x5 kills the ipod.

[daniel1113]

I'd be interested to see how the organization compares to the ipod, since the x5 lacks an internal id3 database. It appears as though it only allows organization via folder structures, which is unfortunate. Plus, it has nothing on the ipod scroll wheel. Other than that, it does seem like a solid competitor. I may have to go check one out.

 

[krackato]

I bought one. Cool that it'll have ID3 tags in the future. It's really funny, but I should be one of the last people complaining about ID3 tags since all my stuff is already organized anyway.... but then again, so are my ID3 tags. Anyway, it'll be cool to have it fixed in the future. I hope it doesn't suck (or break).

 

[Czar]

love this!

everything I need,
doesnt trust on id3 tags so my directory and filename sorted mp3 collection, goood
can connect usb devices to it, even though canon cameras seem to be out of luck a simple card reader can be connected, goooooood

next on my buy list for sure

 

[railer]

What's the warranty?

Also, anybody who asks "where's Gurck" everytime ipod is mentioned should be tortured to death. Are you guys 6 or 7?

 

[daniel1113]

Originally posted by: railer
What's the warranty?

Also, anybody who asks "where's Gurck" everytime ipod is mentioned should be tortured to death. Are you guys 6 or 7?

Someone obvisouly doesn't know Gurck very well.

 

[railer]

Originally posted by: daniel1113

Originally posted by: railer
What's the warranty?

Also, anybody who asks "where's Gurck" everytime ipod is mentioned should be tortured to death. Are you guys 6 or 7?

Someone obvisouly doesn't know Gurck very well.

He's the guy who rabildy hates the ipod, we know. Anyone that biased is the last resource any thinking person would use for mp3 player advice.....

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: railer
[Gurck]'s the guy who rabildy hates the ipod, we know. Anyone that biased is the last resource any thinking person would use for mp3 player advice.....

"rabid" suggests strong feeling without reason... I have plenty of reason.

 

[torpid]

Rabid could also mean overly aggressive regardless of reason. Otherwise one could say I dislike iRiver as much as you do the iPod, which is simply not true. Although I do dislike the H10 quite a bit.

 

[LtPage1]

its all marketing. the ipod is really, really, really good. but that is NOT why it sells- it sells because it has sex appeal, and it's the kleenex of portable digital music players. little girls ask their parents for an "ipod," NOT for a "music player." until another company can market their product with any success, it will remain apples market.

 

[torpid]

Well I've seen a lot of ads for samsung / napster players. I think the product has to be very easy to use AND have marketting behind it. So that pretty much rules out everything, because the only similarly easy to use device as the ipod was the karma, and there's no way rio is going to market any product since they abandon them in a year.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: railer
[Gurck]'s the guy who rabildy hates the ipod, we know. Anyone that biased is the last resource any thinking person would use for mp3 player advice.....

"rabid" suggests strong feeling without reason... I have plenty of reason.

Gurck, you'll point out little things that you personally don't like about the iPod, and then recommend a player (x5) that in my opinion has a MAJOR flaw (no ID3 support). The simple fact is, if Apple came out with the perfect player and everyone was buying it, you'd recommend buying something else just because you hate Apple.

And I don't know what you guys are talking about the iPod costing so much. The iPod Photo 30GB model is $350 where the iRiver 20GB model sells for $300. Where's teh huge price difference. I'm personally looking at the iPod Photo 60GB model, but if iAudio can correct their FLAW with supprt for ID3 in their x5 player and get a 60GB model out, I'll buy it instead. The x5 really is a cool looking player, but no support for ID3 is a BIG TIME deal breaker. And for the record, I BOUGHT all my music and have it perfectly organized in directories by artist and album, but using the ID3 tag is MUCH nicer. Got to have it. There is just NO excuse for not having that basic support.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Gurck, you'll point out little things that you personally don't like about the iPod, and then recommend a player (x5) that in my opinion has a MAJOR flaw (no ID3 support).

Not a flaw at all, imo, much less a major one. As I mentioned earlier, I prefer to go by directory structure. I think there's a certain demographic (arrr matey!) which creates most of the demanad for tag browsing capabilities... You want to talk flaws, let's talk about lack of full UMS support, low SQ, low battery life, etc...

Where's teh huge price difference.

The ipod competes in price with the higher end non-Apple players; the difference isn't in price in this case, but in value; these players have FM tuners, recording capabilities, UMS support, better sq & battery life, etc. The price difference is in comparison to players with similar capabilities.

The simple fact is, if Apple came out with the perfect player and everyone was buying it, you'd recommend buying something else just because you hate Apple.

Entirely untrue. But keep making stuff up, I enjoy the huge leaps of logic fanboys will make when lacking a real argument.

