Out with my H340 in with ????

[murdoch]

H340 is going after happy times with it. It's a great machine but too big for what I need and I want a bigger colour screen.

I also want iRiver again.

Any ideas/recommendations/stay clear of advice?

[caramelsoul]

Im awaiting delivery of a 4GB Cowon D2 and have purchased a 16GB SDHC card to go with it. Its the only thing that tickled my fancy to be honest. So in essence a 20GB flash player with decent size screen and awsome battery life that also supports FLAC. Cant see anything better out there at the moment.

[ihatelongnicksevenmore]

When the time comes to replace my h320 -- what a faithful and reliable friend it has been -- methinks that I will get one of those 160 GB IPods and go imediatly the RockBox way...

[shadesbass]

Originally Posted by ihatelongnicksevenmo re

When the time comes to replace my h320 -- what a faithful and reliable friend it has been -- methinks that I will get one of those 160 GB IPods and go imediatly the RockBox way...

Rockbox isn't supported on the iPod Classic. At least, not yet...

[tchariya]

I went a different route. I got an internet tablet by Nokia N810. Hey music player that grows with drive space as memory gets smaller and cheaper....no problem! Open source linux mp3 players?!?! woooo..ok there are like 3 out there right now.

It sounds pretty good with my Shure EC3, the GUI is a little lacking but as more internet tablets come out with Linux installed, there will be better programs for use.

For now, I'm happy with Wifi internet access and the tools.

No..it is not a phone!

[saints]

Did you look at the n800? 2 x sdhc card slots 16gb x 2, much cheaper and you can load os2008, mines great, but doesnt sniff the h3xx for sq

[Denny]

Originally Posted by shadesbass

Rockbox isn't supported on the iPod Classic. At least, not yet...

...and most likely never will be according to the current dev's.

[tchariya]

I want one now!

[musichound]

Thread finally moved to appropriate forum.

[pachinkoman]

Try the 80g Zune, great SQ, nice interface, good screen - only downside is the dumb-a$$ software, which unless you add and subtract from often is only a factor when loading it up.

One good thing about the software though is it will easily sync any TV shows you record w/Windows Media Center.

Size of player is very nice too.

[Tracksol]

I know how you feel man. I've already replaced the battery AND hard drive on my H340. Nowadays I use it primarily just as a travel portable hard drive.

I wanted something that I can drag and drop files into and not HAVE to use software. That's my biggest gripe about the iPods and Zunes. Also, most if not all of the music stores are going to non DRM purchases nowadays. I've bought from the Amazon store and their prices and quality is great.

I've just recently purchased a couple Sony A816 Walkmans for my wife and I. Check out the review on pocketables.net

Review: Sony A810 Walkman

[Not_Spanky]

Feeling your pain also - I've just lost my faithful H340 (although I'm still frantically checking all the places I almost certainly didn't leave, just in case....), so while I continue my feeble searching, I've launched a side-search into potential replacements.

Being a nerd, it's not the first time I've looked at repalcing the H340, but now, as before, it seems there are slim pickings around.

The solid state Creative Zen 32GB is tempting as a near feature match without the troubles of a HDD, but I'm not convinced.

Since I'm also looking for a SatNav, some sort of bastard cross between the two would be nice, but the offerings I've seen todate are either SatNav with a feeble mp3 tackon, or mp3 players with a feeble SatNav tackon. The new iRiver W7 with optional GPS carmount looks intersting, but too early to say - will probably have sketchy GPS.

So after all that, I have no advice, but would be keen to hear others opinions of replacement options. And please no database music sorting - I know it's outdated, but I still prefer file tree selection.

[Ste238]

i'm in the same boat, wanting to upgrade from a H320.
i love the player but 20gb just isn't big enough for me now, i need at least 40gb.

i was planning on getting one of the new ipod classics and using rockbox on it, but it's not supported i just really don't want to use itunes, if i had to correctly tag all of my songs i would go crazy, and i have my h320 file tree all set up to just copy along to another player.

does iriver have any 40gb+ players out now, or on the horizon?
what are the other options?

edit: i'm really liking the look of the Zune 80, but i'm worried about having to tag all my music - it sounds like it doesn't support drag and drop. does anyone know whether i'll have to go through the painstaking task of tagging all my music if i get the zune?

[Not_Spanky]

Honestly haven't really looked at the Zune (I love my xbox, but c'mon, the Zune makes the H340 look slim and petite!), but as a general guide, if it uses a database methoid to sort music into artists/genres/etc, that'll be based on tags, and yeah, you'd probably have to go down the same path. Corrections welcome from anyone, I haven't looked around in a while.

I know a lot of people love that system, but even ignoring the issue of updating the tags, that sorting method still shits me to tears. I love my file tree, so I won't be buying anything that doesn't let you select straight from the folder structure. Personal preference though.

As for future iRiver HDD players, there's finally some good looking gear on the horizon, with a lot a cool 30-60GB HDD-based players shown at CES recently, but no idea when they'll make it to stores. I actually emailed iRivers importer in Australia today to see how long a wait it might be. Fingers and anything else you have crossed.

[ehilkey]

I have a zune, and its kinda nice (dare i say) to have it sync up. But picking out individual songs to play can be a hassle. Of course, the music i download is legal and so has tags premade for me.

I'd keep to a file tree system, if that's what you're used to and like.


Any word from the Australian seller?

[sweetspot]

I feel all your pain... It's a damned sad state of affairs when all we're asking for is a nice big color screen, decent storage space and simple drag and drop, rather than having to use crappy proprietary software to transfer files back and forth.

The D2 is an option, but when using file tree, the external card isn't seen with the internal memory, so you have to browse back to the home screen and then select the memory card. That.. is dumb, to say the least. Same story for the Zen. The one way to make it logical though, is to store artists from A-? on the card, then the rest on the internal memory.

Then there's the Sansa View.
The screen isn't exactly big. No software is needed, but it doesn't do file tree browsing, which I can't understand for the life of me since it's drag and drop.

The limitations are staggering.

[sweetspot]

Also just saw over @ anythingbutipod.com that the D2 may be coming out in a 16 gig flavor. That's 32 gigs total with a 16 gig SD card, and 32 gig SD cards should be showing up in a couple of months as well.

[Ste238]

anyone have any feelings on the Cowon A3 (60gb)? i know it's a bit of a beast, but i'm guessing you can use drag & drop and file tree on it, nice screen etc. does it have a good reputation?