Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 28

Ok. I have decided to buy an MP3 player. I am seriously considering the MiniJam but I have also looked at the standalones and it's pretty obvious that for less money, you can get a pretty decent player (like the Samsung YEP YP-E32 for $127.49). I certainly agree that the MiniJam ($200 - $260) is not just an MP3 player (as if any of us will buy it for it's extra memory) and yeah, it would be very cool to combine my PDA and MP3 player, but at what price? Can anyone who pre-ordered the MiniJam describe what led him/her to this decision? Thanks!

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MJ- "The Visor ROX"
Visit our site at http://www.gilai.com

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Inglewood, CA, USA
Posts: 390

Storage. (ebooks, dictionaries, etc...)

To get 64mb using the 8mb Modules by Handspring, it would cost me over $650. I can justify the cost, for me, because I have already bought two 8mb modules, and I�m already deleting and shuffling things back and forth to make room for more stuff. Basically, I need more�

Innogear said they would probably release a stand-alone MMC reader by the end of the year and I considered waiting for it, or hoping Handspring or someone else would create a flash module with more than 8mb, but as we all know, waiting for �vaporware� can be frustrating. Also, with the MiniJam, I can play a few songs - I didn�t care about this feature before, but now I consider it a �bonus� with my memory.

( Of course, right after I get the MiniJam, someone will probably declare that their previously "un-announced, mega-mb, cheaper-than-MiniJam" flash module is ready for shipping�)

Personally, if it was only for MP3's, I'd pick a cheaper player.

Addition:
I recently discovered a new reason: Some of my future ebooks may be the audio type, and the MiniJam will allow me to listen to them - something I can't do with my current modules.

[This message has been edited by narnia_77 (edited 07-29-2000).]

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 28

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"I have already bought two 8mb modules, and I�m already deleting and shuffling things back and forth to make room for more stuff"

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Narnia- may I ask why you need so much memory? It sounds like you allready have MP3s on your Visor... :-)

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MJ- "The Visor ROX"
Visit our site at http://www.gilai.com

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Inglewood, CA, USA
Posts: 390

quote:

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Originally posted by MJ:
Narnia- may I ask why you need so much memory? It sounds like you allready have MP3s on your Visor... :-)

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As I mentioned on other threads, I'm a heavy reader. There are some books that I may want to read again soon, so I leave them on the module for awhile. I also have some fanfiction stories (very long ones) that have a series of stories - sometimes they refer to something in a previous story, so I may want to go back to them. (They all stay until I'm finished with the entire series.) I also have the entire King James version of the Bible on one of the modules, and it's pretty large.

Right now, I'm storing up for vacation. I won�t be taking my laptop, so everything will have to be pre-installed before I leave. Since I read pretty fast, I'll need a lot of reading material to take with me. It will be a lot easier to carry multiple books on my Visor, than to carry the physical books, plus a book light.

Off topic warning: [For the couple people wondering why I will read so much on vacation: This is also for survival purposes� I�ll be visiting relatives, in a small town, and my grandmother�s idea of TV is either news or the 24-hour religious channel. That�s it, nothing else. There is only one TV, and one phone line � that I can�t tie up. So I�ll pretty much have no TV, no Internet and no phone. (I�d be �roaming� on my cell phone � too expensive.) It will be 100+ humid degrees, so no outside either. The Visor�s all I�ll have. Oh, and for the beer drinkers: �dry� county - and even if you bought liquor in a surrounding city, my grandmother wouldn�t allow it in her house. OK, I�m done venting off-topic�]

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Border Independent
Posts: 69

Narnia_77,

You could read that King James on your vacation, and fit right in!

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 231

My main reason for buying the MiniJam is because I don't want another device to carry around. I already have a cell phone and a Visor on my belt and a stand-alone MP3 player would just make 3 separate devices cumbersome.

And I, like narnia_77, need extra storage. With Noah Lite (med), AvantGo and other large files I think I may be out of space soon.

Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 144

quote:

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Originally posted by narnia_77:
Off topic warning: [For the couple people wondering why I will read so much on vacation: This is also for survival purposes� I�ll be visiting relatives, in a small town, and my grandmother�s idea of TV is either news or the 24-hour religious channel. That�s it, nothing else. There is only one TV, and one phone line � that I can�t tie up. So I�ll pretty much have no TV, no Internet and no phone. (I�d be �roaming� on my cell phone � too expensive.) It will be 100+ humid degrees, so no outside either. The Visor�s all I�ll have. Oh, and for the beer drinkers: �dry� county - and even if you bought liquor in a surrounding city, my grandmother wouldn�t allow it in her house. OK, I�m done venting off-topic�]

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Good God! And you call that 'vacation'??? Sounds like 'confinement' to me [no offense intended ]

Good luck!

mc9

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Hacienda Heights, Ca
Posts: 302

quote:

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Originally posted by mc9:

Good God! And you call that 'vacation'???

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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

I'd go for a dedicated MP3 player. You can get the new 32MB Rio 600 for $30 less than the 32MB MiniJam. It's out now, so you won't have ordering and shipping hassles. It's small enough to make the size difference between it and the MJ negligible. And you can keep your Springboard slot free for something more important (I'm getting a Novatel Mistrel S wireless modem, which I'll probably leave in the slot most of the time).

I don't need bulk storage. I haven't even used two megs on my Visor. On the rare occasions that I load e-books into it, I delete them when I'm done reading them.

I did plan to get the MiniJam until Innogear dropped the voice recording feature -- and said nothing about it until a customer asked why the feature wasn't listed on the order page. That combined with the fact that the module's higher-than-estimated price soured me on the product. The Rio 600 is cheap and doesn't promise to do anything it doesn't.