 

[KingNothing]

The fact that Gurck says what he does so often doesn't mean it's not right. The iPod is overpriced in terms of the features it contains when compared to other players. The interface is nice, there's no doubt about that. It's also pretty simplistic, and doesn't offer nearly as many options as the x5 does. Some people don't care about these features though, so for them an iPod makes sense. I showed a girl I know the X5 last night, and she said she'd still take her iPod because she loves iTunes and it does everything she wants it to.

As I pointed out earlier, the x5 will likely receive ID3 support in a future firmware update. Also, did anyone notice it functions as a USB host? If you have a supported digital camera (or a supported card reader) you can transfer files directly to the X5 from the card. This means if you have an X5, you don't need to buy large storage cards for your other digital devices.

If you're looking to buy a player right now, and ID3 support is the only thing stopping you, I'd say get the X5 and wait to see if the firmware gets updated like Cowon says it will. If not, you can always sell the player for close to what you paid for it. If you can wait, then wait a few months until you make your decision.

 

[Hammerhead]

Upside: It's not an iPod
Downside: It's not and iPod

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: KingNothing
The fact that Gurck says what he does so often doesn't mean it's not right. The iPod is overpriced in terms of the features it contains when compared to other players. The interface is nice, there's no doubt about that. It's also pretty simplistic, and doesn't offer nearly as many options as the x5 does. Some people don't care about these features though, so for them an iPod makes sense. I showed a girl I know the X5 last night, and she said she'd still take her iPod because she loves iTunes and it does everything she wants it to.

As I pointed out earlier, the x5 will likely receive ID3 support in a future firmware update. Also, did anyone notice it functions as a USB host? If you have a supported digital camera (or a supported card reader) you can transfer files directly to the X5 from the card. This means if you have an X5, you don't need to buy large storage cards for your other digital devices.

If you're looking to buy a player right now, and ID3 support is the only thing stopping you, I'd say get the X5 and wait to see if the firmware gets updated like Cowon says it will. If not, you can always sell the player for close to what you paid for it. If you can wait, then wait a few months until you make your decision.

Yep.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: KingNothing
Some people don't care about these features though, so for them an iPod makes sense.

How so? Players by Dell, Creative & Rio offer the same functionality for much less money.

 

[KingNothing]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: KingNothing
Some people don't care about these features though, so for them an iPod makes sense.

How so? Players by Dell, Creative & Rio offer the same functionality for much less money.

Maybe, I dunno. Do any of those integrate with iTunes? I haven't used any of those players so I don't know for sure, but I suspect the iPod's interface is the simplest to use.

 

[Spike]

You know, Gurck isn't the only one who looked at the MP3 player market and decided against an apple using reason. I just recently wanted to replace my old and failing Archos Multimedia jukebox. I decied on the Creative Touch 40gb and here are the reasons I chose this:

I did not need color screen/jpeg/avi support as I had that on my old player and never really used it, I just need a music player. this ruled out the ipod photo, irivers, Archos AV variants, and others.

I wanted good battery life, the creative is rated at 24 hours. I get 27 with continual playing and 22 with "normal" usage.

I wanted good sound quality. All the reviews put the ipod lower on this scale.

I wanted a decent price. Paid $260 for the 40GB model

After considering those options the Creative was the best for me. It has some downsides like it's bulkyness, lack of driverless support, and no folder structure organization but for me these did not matter. I only use this in the car or at work, I have my flash MUVO for working out and such. I only load it with music on my own machine, and I recently re-did all my ID3 tags so this works.

I seriously considered the ipod but even with it's better interface it was not worth the extra money and lack of battery life.

-spike

 

[cvstrat]

Looks pretty nice. I have a 3gen 20gb iPod and I love it though. The way it interfaces with iTunes is great and it's never failed me yet. I like the alternatives but the interface and controls of the iPod are amazing and I have no immediate need for photo/video.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: krackato
What the hell is this Gurck thing?

Also, I've read that it doesn't do ID3 tags, which sucks, but otherwise it looks like a sweet player. I like that it does OGG and FLAC. Now, if only Amazon had any to buy.

If your collection is organized, sorting by directory structure is no big deal. In fact, I prefer it. If, on the other hand, your collection is thousands of files dumped into your Kazaa download directory... well, that changes things... hrm, I think I just gained some insight into a big part of itunes'/ipods' allure

Funny, I had the exact OPPOSITE experience with my iPod. I had a lot of bootleg MP3's that my sister got off of Napster and whatnot in my collection, all of which I had neatly organized into folders. When I imported them into iTunes, however, my playlist looked like horrible because most of the ID3 tags on those bootleg MP3's were either missing or incorrect. It took me a good six hours to clean up my playlist to fill in the missing song titles and remove the typos and l33t speak from the artist and album names.

Looking back, I probably should have just downloaded new legal versions from the iTunes Music Store.

 

[CtK]

i just ordered one from Cowon!!
will give a review once i receive it