I got myself a Mini-Ipod for Xmas. The thing holds up to 100 songs on it so it does me fine. I never understand why people want to get those huge things that take over 30,000 songs on it....when are you going to listen to them all?

JoweeCoco said:

oooh its cute

Anxiety said:

For now it's only available in Germany, but can't be long before they'll be available in the rest of Europe and the US. Comes with Sennheizer headphones and 36 month warranty.

I just like the specs of it.

• PortalPlayer chipset
• Screen: greyscale LCD, 160 × 128 pixels
• USB 2.0
• USB Host (On-the-Go)
• Touch-wheel navigation
• SD/MMC card slot
• Integrated mic recording (16 bit/8 kHz mono WAV)
• 8 hours playback
• Plastic housing
• Content organized by id3-tags
• Support MP3, WMA, WAV
• Size: 107.5 × 65 × 18 mm, 176g
• Price: $ 199 Euro

The Medion Jukebox is only available in Aldi markets in northern Germany (Germany is divided into two different Aldi-"systems") but the player was already sold in every place after one hour opening time. In addition there were some delivering problems.

The device not only is similar because of the dimensions and the display (160 x 128 dots) but also because of the integrated touchwheel.

In difference to the ipod it also has a SD/MMC slot and a USB OTG connection and an integrated mic (only possibility to record in WAV 16 bit mono 8 khz (??)). Although the battery life is indicated for 8 hours, the device at least has a changable battery (li-ion 1000 mAh, 3,7 V)

The case is completely in plastic and the display in the test unit was a bit crooked. All menues are in English, BTW.
You can use the Medion player as a normal mobile HD, also to transfer music or with the enclosed MMJB 9.0 software. Funny though that these files, transfered with MM are stored in a hidden folder "myJukeboxMusicDRM". The plug-in which has to be installed for a synchronisation between the player and MusicMatch also can be used with the WMP 10.

The transfer take about 8,5 seconds for 100 MB. MMJB creates an index (for id3 navigation) but is NOT able to read m3u playlists.
Additional are supplied Sennheiser MX300 as headphones, a normal usb cable and a usb host cable, a little bag for the device and a power adaptor with German and British plugs.

All MP3 files were supported, no problem with special characters in the id3 tags. WMA files are supported up to 320 kbit but yet no DRM files where supported, which is a bit strange because Medion will open their music portal Medionmusic.com soon. Pauses between titles are under one second.

Result of the article:
The MD95200 is technically equal to the ipod, with SD/MMC and USB-OTG even superior but the design and GUI is a bit limited compared to the ipod.

althom said:

you should try the iBrick.

JoweeCoco said:

Haven't used the Nomad, but I enjoy using the iPod so much. I virtually use mine everyday.

JANFAN4L said:

i don't know if i can get used to basing my music listening habits on listening to an mp3 player...i guess if i could store 10,000 songs i could just have a really really large "heavy rotation" on my mp3, but i'm the kinda weirdo who regularly just HAS to hear some oddball obscuro blast-from-the-past album RIGHT NOW...a couple of days ago i just HAD to listen to "floodland" by sisters of mercy for example...and i hadn't listened to that in YEARS.

i guess what i'm saying or asking is, when you get used to using an iPod or a nomad or somesuch, do you find your listening habits becoming more claustrophobic? weird question, i'm sure....

AsianBoi777 said:

he said queen.

Anxiety said:

Well with my iPod, I have the capability of doing random play. With a 20 GB version, that's a mighty adventurous and wide-ranging shuffle -- depending on what kind of music you put in there. I will discover (and re-discover) a lot of tracks based on sheer shuffle play. You can turn the shuffle feature on and off, so if you wanted to listen to that "obscuro" cut, you can scroll the wheel right to it and put it in infinite repeat if you want.

