Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Posts: 33

SoundsGood vs. MiniJam - Recap

I don't suppose anyone has played a bit with both the SoundsGood and MiniJam MP3 player modules? My boss got the MiniJam, but previously I was thinking of getting the SoundsGood. Now I don't know which I like best!

I'm hoping for a side-by-side... From combing these boards, I get the following:

Device:
SoundsGood - Smaller. Works without Visor. Music only.
MiniJam - Larger. Needs Visor. Does ebooks and pics too.

Memory:
SoundsGood - Non-expandable. Special format?
MiniJam - Uses MMC, but proprietary format.

Transfer:
SoundsGood - Not sure how fast, but faster.
MiniJam - Very slow; proprietary format/conduit.

Cost:
InnoGear 32 (+32) - $199.99
SoundsGood 64 - $269.99

And of course, some would say the fact that the MiniJam is made by InnoGear is a minus. Any other points?


[Edited by eyebrowse on 02-09-2001 at 10:49 PM]

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Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Deep Space.
Posts: 76

I have a Sounds Good and it can transfer a full 64 meg in less than 5 minutes. Quite friendly drag and drop software loads on you PC and it allows you to selectively add or remove individule MP3s.

Rarely can I say this about a product, but I'm 100% satisfied with it.

Explorer1

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

I don't own either (Waiting for a good enough reason to ditch my Rio500) but I know a thing or two about them.

The MiniJam can only store pics & e-books on the 2mb flash, not the MMC cards yet. This is promised in a firmware update.

I believe the rebate is still on for SoundsGood so that will bring the price down to $249. Check out edealfinder.com to get a Staples coupon for $40 off $200, bringing it down to $209 w/ free shipping (But w/ taxes).

I'd say it really comes down to size vs expandability.

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Matt Nichols
[email protected]

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: North Calolina
Posts: 92

MiniJam vs. Soundgood

It all depends on what your looking for.. the MiniJam seems to be a better deal since they have that promo.. and It also has the ability to hold a lot more music.. right now it can hold 128mb and will soon hold 2 times that amount. where the soundsgood will never hold more than 64. But if size matters the soundsgood is smaller.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Avengers Mansion
Posts: 32

Re: SoundsGood vs. MiniJam - Recap

Device:
> SoundsGood - Smaller. Works without Visor. Music only.
> MiniJam - Larger. Needs Visor. Does ebooks and pics too.

I have the Sounds Good and I'm very happy with it. I bought it the day that I received the special offer form InnoGear about the $199 MiniJam. If I waited a day longer to buy one, it would have been the MiniJam.


Memory:
> SoundsGood - Non-expandable. Special format?

I'm not sure if it's a special format, but it can transfer songs FAST. The non expandability is the biggest negative about the device.

> MiniJam - Uses MMC, but proprietary format.

The MMC is the real strength of the MiniJam. You have unlimited storage whereas with the SoundsGood you get roughly an hour or 1 CD's worth of music.


Transfer:
> SoundsGood - Not sure how fast, but faster.
> MiniJam - Very slow; proprietary format/conduit.

SoundsGood really flies. From what I understand the this is probably the biggest negative about the MiniJam. Although with the release of the SpeedLoader (with the unit's reduced cost) you can make transferring faster.



Cost:
> InnoGear 32 (+32) - $199.99
> SoundsGood 64 - $269.99

Heh. I came home from CompUSA with my brand new Sounds Good and what do I have in my mailbox? An email from InnoGear about the $199 MiniJam...


> And of course, some would say the fact that the MiniJam is made by InnoGear is a minus. Any other points?

Considering the other threads going on; this one you're on your own

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

We did a Faceoff article awhile back comparing the two modules.

