High capacity MP3 players (60Gb+)
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Category: Other music related lounges
Forum Name: Tech Talk
Forum Description: Discuss musical instruments, equipment, hi-fi, speakers, vinyl, gadgets,etc.
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=42032
Printed Date: January 09 2025 at 19:29
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Topic: High capacity MP3 players (60Gb+)
Posted By: Norm Cash
Subject: High capacity MP3 players (60Gb+)
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 11:50
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For the past 2 years, I've been the proud owner of a http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/ - Cowon iAudio X5 60Gb MP3 player . It's a terrific piece of kit which simply connects to any computer via a USB lead, and is recognised and acts as an external hard-drive, allowing you to drag and drop music as quickly and easily as you please. No routing through special software (a la iTunes), etc.
In recent months, I've begun to experience a problem which plagues most hard-drive based units, that of battery drain. I'm currently able to get only about 5 hours use after a full charge, and from what I've read I would expect that to start dropping fairly quickly.
I love the convenience of a high capacity player (I use my MP3 player for 2-3 hours every day, and there's no need to constantly rotate my selections), and if I'm going to stick with such a unit, I'm left with 2 options.
The first is to change the battery. This isn't as simple as it may appear. The battery in the X5 (as in most hard-drive players) is sealed within the unit. Removal involves taking the case apart, lifting out the hard-drive, and unsoldering the leads from the terminals. Unfortunately, getting an exact replacement battery for the X5 is damn well impossible. Apparently, the closest approximation to it (it terms of size and mAh rating) is the one used in a Nintendo DS Lite, and even this would involve removing the battery's casing and relocating its protection circuit so that the whole thing can fit into the allocated space. I'm not totally against doing this, but there's always Option 2 (see below)
By the way, Cowon themselves could change the battery for me, but this would involve sending my player half way round the world and a hefty charge as the warrenty is no longer valid. Another lesson that I've learned is that getting hold of a genuine battery with an mAh rating of 1000+ is really tough due to the number of fakes out there. In an abortive attempt to change the battery earlier this week, I ordered a 1200 mAh for a Sony Ericsson K700 phone from an Amazon Marketplace dealer. This should have been a reasonable replacement for the existing battery. However, once I dismantled the battery in order to fit it (removed stickers, outer casing, etc.) I was able to see by the manufacturer's stamp that it was in fact only a 600mAh, two-thirds the rating of the original battery.
 I'd been ripped off  , and there's not a hell of a lot I can do about it except to be very careful about where and what I buy next. In the end, I decided not to put the new battery in the device.Option 2 is - of course - buy a new player.....and this is where I'm hoping to get some feedback from you guys.
 What types of high capacity players are used by people out there in PA Land? What are your recommendations for good devices? How about warnings on what to avoid? Personally, I'm NOT a fan of Apple products, but I'm beginning to wonder if their new 160Gb iPod might be my best bet as a replacement.
The other manufacturers who make high capacity devices - and which don't seem to have the software drawbacks of the iPod are Archos, Wolverine, Creative and Vosonic (Cowon, unfortunately, seem to have dropped out of the very-high capacity market - the X5 60Gb is no longer available). Does anyone have any experiences with these devices that they could share with me, or do you know of other devices that I haven't mentioned?
Once again, I'm looking specifically at devices of greater than 60Gb capacity.
Thanks!
