ipod mini alternatives
Author
Discussion

dern

Original Poster:

14,055 posts

308 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
Before I go and order an ipod mini for the bike (getting some shure e2c headphones) are there any alternatives that people can recommend. I started looking because the ipod mini doesn't come with an ac adapter and only charges from usb which is ok until I go away for the w/e in france as I've just done and can't recharge it until I get home.

I've bee looking at the frontier labs l1 (20Gb) for 150 quid which seems a bargain, anyone got one?

Thanks,

Mark

randlemarcus

13,646 posts

260 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
If you own a digital camera or camcorder that takes SD type cards, consider getting a large SD card, and a cheap SD car based player. I packed my 8 yr old off to a weekend away with a £10 player, and a 256 Mb card. Thats about enough for a long long listen, really...

dern

Original Poster:

14,055 posts

308 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
randlemarcus said:
If you own a digital camera or camcorder that takes SD type cards, consider getting a large SD card, and a cheap SD car based player. I packed my 8 yr old off to a weekend away with a £10 player, and a 256 Mb card. Thats about enough for a long long listen, really...
I have a hard drive full of mp3 files ripped at 320kbps and I find a CDs worth not that much so 256Mb wouldn't cut it really and I don't want to go through the effort of reducing the size of my mp3 files nor reduce the sound quality.

Thanks anyway,

Mark

dern

Original Poster:

14,055 posts

308 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
justayellowbadge said:
How about?

http://ws3.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=RIO-CARBON-5GB
They look pretty good. I've just been looking at an MPEYE HTS-200 5GB which also look good but don't have an ac recharger so wouldn't have been that much use when I went away this w/e.

Always too many options

Mark

jimothy

5,151 posts

266 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
dern said:
I started looking because the ipod mini doesn't come with an ac adapter and only charges from usb which is ok until I go away for the w/e in france as I've just done and can't recharge it until I get home.


You can buy a power block with a USB port in it for charging iPods... Got one on my desk for my 60GB iPod Photo.

pmanson

13,388 posts

282 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
Just brought an iRiver H320 for £200.

About the same size as a 20gig iPod but comes with a 2" colour screen, 20gig HD, plays most music files and plays video as well.

It also has USB On The Go so you can plug your digital camera or memory card in via a usb cable and take back ups of your photos while on the move.

It also charges via the usb 2.0 cable.

shadowninja

80,040 posts

311 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
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I have heard great things about iRiver. It's like an ipod but looks nice and has more features...

pmanson

13,388 posts

282 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
shadowninja said:
I have heard great things about iRiver. It's like an ipod but looks nice and has more features...



Really pleased with mine and a good price. Seems well built as well.

Also the firmware is upgradable which is nice!


The one niggle I have with it is the line Out volume is really quiet so it not that good to run through my hifi which is a shame. (I ended up attaching it to the laptop then plugging the laptop into the hifi)

>> Edited by pmanson on Tuesday 7th June 14:09

Italiano

8,352 posts

261 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
dern said:
Before I go and order an ipod mini for the bike (getting some shure e2c headphones) are there any alternatives that people can recommend. I started looking because the ipod mini doesn't come with an ac adapter and only charges from usb which is ok until I go away for the w/e in france as I've just done and can't recharge it until I get home.

I've bee looking at the frontier labs l1 (20Gb) for 150 quid which seems a bargain, anyone got one?

Thanks,

Mark


Mine came with an ac adapter which works on foreign electrics.

andyconda

4,754 posts

256 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
I've got a Creative Zen Micro. Similar to the iPod mini, but looks cooler and has more storage space.

GingerNinja

3,989 posts

287 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
andyconda said:
I've got a Creative Zen Micro. Similar to the iPod mini, but looks cooler and has more storage space.



Considering an ipod mini is about £140 with only 5GB, you can pick up a Creative Zen Touch now which has 20GB and about the same physical size (and look) as a regular ipod, for £150 (online Comet store) - and the battery life is MUCH better than Apple's offering....up to 24 hours of play time.

