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[VPhys]

This is also on sale at Best Buy this week...

Samsung Digital Audio Player with 20.0GB* Hard Drive



Thoughts, suggestions?

Sexy isn't it? It's the only player I've seen that comes close to looking as sleek as the ipod. But I have not heard much about this player.

 

[Red Dolphin]

Why does it have the old Napster logo on it?

 

[AssMan]

Speaking of music, does anyone know the name of the new techno remix CD that just came out, and they advertise on TV featuring Mel C's "I turn to you?" I think it's similiar to Now That's What I Call Music. Not very sure.

 

[xsarien]

Why does it have the old Napster logo on it?

The "new" Napster also uses the cat.

 

[Talas]

I have an iRiver H320 and I'm happy with it, the video function looks surprisingly good even if it only supports 10 fps.

 

[Lemurnator]

It's for a lot of reasons. Price, availability, almost everyone of my friend's telling me not to get one due to manufacturing woes, etc.

I feel like karma is not on the side of the iPod here.

The only reason to get the iPod is so I don't have to burn my iTunes library to disc and then download them back to whatever WMA program is necessary, but I'm not sure if it's worth it or not.

iRiver (cough)

 

[Lemurnator]

I have an iRiver H320 and I'm happy with it, the video function looks surprisingly good even if it only supports 10 fps.

I have an H320 as well, but I didn't know there was a video function.

How does one go about using the video function? Is it possible to watch full movies on the H320?

 

[Grimlock]

Well, folks posting in this Fatwallet thread are reporting the H320 now being found in BB's at various clearance prices from $214 to $269. I had to return the Zen Xtra I bought because I had to get a hard drive, but if I can land the H320 for $214, and find that 10% coupon that's starts tomorrow...

 

[Talas]

I have an H320 as well, but I didn't know there was a video function.

How does one go about using the video function? Is it possible to watch full movies on the H320?

The option is available in the European and Korean versions of the H320 and the H340, for the US version you'll have to upgrade the firmware.

In my case I used the 1.25K firmware, changing to K or EU firmware gives the US players the ability to play video and allows the player to download files from digital cameras, usb memory sticks and other portable devices without a PC (usb-on-the-go).

Of course, flashing to EU or Korean firmware will probably void your warranty, personally, since I live in Mexico and the warranty doesn't cover me I didn't care about it.

For more information about the iRiver go to http://www.misticriver.net/

And for the original poster, you still can wait a month and get an iRiver H10, Bill Gates endorses it!

 

[Willco]

How much will the iRiver H10 be?

 

[Celicar]

I got my ipod for free, and I still don't think it was worth it. If I don't touch my ipod for a day or two, it resets and I lose the bookmark in my audio book. That really pisses me off because I have to thumb through the file until I find out where I left off.

The other really annoying thing about the ipod is the battery only lasts four hours. Pathetic.

 

[The_IGN_Man]

I will second the motion (or third it, or whatever it's up to now ) that the iRiver H320 is great. The screen is pretty amazing for this type of product. I've already put a few movies on it that look superb. As a test I put on the pod race from SW: Epsiode I, and it looked just fine. My roommate got one too, so our apartment now has 2 iRiver H320s, 1 iPod 4th gen, and 1 Creative Zen Touch.

Personally, I was deciding between the Zen Touch and the H320 before Christmas rolled around. In the end I went with the H320. Have used my roommate's Zen Touch for a bit, I can't say that you'd go drastically wrong either way, but I'm definitely glad I got the H320 instead. I think the only main reason I'm "definitely glad" is just because the color screen and clarity of seeing what I'm doing on screen is so nice. The Zen Touch's main advantage I'd say would be its touch strip. I've heard it can be a bit finicky, but nothing too bad. The only thing I need now is for iRiver to release the H320 remotes here in America.

 

[Willco]

iRiver is retailing for $30 more than the mini iPod and offers just an addition gig and a FM tuner? Pass.

The Zen Micro Touch looks more appealing.

 

[The_IGN_Man]

Eh? Maybe the H10 is only 1 gig more than a mini, but the H320 is 20 gigs (and the H340 is 40 gigs). At least check out the H300 series.

 

[isamu]

O.K. to those of you recommending a Creative Zen, let me just say that I wholeheartedly recommend going bit retro and getting their Creatize Jukebox 3 unit! Built like tank, can record and encode WAV and mp3 ON THE FLY!, and sound quality is actually BETTER than the Zen! I've owned one for two years now!

 

[Willco]

Eh? Maybe the H10 is only 1 gig more than a mini, but the H320 is 20 gigs (and the H340 is 40 gigs). At least check out the H300 series.

