Now that I’m a student at UoW, I have a 90 minute (each way) train journey from Sydney. And as part of my current health & fitness regimen, I also go for a long (at least 40 min) walk every day.
It has been ages since I last owned a walkman, but the time has come. I’ve been looking at iPods but *fukc* they’re expensive. And they’re a bit lacking in features.
Ideally I want something that has:
at least 20GB storage
can play mp3/aac/wav
can store other file types
includes an AM/FM radio (AM is particularly important, for Radio National/NewsRadio/Cricket).
Ability to record audio would be very nice but is not essential.
Colour screen/video (esp. xvid) playback - nice but not important.
Price should be well under AUD500
I want to get something a.s.a.p. but there are so many products out there, and I’ve yet to find one that meets my requirements, so any suggestions (including stores) would be much appreciated. TIA.
March 2nd, 2006 at 10:02 am - Edit
i recommend this joint:
http://www.i-tech.com.au/products/37_MP3_Player.asp
I just bought my printer from there and the price was quite good. They don’t have a shop as much as a virtual storefront and a distribution node in Glebe that you can pick stuff up from.
check out the MSI Mega View 566, which is a little bit above the max price, but it records straight from TV! That is sweet…
March 2nd, 2006 at 10:03 am - Edit
The Iriver I bought was about $600, 40GB, will store anything, only plays MP3, has a colour screen that only shows picture (no movies), has an internal mic + line in/minijack mic in and a good quality AM/FM radio. So don’t know if that’s an option - suspect the fact it doesn’t play AAC will bother you, though maybe its possible to find a firmware update.
Honsetly your not going to get all your looking for at that price so its either more money of deciding priorities I’m afraid.
March 2nd, 2006 at 10:03 am - Edit
I haven’t seen one with an A.M. radio. However, most R.N. shows that I want to listen to are now podcasted by the ABC anyway. (woo hoo).
The problem I see is that your complete list of requirements probably won’t be met by any player. For example a lot of players with radios are ‘plays for sure’ and might not support AAC files. Don’t iPods have a radio option now?
If I were you I’d buy a cheapshit flash player that can cram 4 hrs music on it in mp3 format and expect to throw it away as soon as something comes along that fulfils more requirements.
March 2nd, 2006 at 10:47 am - Edit
hey, I just had a look and for a no name brand (at least to me) this fits your requirements perfectly:
http://www.i-tech.com.au/products/3698_MSI_Mega_View_561_MP3_Player_and_image.asp
samsung has something too. Doesn’t look as good tho! but it has a camera built in.
The MSI 561’s big brother (566) is exactly the same except you can record from TV apparently. that is some cool shit! but it is over your max price.
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:41 am - Edit
Many thanks guys for your suggestions!
A ‘walkman’ without AM radio is absurd IMHO. I know, AM & FM will soon be superceded by digital radio, but in the meantime how am I supposed to listen to sports broadcasts or breaking news? bah…
Since I really shouldn’t be spending a lot of money atm, I think I’ll go with Scot’s suggestion and get something basic (maybe an iPod Shuffle + a basic AM/FM radio walkman) until my ideal device comes along.
What I really really want is something that combines all my above requirements with a mobile phone, PDA, GPS and camera, and is less than, say, AUD1000. It’s only a matter of time before that becomes available, so I think I should wait.
I’ll let you know what I end up getting, probably later today.
March 2nd, 2006 at 3:31 pm - Edit
I got one of these from Bing Lee for $200.
Compared to the equivalent (1GB) iPod shuffle it’s $50 more and doesn’t play AAC, but it’s also smaller (it’s tiny!), has a display, plays WMA, ASF and Ogg as well as MP3 and WAV, and has an FM tuner and a voice recorder (but no line in, unfortunately).
It’s charging right now, so I’m yet to test it, but it seems like a good solution for the time being.
I’ll probably listen to RN shows as podcasts, but I also bought a little Sony Walkman radio for when the cricket’s on.
March 2nd, 2006 at 6:58 pm - Edit
bugger! I was going to suggest you just walk around holding a f@#kin’ notebook in front of you… it had all the features you were after, as long as you find a wifi network to get your am radio…
March 2nd, 2006 at 10:18 pm - Edit
I’m very happy with it so far! I would like to upgrade the earphones tho. It comes with some reasonable (white) lanyard type phones, but some higher fidelity (black) ones would be nice…
March 3rd, 2006 at 9:10 am - Edit
headphones - if you know roughly what you want then these folk seem to have the best range locally online. http://www.bestheadphones.com.au/. their prices on mid range stuff are good and you don’t have to be pestered by shop assistants while you buy.
