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Looking at PMP/ MP3 players
#432881 December 22nd 2010 12:08 am
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My ancient beloved 5.5 year old Toshiba Gigabeat 10gb MP3 player left my world a month and a half ago.

May it rest in peace.

Since then I have been shopping for a new one, and have been using my Pantech phone in place of the Toshiba. The sound quality is so poor in comparison, it is like a couple pillows and blankest have been stuffed in front of the speakers, or the headphones are wrapped in electrical tape

Many times I almost clicked on the 'complete order' button but have always balked, not being sure of my decision.

The most important factor is 16+ GB, and sound quality. I hate I tunes, and am not impressed with Apple's sound chip anyway.

As I read more reviews I find myself leaning toward Microsoft Zune HD 32 gb. I don't really care about apps, or the Video, but having wifi and a touch screen would be a nice novelty.

Supposedly Cowon, Sony, Samsung, Creative Zen, and Zune have the highest sound quality.

I like the fact that I could goto Walmart tomorrow and pick up a Zune or Sony for the same price as I would find anywhere online. I have just downloaded the Zune Music player software, and so far I like it, but the Sony is cheaper and a simpler music player that is just drag and drop easy, and has built in speakers, handy for on the jobsite.

Anybody Here have a Zune HD, A Cowon J3, or a Sony Walkman NWZS545 and an Opinions.

Anybody know if a new generation of PMPs is just around the corner and worth the wait?

edit:

I installed Zune on my old Laptop that has all the WMA DRM protected files.

It would not play those files, and the Zune HD must be synced with Zune. This was the computer that ripped the CD's. And it will play them in WMP

Long story short, the Zune is out. Screw MS. I'm pissed off. Glad I did not buy one.


Last edited by wrcsixeight; December 27th 2010 1:30 am.
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Re: Looking at PMP/ MP3 players
wrcsixeight #434726 December 29th 2010 9:47 pm
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Bought myself the 16 gb Sony at wally world for 127$
[Linked Image]

It too will not play my old DRM'd WMA files, but I suspected it would not. It has good sound, as good as my Toshiba did perhaps slightly louder. I won't really know till I get back to my Van in California. It does have a customizable EQ, a feature which I really like.

It is much smaller than I let myself believe and lacks some features like bookmarking some songs.

It does have it's own built in speakers. They are pretty loud for what they are, better than the ones on my phone anyway.

Anyway, it's nice to not have to use the poor interface on my phone anymore to listen to music, and the sound quality is night and day.

Just thought I'd share.

And for those of you who might be unaware and rip CD's using windows media player, make sure you change the RIP settings from WMA to MP3 and do not protect them!!!!!!!!!

I did not know this, and now cannot listen to a good percentage of the music I ripped. which makes me go
[Linked Image] DRM

Re: Looking at PMP/ MP3 players
wrcsixeight #434786 December 30th 2010 10:31 am
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Just transcode the files.

Re: Looking at PMP/ MP3 players
M_S #434804 December 30th 2010 12:14 pm
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Not so easy to transcode the files when they are protected with DRM. I've tried the few free programs which claim they could do so.

They could not

Re: Looking at PMP/ MP3 players
wrcsixeight #434842 December 30th 2010 2:11 pm
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In the few short moments I Googled, there were plenty of answers showing users stuck in your position with proven results using free programs. Granted, there were posts where users said they had no luck, but those posts were dated '07 and prior.

I've done it many times, but I use Macs.

Re: Looking at PMP/ MP3 players
M_S #438141 January 13th 2011 11:40 pm
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I thought I'd update this thread now that I'm back in California, and back in my Van. I did recently try 2 programs to convert my drm'd music with no luck, and much frustration. I wound up burning and reripping the albums I really wanted on the new MP3 and laptop.

First, The Sony NWZS545BLK sounds great in my Van. A little better than the late beloved Toshiba. Its slightly louder with a more crisp bass thump, too much for my unamplified stereo above 28 out of 34 volume. Whilst the Highs do not seem as crisp, I am hearing some background vocals or instruments I have not heard before.

I'm still playing with both equalizers to fine tune the sounds for different music. Some of My Music which was originally poorly recorded sounds much better than with the Toshiba.

But there are some detractions.

-The Plastic non touch screen scratches much too easily.
-It cannot play music while it is being charged.
-It can only be charged by a computer USB port. I have other 5 volt USB ports, 12 volt and 120 volt. They activate the light, but do not indicate it is charging. So if I run the battery dead, I'm Shit outta luck, and have to turn on my laptop and plug it in for 3 hours before I can use it again. Seeing as how my laptop is my biggest electrical draw in the van, this really irks me.

-After online chatting with a Sony tech, I spent another 50$ for a cradle hoping I could plug it in to charge and still listen to music. It will not, and the Audio out port of the cradle seems to drop the fidelity by 15%. It's going back tomorrow for an 85% refund.

-One has to use WMP12 and Windows 7 to transfer playlists. All the other music can be dragged and dropped using explorer, or Synced in WMP 8 and above. I have 2 laptops now, and the new one with windows 7 has pissed me off to such a degree I nearly smashed it to pieces and set them alight. It has replaced 30% of the correct album art with the incorrect, and splits single albums into 2 or more albums with separate songs. It has also fouled the album art on the Sony MP3 player too, when I transfered some playlists to it.

-One cannot bookmark tracks on the unit. If you have some random music on shuffle and want to hear it again later, you better be confident in your memory or write it down.

-One cannot erase anything but recorded voice or recorded FM radio files on the unit. All Songs, videos, pictures must be removed while hooked to a computer.

- Apparently Sony never adds firmware updates, like every other MP3 maker.

-The battery remaining charge indicator is way, way off. Within 8 hours the screen display says 1/4 battery remaining, but when I plug this into the laptop, it indicates 72% remaining. Perhaps this will be more accurate if I ever drain the battery fully.

While My 5.5 year old Toshiba was twice as big and 3 times as heavy with 6 less GB, could not play videos, record FM radio or voice or have an alarm, it did come with a strong, idiot proof cradle which would allow charging while playing music. I figure this is why the unit, which claimed 16 hour battery life, 5 years later would still last 10 hours. I simply only used the battery when outside the Van. The Sony claims a 42 hour battery life, but I have to use it's battery, always and therefore cannot expect the same lifespan from the unit. I could have easily replaced the battery in the Toshiba myself if I had to, the Sony does not look as easy to open up.

The Toshiba I could set to always display the screen and next song in the cue at full brightness, the Sony does not list the next song in the Cue, and blacks out the screen after 10 seconds, requiring one button press to light the screen, and another to perform any function.

No doubt I'll wind up fabricating a Hardwood cradle to safely, protectively hold the player in a convenient location for driving, or to move to the back of the Van, but it's inability to be charged and play music at the same time would have removed the unit from contention when shopping.

The Sony sounds good, but I wish my old Toshiba could have held on a few more years. It was big, clunky, useful and ran excellent, just like my Van. The Sony is just flashier with a couple unneeded features, and a major detraction in it's inability to play music while being charged.


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