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James Hromadka
Old Friend

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Deep Space.
Posts: 76

Another tidbit from James's review that should be considered is that the Sounds Good can potentially handle new MP3 formats or other formats, it does not appear the MiniJam has this capability. To quote James's review:

The Future: Both modules store the Visor application code in flash memory and can be updated with future
software releases or bug fixes. The SoundsGood module implements MP3 decoding on a general purpose 32-bit
ARM7 digital signal processor that can be reprogrammed by users with future software upgrades. These
upgrades might include other audio decoding formats like WMA, Ogg Vorbis, ACC, SDMI, or even non-audio
applications. The MiniJam is hardwired for MP3 decoding only, but is working with applications vendors to make
their content compatible with the MMC so users can store PalmOS data there.

Registered: May 2000
Location: Calif
Posts: 8

What about my Mac?

Unless I'm missing something, I don't see one thing mentioned that was a big negative for me at least. I don't think SoundsGood supports the Mac platform.

In any case I now have the MiniJam thanks to the recent sales offer. Since I forgot to bring home my USB cradle, I'm just exploring the other features and provided music. So far, I really like what I've seen and IF Innogear can deliver on the SpeedLoader including Mac support for it, I expect to be pretty happy. Also, the external battery pack and larger storage look useful to me.

Meanwhile, time will tell but hopefully both products will do the job and we will all be happy about it!

Dale

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"Newtons Defy Gravity!"

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

You can buy the speedloader now.. I ordered mine last week.. It's even been shipped out, I hope to get it on monday.

(I don't know if it's supported on the MAC yet .. Might want to call and ask)

-Eric

Registered: May 2000
Location: Calif
Posts: 8

SpeedLoader for Mac?

According to the Innogear site, the SpeedLoader is currently only available for "windoze" users but a mac solution is in the works. I have access to a W2k laptop and can go that route if necessary to get better music transfer rates but I'm going to try and wait a little longer and see what current users have to say.

Please post your results!

Thanks,

Dale

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"Newtons Defy Gravity!"

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 23

Hey, fellow Mac Users!
I have successfully used the MiniJam with the Macintosh running Virtual PC / Windows 98 (although I vastly prefer using the Macintosh in native mode). I offer this because you can probably also use the InnoGear SpeedLoader on the Mac with VPC.

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Mountain View, CA
Posts: 211

I've Tried Both And...

I had the opportunity to try both for about a month and I decided to keep the Soundsgood for the following reasons:

Size: This was a big issue for me, the MiniJam was just too big to keep around while I was listening to music around town and while typing on the stowaway.

Speed: I couldn't stand how long it took the MJ to transfer songs. With the MJ it took all breakfast to update it with an entirely different playlist. With the SG I could update it in the time it took me to get dressed.

Desktop Interface: Oh my gosh this was a BIG difference, The MJ's interface was ugly and Confusing. The SG's interface, matches the niceness of the audioplayers' looks. It is just so smooth and 'eye candy' like. It looked less 'industrial'.

Standalonability (Is that a word?): When I got the Energyclip, I was sold. This nifty little device makes the SG so freaking small! I love taking it with me everywhere that I don't want my Vsr to go. Also It's lovely to use it while I go to sleep and my Vsr Charges. And If I'm on the plane and say I need to type something on my Vsr, Well... all of my word processing apps/files are on the 8 MEG Module, So I Take My SG out of my Vsr and pop it in the EC. Then slide in the 8Mb Module and plug in the Stowaway.

Other file storage: The MJ can probably also do this but I thought I might mention it. If I want to transfer a file from one computer to another easily I just take a file and rename it so it has a .mp3 extension, put it on the SG go to the other comp and take it off the SG. Neato!

WMA Support: The SG should support WMA soon and I have not heard of the MJ being able to do this. With WMA I'll be able to put 2 hours of music on the SG. Sure you can also do that with the MJ but It'll cost you $120.00

Nice People: I have found the SG Customer support people to be much nicer and know more. The SG CS guy and I had a nice little chat and really educated me on what to expect in the future from good tech. (They aren't working on a radio right now, Drats!).He was acually the one who told me about the rename trick. The MJ people seemed annoyed with me as soon as I started talking and weren't really inclined to keep talking to me about anything as soon as my problem was fixed. I know this isn't really expected but after the SG guy he seemed rude.

