headless PMP recommendations
The battery in my PMP is dying, and as it's not user-servicable, I'm looking to replace the whole PMP. It was an IBM freebie, so I can't just buy the same unit again (nor is its USB device ID informative). I'm after recommendations that will meet the following requirements -- they basically describe my old device. - can walk into a local store and buy it. IOW not a DIY project and not "order online from <some gizmo site>". - MUST play MP3s (yes, opus/speex/flac/tremor would be nice, but I doubt they're available in commodity hardware). - MUST have 3.5mm headphone audio out. - SHOULD charge over USB. - MUST last at least 2h playback between charges at time of purchase. SHOULD be a lot more, so that as the battery slowly dies, I don't care. Once it drops below about 40min playback between charges, it becomes useless to me. - SHOULD cost less than A$200. - SHOULD be small and light -- on the order of a couple of USB keys. - SHOULD be headless (no screen). All I need is play/pause/off, next-track, and vol-up/down buttons. If I want to know what I'm listening to, I'll bolt backannouncing into the audio stream. If I want to go to a specific track, I'll plug it into a "real" computer. SHOULD use mechanical (not touchscreen) buttons, so I can skip tracks by hitting next-track through my jacket, rather than having to open it and reach in. - MUST talk to a computer over USB mass storage (or, I guess, simply take an SD or microSD card). I should be able to plug it in, drop a bunch of MP3 files into a folder, and it should just play them. SHOULD play them in the order they hit the disk, so that - streamripper of a radio station into individual MP3s will play them back in the order recorded, so streamripper's unreliable track-edge detection becomes a non-issue; and - a simple cp -a of an album will play it back in track order (because cp will copy the tracks in lexicographic sort order). SHOULD NOT need a magical "index" file for the onboard OS to "see" tracks, as the old gen2 & 4 iPods did. (Anything that needs iTunes or similar is *right out*). MAY use a FAT filesystem. NTFS or HFS+ would actually be an inconvenience for me at present. - if onboard storage (cf. SD card), SHOULD be at least 2GB. The key words (in uppercase) are per RFC 2119. A glance at jbhifi.com turns up a A$52 Sony B-series Walkman which looks close to what I want. Does anyone have experience with it? PS: no, I don't have a cellphone, so I can't use that to play music.
Maybe look at sony W series too? That appears to fit. Your local purchase restriction means I can't think of any other manufacturers that could have something that would fit your criteria and is decent. On 10 December 2012 18:21, Trent W. Buck <trentbuck@gmail.com> wrote:
The battery in my PMP is dying, and as it's not user-servicable, I'm looking to replace the whole PMP. It was an IBM freebie, so I can't just buy the same unit again (nor is its USB device ID informative). I'm after recommendations that will meet the following requirements -- they basically describe my old device.
- can walk into a local store and buy it. IOW not a DIY project and not "order online from <some gizmo site>".
- MUST play MP3s (yes, opus/speex/flac/tremor would be nice, but I doubt they're available in commodity hardware).
- MUST have 3.5mm headphone audio out.
- SHOULD charge over USB.
- MUST last at least 2h playback between charges at time of purchase. SHOULD be a lot more, so that as the battery slowly dies, I don't care. Once it drops below about 40min playback between charges, it becomes useless to me.
- SHOULD cost less than A$200.
- SHOULD be small and light -- on the order of a couple of USB keys.
- SHOULD be headless (no screen). All I need is play/pause/off, next-track, and vol-up/down buttons. If I want to know what I'm listening to, I'll bolt backannouncing into the audio stream. If I want to go to a specific track, I'll plug it into a "real" computer.
SHOULD use mechanical (not touchscreen) buttons, so I can skip tracks by hitting next-track through my jacket, rather than having to open it and reach in.
- MUST talk to a computer over USB mass storage (or, I guess, simply take an SD or microSD card).
I should be able to plug it in, drop a bunch of MP3 files into a folder, and it should just play them. SHOULD play them in the order they hit the disk, so that
- streamripper of a radio station into individual MP3s will play them back in the order recorded, so streamripper's unreliable track-edge detection becomes a non-issue; and
- a simple cp -a of an album will play it back in track order (because cp will copy the tracks in lexicographic sort order).
SHOULD NOT need a magical "index" file for the onboard OS to "see" tracks, as the old gen2 & 4 iPods did. (Anything that needs iTunes or similar is *right out*).
MAY use a FAT filesystem. NTFS or HFS+ would actually be an inconvenience for me at present.
- if onboard storage (cf. SD card), SHOULD be at least 2GB.
The key words (in uppercase) are per RFC 2119.
A glance at jbhifi.com turns up a A$52 Sony B-series Walkman which looks close to what I want. Does anyone have experience with it?
PS: no, I don't have a cellphone, so I can't use that to play music. _______________________________________________ luv-talk mailing list luv-talk@lists.luv.asn.au http://lists.luv.asn.au/listinfo/luv-talk
Bianca Gibson wrote:
Maybe look at sony W series too? That appears to fit.
Mm, they look a bit poncy tho, and might not fit under my helmet.
Your local purchase restriction means I can't think of any other manufacturers that could have something that would fit your criteria and is decent.
Sigh, yeah. RSN I'll cave in and learn how to give money to internet people. I've deliberately avoided it so far, because I suspect the day I learn, is they day I go broke.
On Mon, 10 Dec 2012, "Trent W. Buck" <trentbuck@gmail.com> wrote:
- SHOULD be small and light -- on the order of a couple of USB keys.
- SHOULD be headless (no screen). All I need is play/pause/off, next-track, and vol-up/down buttons. If I want to know what I'm listening to, I'll bolt backannouncing into the audio stream. If I want to go to a specific track, I'll plug it into a "real" computer.
SHOULD use mechanical (not touchscreen) buttons, so I can skip tracks by hitting next-track through my jacket, rather than having to open it and reach in.
PS: no, I don't have a cellphone, so I can't use that to play music.
Every Android phone meets all your criteria other than the above three. As you aren't so worried about display then you might look for a phone with a damaged screen on ebay. An Android phone is a nice little computer, pity it's not such a great phone. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
Trent W. Buck wrote:
A glance at jbhifi.com turns up a A$52 Sony B-series Walkman which looks close to what I want. Does anyone have experience with it?
I decided that "fuck it, it's only $52" and impulse bought it. Bit heavier than I was expecting, it has a USB A male, whereas my last one had a 4" long four-pin 3.5mm to USB A male cable. The USB has a plastic cap which will doubtless be lost within five seconds. Successfully dumped some MP3s on it and got it to play them. The on-board UI is a bit wacky and "interesting times". It also has a FM transceiver, which I initially went "meh, shrug" about, but now I think I might start regularly listening to PBS and RRR again. I'll try it for a week or two, and if I feel strongly enough will post a followup rant (or "review" as some people call them).
Trent W. Buck wrote:
The battery in my PMP is dying, and as it's not user-servicable, I'm looking to replace the whole PMP.
So guess what: this turned out to be Microsoft's fault. I happened to notice when I picked up my new PMP one morning, it was half-charged. It turns out that if you plug something into an Xbox 360 *while the Xbox is on*, it gets charged up. If the xbox is off, it charges down. Taking this into account and re-testing, my old PMP actually turns out to still last about ninety minutes, not ten. Yay, still usable!
participants (3)
-
Bianca Gibson -
Russell Coker -
Trent W. Buck