 Glenn,
Glasgow, Scotland ------------- 
"We did it....you and me! Put him right under the table!" |
Replies:
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 11:57
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^ I'm quite happy with my 6GB Creative Zen Micro. I know you're looking for higher storage capacities ... but maybe you can reconsider. I did ... simply because it's impossible to find a player which can store my entire collection. The 6GB of my player allow for approx. 50 albums, and I found that this is more than enough even for a longer journey ... you simply go through your collection and pick albums which you haven't listened to for a long time or which you haven't listened to yet. There's another advantage of smaller players: They're much cheaper. So instead of buying an expensive player which breaks after 3 years and you have to look for a replacement, why not buy a cheap player now and another cheap player three years later? My first portable digital player had a capacity of 256MB and lasted three years ... my current one has 6GB and has already lasted 2 years. When I buy another player next year it will probably have 20-30GB capacity. All my players cost around 150 EUR! ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to: 
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 12:19
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I used to have a Creative Zen 30 GB, but it croaked on me after about a year and a half. I'm currently using a Toshiba Gigabeat 40 GB. It's got a nice color screen that shows album art. The interface software is a little buggy though. I've got my entire collection (over 3000 CDs worth) on the unit. It's over a year old now I think and still running fine. I'd also like to put in a good word for this portable speaker by Logitec I just got recently. It's $14 and sounds really good. I've got a picture of both in the thread about people's collections. http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=27995&PN=18 - http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=27995&PN=18 PS, that's one of my favorite old Star Trek episodes, Glenn. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Posted By: Norm Cash
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 13:15
At the time that I bought the iAudio X5, I gave some consideration to the Toshiba but went for the higher capacity in the end. What kind of battery life do you get? -------------
"We did it....you and me! Put him right under the table!" |
Slartibartfast wrote:Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 13:24
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Not entirely sure about the battery life of the unit. I do know I can go a bit longer before recharges if I turn off the screen. I don't really use the unit as much as you do yours. Mainly for gym, yard work, and trips. I have all my digital music files on my computer at work and home. Can't beat having a huge collection at your fingertips. I filled up the 30 gig before it died. Haven't used up the whole 40 gig unit yet, still have room. Also, I use the 64 K WMA format which is supposed to sound as good as 128 MP3, which sounds fine to me. I use Consumer Reports recommended headphones - http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/headphones-12-06/ratings/1206_head_rat.htm#sony - Sony MDR-ED21LP . ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: bhikkhu
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 13:39
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I bought an external battery from Battery Geek. It has a reported life of 1000 hours, but I have never tested it. It works great for me, and acts like a charger. I hook it up for about a half hour, and my iPod is totally full. When the external is fully charged, that doesn't even remove one light (out of four) on the life indicator. ------------- a.k.a. H.T. http://riekels.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow - http://riekels.wordpress.com |
Posted By: goose
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 16:55
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My guess is that hard disk DAPs are dying out as a breed. If you look at innovators like Cowon, and then Creative and Apple (and I think some others in the last couple of months) they've all replaced their flagship hard disk player with a flash drive player (OK, so Apple still have a new hard disk player but they're forced to play to the market.) Investing in a hard disk player right now might not be wise. I'd hold on to your five hours of battery life until either flash capacity increases, or companies bring out bigger hard disk players. Alternatively, do you really need 60GB+ of music with you at all times? I'm with Mike on this one, because a smaller player might encourage you to take a more active role in what you're listening to and maybe you'll enjoy it more! Your collection will probably be growing just as fast as player capacities, so there's not so much point trying to keep up ;). |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 19:09
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I've got the 160 gig iPod and it's wonderful.
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Posted By: Shakespeare
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 19:13
I thought the biggest was 80. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 25 2007 at 19:38
No I just need 40 right at the moment. I keep a playlist of my latest 100 acquisitions. Love to put it on random. Like having my own radio station. The rest of my collection is always at my fingertips if I get a hankering for something else. Keeping my fingers crossed this unit will last until the next generation of high capacity flash types are developed. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: Norm Cash
Date Posted: September 26 2007 at 04:32
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I think its "horses for courses" as far as personal MP3 player preferences go. I for one do like to have a load of music onhand at all times. I can adjust to my mood in so many different ways. More often than not, however, I just play the thing on shuffle and end up with all sorts of weird and wonderful combinations. As I said earlier, I use my player on a daily basis, so I get through a load of material, both old and new. The idea of a high capacity flash drive - as mentioned by goose above- intrigues me, although i suspect it may be a year or to yet before they are developed and hit the market.
