MP3 Players

Tomliner · Post by **Tomliner** » 17 Apr 2007, 21:44

AndtG that was quite interesting.Although My post was intentionally light hearted,it does bring to mind another old chestnut of valve amps versus solid stat amps in terms of sound quality.Now that I have sent another thread off from it's original subject I will wander off before I am booted off! :whistle: EricT

Post by **Garry Russell** » 17 Apr 2007, 21:51

Doesn't seem too much wrong with you wind up handle yet Eric :roll:

Garry

Tomliner · Post by **Tomliner** » 17 Apr 2007, 22:13

Garry
Not sure my dearly beloved would agree with that.Neither would my wife!

EricT

Quixoticish · Post by **Quixoticish** » 17 Apr 2007, 22:13

Tomliner wrote:AndtG that was quite interesting.Although My post was intentionally light hearted,it does bring to mind another old chestnut of valve amps versus solid stat amps in terms of sound quality.Now that I have sent another thread off from it's original subject I will wander off before I am booted off! :whistle: EricT

Analogue signals will always have better sound quality. For instance vinyl will always sound better (assuming the recording was good quality in the first place and the audio setup is good enough) than CD as digital recording can never capture a complete sound wave. The loudness war isn't really helping the sound quality on CD's either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

ianhind · Post by **ianhind** » 17 Apr 2007, 22:22

And of course when you are talking about MP3, the quality has deteriorated further from CD.

Returning to the original topic, I bought my wife a Creative Nano for Christmas 2006. It was a solid state version (vaguely recall 512Mb) which she loves. Changes the tracks at intervals (512Mb holds about 8 CDs I think, but that takes a while to listen to).

I did not buy an Ipod because I got the impression that the batteries was not replaceable once they lost their recharge capability = built-in obsolescence. Is that correct?

Post by **DaveB** » 17 Apr 2007, 22:32

To the best of my knowledge Ian (I only buy the things.. I don't use em!!) your understanding of battery use is correct. That said, I don't know if the internal battery could be replaced :think: I don't see any reason why not but I guess it all depends on the availability of such things. Definately not a 'user' feature! :roll:

I bought my better half an MP3 for christmas as a stocking filler.. nothing fancy and not very expensive but made by Sandisk. As I use this make of memory in my cameras and have never had a prob.. it seemed like a good buy and has turned out to be so thus far. It carries more than enough for her needs but would be a tad restrictive for those wishing to carry their entire cd collection around with them

ATB

DaveB :tab:

Quixoticish · Post by **Quixoticish** » 17 Apr 2007, 23:08

You can indeed buy replacement Ipod batteries, I have no experience of fitting them although if they are anything like my IRiver battery it's the work of fifteen minutes with a micro screwdriver set. I've only just had to replace my battery after over three years of daily use (play time had dropped from fifteen hours to six hours on one charge) however I understand the Ipods (perhaps just the earlier models) had problems with the batteries dying ridiculously quickly so it would obviously be worth pricing up replacements and seeing if it was cost effective.

Originally you could only pick up replacement batteries from duff players on ebay (those with cracked screens and suchlike) but plenty of enterprising people picked up on the fact that this would be big business in the future and they are fairly commonplace now. Some sites even send you kits with the correct screwdrivers and everything.

http://www.ipoddoctor.co.uk/?kw=batteri ... QgodgBFEHg

ianhind · Post by **ianhind** » 17 Apr 2007, 23:21

OK, maybe I read some duff reviews at the time which gave me that impression about the Ipod batteries.

But looking at the official Apple site:
http://www.apple.com/uk/support/ipod/service/prices/
Â£50 for a battery change is not going to encourage buyers.

And from the same site:

Q: Is the iPod battery user-replaceable?
A: The iPod's case is not designed to be opened, so, in that respect, it's not what would generally be referred to as "user-replaceable". But, the case can be opened, and there are several third parties that offer replacement batteries for the iPod.

Reading some of the links it seems that this is a response to earlier critical comments and reviews.

But a lot different to 2 x rechargable AAA for the Creative Nano :shock:

Ian

thehappyotter · Post by **thehappyotter** » 18 Apr 2007, 09:31

I've decided to see if this one can be fixed, mainly due to the fact it's only cost 50 quid on a replacement drive which can be re-flogged on ebay if it doesn't work. If this fails i'll spend extra 150 on a new one.

I found a slimline Toshiba 1.8in 30 gig drive which is supposed to fit so I get an extra 10 gig as a bonus.

On the subject of vinyl, I love it. If I download something as an mp3 and love it I always try to find the vinyl version which I just keep, unopened, in a box. I've got loads like this. It's nice to have something tangible.

Robin · Post by **Robin** » 18 Apr 2007, 20:53

DaveB wrote: I bought my better half an MP3 for christmas as a stocking filler..

I beleive, the christmas before Paul McCartney and Heather Mills split up, he bought her a new leg. But this wasn't her main present, it was just a stocking filler.