What player to get?

[godofrandomness]

I'm looking to get my girlfriend a new mp3 player for her birthday next month, and I am considering a model that Rockbox is curently available for so theres a choice in firmware.  I would like to avoid a repeat in crappy firmware and encryption like in toshiba's gigabeat f20 that i had bought about 6 months ago. 

Anywho, i'm looking for something in the 5-10 gig range of space.   Is there a listing anywhere of the storage space of current port models, or does anyone know which models fall in that range?

[MU4L]

You'd probably be looking at getting an iRiver iHP-110/115 if 10-15 GB is what you're after. Not sure what your g/f would think of 3 year-old technology, though (as good as it is).


Alternatively, you could buy a 4GB Nano, buy an additional 4GB of Samsung flash memory, and solder it to the Nano. Or you could just wait for the 8GB Sansa to be released, though that would mean waiting for the Rockbox port for the current Sansa line to be completed.


All in all though, you're probably best off just getting her a 20 or 30GB player, seeing as she'll probably fill up a 10GB player in no time, once she gets used to being able to carry her whole collection around with her .

[godofrandomness]

Ok, so whats good in the currently supported 20-30 gig line?  I'd get another gigabeat, but i dont think she'd like the software ectera, and the GB port probably wont be ready in time.

[xlarge]

Ok, so whats good in the currently supported 20-30 gig line?  I'd get another gigabeat, but i dont think she'd like the software ectera, and the GB port probably wont be ready in time.

cowon iaudio x5

[belly917]

Ok, so whats good in the currently supported 20-30 gig line?  I'd get another gigabeat, but i dont think she'd like the software ectera, and the GB port probably wont be ready in time.

cowon iaudio x5

I second that.

or wait a few weeks for the 8gb version of the ipod nano

[Jon_]

Go for the iRiver H10 5gb. iPod Nano's are not your best bet no video, recording and so on, they lack alot of good features. H10 you get your self more features in the normal os plus it's being ported for rockbox.

Take Care,
Jon

[barrywardell]

Rockbox isn't running on the H10 yet, although it hopefully will be at some stage in the not too distant future.

[mightybrick]

Ok, so whats good in the currently supported 20-30 gig line?  I'd get another gigabeat, but i dont think she'd like the software ectera, and the GB port probably wont be ready in time.

cowon iaudio x5

I second that.

or wait a few weeks for the 8gb version of the ipod nano

Also the 8GB Nano will have a Samsung processor, so Rockbox won't be running on it for a while.

[Llorean]

There's no guarantee the 8gb Nano will have a Samsung processor. If it's *just* a Nano, and not a second-generation Nano, it may still be the same architecture and just more flash memory.

From what I've heard at least, Apple is moving on to Samsung for the next generation, which doesn't guarantee that the 8gb one will be using it. Doesn't guarantee it won't, either.

[Jon_]

There's no guarantee the 8gb Nano will have a Samsung processor. If it's *just* a Nano, and not a second-generation Nano, it may still be the same architecture and just more flash memory.

From what I've heard at least, Apple is moving on to Samsung for the next generation, which doesn't guarantee that the 8gb one will be using it. Doesn't guarantee it won't, either.

Yes and didn't something happen between apple and portal player?

[Llorean]

The only thing that "happened" was Apple announcing that they'd be using the Samsung chip in their next generation, I believe.

[Jon_]

The only thing that "happened" was Apple announcing that they'd be using the Samsung chip in their next generation, I believe.

Oh i thought i saw on digg and ipodwizard.net that apple will no longer use portal player chips in there future ipods. Awell i'll look for the link.

Take Care
Jon

[Jon_]

Here's the links to the portal player thing:
http://www.ipodwizard.net/showthread.php?t=10031
and
http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/04/20/portalplayer.ipod.setback/
and
http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/20/apple-snubbing-portalplayer-for-next-gen-ipods/

[Llorean]

the computer company has apparently decided not to use PortalPlayer's media processor in some next-generation iPod models

See, pretty much what I said.

[godofrandomness]

Ok well so far the Iaudio x5 seems like a good idea, but ive got a couple questions on it.  Does the firmware for it require software like gigabeats or ipods do to load songs?  i know rockbox doesn't, but she may not like the idea of putting rockbox on it initially, though with here who knows. 

Also, how well does the voice recorder work on it?  She wants one for school, so this could be killing 2 birds with one stone, in a non-peta offending way.

Thanks for your help guys

One more thing:  is there  adifference between x5 and x5L when it comes to rockbox?