Advice on First PMP - without the Apple

sergiotheonly

Hi there,
extremely fed up with my years old sony 1 gig mp3 player and have been looking at some options for playing music and video (while also indulging the gadget freak inside me).

Initially started looking at the archos 605 wifi but was put off by the need to buy all the extra codecs, etc. It seems like a great system and being able to play movies at a higher resolution would be wonderful but im just not sure id actually use a system that big.

Further research brought me to the Cowon D2. I know it doesnt have a hard drive but it does have a touch screen (satisfying the unecessary gadget need) and great battery life (satisfying the paractical side of me) while also seemingly being able to play any file format you can throw at it - provided it is scaled to 320x240 (for video of course).

Having found the cowon for a very reasonable price here I was just wondering if anyone has any knowledge of/experience with the player and whether ive missed any glaring faults. I know the capacity is on the small side but the ease of expanding the storage with sdhc cards is a plus for me.

Other options I've come across in wandering the wilds of the internet are the very snazzy looking (but non-expandable) Samsung P2 and the always popular Creative Zen.

Any opinions or advice on the above would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

[And, if at all possible I'd like to avoid apple players. All that plush white just reminds me of some sterile future world where we are all watched by big brother AND die before we are 30 AND are actually duracells for robotic spiders. You get my meaning]

art

The IPod Touch is black ... plus I'm forty and it hasn't killed me yet.

PBB

I agree, don't knock it until you try it - Apple are the best selling for a reason !!

sergiotheonly

have had an ipod in the family for quite a while and have constantly been bombarded with requests for help from my sister (wanting to use it on multiple pcs, etc).
maybe its just more annoying from a distance (or just because siblings make things annoying) but being tied to an existing system like itunes, no matter how impressive a system it is, does not appeal to me.

maybe i'm totally wrong. the itouch does seem lovely...

pleasant Co.

I own(ed) the D2.. and an ipod touch... and various other toys...

I understand not wanting to be locked to an ecosystem (itunes/ipod), it has it's few benefits but ultimately you don't have the freedom you need...

The D2 is not free from it's own pitfalls.. have a look at the iAudiophile forums for more details... they're mostly minor niggles... of course most of those little issue will be fixed by Rockbox...

If you do go for the D2, why not go for the 16gb model?

IamMetaldave

I resisted Apple for years, I broke in May and got an iPod Touch, couldn't be happier with my choice. Defo worth looking into mate.

robinph

PBB wrote: »

Apple are the best selling for a reason !!

Yep, good advertising department.

sergiotheonly

hey mactard - you say you ownED the d2?
how come not anymore?

the 16 gb is a little out of my price range at the moment, so the idea of being
able to buy more storage space (as my bank balance edges away from the abyss)
is appealing.

and i would agree with robinph, a huge part of the success of apple products is their
visibility and the way they have managed to become a part of mass consciousness.
when the average person today thinks of portable music, the majority probably think
apple.
it is undoubtedly impressive but i think it would be naive to assume
that they are the best because they are the most popular, or vice versa.

pleasant Co.

Well I owned it when it first came out (4gb) but sold it due to the low capacity a few months later... then a few weeks after I sold it I bought another, again 4gb.... why? because it is THAT awesome :P... At the time 16gb SDHC cars were still rediculously expensive so I sold that one too after a little while... Good news though because I will be getting the 16gb model in a couple of weeks.

sergiotheonly

Great to hear the D2 is good enough that youre coming back to it for a third time!
16 gb only 42 euro here
- great site, very fast delivery.

You fancy a 32 gb D2?

FruitLover

robinph wrote: »

Yep, good advertising department.

Plus the sheep factor.

pleasant Co.

sergiotheonly wrote: »

Great to hear the D2 is good enough that youre coming back to it for a third time!
16 gb only 42 euro here
- great site, very fast delivery.

You fancy a 32 gb D2?

why stop there... 32gb cards can be bought for $150... give a few months and they'll be even cheaper

dr.bollocko

I liked the i-river x20.
I think its still sitting by the pool in Koh Samui.
:(:(