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mp3/picture viewer/video player
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thu_tinh



Joined: 27 Sep 2006

PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:13 am    Post subject: mp3/picture viewer/video player Reply with quote

i'm interested in purchasing something like this and have been looking online to see ones that I maybe would like to have, but everytime I look, it says that you can watch videos on it but doesn't specify what kind of files like .avi, wmv, etc.
does anyone have one that they could recommend to me and plays the files I've listed?
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mnhnhyouh



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Location: The Middle Kingdom

PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 3:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very few play wmv, or wma. iRivers do, and the Zune does.

iPods do not, even with the Rockbox enhancement.

h
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thu_tinh



Joined: 27 Sep 2006

PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 9:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

so it would be pretty difficult to find one?
anyone can recommend a good one and show me pics?
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mnhnhyouh



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Location: The Middle Kingdom

PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 9:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This one, from my reading, is a good one...

http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/x5/

h
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thu_tinh



Joined: 27 Sep 2006

PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sounds good but it doesn't mention the video file type it plays.
thats what concerns me when I look at these websites.

thanks though.
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mnhnhyouh



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Location: The Middle Kingdom

PostPosted: Tue Dec 19, 2006 11:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep it does

iAudio website wrote:

It's possible to convert various video files to MPEG4 up to 15 FPS using JetAudio. The transcoded video file can be played back on iAUDIO X5.


Like most of these the CPU is not capable of reencoding and presenting the data to the LCD on the fly so you need to reencode then put it on the player.

h
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 2:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



I've got one of these and I'd be surprised if there's a function you want that this doesn't do!!

In Yongsan from around 360,000 for the basic model.

http://www.coolzet.com/products/v43.html English website.

http://www.i-station.co.kr/index/ Korean website.
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mnhnhyouh



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Location: The Middle Kingdom

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 2:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

eamo wrote:

I've got one of these and I'd be surprised if there's a function you want that this doesn't do!!


I think it is a bad move, with iPods market dominance, that it wont play .aac files. This isnt a problem for me as all my files are in mp3 or ogg.

10 hours audio playback is on the short side though.

The capacity (20 or 30 Gb) is to small for me.

Given it has the Wolfson DAC it is a shame they only allow you to use preset equalizer settings. This is the case with the latest iPods as well, but with Rockbox firmware it is very customizable.

Given they seem to have released some (all?) of the firmware under a GPL license it might be that Rockbox is quickly ported to this.

GPS is an interesting addition. I wonder what street maps it takes?

Does it need software to add music, video, images, or text as the iPod does?

It looks like a nice player, on the big side though.

h
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rocklee



Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 7:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mnhnhyouh wrote:


I think it is a bad move, with iPods market dominance, that it wont play .aac files. This isnt a problem for me as all my files are in mp3 or ogg.


The dominance is temporary and AAC is the least used media format compared to mp3, wav and even ogg.

Quote:

10 hours audio playback is on the short side though.


its not great but not bad.

Quote:
The capacity (20 or 30 Gb) is to small for me.


Agreed. my portable 120GB HD only has 10GB left, and that is just 2 weeks after I bought the thing.

Quote:
Given it has the Wolfson DAC it is a shame they only allow you to use preset equalizer settings.


The Wolfson DAC is one of the best if not the best DAC on a media player. Equaliser can be customised via a third party software since the OS is built on Linux.

Quote:

GPS is an interesting addition. I wonder what street maps it takes?


The OS is built on Linux, which is very developer friendly.

Quote:

Does it need software to add music, video, images, or text as the iPod does?


No. It can operate as an external storage device or synced.
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jazblanc77



Joined: 22 Feb 2004

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not to mention the fact that iStation (officially known as Digital Cube), is crap as far as support goes. They are in the habit of releasing beta players that need further firmwaring to get them to be relatively glitch free and fully functional in all of the ways that they promised at their CBit debuts. They usually offer a few firmware releases, but they never quite do enough since they are always focusing on their next product release (which seems to come about once every six months or so). Bottom line is that they never seem to spend enough time perfecting their products before release and, guaranteed, never put enough effort into their firmware packs.

Not only this, but the mp3 player SUCKS on iStation players (every one of them). Since they sync completely as a mass storage device, they are only capable of creating dynamic playlists. That means that however you have your music organised in your directory structure is the only method you will have of organising your music. iStation players are not capable of self-organising your music according to your file tags ie. by genre, album, artist, most played, favourites, etc.

