MP3 players: iPod, iRiver H120, Rio Karma, Dell DJ

[welst10]

I'm starting to look for a MP3 player too. After reading all these (especially the sh1tty battery life), Ipod isn't on the top of my candidates either. I prefer features and quality to looks.

How does IRiver compare to Dell DJ?

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: welst10
I'm starting to look for a MP3 player too. After reading all these (especially the sh1tty battery life), Ipod isn't on the top of my candidates either. I prefer features and quality to looks.

How does IRiver compare to Dell DJ?

DJ has some smoking good battery life. Upwards of 18 hours under optimal conditions from the reviews I've read. Iriver can only pull around 10. Which really, isn't *that* much better than the criticized Ipods.

 

[misle]

Bump for the evening crowd

 

[Anubis]

i still say the Rio Karma, the Irivers come in close seconds with the creative and dell, the ipod isnt on the map

 

[HiTek21]

Loving my IRiver here. I still like the touch wheel on the Ipod, the little joystick on the IRiver kind of sucks but I use my remote instead. Reason I went for the IRiver is I got the 20gb for same price as a 15gb Ipod, my previous experience with my Slim X Cd player, LCD Remote, & FM Tuner.

 

[LongCoolMother]

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1
you have the new ipods coming out. wait for them, they are cheaper and better.

what else could you want?

MIKE

What else could you want?
How about:

• Better battery life?

• Compatibility with more audio formats?

• Better audio quality?

• Cheaper?

• A more ergonomic chassis?

I'm not saying that the iPod is a bad DAP, I never have -- as a matter of fact it is a wonderful piece of industrial design (along with most of apple's other products) -- but people who think they are the be-all end-all of DAPs are idiots.

true. i might be behind since i dont follow mp3 players anymore, but the last time i checked the ipod's DAP was better than those afformentioned? including the line-out and having a more beefy headphone out. of course, they still are all pretty bad, but the ipod should be the lightest offender. of course, this was before the current gen ipod and they could have stripped it down.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: nourdmrolNMT1
you have the new ipods coming out. wait for them, they are cheaper and better.

what else could you want?

MIKE

What else could you want?
How about:

• Better battery life?

• Compatibility with more audio formats?

• Better audio quality?

• Cheaper?

• A more ergonomic chassis?

I'm not saying that the iPod is a bad DAP, I never have -- as a matter of fact it is a wonderful piece of industrial design (along with most of apple's other products) -- but people who think they are the be-all end-all of DAPs are idiots.

Aye, but make sure to differentiate between those that are buying who accept that it is not the best thing since slice bread. Although perhaps to you it might just seem asthetically pleasing, aesthetics play are large role in purchases. In addittion, one of the IPOD's greatest 'features' is its simplicity. Yes, other players are easy to use, but the IPODs seem to take it to another level of simplicity.

 

[daddyo]

Are the iPod and iRiver the only MP3 players that can be managed without software? I've had a few other MP3 players, and I really can't stand being limited to some after-thought applications that are downright awful.

I love the idea of an MP3 player acting like another hard drive, and I don't understand why all the companies don't do this.

 

[yukichigai]

Originally posted by: daddy-o
Are the iPod and iRiver the only MP3 players that can be managed without software? I've had a few other MP3 players, and I really can't stand being limited to some after-thought applications that are downright awful.

I love the idea of an MP3 player acting like another hard drive, and I don't understand why all the companies don't do this.

I seem to recall Windows operation of the iPod requires an "iPod Helper" application running in the background.

 

[Kev]

iRiver has great customer service. I have SlimX 550 and dropped it one day, it was still under warranty and they sent my a whole new unit (even headphones, remote, etc.)

The FM tuner on the remote is pretty damn good. And iRiver supports more audio formats.

Highly recommended

 

[Kelvrick]

Why do people not like FM? Yes, I have 20gb's of MP3's that will somehow tell me how traffic is going to be on my drive home so I can decide to stay another 10-20 minutes in the mall to let it clear up. What about talk radio, I'm sure the mp3's will give me plenty of interesting topics to think about during a morning walk.

 

[SuperTool]

All of the traffic update stations here are on AM dial. So FM won't help me. FM is mostly for music, aside from NPR.

 

[yukichigai]

Originally posted by: SuperTool
All of the traffic update stations here are on AM dial. So FM won't help me. FM is mostly for music, aside from NPR.

Which is why I have a watch with a built-in AM radio. I kick ass!

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: yukichigai

Originally posted by: SuperTool
All of the traffic update stations here are on AM dial. So FM won't help me. FM is mostly for music, aside from NPR.

Which is why I have a watch with a built-in AM radio. I kick ass!

Or you could just have a regular watch, and use your head to figure out what hours the traffic is

 

[ed21x]

Originally posted by: Atomicus

Originally posted by: welst10
Does ipod have FM tuner?

wow.... people and their obsession with listening to the radio when you have a freakin MP3 player at your disposal.

When a nuclear war begins, just hide in a cave! Why listen to the radio for updates?

my guess is the iPod doesn't, by the defensiveness of Atomicus' tone =) Going on, I don't think the iPod has USB Mass storage device capabilities (really going to take away from it as a plug and play portable HD), and doesn't have an integrated recorder either. I'm also fairly certain that the iPod has the lowest battery life of all the players mentioned. Case in point, iRiver >>**

currently, my iRiver pulls in around 12-14 hour battery life.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: yukichigai

Originally posted by: misle
This morning, I was really thinking about getting a new 4G iPod 20GB, but after reading reviews and this thread, the iRiver H120 has moved into the lead. The Ogg support helps along with all the extra and I won't have to use iTunes on my PC. (I use iTunes at work on my Mac, but at home I much prefer Winamp.)

