Sunday, July 23, 2006
Plenty of choice
Just over a year ago, it was a no-brainer - the iPod was so far out in front, unless you wanted to Think Different, in which case you'd buy a Creative Zen.
Today, there's certainly plenty of choice out there for anyone looking for a portable music player, even if you narrow it down to models with 6GB and more of memory.
The price range for mobile music itself is truly enormous: cheap import shops would be delighted to sell me a no-name cassette player and headphones for around ?5 - although this would definitely be a retro step too far, since my cassette collection has been gathering dust since I threw out the tape deck in the mid-90s. So after the brief honeymoon period I reckon this would hiss me off.
I could even save more and get a cheapo FM radio and 'phones for around ?2 ... thanks, but no.
Next? I still have a battery-chewing Panasonic portable CD player from the early 90s, with a massive three-second anti-shock memory, but it's too bulky, and it was always a tough choice to pick 10 or so CDs for an autochanger or a carry wallet.
This is also why the idea of a PDA plus 4GB- or more's-worth SD cards doesn't really fly. I could get a couple of 2GB SD cards for ?40 each or a 4GB model for ?90 but as an "upgrade" path from a 20GB hard drive model this sucks. The Motorola ROKR phone also looks quite nice, as do some Sony Ericsson models but they too have a limited on-board memory. Even though a bulkier cell phone plus 4x SD cards would take up less space than a stand-alone player and my current phone, I like the Razr very much indeed - and I don't want to juggle SD cards. BUT, since card prices continue to fall, perhaps I'll take a listen to the sonic quality of a couple of phones in MP3 playback mode.
The iAudio X5 is without a doubt a decent alternative to an iPod, in price, performance and almost in looks, and as a bonus, it plays Ogg Vorbis files, but I'm concerned about the joystick on the front ... and I want a device for playing music, not watching video: the laptop is for that. As for the "what if" scenario about not having a laptop handy and wanting to watch a movie: that happens once a year, at most. And no, I don't see it starting to happen more often ... so ?345 for the X5L (the "L" denotes longer battery life) is just a bit too much. And before you ask, I don't like the look of the iAudio 6, nor is 4GB enough ...
The 30GB iPod is truly excellent value. Not only does Apple set the bar for features, but also it's a style icon, and the obvious choice here. The hardest decision is: black or white? The black looks more stylish but tends to show fingerprints more than the white. The cost of 5G iPod 30GB ownership, in either shade, is ?275 online - some ?45 cheaper than in the stores. This puts some distance between it and the X5L. Incidentally Amazon cheekily lists a ?600 Mac mini as an ideal iPod accessory - is that tail wagging the dog, or what? But once bitten, twice shy...
The 20GB Sony Walkman NW-A 3000-x (the x changes according to which colour) is ?100 cheaper than the 5G iPod, and is the most obvious replacement, right now. Not only does it look nice but also the price is keen - especially for a Sony, where I once heard that you pay 10 percent of the price for the name alone. No doubt Apple's also on to this level of mark-up - or more - with the iPod these days too. I'm surprised the NW-A is so keenly priced, especially as it's relatively new, so the only conclusion is that it's not selling / has been overtaken by technology ... and if everyone who is anyone is getting a colour video player with their MP3 player, I need to rethink once more.
Decisions, decisions ...
Today, there's certainly plenty of choice out there for anyone looking for a portable music player, even if you narrow it down to models with 6GB and more of memory.
The price range for mobile music itself is truly enormous: cheap import shops would be delighted to sell me a no-name cassette player and headphones for around ?5 - although this would definitely be a retro step too far, since my cassette collection has been gathering dust since I threw out the tape deck in the mid-90s. So after the brief honeymoon period I reckon this would hiss me off.
I could even save more and get a cheapo FM radio and 'phones for around ?2 ... thanks, but no.
Next? I still have a battery-chewing Panasonic portable CD player from the early 90s, with a massive three-second anti-shock memory, but it's too bulky, and it was always a tough choice to pick 10 or so CDs for an autochanger or a carry wallet.
This is also why the idea of a PDA plus 4GB- or more's-worth SD cards doesn't really fly. I could get a couple of 2GB SD cards for ?40 each or a 4GB model for ?90 but as an "upgrade" path from a 20GB hard drive model this sucks. The Motorola ROKR phone also looks quite nice, as do some Sony Ericsson models but they too have a limited on-board memory. Even though a bulkier cell phone plus 4x SD cards would take up less space than a stand-alone player and my current phone, I like the Razr very much indeed - and I don't want to juggle SD cards. BUT, since card prices continue to fall, perhaps I'll take a listen to the sonic quality of a couple of phones in MP3 playback mode.
The iAudio X5 is without a doubt a decent alternative to an iPod, in price, performance and almost in looks, and as a bonus, it plays Ogg Vorbis files, but I'm concerned about the joystick on the front ... and I want a device for playing music, not watching video: the laptop is for that. As for the "what if" scenario about not having a laptop handy and wanting to watch a movie: that happens once a year, at most. And no, I don't see it starting to happen more often ... so ?345 for the X5L (the "L" denotes longer battery life) is just a bit too much. And before you ask, I don't like the look of the iAudio 6, nor is 4GB enough ...
The 30GB iPod is truly excellent value. Not only does Apple set the bar for features, but also it's a style icon, and the obvious choice here. The hardest decision is: black or white? The black looks more stylish but tends to show fingerprints more than the white. The cost of 5G iPod 30GB ownership, in either shade, is ?275 online - some ?45 cheaper than in the stores. This puts some distance between it and the X5L. Incidentally Amazon cheekily lists a ?600 Mac mini as an ideal iPod accessory - is that tail wagging the dog, or what? But once bitten, twice shy...
The 20GB Sony Walkman NW-A 3000-x (the x changes according to which colour) is ?100 cheaper than the 5G iPod, and is the most obvious replacement, right now. Not only does it look nice but also the price is keen - especially for a Sony, where I once heard that you pay 10 percent of the price for the name alone. No doubt Apple's also on to this level of mark-up - or more - with the iPod these days too. I'm surprised the NW-A is so keenly priced, especially as it's relatively new, so the only conclusion is that it's not selling / has been overtaken by technology ... and if everyone who is anyone is getting a colour video player with their MP3 player, I need to rethink once more.
Decisions, decisions ...
# posted by Nesjo : 22:43
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]