I've had the Jukebox Recorder 20 for about 6 months and it rocks. It does MP3 encoding up to 160kbps VBR, shows up as a SCSI harddisk when you plug it in, supports USB2 (~400Mbs - note, the other Archos units only support USB1.1, so the connection is slower). Also, there is an open OS project for the Archos drives, so there might be a possibility of OGG playback on it, though there might not be if the MP3 playback is all being done by a dedicated ASIC that only does MP#.
I am overall happy with it, though it would have been nice if they had included a mic preamp (the builtin mic picks up the HD noise ever few minutes when the buffer gets flushed). Had they, it would have been the live recordist's (bootlegger's) dream, as you can record a whole show including all of the opening bands without stopping to change the media.
All that said, it is a harddisk, so jogging might not be the best thing for it. I've read reviews that say it is rock solid and others that say that jostling it quickly causes HD death.
My biggest bit of advice if you are wanting to use it with Linux is to get something that looks like a USB/SCSI harddisk rather than one that only talks a proprietary language with the computer (I seem to remember the non-CD-based Rios being in this category, which is part of why I went with the Archos.) Note, if they use VFAT/FAT32 compact flash, then you can always just put the CF in your computer (USB, PCMCIA, EIDE adapter) and write to it as a HD and then put it back in the unit.
I haven't read these two, but I would recommend "the Wind-up Bird Chronicles," "Norwegian Wood," and "Hard-Boiled Wonderland..." (as it would seem many others do). I haven't checked out any of his others (and have not yet read the new English translation of "Norwegian Wood"), but all of these strike me as great books (though "HBW..." was more difficult than the others to get through, it was certainly rewarding). I read both "WUBC" and "NW" while visiting a friend in San Francisco a couple of years ago (she had the older translation of "NW" and after reading that, I ran across "WUBC" in a 50%-off bookstore in Berkeley. They were both so good that I read them each in a bit over a day.
Strangely, I also picked up a Kurt Vonnegut novel ("TimeQuake", I think) at the same bookstore and read it immediately following "WUBC" (all before heading home - what a weird vacation, since I read 4 or 5 books during those 10 days). I remember thinking that they all seemed to fit together, though it was probably just my mood (getting to the end of a long visit and ready to long journey home), and I would not really consider that to be one of the essential KV stories.
PKD. Somehow I have managed to only read "Do Androids Dream..." and that was so long ago that I don't even remember what I thought of it. Must go back and explore him a bit.
So, as I said elsewhere, I have been drooling over the idea of a smartphone for some time. "Why?" you may ask. Because when I go into a store looking for something, it is nice to be able to supplement my research on the spot by checking out prices, model specs, etc while I am standing there wondering what the difference between an 1120cs and an 1120ci is. Because sometimes I want to be able to get a map/directions that I didn't know I would need the last time I synched my Handspring. Because I want to check the movie times on a whim (especially when I don't happen to have the theater's phone number and don't want to pay for directory assistance - yes, data service costs more, but if I already have it paid for, why not use it).
The only real reason that I haven't picked up a 6035 is because I have been waiting for the new 2.5/3G rollout and didn't want to be picking up something that was going to be upgraded so soon. $500? I don't know. Maybe an early Christmas present to myself. Would I use it $500-worth? I don't know. I do know that my current phone just frustrates me with the lack of Internet awareness and carrying that + my Handspring is not as nice as carrying just 1 uber-device.
Okay, so I'll admit that I have been drooling over the 6035 smartphone for some time now. And I've been toying with upgrading my current phone, especially since Qwest appears to have an "unlimited data for $10/month" deal. However, I just went to check out the Qwest webpage and the 6035 is gone. And, since the 7135 is not out for a bit yet, there is a definite gap in their product line. Did Kyocera discontinue the 6035 (still on their webpage) or is this simply Qwest (or Qwest's webpage, since doing a search on www.qwestwi reless.com still finds some 6035 literature pages) issue? Is there anything like a firm date on the 7135 being released (other that Q4)? Is there any indication of whether Qwest will be using the 7135? Why is the sky blue? (Yes, I am asking questions that there are probably not answers to. Shame on me.)
