Ipod or alternative?

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Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
Originally posted by: Gurck
Originally posted by: Anubis
Originally posted by: anxi80
iaudio m3. cheaper, smaller and lighter than an ipod, looks sleek, has more features, great support (new firmware updates just about every month), and doesnt require any software, you can just plug it into your system, recognized as a hard drive, and just drag and drop whatever you want in. even comes with a case and (2) docks (one desktop dock, another is a portable dock).

sence when it it cheaper? i know its better but the M3 costs over 300$ and the M3L is about 400$

The 20gb m3 is $275 at Newegg which is comparable (but a smidge below) the iPod & iRiver 20gb models - its 40gb version really shines though at $335 (Newegg as well - though they're out of stock, iirc), while the competition from Apple & iRiver is close to $400. I know those are just Newegg's prices, but prices elsewhere should somewhat resemble them. What's the M3L?

wow i didnt know newegg had them that cheap, i was going off the prioces on the jetaudio site

the M3L is the one with the 35 hour battery
 

notfred

Lifer
Feb 12, 2001
38,241
4
0
Doesn't matter if others are better or cheaper. He wants an iPod. If you're buying the gift for HIM and not for YOU, then you'll get an iPod.
 

MrChad

Lifer
Aug 22, 2001
13,507
3
81
Originally posted by: notfred
Doesn't matter if others are better or cheaper. He wants an iPod. If you're buying the gift for HIM and not for YOU, then you'll get an iPod.

Agreed. If he asked for an Xbox for Christmas, would you buy him a Gamecube?
 

FFactory0x

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2001
6,991
0
0
Originally posted by: MrChad
Originally posted by: notfred
Doesn't matter if others are better or cheaper. He wants an iPod. If you're buying the gift for HIM and not for YOU, then you'll get an iPod.

Agreed. If he asked for an Xbox for Christmas, would you buy him a Gamecube?


Theres a difference. Xbox and Gamecube are totally different and dont have same games and dont do same thing. Mp3's players for the most part do the same exact stuff.

Its like asking for a BFG 6800gt and getting am EVGA 6800gt

 

MrChad

Lifer
Aug 22, 2001
13,507
3
81
Originally posted by: FFactory0x
Originally posted by: MrChad
Originally posted by: notfred
Doesn't matter if others are better or cheaper. He wants an iPod. If you're buying the gift for HIM and not for YOU, then you'll get an iPod.

Agreed. If he asked for an Xbox for Christmas, would you buy him a Gamecube?


Theres a difference. Xbox and Gamecube are totally different and dont have same games and dont do same thing. Mp3's players for the most part do the same exact stuff.

Its like asking for a BFG 6800gt and getting am EVGA 6800gt

He didn't ask for an mp3 player. He asked for an iPod. :p
 

Dubb

Platinum Member
Mar 25, 2003
2,495
0
0
Originally posted by: torpid
Originally posted by: Dubb
rio karma

gapless. 'nuff said.

I have the karma and I'm not sure I would give a blanket recommendation. It has its own set of quirks that not everyone would put up with, and the support by rio is utterly abysmal.



I've heard various things...but I haven't had any trouble. interface is great, and riovolution is all the support I've ever needed. I did buy a two year warranty just to be safe, but I wish I hadn't

don't know what quirks you mean...

Originally posted by: FreshFish

HAHA gapless is not enough to recomend a player. There are 100000000 other considerations

I don't know about 100000000 other considerations...but yes, you're right it isn't the only consideration. it's a deal killer for me though, if it weren't for the karma I wouldn't have an audio player.

maybe I listen to an abnormal amount of albums with transitions. Maybe I have too much live stuff. But for me, if a player can't play an album with no gaps/clicks between tracks, I'd rather have a cd player.

it's one of those things that seems like it should be a default on all players...the fact that the karma has it isn't so much a testament to the greatness of the karma, but a highlight of how poor all the others are at what they're supposed to do: play music.

when another player comes around that can
A) play vorbis
B) play gapless (properly)
C) battery life at least 10 hours
D) operate easily and fit nicely in my pocket

I'll consider it a viable player. till then, the karma is at the top (and the only player I'll consider).

the karma isn't perfect, I'd like it if it had a bigger HD (I have about 100GB of .oggs), I'd like a remote, and I'd like mass storage support. I'm willing to live without those things for the benefits of the karma

the m3/m5 etc would probably be my second choice. Iriver has so much potential, but is severely hampered by the impotent monkey who writes their firmware.

but I would check with the gift reciever to see if he knows the ipod can't play gapless, and if he cares...
 

torpid

Lifer
Sep 14, 2003
11,631
11
76
Originally posted by: Dubb
Originally posted by: torpid
Originally posted by: Dubb
rio karma

gapless. 'nuff said.

I have the karma and I'm not sure I would give a blanket recommendation. It has its own set of quirks that not everyone would put up with, and the support by rio is utterly abysmal.



I've heard various things...but I haven't had any trouble. interface is great, and riovolution is all the support I've ever needed. I did buy a two year warranty just to be safe, but I wish I hadn't

don't know what quirks you mean...

Originally posted by: FreshFish

HAHA gapless is not enough to recomend a player. There are 100000000 other considerations

I don't know about 100000000 other considerations...but yes, you're right it isn't the only consideration. it's a deal killer for me though, if it weren't for the karma I wouldn't have an audio player.

maybe I listen to an abnormal amount of albums with transitions. Maybe I have too much live stuff. But for me, if a player can't play an album with no gaps/clicks between tracks, I'd rather have a cd player.

it's one of those things that seems like it should be a default on all players...the fact that the karma has it isn't so much a testament to the greatness of the karma, but a highlight of how poor all the others are at what they're supposed to do: play music.

when another player comes around that can
A) play vorbis
B) play gapless (properly)
C) battery life at least 10 hours
D) operate easily and fit nicely in my pocket

I'll consider it a viable player. till then, the karma is at the top (and the only player I'll consider).

the karma isn't perfect, I'd like it if it had a bigger HD (I have about 100GB of .oggs), I'd like a remote, and I'd like mass storage support. I'm willing to live without those things for the benefits of the karma

the m3/m5 etc would probably be my second choice. Iriver has so much potential, but is severely hampered by the impotent monkey who writes their firmware.

but I would check with the gift reciever to see if he knows the ipod can't play gapless, and if he cares...

I've had songs hang the player and had to reformat, for example. The software that it comes with also has some weird things it does once in a while. Although the inteface is good, sometimes it is counterintuitive. Every time I want to skip forward in a list to a certain song without having to have it load all the songs in between, I always have difficulty. I've also found that it occasionally needs to be turned on and off to be recognized by its own software, which may or may not hang in the process.

I share your sentiments about iRiver, having owned iriver products. I don't know much about the m3, but I would pick the ipod second over the other ones I've seen... although on any given day I might pick it 1st due to frustrations with the karma. It's a love/hate relationship. There are so many accessories for the ipod... if karma had half of those, it would be an easy choice. I really hated the zen interface. Maybe the touch is better, but somehow I doubt it since the interface in the regular zen was almost exactly the same as the NJB.