Slashdot Mirror

Apple don't sell their own adaptor of this type, but Shure do, and many Apple stores carry it. http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/Accessories.7/Shure.44/MPA-3C/Shure_Music_iPhone_Adaptor__MPA-3C_.3097.html has an overview of it. They've used sensible cable length for it, too.

Cant you just replace the car stereo with one that plays MP3s off of a harddrive?

You dont have to carry a radio from your house and plug it into your car, so why have do you have to physically carry your ripped tracks between house and car?

"iPod integration" is actually "audio disintegration", your iTunes tracks are not integratable with any other media devices.

This thing is getting there.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=4&products_id=1260

Apple Shuffle £69, 1Gb, no features
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?products_id=477
Apple Nano £109, 1Gb, MP3/AAC and not much else. (2Gb £139, 4Gb £179).
http://www.apple-shop.co.uk/ipod/?src=gg-ld-qu-app lenano

Cowon, 1Gb, £119, more codecs, replacable battery, no drivers to install, no fucking about with iTunes to load music onto it,
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=465

Cowon iAudio 5, 1Gb £130, Smaller then nano, removable battery, FM radio, voice recorder, no drivers, works as USB key, comes with beltloop jacket. Is a bit pricier than nano, but remember Apple are discounting to get folks locked into the iTunes store. 2Gb version cost £190.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=540

Orb 1Gb£55, Cross between a USb stick and an MP3 player,
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?products_id=626

Samsung 2Gb £109. Looks like Samsung have managed to beat up the flash suppliers too, their prices are similar, and they can get hold of 4Gb parts too.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=1035

Apple Shuffle £69, 1Gb, no features
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?products_id=477
Apple Nano £109, 1Gb, MP3/AAC and not much else. (2Gb £139, 4Gb £179).
http://www.apple-shop.co.uk/ipod/?src=gg-ld-qu-app lenano

Cowon, 1Gb, £119, more codecs, replacable battery, no drivers to install, no fucking about with iTunes to load music onto it,
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=465

Cowon iAudio 5, 1Gb £130, Smaller then nano, removable battery, FM radio, voice recorder, no drivers, works as USB key, comes with beltloop jacket. Is a bit pricier than nano, but remember Apple are discounting to get folks locked into the iTunes store. 2Gb version cost £190.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=540

Orb 1Gb£55, Cross between a USb stick and an MP3 player,
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?products_id=626

Samsung 2Gb £109. Looks like Samsung have managed to beat up the flash suppliers too, their prices are similar, and they can get hold of 4Gb parts too.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=1035

Apple Shuffle £69, 1Gb, no features
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?products_id=477
Apple Nano £109, 1Gb, MP3/AAC and not much else. (2Gb £139, 4Gb £179).
http://www.apple-shop.co.uk/ipod/?src=gg-ld-qu-app lenano

Cowon, 1Gb, £119, more codecs, replacable battery, no drivers to install, no fucking about with iTunes to load music onto it,
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=465

Cowon iAudio 5, 1Gb £130, Smaller then nano, removable battery, FM radio, voice recorder, no drivers, works as USB key, comes with beltloop jacket. Is a bit pricier than nano, but remember Apple are discounting to get folks locked into the iTunes store. 2Gb version cost £190.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=540

Orb 1Gb£55, Cross between a USb stick and an MP3 player,
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?products_id=626

Samsung 2Gb £109. Looks like Samsung have managed to beat up the flash suppliers too, their prices are similar, and they can get hold of 4Gb parts too.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=1035

Apple Shuffle £69, 1Gb, no features
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?products_id=477
Apple Nano £109, 1Gb, MP3/AAC and not much else. (2Gb £139, 4Gb £179).
http://www.apple-shop.co.uk/ipod/?src=gg-ld-qu-app lenano

Cowon, 1Gb, £119, more codecs, replacable battery, no drivers to install, no fucking about with iTunes to load music onto it,
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=465

Cowon iAudio 5, 1Gb £130, Smaller then nano, removable battery, FM radio, voice recorder, no drivers, works as USB key, comes with beltloop jacket. Is a bit pricier than nano, but remember Apple are discounting to get folks locked into the iTunes store. 2Gb version cost £190.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=540

Orb 1Gb£55, Cross between a USb stick and an MP3 player,
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?products_id=626

Samsung 2Gb £109. Looks like Samsung have managed to beat up the flash suppliers too, their prices are similar, and they can get hold of 4Gb parts too.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=1035

Apple Shuffle £69, 1Gb, no features
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?products_id=477
Apple Nano £109, 1Gb, MP3/AAC and not much else. (2Gb £139, 4Gb £179).
http://www.apple-shop.co.uk/ipod/?src=gg-ld-qu-app lenano