Also, 30gigs is the new industry standard for the classification of a "flacid" player. That's hardly enough to hold my music collection!

The Cowon A2 is an excellent player, but I would seriously consider the Creative Vision Zen: W if I were you. It will give you music playlists based on tags, the same codec support (for video and music), as any iStation devices, it has a better screen (no touch screen means less bubbling on the surface like on the iStation ones), it has a 60gb capacity, and Creative gives excellent after-sale support (including good firmware services).
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Thunndarr



Joined: 30 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 3:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Being a Cowon fanboy myself, I have to say that the X5 is an excellent audio player. However, I wouldn't recommend it for video, since you have to convert everything you want to watch, which is a time-consuming process. (Yes, you can plan ahead and convert videos overnight, but, come on, sometimes you just want to throw something on your player as you head out the door, and you can't do that if you need to convert your videos first.) Also, the screen is too small for extended viewing.

I also wouldn't recommend the A2 *at this time* because, if I recall correctly, Cowon is set to release the A3 in a month or two.
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thu_tinh



Joined: 27 Sep 2006

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 3:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just want something like that quick and easy for the long subway commutes or the plane rides and such.
So I'm guessing that if I am to purchase anything like this I would have to take the time to convert?
i especially want it for those k-dramas that you download from the internet and they often come in .wmv files and .avi
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Thunndarr



Joined: 30 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thu_tinh wrote:
I just want something like that quick and easy for the long subway commutes or the plane rides and such.
So I'm guessing that if I am to purchase anything like this I would have to take the time to convert?
i especially want it for those k-dramas that you download from the internet and they often come in .wmv files and .avi


No, what I said was specifically about the X5. I believe the larger sized players (with a 4-4.3 inch screen) will play most videos without the need for conversion.
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eamo



Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thunndarr wrote:
thu_tinh wrote:
I just want something like that quick and easy for the long subway commutes or the plane rides and such.
So I'm guessing that if I am to purchase anything like this I would have to take the time to convert?
i especially want it for those k-dramas that you download from the internet and they often come in .wmv files and .avi


No, what I said was specifically about the X5. I believe the larger sized players (with a 4-4.3 inch screen) will play most videos without the need for conversion.


Right. I don't know about all the PMP's on the market but you definitely don't need to convert anything for the V43, T43 or the new S43. Plug in the USB, transfer at high-speed (a whole season of the Simpsons, 24 episodes, can be transferred in less than 5 minutes) and play right away. An album of music in MP3, WMA, OGG, AC3 can be transferred in literally seconds. No software of any kind is required. No conversion at all.

The Wolfson DAC? I downloaded the new Beatles re-mix thingy, Love, in AC3 format. The playback on the V43 was mighty good. And I used to be something of an audiophile back in the day. EQ!!? We don't need no stinkin' EQ!! Wink Really, if you need to use EQ then you have a poor player, poor earphones or a badly encoded file. I trust the studio mix as done by the experts.

I don't feel the need to organize my files on the V43 by genre, most played, or whatever. If I wanted a specific mix of songs then I would do it on my PC then transfer to the V43. It would be faster and less fiddly on the PC than any PMP anyway.

The 30GB drive may be a little small compared to other PMP's but I think the V43 was designed for the daily PC user. It's so easy and quick to put new stuff on the V43 and delete the old stuff that you don't really feel the need for a larger HDD. I've been using my V43 for almost a year now and the 30GB drive has never been an issue space wise.

I think it's becoming obivous that all the PMP's out there have different strengths and weaknesses. It's up to the user to decide what the want from a product. For me, the V43 does it all.

Did I mention...

GPS
Kor-Eng, Eng-Kor dictionary
FM radio
Calculator
Notebook
Scheduler
Comic book viewer
PDF, Excel and Word viewer
DMB
Portable HDD
TV-out
Calender
On-screen qwerty keyboard

I think there's other stuff in there too.
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mnhnhyouh



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Location: The Middle Kingdom

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2006 9:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

eamo wrote:

No software of any kind is required. No conversion at all.


That is good. It seems more players are following iPods move to required software. I hate it. I would not use an iPod except for the Rockbox firmware which allows this.

eamo wrote:

Really, if you need to use EQ then you have a poor player, poor earphones or a badly encoded file. I trust the studio mix as done by the experts.


I couldnt agree more.... but since the capability is there, it seems a shame not to offer those who use it the option to tweak it.

h
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