They're priced too high. I don't need a color screen or anything.

 

[Willco]

I am leaning towards the Creative Zen Touch. I can get the Creative Zen Touch Micro for about $200 with some shenanigans, so that is looking sexy too, even though it's only 5 GB. I probably only have 2.5 GB of music total, though.

 

[jobber]

I am leaning towards the Creative Zen Touch. I can get the Creative Zen Touch Micro for about $200 with some shenanigans, so that is looking sexy too, even though it's only 5 GB. I probably only have 2.5 GB of music total, though.

But you can also use it as a portable HD. More space is a gooood thing.

 

[Suerte]

Anyone have one of these? It looks sexy.

 

[xsarien]

Anyone have one of these? It looks sexy.

I'm pretty sure that's one of Sony's "Yeah, it supports MP3, and by 'support' we mean 'as long as you transcode the MP3s to ATRAC first.'" deals.

It's a shame too, because it DOES look nice, and it has - at least according to Sony - some serious, iPod-whoopin' battery life.

 

[MrPing1000]

I myself have a rio karma and I love the little thing. Its a different shape to most hd players but its what I like. Supports ogg, no gaps inbetween songs, great sound, good headphones, has a dock. I also dropped mine on a wooden floor and it didn't even stop playing. The only drawback is the screen can get scratched but i bought screen protectors for like $6 and it doesn't have a single one. 16 hour battery life, can hold normal files (most do) and easy to use.

 

[Willco]

...

 

[Suerte]

I'm pretty sure that's one of Sony's "Yeah, it supports MP3, and by 'support' we mean 'as long as you transcode the MP3s to ATRAC first.'" deals.

It's a shame too, because it DOES look nice, and it has - at least according to Sony - some serious, iPod-whoopin' battery life.

urgh

Think I might end up getting a Creative Zen Touch then...

 

[xsarien]

urgh

Think I might end up getting a Creative Zen Touch then...

OK, wait. Blame Sony and their cryptic model names. Here's the NW-HD3, which DOES support native MP3.

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/sony/sony-network-walkman-nwhd3-026502.php

The HD2 (and presumably the HD1) does NOT support native MP3. The downside, of course, is that they're just as expensive as the iPod.

 

[Talas]

I will second the motion (or third it, or whatever it's up to now ) that the iRiver H320 is great. The screen is pretty amazing for this type of product. I've already put a few movies on it that look superb. As a test I put on the pod race from SW: Epsiode I, and it looked just fine...

I agree, I already put a couple of full movies and a few The Simpsons and Batman:TAS episodes and yes, even with only 10fps, it looks very good, especially if the movie is animated.

The only problem is that video playing sucks the battery dry, mine only last like 5~6 hours of video playing in contrast of 14~16 hours for just music.

 

[Willco]

I'm pretty much am undecided between the Creative Zen Touch and the Creative Zen Micro. There's a 15 GB disparity and only a $20 difference for me, but I don't have even 2 GB of uncompressed music on my computer. Zen Touch gives me more space, but I hear the Micro has better form factor, the touch interface is better, it's a lot smaller and it has a replaceable battery. Plus, I like the FM tuner for the Micro, whereas to activate the FM tuner for the Zen Touch, I have to purchase an addition $49.99 wired remote.

Decisions.

I would probably try my hand at the Creative Zen Xtra if it didn't look like a giant brick and the battery life was better.

 

[fart]

If you can get an H320 for a little over 200, I would go with that. Otherwise the Zens are nice looking, sound good, and are pretty functional with the shareware Notmad software.

 

[COCKLES]

Finally got my Arcos GMini 400 yesterday.

I love it.

Same size as an IPOD. 20 GIG. DIVX/MPEG movie playback. TV Out. Games. Does everything. I've already converted the Matrix & Star Wars trilogy to it.