Cowon, 1Gb, £119, more codecs, replacable battery, no drivers to install, no fucking about with iTunes to load music onto it,
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=465

Cowon iAudio 5, 1Gb £130, Smaller then nano, removable battery, FM radio, voice recorder, no drivers, works as USB key, comes with beltloop jacket. Is a bit pricier than nano, but remember Apple are discounting to get folks locked into the iTunes store. 2Gb version cost £190.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=540

Orb 1Gb£55, Cross between a USb stick and an MP3 player,
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?products_id=626

Samsung 2Gb £109. Looks like Samsung have managed to beat up the flash suppliers too, their prices are similar, and they can get hold of 4Gb parts too.
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_i nfo.php?cPath=1&products_id=1035

I'm not so sure. I agree we are in a throw-away society but I still think people will generally not be happy re-purchasing *the same* music every 5-10years.

Games are quite different since there are not that many people who desperately want to play old BBC Micro or MegaDrive games on a PS2/xbox2. I happen to be one of those of people, but I never completed the Elite missions and am quite sad ;)

As an aside I just 5minutes ago purchased an OGG compatible, linux friendly HD based audio player. [http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_ info.php?products_id=684%5D.

Matt.

Nope at around £70 it is still more than twice the price on the one I bought.

Another site with a bigger photo here.

There's another company doing CF players: Maxtech. They went for more conventional designs with LCDs and loads of dials and buttons which is unfortunate because the player also has to accomodate space for the CF memory. Looking at the piccies, they are much bigger than the iriver players. Amyway, specs of the SSP-100 here. No idea if you can find it in the US, but some retailers in Europe seem to have it.

Removable media is where its at for me.

I want a device that runs on AA's, and supports Compact Flash II. I finally found one: NEX ia Plus

Ordered it yesterday. (From Taiwan)

I got it here. Price seems to have gone up to ukp 255 now but still a bargain at that price.

Just been researching ogg players, and there is indeed a 0Gb player - the NEX ia plus, appears to be compactflash based, so 100quid for the player, then 100quid for a 1Gb microdrive. I already have 2 microdrives + 1 256Mb card for my camera so they are effectivly free for me.

Has radio, Ogg, USB2 and recording abilities too, so it really is an alternative to the iRiver HP120. Oh, and its takes 2xAA batts, so battery life is less important, cos you can carry spares.

I just pre-ordered my NEX ia a few days ago (it doesn't ship for a few more days; $130 + s/h for a NEX ia + 128MB CF) - my NEX II served me well for two years and just recently died. One neat feature is that it does do 64kbps MP3 recording w/ an internal mic. I was originally looking for a decent MP3 recorder, but unfortunately, one doesn't exist (the only ones that have level meters for example are $1000+ bulky pro units).

Anyway, I posted some research on my blog which might be of interest:

My old NEX II MP3 player just recently died on me. I started taking it apart, and it looks like I might be able to do some soldering to possibly get it working, but chances are slim (approximately corresponding to my soldering skills). It looks like the new NEX ia is coming out though, with voice/FM recording, better firmware, and possible Ogg Vorbis support, among other things. I sent an email to see what the recording quality is (hopefully with line-in capabilities), and to see if some slightly annoying NEX II bugs have been fixed.

From correspondence w/ Frontier Labs:

• improvements: multiple folder support, alphabetical song listing, more buffering, improved shuffle (but no m3u support, so you'll want to keep your CopyNex handy - see also: FATSort, PlaylistExpander)
• Ogg Vorbis is actually being worked on, for the NEX II's as well as the NEX ia and will be released as a firmware upgrade
• 64Kbps recording (can record at higher bitrates, but no selection mechanism in the firmware right now)
• No (recording) level-meter
• No line-in, the only external input is the built-in voice recording microphone
• Can play back MP3 files at the same time as recording

Perception Digital has a PD-095-01 Portable MP3 player which has a can record from an internal mic, FM, or a line-in at 13Kbps voice or 48-320kbps MP3 (!). That's pretty frickin' awesome. It's a little bit on the chunkier side, and only accepts SmartMedia, no Compact Flash though. Still, tempting, if I could find some user reviews...

The e.Digital Odyssey 300 (SmartMedia) looks interesting, although it also looks like it's no longer available. [the Mpio DMB+ looks like the same thing]

Also, PoGo! Products has their RipFlash line of Recordable Digital Audio Players (the TRIO is one w/ mic and line in, but is not memory expandable). Uses SD/MMC... (CNet RipFlash DX review)

See Also: minidisc.org's Portable Recorders with Uploading Facilities list.

Places to buy: e.Digital Odyseey 300, PoGo! RipFlash Trio, Perception Digital Hercules (PD-095-01),