Plus, with the "On-The-Go" feature, you can customize on-the-spot playlists without having to update them via your computer. You could be in the park on day and suddenly have a craving for 2 particular albums and a song. Hold the center button and they're all in your On-The-Go list. Like it? Save it. Finished with it? Clear it and make another.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

In general I like earbud-style headphones, but I don't think the standard iPod white earbuds are that great. I prefer the Sony ones that can be found at many music stores. (And while I haven't tried them, I'm told that Shure makes some audiophile-quality earbuds.)

However, I lost my Sonys, I've been given two pairs of the iPod earbuds from people who disliked them, and they "match" my Apple PowerBook, so I use them, even though I don't own an iPod.

matt said:

Hey Matt, the Sony's are great! They are EX71SL. They run under 50 bucks and their sound is quite decent. The Shures are incredible, but the price tag is outrageous.

Ooh a chance to be geeky.

iPod wins handsdown over Nomad. I've had both and can tell you that honestly.

But I contender who I prefer over iPod is Sony - their new NW-HD3 looks awesome, I'm saving up to buy one to replace my old one who's battery is dying.

Spookymuffin said:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eB...eName=WDVW


I've said before that I'm a SONY whore.....

jerseykrs said:

ooooh a 30 hr playback time. That's pretty good. And the 20GB holds about 13,000 song/900 cds. that's better than the iPod. It's a little too expensive though.
[Edited 1/16/05 10:27am]

One thing I didn't get about the iPod is that my 20 GB one started out with 18.5 GB. Why is that?

i have been having an inner conflict between an ipod or this....



the RCA Lyra rd2780...


they have the same internal memory, 20G, which is good because i'd also be using it as a backup source for my computer. the only difference that is swaying me toward the Lyra is that it also plays movies and pre-recorded tv shows on its 3.5" LCD screen. this would be great for me at work on my graveyard shift (i could catch up on all the shows i've been missing!!) and also for my son who would love to watch movies on car trips. i don't know much about either but i've been researching....i love reading other peeps opinions though...

AnckSuNamun said:

I don't know the answer to why but all harddrives are like that. I would bet that your computer came with a 100 GB harddrive or whatever but only 98 GB show up.

AnckSuNamun said:

Hard Drive manufacturers in general, define a gigabyte (abbreviated as GB) as 1 billion bytes (1,000,000,000 bytes).

Operating Systems and software utilities define a gigabyte as 1,073,741,824 bytes, which is based on an earlier way of measuring hard drive capacity. This method measures a kilobyte as 1,024 bytes rather than 1,000.

In like manner a megabyte is reported as having 1,024 X 1,024 bytes (1,048,576 bytes) rather than 1,000,000 bytes and a gigabyte as having 1,073,741,824 bytes.

Therefore a drive with a capacity of 9.1GB (or 9,100,000,000 bytes) on the label will have 7.37% less capacity when expressed in Gigabytes, 4.86% less capacity when expressed in Megabytes, or 2.4% less capacity when expressed in Kilobytes. For example:

9,100,000,000 decimal bytes divided by 1.048576 equals 8,678.436+ binary Kilobytes, equivalent to 8.67 MB.

JoweeCoco said:

man my head hurts now

"I AM NOMAD!"

lovemachine said:

Yeah, it did. Well not 100 GBs. At the time I didn't think much about it. I guess it mattered more with the iPod.

JoweeCoco said:

Must you be so technical Thanks though.

This iRiver 20GB came top of a few consumer tests in the UK.
http://www.advancedmp3pla...cts_id=290

It plays almost ANY format, is compatible with Mac or PC, has better than iPod battery life, includes a radio tuner and will record direct from your Hi-Fi (using the optical-out socket). and it's cheaper.

It just doesn't look as cool, but then it will spend most of the time in your pocket so just get some white bud earphones and you'll be fine.

MrJoker said:

Dude, I was gonna post the exact same thing!!!


Man, we are such geeks!!!

JediMaster said:

JoweeCoco said:

Anxiety said:

The crush is complete.