Review here:
www.pocket-lint.co.uk/review.php?reviewId=565

>> Edited by GingerNinja on Tuesday 7th June 16:11

dern

Original Poster:

14,055 posts

308 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
GingerNinja said:
Considering an ipod mini is about £140 with only 5GB, you can pick up a Creative Zen Touch now which has 20GB and about the same physical size (and look) as a regular ipod, for £150 (online Comet store) - and the battery life is MUCH better than Apple's offering....up to 24 hours of play time.
I'll have a look but the main reason for going for an ipod mini rather than a standard ipod is that the mini will happily sit in the inner pocket of my leather jack while I'm riding my bike and I won't notice it's there and it won't break my ribs if I fell on it whereas the normal ipod is somewhat larger.

Regards,

Mark

pmanson

13,388 posts

282 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
Mark,

Have a look at the iRiver H10 - http://uk.shopping.com/xPO-H10_5_GB

Comes recommended by my mate in the office who had similar requirements to you.

I've got the iRiver H320 which is a similar size to a 20gig iPod

thegreatsoprendo

5,288 posts

278 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
Rio Carbon. Amazingly small, light, looks cool, a joy to use, excellent sound quality, good battery life, doesn't tie you down to a particular format or software package (you can just drag and drop to it if you wish), and current favourite of What Hi Fi? and Stuff magazines...

Stuff Magazine said:
Stuff No.1 Hot Buy.

Some things you pick up and just can't put down. An exceptionally sticky bun is one and this is another. The Carbon's svelte rubber and metal body feels magnificent and the navigation system is excellent. And guess what? It sounds as good as it looks. Delivery is smooth and vocals in particular sound sweet. The Carbon deserves to sell faster than a lorry load of hot cakes. The extra gig, extended battery life, slick UI and solid build make the Carbon a worthy iPod mini slayer.


What Hi Fi? review here

I bought one following the discussion on this thread, and don't regret it at all.





Rob_F

4,153 posts

293 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
That Rio Carbon looks excellent, seems to be about £125 from the Comet website too (bit less hassle than ebay). If only i had the money

Rob.

dern

Original Poster:

14,055 posts

308 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
Ok, read the reviews and going for the rio carbon. Just need to find somewhere that also sells the shure e2c and (crucially) has them in stock.

Thanks for the advice,

Mark

nighthawk

1,757 posts

273 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
I used my ipaq as an mp3 player, while i was on holiday, i took a 2gb CF card full of e books and music, it was more than enough.

Charging is via a standard charger too.

thegreatsoprendo

5,288 posts

278 months

Tuesday 7th June 2005
quotequote all
hartge bob said:

I've got the Carbon and the e2c, brilliant combination.

Me too. Trouble is I can't use the e2c at the moment as I've discovered I have a perforated eardrum in my right ear , so I'm on the look out for some decently priced Sennheiser PX100...

dern

Original Poster:

14,055 posts

308 months

Thursday 16th June 2005
quotequote all
The carbon turned up earlier this week and is superb. Battery lasts all day with some in reserve, plenty of room for several cds worth at 320kbps, sound quality is superb and fits comfortably in my bike jacket pocket doesn't feel as though it would be any more of a danger in a crash than, say, a wallet. Tried them on the bike with the supplied headphones and are great while filtering through town but can't hear anything over 50 unless I turn the volume way up which then feels painful.

The phones (e2c) came today and have tried them quickly on the bike and they work very well. They are almost as efficient at blocking noise as my earplugs and the sound quality is excellent. Easy to get a bike helmet on while wearing them but a bit trickier to get it off.

Ordered mine from advanced mp3 who I really can't recommend. Looked on the site and earphones are in stock but carbon isn't, sent them an email and they said the carbon would be in stock 24 in hours. Placed order. Carbon shipped after 4 working days and arrived next day but without the earphones. Checked site and earphones are out of stock and they obviously hadn't put them by even though I'd ordered them so had to wait for more stock to come in. Completely failed to keep me informed what was going on and I had to keep phoning them to find out why the last delivery date was missed. Spoke to them on the day the carbon was being shipped and they didn't mention the earphones being out of stock. I won't be using them again.

Thanks for all the advice.

Regards,

Mark

>> Edited by dern on Thursday 16th June 22:56