Thanks for all the feedback it’s helping me much better target what I think I’ll be wanting in a portable media player. I think I’ve come to the conclusion I’m going to need 3-4 separated devices in the long run.
First I’ll need a new car stereo but I’ll start another thread on that one.
Second I’ll need a portable media player.
Third I’ll need a full laptop. (just doesn’t look like anything even netbooks really do portable computing and portable media well) Point me in the right direction if I’m wrong.
Third and a half (might come before a laptop) mobile phone.
For the portable media players I’m now concentrating on:
Archos 7 320 GB Internet Media Tablet + screen size
+battery life
+removable battery
+storage capacity
+good PQ and SQ
-very mixed reviews
-touchpad sluggish???
-pay extra for full media support
Apple iPad +screen size
+external battery???
+will likely have lots of apps
-USB charge doesn’t work on all computers
-shortest battery life
-still don’t understand the whole iTunes thing???
Cowon S9 32 GB Video MP3 Player with Touchscreen +Battery life
+media support
+excellent PQ and SQ
+regular firmware updates
-small screen
-problems with playlists and tagging on imported mp3
Can anyone add to the possible pros/cons of any of those players or suggest a player I’ve missed that would be similar to those while hitting more of the pros than the cons.
Just for reference some of the competing advice I’m hearing from 2 people at work one a confirmed mobile tech geek and the other an airline pilot who uses mobile media a lot are to stay away from “i” anything because of having to use iTunes to import media and all accessories being proprietary but from what I’m seeing the proprietary accessory thing seems to apply to most players. The other thing is that the large screen is the way to go especially if I will be mostly watching things, which I will be.