I got fed up with iTunes. I like the theory behind it, but it installs processes that run at startup. Processes you can't end from the Task Manager. If it was something important I'd be okay, but why does iTunes automatically install an iPodHelper process when I don't have one? Bleah.

I saw it was going the way of Quicktime. I think I'll get an iRiver. Note to self: scour Hot Deals for good deal on iRiver.

Originally posted by: yukichigai

Originally posted by: daddy-o
Are the iPod and iRiver the only MP3 players that can be managed without software? I've had a few other MP3 players, and I really can't stand being limited to some after-thought applications that are downright awful.

I love the idea of an MP3 player acting like another hard drive, and I don't understand why all the companies don't do this.

I seem to recall Windows operation of the iPod requires an "iPod Helper" application running in the background.

That has got to be the worst reason for not buying an ipod that I have ever heard.

 

[torpid]

I own a karma and temporarily owned a jukebox. I've tested out the zen and ipod. I've not seen the iriver hdd player but I do own a slimX.

Based on this information, I'd say... it depends. If iPod does everything you want in an mp3 player, it is by far the best bet. For me the karma is the best choice. It's small, has great sound quality, comes with a dock to hook up to my home stereo, and supports all the formats I want. It's annoying to have to use software, but the software itself is quite good.

Based on my experiences with the SlimX, I'm not sure I would advise a purchase of the iriver product. The slimx may very well have been the best cd mp3 player at the time, but all the areas it lacked were things I cared about. The sound quality is not great. And worse, when playing cds it had a lot of problems. The firmware support for it died a long time ago despite the existence of bugs. All in all I felt that the quality of the product was somewhat low, even if the innovation level was high.

However, I wasn't impressed too much with the zen. It just seemed so cludgy. The jukebox 3 I had was even worse due to the form factor, and I just didn't like their software.

So that being said, if the iPod has everything you would want:

iPod > Karma > IRiver > Zen > Dell DJ

For me:

Karma > iPod (close though)

 

[JoPh]

zen xtra is the best bang for the buck. 40gb ~ $269 cant beat that.


and it has a replaceable battery incase you care.

 

[Gravity]

I have owned a Rio fuse for over a year and love it. A carrier would have been nice, or a belt clip but the function has been superb.

I lost mine and ordered a refurb from Overstock which is gettin rma'd as we speak. Therefore, I'm in the market again for an mp3 player.

I want 256 this time, and the ability to endure the sporting stuff I do. Falling in to the swamp from my mtn bike should be the death knell to my mp3 player.

I don't need a gig of space, I just want about 30-50 tunes since I'd like to hear most of what's on my list during my rides or workouts in the gym. I'd also like to spend arount $100 if possible.

 

[loup garou]

I almost forgot to recommend the JetAudio iAudio M3, it's smaller than the iPod, with way more features and great battery life. I'd grab one immediately if my gf wouldn't kill me as she gave me my Karma for Christmas last year. Personally, I like all the controls on the remote. It would be even sweeter if the remote was Bluetooth and you could stash the player in your backpack/bag/pocket and change songs, etc wirelessly...drool...

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: JoPh
zen xtra is the best bang for the buck. 40gb ~ $269 cant beat that.

and it has a replaceable battery incase you care.

mine was 207$ at CC on crazy special last winter, its great ive never had an issue with it and i use it every day

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: werk
I almost forgot to recommend the JetAudio iAudio M3, it's smaller than the iPod, with way more features and great battery life. I'd grab one immediately if my gf wouldn't kill me as she gave me my Karma for Christmas last year. Personally, I like all the controls on the remote. It would be even sweeter if the remote was Bluetooth and you could stash the player in your backpack/bag/pocket and change songs, etc wirelessly...drool...

wow that thing is pretty impressive

 

[Anubis]

also see if you can find one of these

Gigabeat
http://www.i4u.com/section-viewarticle-24.html

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Anubis
also see if you can find one of these

Gigabeat
http://www.i4u.com/section-viewarticle-24.html

That thing is sweet, doesn't it have a network interface like the Karma?
Although I heard it also has some serious security (DRM) when transferring...

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: yukichigai

Originally posted by: misle
This morning, I was really thinking about getting a new 4G iPod 20GB, but after reading reviews and this thread, the iRiver H120 has moved into the lead. The Ogg support helps along with all the extra and I won't have to use iTunes on my PC. (I use iTunes at work on my Mac, but at home I much prefer Winamp.)

I got fed up with iTunes. I like the theory behind it, but it installs processes that run at startup. Processes you can't end from the Task Manager. If it was something important I'd be okay, but why does iTunes automatically install an iPodHelper process when I don't have one? Bleah.

I saw it was going the way of Quicktime. I think I'll get an iRiver. Note to self: scour Hot Deals for good deal on iRiver.

Originally posted by: yukichigai

Originally posted by: daddy-o
Are the iPod and iRiver the only MP3 players that can be managed without software? I've had a few other MP3 players, and I really can't stand being limited to some after-thought applications that are downright awful.

I love the idea of an MP3 player acting like another hard drive, and I don't understand why all the companies don't do this.

I seem to recall Windows operation of the iPod requires an "iPod Helper" application running in the background.

That has got to be the worst reason for not buying an ipod that I have ever heard.

I think it's an excellent reason. You're spending $250-$400 or more for what is basically a portable hard drive with an mp3 decoder, phono jack, and a few bells and whistles - why not be able to use it as a hard drive?

Further, I can't see supporting the company behind Quicktime. Even further, the only reason most people like the pod so much is because they're suggestible and everyone else has one. It's not good looking and the battery life sucks. Other players have more features. It's not fully a plug & play hdd. It's expensive as hell.