March 3rd, 2006 at 2:28 pm - Edit
That’s sure is a darn good headphone site. I’m bookmarking it right now! I’m in the market for a tiny collapsable pair for travelling. They have some nice Senheisser ones in white. Oh goody. But first, must buy i-pod. I’m not really interested in the thrid party players yet. I mean, wma, who cares? Wma sux! Windows Media Player is u-g-l-y. Ahuh. :)
March 3rd, 2006 at 2:29 pm - Edit
I am interested in spelling third correctly tho.
March 3rd, 2006 at 3:00 pm - Edit
thanks seb! i think i might try some IRL before purchasing. i’ve been reading reviews, and the (expensive, but still ‘mid-range’) etymotic er6i seems like the best option *except* i’m worried that they actually cancel too much noise - which is dangerous for walking. i actually don’t want a lot of noise cancellation anyway - i like to hear the environment i’m in (one reason i haven’t used walkpersons in so long).
but the in ear canal types seem to be the only way to get good bass from earphones. i’m thinking i might get something like the sennheiser cx300. they’re more affordable, reduce noise (but less so than the er6i) and i’ve always been fond of sennheiser headphones…
one thing to consider is impedence. both the er6i and cx300 are 16 ohms, which matches my player. many other phones have higher impedence, which needs more power to drive them, which reduces battery life.
oh and renae iPods are fine, just lacking in features for their price, imho.
March 3rd, 2006 at 9:22 pm - Edit
yeah i’d go to a shop, try them . . . then get them cheaper online.
ipods . . . i’ve been very surprised by their usability despite the limitations. and the price isn’t as bad if you can get them at student price and also claim them on your tax as a work/study expense as music and or technology worker.
i would probably go the iriver if i had my music on a pc though. they have the best feature set still.
as far as an all in one device . . . you’ll be waiting a long time. whilst there is a huge market for such a thing, no one wants to take the risk. samsung brought out a phone with harddrive in korea and got absolutely hammered by the Korean versions of APRA and ARIA a few years ago and it got withdrawn from the market very quickly. it will happen . . it has to . . . but probably when it does it will so encumbered by DRM that it will be virtually unusable.
there’s also a pretty strong argument that consumers are actually quite prepared to carry multiple small devices with them if their interfaces are better for their task specific uses than a combo device.
PDA/phone convergence has been going on for a long time but still it is hard to beat an old model mobile for ease of use for quickly making phone calls whilst on the run with both hands full versus a PDA/phone combo.
March 3rd, 2006 at 9:58 pm - Edit
cos i’m impatient (i wasn’t prepared to put up with bad earphones a day longer) i bought some today. sony mdr-nx1 on sale at JB Hi Fi for $95 (rrp $129). they’re black, necklace/lanyard style, with in-ear buds.
they’re pretty good - decent frequency range with the buds shoved as far into the ears as they’ll go. i’m sure i could’ve done better if I’d shopped around more, but at least I now have some good earphones, and if i feel the urge (and have the money) later on to get some ultra hifi ones, they’ll still be good to have as a back up.
btw i claim just about everything on tax! even foxtel! it’s all work-related!
my old mobile is still fine for calls, but i’d love to see it merge with the functionality of my laptop, as greg suggested (i’d do gigs with it!). plus camera, gps, radio etc as i’ve said. and with flash memory - moving parts are so passe. terabyte flash memory, please! i guess the future can’t come soon enough for me…
the less things i have to carry with me the better. means less things to lose/forget.
it’s just a matter of design. and time.
March 3rd, 2006 at 10:47 pm - Edit
Well the imate JAMin’s the closest I”ve seen to that list…
March 3rd, 2006 at 11:38 pm - Edit
that’d be this thing. it’s getting there…
btw, today i could pick up RN on my samsung on 93.7 FM from lightning ridge!
March 4th, 2006 at 3:43 pm - Edit
My two cents long after voting has closed. Been using a Sony W800i phone for a few months which has around a gb of ram for mp3/wma/aac, an fm radio & a 2mp camera. I use the radio a lot on the train & the camera has become my new standard point & shoot. I think you can get them for around $600. They are somewhat fragile though, I’ve completely stuffed the phone speaker on mine falling down a mountain path with it in my hand to break my fall. I still prefer the windows smartphones I think, but I do appreciate the pretty easy bluetoothing calendar/address book thing with the computer.