[This message has been edited by Gameboy70 (edited 07-30-2000).]

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 28

quote:

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I'm getting a Novatel Mistrel S wireless modem, which I'll probably leave in the slot most of the time

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Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Metro Station, Hollywood and Highland
Posts: 1018

The Palm VII limits you to PQAs. For my purposes, that's not good enough. I'm a journalist, and I need to be able to do research anywhere on the web at any time -- not just sites with PQAs. And the Minstrel is CDPD-based, so the coverage is much better.

Also, the last time I checked, unlimited service from Palm.net was $45.00 a month. Verizon and AT&T Wireless are offering unlimited monthly access for $24.95. That's $240 less over the course of a year. So that cancels out the price of the Visor.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: Border Independent
Posts: 69

Gameboy,

Please keep us posted when you get the Minstrel -s!

Superstream

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Redwood City CA
Posts: 472

I'm getting the Minijam for two reasons: storage, and the "Blinking 12" problem.

The "Blinking 12" problem refers to the way that most VCRs have "12:00" flashing on their displays because it's too difficult to set the time. Basically, the idea is that a feature that's too much trouble to learn is useless because it doesn't get used.

For example, I own a very nice Sony portable minidisk recorder. To delete all the music on a disk, this is what you have to do:

Hold the "Display" button for two seconds.
Press the "Next Track / Fast Forward" button.
Press the "Stop" button twice.

The device has a lot of capability -- like naming tracks -- that I'll never bother to learn how to use. I'm willing to bet that if I bought a Rio 650 I'd get much, much less use out of it.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 105

Does your Sony MiniDisc connect to the computer like a Rio? I personally doubt it.

When you rip a song from a CD and put it in mp3 format most people make the file name the same as the songs actual name. Programs like RioPort automatically organize the songs in folders and subfolders depending on how you tell it to do it. It will also automatically create the playlist. So if you want to transfer a song over to your Rio you can simply click on a button and it brings you to a list of playlists (Albums you've encoded) and it simply copies them over.

Also, all songs automatically have their titles entered because most people who own a computer have the internet and it looks it up through the CDDB, no manually typing in the song's name.

Theres nothing complicated about the Rio players.

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Beverly, MA
Posts: 125

I have a Visor Deluxe. Before I had the Deluxe, I already had a Rio 500 mp3 player. Personally, the Rio 500 works really well for me. It has 64 megs of storage, is feather-light, runs for 12 hours on a single AA battery, and has a very fast usb connection. It takes only a few minutes to transfer a whole 64 megs of mp3's to it. The included programs (RioPort) are okay, but not the best. Actually, from my experience using it under Win98, the built-in mp3 ripping software is frankly awful. However, I use Linux at home, so I rarely use the Windows/MacOS apps. The Linux tools for the Rio are very well done, and there are also some superb cd-ripping/mp3 encoding tools.

Beyond the software, the Rio 500 allows you to organize mp3's into folders, and has really really slick, non-cluttered controls and a simple display.

I take the Rio with me when I'm out running. I carry nothing else with me, and all I have to do is slip the Rio in my pocket (it does come with a Neoprene belt-clip case, but that's way too bulky for me when I'm running). It's so light that I hardly even feel it there. I don't think my Visor with a mp3 module would be quite as lightweight, and I definitely wouldn't want to take it with me while I'm running.

Since I already have a Rio, I don't think I'd ever end up buying a MiniJam. For someone who doesn't have an mp3 player already, think about where you're going to be listening to your music. If you're just going to hook your Visor/MiniJam up in the car, or at your desk, or sitting at home, then I'm sure it would be fine. But if you are at all concerned about weight or portability, you might opt for a small, light, standalone unit like the Rio.

Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Santa Clarita, CA
Posts: 198

I won't be getting the minijam either. I already have a Rio 500, but even if I didn't, I would get one over a mini-jam.

Like Linuxpcguy, I think you want to be able to take your mp3 player places you wouldn't take your Visor. I bike a lot, and the Rio does great, has fallen a couple times and still plays just fine after what would have killed the Visor.

The extra memory would be nice, but for me not necessary. I also don't like the form factor of the mini-jam. Call me greedy, but I really wish they could stuff all the stuff I want in a springboard into a springboard size without the "bump out".

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Hmmmmmmmm......

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 43

Those of you interested in a stand alone unit might be interested in this 6G Nomad player soon to be released.
http://news.cnet.com/news//0-1006-2...g=st.cn.sr.ne.1

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 28

The 6GB looks great...six megs of songs- that is really impressive storage capability!
Although a bit on the expensive side- it shure looks like value for money. Thanks for the URL, PK.

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MJ- "The Visor ROX"
Visit our site at http://www.gilai.com

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Redwood City CA
Posts: 472

quote:

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Originally posted by Matt Nichols:
Does your Sony MiniDisc connect to the computer like a Rio? I personally doubt it.

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Registered: Jul 2000
Location: cambridge, MA USA
Posts: 27

I'm very disappointed that the MMC card that the MiniJam runs on isn't the same as SmartMedia cards; for some reason I thought they were.

I went to buy an MP3 after learning that fact, since it was only $50 after rebate at Best Buy (D-Link DMP-100) and because it ran on SmartMedia cards. The card was important to me, since I also bought a digital camera, an extra 32 Meg card, and a USB card reader, so I wanted to make double use out of the card. However, I opened the instructions and read that once I format the card for MP3, I won't be able to use it in my camera!
Is this true for all MP3 players that use SmartMedia, or just the one I happened to buy?