In the meantime, I'd still like to hear the experiences of other high-capacity hard drive owners out there.
I still have one more ace up my sleeve. My young nephew is doing a degree course in electronic engineering at Strathclyde University here in Glasgow. I'm thinking about letting him loose on my X5 to see if he can find and fit an appropriate battery for me! -------------
"We did it....you and me! Put him right under the table!" |
Posted By: Shakespeare
Date Posted: September 26 2007 at 08:27
| The iPods are great, in fact better than most other mp3 players for one reason: iTunes. For any iTunes user, it's a dream: your iPod and your iTunes are completely synced, and plus all your playlists, album art, ratings, et cetera, remain the same. That's the problem I have with drag-n-drop: no playlists. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: September 28 2007 at 19:54
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A little update to my report that software provided for the Toshiba Gigabeat is a little buggy. It said that the album art didn't get transferred with Microsoft's Media player 10, which also works with the player. I never tested it, but it appears to be incorrect. At least with version 11. It works well with the player, playlists and all.
Ok, I've got to revise all that. I thought I was working with the unit, but I was only working with my main computer. But if you reverse all that^, then it's pretty much right on, sorry.  ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: magnus
Date Posted: September 30 2007 at 11:56
Different strokes for different blokes, I guess... I cannot stand iTunes, because I like having control over my own media files. and about the new iPod classics, being as new as they are, they're still VERY prone to bugs, glitches and errors. Why fully finish the testing of your product when you have tons of paying customers that gladly do it for you? And Apple aren't exactly famous for putting top-notch hardware in their DAPs... So you'll propably find lots of players with better sound quality. My recommendation, out of personal experience, would be Creative Zen Vision: M, although they're recently put out of production(so it might not be as easy as before finding one). Good interface, it's easy to transfer media files(either by drag-n-drop or syncing), and it has good sound(and video) quality. I've only had it freeze once, and that was the day I got the player. ------------- The scattered jigsaw of my redemption laid out before my eyes Each piece as amorphous as the other - Each piece in its lack of shape a lie 
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Posted By: Shakespeare
Date Posted: September 30 2007 at 11:58
You can, though, with iTunes. Just select "don't keep my iTunes folder organized" and it won't move or rename anything for you. |
Posted By: ProgBagel
Date Posted: October 03 2007 at 22:37
| I still stick with a cd player...they never get old. |
Posted By: Shakespeare
Date Posted: October 03 2007 at 22:42
| But you can fit hundreds and hundreds of albums on ONE tiny little mp3 player. You can only hold one CD in a CD a player...an MP3 player is much more convenient. |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: October 04 2007 at 22:31
Actually, CD players age at the same rate as any other piece of technology. Or anything else, for that matter. ------------- |
Posted By: Shakespeare
Date Posted: October 04 2007 at 22:34
Except for dogs. |
Posted By: 1800iareyay
Date Posted: October 04 2007 at 22:42
It was, until the new iPod Touch was released. It can only hold a few gigs, so they kept the last generation in stores by doubling its capacity. I might get one of em in a year or so. I've got an 80 gig that only has about 17 gigs left, so I'll need to upgrade in the future. |
Posted By: Dim
Date Posted: October 04 2007 at 22:44
I stick with a cd player... because I know I will either brake or lose an ipod or something nice like that. ------------- 
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Posted By: Shakespeare
Date Posted: October 04 2007 at 22:45
And you won't lose a CD player? Except for Dogs. |
Posted By: Shakespeare
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 20:32
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Why will you lose or break an iPod but not a CD player?!?! Huh?!?! And there's also the chance you break or lose the CD. With an iPod, you break the thing, oh well, replace it. If you break or loose a really expensive and difficult to find CD (or maybe even a near-one-of-a-kind rarity), then you're screwed. |
Posted By: Novalis
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 20:41
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I'm in the market for a high capacity MP3 player, i.e. 40Gb+, and I was wondering what people recommend, taking into consideration sound quality, ease of use, glitches, battery life etc.