Capacity: 20GB 1.8" Hard Disk - Store up to 300 hours of music, 200,000 photos or 80 hours of MPEG-4 videos*.
Interfaces: USB 2.0 high-speed, compatible USB 1.1, PC & Mac . Built-in CompactFlash™ Type I slot to accept CompactFlash™ memory cards or optional 4-in-1 CF adapter.
Music playback: Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 kb/s CBR & VBR, WMA (Including copy protected files with Microsoft PD DRM), WAV (PCM & ADPCM).
Music recording: Stereo sound in WAV (PCM & ADPCM) format.
Game engine: Mophun™ game engine - Playback on TV.
Photo viewer: JPEG (except progressives) or BMP - Download JPEG images through CompactFlash™ slot.
Video playback: MPEG-4 SP with MP3 or ADPCM stereo sound, up to 640x400 @ 30 f/s, AVI file format. Reads XviD and DivX®** 4.0 & 5.0. Play Music Video in MPEG-4.
Display: 2.2" LCD 220x176 pixels, 262 000 colours and TV output.
AV connections: Stereo analog Line In (via adapter included). Composite Video/ Earphone / Analog Line Out jack, SCART for European version. Built-in microphone.
Battery life: Up to 10 hours for music or 5 hours for video on built-in LCD.
Scalability: Download firmware updates from www.archos.com
Power source: Internal: Rechargeable Li-Ion Batteries. External: AC charger/adaptor.
Dimensions: Approx. 10.6 x 6 x 1.7 cm (4.2" x 2.4" x 0.7").
Weight: 160 g (5.64 oz).
System requirements: PC: Pentium® III 800 MHz or higher, Windows 98 SE, ME, 2000 or XP. 64 MB RAM (128 MB recommended) with USB port and CD-ROM drive.
Mac: 9.2 or X (10.2.4) USB Manager version 1.2 or higher with USB port and CD-ROM drive.

£215 quid in UK.

1. Download Pirates of Silicon Valley.
2. Transfer it to Archos.
3. Visit the Apple Store and sit down play fast forward to the scene where Bill Gates slaps down Steve Jobs = priceless!

 

[Suerte]

Finally got my Arcos GMini 400 yesterday.

I love it.

Same size as an IPOD. 20 GIG. DIVX/MPEG movie playback. TV Out. Games. Does everything. I've already converted the Matrix & Star Wars trilogy to it.

Capacity: 20GB 1.8" Hard Disk - Store up to 300 hours of music, 200,000 photos or 80 hours of MPEG-4 videos*.
Interfaces: USB 2.0 high-speed, compatible USB 1.1, PC & Mac . Built-in CompactFlash™ Type I slot to accept CompactFlash™ memory cards or optional 4-in-1 CF adapter.
Music playback: Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 kb/s CBR & VBR, WMA (Including copy protected files with Microsoft PD DRM), WAV (PCM & ADPCM).
Music recording: Stereo sound in WAV (PCM & ADPCM) format.
Game engine: Mophun™ game engine - Playback on TV.
Photo viewer: JPEG (except progressives) or BMP - Download JPEG images through CompactFlash™ slot.
Video playback: MPEG-4 SP with MP3 or ADPCM stereo sound, up to 640x400 @ 30 f/s, AVI file format. Reads XviD and DivX®** 4.0 & 5.0. Play Music Video in MPEG-4.
Display: 2.2" LCD 220x176 pixels, 262 000 colours and TV output.
AV connections: Stereo analog Line In (via adapter included). Composite Video/ Earphone / Analog Line Out jack, SCART for European version. Built-in microphone.
Battery life: Up to 10 hours for music or 5 hours for video on built-in LCD.
Scalability: Download firmware updates from www.archos.com
Power source: Internal: Rechargeable Li-Ion Batteries. External: AC charger/adaptor.
Dimensions: Approx. 10.6 x 6 x 1.7 cm (4.2" x 2.4" x 0.7").
Weight: 160 g (5.64 oz).
System requirements: PC: Pentium® III 800 MHz or higher, Windows 98 SE, ME, 2000 or XP. 64 MB RAM (128 MB recommended) with USB port and CD-ROM drive.
Mac: 9.2 or X (10.2.4) USB Manager version 1.2 or higher with USB port and CD-ROM drive.

£215 quid in UK.

1. Download Pirates of Silicon Valley.
2. Transfer it to Archos.
3. Visit the Apple Store and sit down play fast forward to the scene where Bill Gates slaps down Steve Jobs = priceless!

Just read a review of it on CNET, sounds pretty damn good. It would mean I wouldn't be bothered about getting a PSP anyway, ha. Where did you get it for £215 my good friend?

 

[COCKLES]

Microanvika in Tot court Road London....managed to haggle down from 225 sale price. But my friend was so impressed he got one as well.....but managed to haggle better then I did to 200. WTF?!?! :lol

Only downside is the screen has a glass layer, which is a bit easy to scuff. So get down to Menzies or Maplins and buy some protective film. Archos have a carrying case for it, but it's not avaliable yet.

Encoding movies, software frontend you download from Arhcos site converts practically anything in about an hour. Did Star Wars DIVX to Archos Mpeg 4 SP in 52 mins. Quality of screen is great, even though it's the smallest of all the Portable Media Players, it's very watchable.