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I've had the Jukebox Recorder 20 for about 6 months and it rocks. It does MP3 encoding up to 160kbps VBR, shows up as a SCSI harddisk when you plug it in, supports USB2 (~400Mbs - note, the other Archos units only support USB1.1, so the connection is slower). Also, there is an open OS project for the Archos drives, so there might be a possibility of OGG playback on it, though there might not be if the MP3 playback is all being done by a dedicated ASIC that only does MP#. I am overall happy with it, though it would have been nice if they had included a mic preamp (the builtin mic picks up the HD noise ever few minutes when the buffer gets flushed). Had they, it would have been the live recordist's (bootlegger's) dream, as you can record a whole show including all of the opening bands without stopping to change the media. All that said, it is a harddisk, so jogging might not be the best thing for it. I've read reviews that say it is rock solid and others that say that jostling it quickly causes HD death. My biggest bit of advice if you are wanting to use it with Linux is to get something that looks like a USB/SCSI harddisk rather than one that only talks a proprietary language with the computer (I seem to remember the non-CD-based Rios being in this category, which is part of why I went with the Archos.) Note, if they use VFAT/FAT32 compact flash, then you can always just put the CF in your computer (USB, PCMCIA, EIDE adapter) and write to it as a HD and then put it back in the unit.
I haven't read these two, but I would recommend "the Wind-up Bird Chronicles," "Norwegian Wood," and "Hard-Boiled Wonderland..." (as it would seem many others do). I haven't checked out any of his others (and have not yet read the new English translation of "Norwegian Wood"), but all of these strike me as great books (though "HBW..." was more difficult than the others to get through, it was certainly rewarding). I read both "WUBC" and "NW" while visiting a friend in San Francisco a couple of years ago (she had the older translation of "NW" and after reading that, I ran across "WUBC" in a 50%-off bookstore in Berkeley. They were both so good that I read them each in a bit over a day. Strangely, I also picked up a Kurt Vonnegut novel ("TimeQuake", I think) at the same bookstore and read it immediately following "WUBC" (all before heading home - what a weird vacation, since I read 4 or 5 books during those 10 days). I remember thinking that they all seemed to fit together, though it was probably just my mood (getting to the end of a long visit and ready to long journey home), and I would not really consider that to be one of the essential KV stories. PKD. Somehow I have managed to only read "Do Androids Dream..." and that was so long ago that I don't even remember what I thought of it. Must go back and explore him a bit.
So, as I said elsewhere, I have been drooling over the idea of a smartphone for some time. "Why?" you may ask. Because when I go into a store looking for something, it is nice to be able to supplement my research on the spot by checking out prices, model specs, etc while I am standing there wondering what the difference between an 1120cs and an 1120ci is. Because sometimes I want to be able to get a map/directions that I didn't know I would need the last time I synched my Handspring. Because I want to check the movie times on a whim (especially when I don't happen to have the theater's phone number and don't want to pay for directory assistance - yes, data service costs more, but if I already have it paid for, why not use it). The only real reason that I haven't picked up a 6035 is because I have been waiting for the new 2.5/3G rollout and didn't want to be picking up something that was going to be upgraded so soon. $500? I don't know. Maybe an early Christmas present to myself. Would I use it $500-worth? I don't know. I do know that my current phone just frustrates me with the lack of Internet awareness and carrying that + my Handspring is not as nice as carrying just 1 uber-device.
Okay, so I'll admit that I have been drooling over the 6035 smartphone for some time now. And I've been toying with upgrading my current phone, especially since Qwest appears to have an "unlimited data for $10/month" deal. However, I just went to check out the Qwest webpage and the 6035 is gone. And, since the 7135 is not out for a bit yet, there is a definite gap in their product line. Did Kyocera discontinue the 6035 (still on their webpage) or is this simply Qwest (or Qwest's webpage, since doing a search on www.qwestwi reless.com still finds some 6035 literature pages) issue? Is there anything like a firm date on the 7135 being released (other that Q4)? Is there any indication of whether Qwest will be using the 7135? Why is the sky blue? (Yes, I am asking questions that there are probably not answers to. Shame on me.)