Well, there are the reasons I picked the SG Over the MJ. I hope this helps in your little venture.

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

Re: SpeedLoader for Mac?

quote:

---

Originally posted by dtsteele
According to the Innogear site, the SpeedLoader is currently only available for "windoze" users but a mac solution is in the works. I have access to a W2k laptop and can go that route if necessary to get better music transfer rates but I'm going to try and wait a little longer and see what current users have to say.

Please post your results!

Thanks,

Dale

---

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 77

Audible.com???

I'll probably buy the first one to support Audible.com content. My wife bought a Rio 500 which is supported, and the audible content is awesome. We don't have to run to the library for books on tape anymore, and with the deals that Audible has going, it is actually fairly economical...

I'm sold on the form factor, but what I want is Audible content. Innogear has promised blah blah blah blah for a long blah blah blah now. I don't hold it against them, but I don't take them seriously, either.

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

Brainp - dtsteele wanted a review when I got it.. no plug indented for Innogear..

Also, is that Audible.com content in a standard/open i.e. mp3 format or some proprietary "digitally secure" <sic> format? I only support "open" formats a-la mp3.

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: planet earth
Posts: 55

IT WORK GREAT!!!!

minijam & speedloader wins Hands down.My coworker has the soundsgood its nice but the buttons need to be pushed by the stylis unless you have long nails,and it needs to be reloaded every time!(he took my minijam on vacation with 3 mmc cards full of tunes and left me using the soundsgoodwhen he came back he sold his sounds good on ebay and bought the minijam)The minijam uses mmc cards so just pop one out and a new one or two in! And most of all someday someone at innogear or geodiscovery will write code to allow palm files to be transfered to mmc cards then the soundsgood wont sound so good at all any more...

Dan

Registered: Jan 2001
Location:
Posts: 11

sounds good still wins out

I dunno. Got a SoundsGood and tried a Minijam and the SG still loads music many times faster than a Minijam and their Speedloader (which ain't very fast). Remember that loader is still three times slower than the stock SoundsGood to transfer and costs $40. http://www.visorcentral.com/page/0-2-779-2.htm

Who wants to spend $130 for another 64MB MMC and that guy has three! By the time you work it out that's $680 for the MJ,Speed loader and 3 cards... what a waste of money. You can get a MP3 player with a 6 gig drive for hundreds less.

SoundsGood is great for most of us I think and I don't have to buy another case either

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

I have a speedloader now, and while it may not be quite as fast as the sounds good, it's pretty close!, Also, it's alot faster than what James wrote up in his review, it actually about 3x to 4x not 2x as James wrote!!! I think he may have had a beta unit with beta software (which typically is not optimized for speed) Although I have only had it since yesterday, I was able to transfer most songs in under 40 seconds each! A significant improvement over the "naked" minijam speed. (which, granted, really bit the big one). Not to mention it won't drain your batteries.

If I can't wait 40 seconds for a song to transfer I have bigger problems to deal with than music .

Last edited by EricG on 02-13-2001 at 04:58 PM

Registered: May 2000
Location: Calif
Posts: 8

MP3 Transfer Woes

Has anyone had problems moving mp3s over onto a minijam? I have the 64 meg version (2 32 cards) and was able to load one card before some sort of a crash that lead to my need to reformat both cards and since I have only been able to get songs on one of the cards.

I'm using the USB cradle with a W2K laptop and either MJLoader or MiniJamBrowser. Neither one seems to be able to maintain a connection and leads to either the visor crashing, the pc app hanging or both. At this point, I'm wondering if the apps just can't handle the slow rate of file transfer or some other conflict. I only have about 1 meg of memory available on the visor itself, could that be a problem?

Any advice on how to solve this?

Thanks,

Dale
p.s. I'm mainly a mac user and the SoundsGood wasn't an option

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"Newtons Defy Gravity!"

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

Sounds like a Win2k/USB issue..

There are some threads running here on VC about folks having problems with hotsyncs and Win2k.. I'd check them out and see if there are any similarities.

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