The old 1Gb one I've currently got just doesn't cut it.
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 21:20
Speaking of breaking a CD player. My portable fell off the couch after I fell asleep. Lying down and listen to music on headphones. Go Figure. Hard floors. One of the lid hinges broke but it's still functional.  ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: Shakespeare
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 21:27
| I've dropped my iPod countless times, many times very seriously. Once I was biking to school (on rough concrete) and it fell out of pocket and bounced a few yards. A few scratches was all. The things are surprisingly durable. |
Posted By: Novalis
Date Posted: October 09 2007 at 21:40
| My friends who have owned high capacity ipods don't recommend them due to glitches and the way I see it, popular =/= good quality, popular = good marketing. |
Posted By: goose
Date Posted: October 10 2007 at 14:55
| The new 160GB models are only going to be more prone to failure - squeezing that much capacity into a small space is not good for a hard drive. Technology improves, but often overreaches itself in a bid for marketing. If we used today's technology with yesterday's capacity and speeds, everything would be a lot more durable. |
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: October 10 2007 at 15:07
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Keeping my fingers crossed that "solid state" (no moving parts) high capacity comes out affordably before my 40 gig wears out or fills up... ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Posted By: Neil
Date Posted: October 11 2007 at 17:00
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I've been using a Sony NW-A3000 for a couple of years and it's given great service.. Mine's 20GB but they do make larger ones now. ------------- When people get lost in thought it's often because it's unfamiliar territory. |
Posted By: MikeEnRegalia
Date Posted: October 11 2007 at 17:17
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^ the larger ones are quite expensive because they contain the biggest possible 1" harddisk drives ... but as Slartibart said: maybe solid state disks will replace hard drives in the near future, and at the very least the price per GB should drop dramatically.
------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Mike" rel="nofollow">Recently listened to:
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Posted By: Shakespeare
Date Posted: October 13 2007 at 15:46
| I think I finally dropped my iPod one too many times. It's pausing at will and skips songs unexpectedly. |
Posted By: Mikerinos
Date Posted: October 19 2007 at 17:45
I recently got the 80 GB iPod (the Classic, they're called now, but I avoid that title) and it works great. I haven't even tried to put any pictures or movies on yet, and probably not, except maybe my music DVDs.
Do you even have that much music? I have about 60 gb on my computer (I've yet to upload it all to my iPod since I'm addicted to the album art thing and that takes time to do), and most people consider that ridiculous. That doesn't include vinyls or CDs I've been to lazy to upload, either. ------------- 
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Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: October 19 2007 at 17:52
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I've got about 70 gigs, so I figured I'd go for the 160 gigs because at this rate, I'll have 80 gigs pretty soon. If I went for the 80 gig instead, I'd be stuck for space sometime in the near future.
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Posted By: Shakespeare
Date Posted: October 20 2007 at 22:12
Oh my god, I am stupid. I thought you meant concerts when you said gig. I was so confused. JOSH PULLS AN IAN. |
Posted By: FunnyWays
Date Posted: October 23 2007 at 13:28
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A couple of my friends have the 30 gb I-pod Video, well its classic this week or somthing, no idea. They seem very good but the battarys arn't ment to last long. I have a 80gb Archos 504 but while very good you can't put it in your pocket and listen to music as its to big and you can't lock the buttons properly. I-Pods seem the best things out there. Zens seem plasticy Zunes, well I have no idea about them. ------------- 
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Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: December 31 2007 at 21:53
I've just been using an 80 gig Zune for a couple of weeks. Much better than the Toshiba Gigabeat 40. It appears they have gotten out of the digital music player business. They were about to launch a new player line after I got the Gigabeat, but it has appeared to die off. So far so satisfied with the Zune. I do miss the inclusion of the year that my original Creative Loafing Zen had, but I guess I wouldn't trade it for the color screen. ------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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