

Including mp3's? If so, I'm sold.

[saturn]

You can store photos and other files on regular iPods (not the photo models)?

My understanding is that you can store any file on them, but you won't be able to access them from the player. It just holds the data. I could be very wrong about that, though.

With the iPod, does it record sound out of the box, or do you have to buy an adapter for that? I like some of it's extra features such as recording and creating playlists on the fly, but don't want to pay extra for it.

You can store any file on it, it's acting like an ordinary external HD which you can access through windows explorer.

The iPod's interface is purely for the music (or photos in case of the iPod photo), which I love cause it's so simple and easy to use.

The iPod doesn't record out of the box, you'll need a third-party microphone recorder (from Belkin), but if you're willing to install firmware changes you can do it for free.

[saturn]

You can do all that. Just check enable disk use in iTunes, and the iPod pops up as an external drive, and you can drag/drop files to it. That, and you CAN take stuff off the iPod, with legal third-party software, or by just showing hidden folders on the iPod and browsing down until you hit the music.

Including mp3's? If so, I'm sold.

do it, you'll never go back