Should I swap my H140 for a H340?

[cormie]

Hi,
I've been following RockBox for a good while and love it, it's made my H140 sooo much better, thanks to all involved. I may have the opportunity to do a straight swap, my H140 for a H340. I know RockBox is coming along for the H340. How long do you reckon it will be before it will reach the stage the H140 is at now? What are the reasons for and against the swap? I know the H340 hasn't got LCD remote or Optical ports, but I never really use them anyway. How about battery life and the likes? What is a H140 worth compared to a H340, should I be the one asking him for a bit of extra cash? I'm not thinking extra cash, but I'd like a silicone case as I'll be giving him my iSkin.

Thoughts?

[Mr Whippy]

I wouldn't. H140 better audio player than the 340, Rockbox has been out longer therefore more stable and usable- 340 Rockbox no audio yet. 140 metal body, 340 plastic. Optical I/O useful down the line- you might get a DAC or require recording digitally. I use the optical out all the time.

[Whatsthepoint]

I would in a few months. Rockbox with h340 isnt really that buggy but very limited at the moment. Rockbox for the h300 is still really monochrome and hasnt fully taken advantage of the h300's colour screen. Keep your remote and use it for the h300 if you want a remote.

[cormie]

Hi, thanks for the replies.
This offer is still available to me and I notice RockBox on the H340 has come on quite a bit, now playing audio (as much as the H1XX can? Gapless? Crossfade? I'm not too sure, but it seems to be coming along a lot quicker than the H1XX did, which I heard it would since a lot of the work that needed to be done for it was already done on the H1XX port). Hmm the fact the case is metal vs plastic doesn't make any difference really, I'll have it in a silicone case soon after I buy it, plus the guy who wants to swap has the official H3XX remote As for optical, I reckon by the time I can afford a new sound system with optical ports, there will be a much better DAP out with the capabilities to use with it.

What's worth more, a used H140 or a used H340, both with official remotes, H140 with iSkin.

[matheis]

don't know if the h3xx rockbox can record in .wav format or not, but that'd be a deal breaker to me. i wouldn't want to be forced to record a concert in a lossy codec! the h1xx records on rockbox in .wav format, with no glitches or dropout, with level metering pre-recording (to set levels) and while recording, and has the ability to change recording levels during the recording process. what's more, after recording to .wav you can navigate to the .wav file, long-press, select wav2wv to convert to the lossless wavpack format. this'll get your recording down to 40-60% of the original size without compromising file quality - and it's pretty fast! then you can delete the original .wav file. pretty cool if you ask me!
my 2 cents
nikolaus

[cormie]

I thought you could record with the H3XX though? I've recorded one or two gigs with my H140, but have recorded them in mp3 format, hehe. I never really use .wav and I'm not too sure on the technical side of things, but wouldn't it mean that it would be better if I recorded in mp3 rather than recording in wav and then converting to MP3 if I wanted to listen to it in mp3 format (to save space on my H). As long as the H3XX can record in .mp3 I think that will be fine

[alienshards]

well, rockbox for h300 looks to have much more potential than rockbox for h100, because of the color screen. it should catch up to the h100 soon too. it took 6 months to get audio on the h100, and 6 days to get it on the h300, because of similarities between the players.

rockbox should be able to cover the wav recording on the h300s. the only real thing lacking, then, are the optical ports.

[Mr Whippy]

[quote=cormiebut wouldn't it mean that it would be better if I recorded in mp3 rather than recording in wav and then converting to MP3 if I wanted to listen to it in mp3 format (to save space on my H). As long as the H3XX can record in .mp3 I think that will be fine[/QUOTE]

No, record in WAV, transfer to desktop and encode to whatever (MP3/OGG) and VBR/encoder of your choice...ie LAME or Vorbis. Backup both or just compressed file.

You should have enough space for usual WAV recording...just leave space (60 mins approx 600MB)

[cormie]

yeah, 600MB is a lot of space though for a file I'll end up encoding and listening to on MP3 anyway though ya know? And most gigs last about 100-120 mins. And 40GB isn't even enough for me anyway I think if the guy is still up for it, I'll go ahead with it

[bal]

I'd say: don't wait to long because of the availability. At least, I got that impression when I searched for it on the internet. I had to let my H340 come from Hong Kong (I live in Belgium, Europe) because I didn't find local shops who'd got the iRiver . Or I could be totally wrong...

[chicagotrauma]

Originally Posted by cormie

What's worth more, a used H140 or a used H340, both with official remotes, H140 with iSkin.

Used H140's are selling for about 50 bucks more on ebay (ranging from $200 to $405). One (with an iskin) sold for $400. The 340's are going for $250 to $350. I just picked up a used 340 for $280.

Hope this market info helps.....

[cormie]

Thanks for that

[lennyk]

Just keep the h140 and buy an h340. I wish I had both. Best of both worlds.

Personally, I have an h140. I got it awhile back, and I chose it over the h340 because rockbox was looking like it might actually work on it soon, and for the optical ports. And when I thought about the color screen, I thought, "why do you need a color screen on an mp3 player anyway?" But now I wish I had an h340 too because, well, the color screen would be cool, it has an rtc chip, and honestly I've never used the optical ports.

[Dunno]

I personally prefer the joystock to buttons, easier to navigate with, but guess it depends what you are used to.....0002c worth

[edil]

I use the optical port every single day. I rergret not buying a second iriver DAP... and I'm talking of a second h140 DAP. It will be a real sad day the day that my h140 get broken. Is incredible how this unit stay on the top as the best audio only player, at least that's my opinion.

The answer to your question is simple; Do you need color screen to see nicer graphics and photos, USB OTG and the capability to play movies, then there is no choice for you but to get the H3X0. If not, I will then keep using the h140.