Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 6

i have owned a Rio 500 for a year and have a springboard MP3 player (Sounds Good) on the way right now. i beg to differ on the uselessness of the springboard MP3 players. i keep a seperate playlist for my portable - i rip my songs again at 64kbps instead of 128 - fits almost 130 minutes in 64megs

for the gym - i get the energy clip and leave my visor in my bag.

for the subway/snowboarding bustrips/around town - i like the idea of one device to listen to music and read my ebooks. i very rarely take my rio without my visor.

why not combine them? and on the price - i got my springboard for around $200 with $40 staples ecoupon/$20 rebate and free shipping.

the 32meg rioport 600 is $169 plus another $90 for the 32meg backpack (have never seen a 320meg pack for sale) - where's the savings?

Registered: Feb 2000
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Posts: 57

Why on Earth would you need a Rio AND an MP3 springboard. How much music can you listen to at one time?? You still can't justify your need for a springboard MP3...you already have a Rio. Your whole argument to justify an "all in one" device is a moot point. That's like getting a VisorPhone and keeping my Nokia cell phone.

Is it me or do you have more gadgets than you can carry with the Visor, Rio, springboard, and the energy clip case.

As far as the pricing, take away all of the coupons and rebates and the springboard is not cheaper. I'm sure you can find rebates/coupons for a Rio if you really tried. Let's compare apples to apples here.

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 6

i'm sorry if i wasn't clear - i meant that i owned a Rio and i'm getting rid of it (to my wife) and going with a Springboard MP3 player. i like my Rio alot, but i have realized that i don't need 128 meg (not at the prices they want for MMC cards!)

"Your whole argument to justify an 'all in one' device is a moot point."
For my lifestyle (living in new york, spending time on subways, walking around town and on a bus to go snowboarding every weekend), the concept of only carrying one gadget to be able to listen to music and read ebooks is very appealing. so it's not a moot point.

and i'm not one of those crazy gadget freaks with a utility belt thing going. in a perfect world, i would carry my visor with the mp3 player in the springboard slot and my cell phone. not interested in a visorphone - nifty, but doesn't fit in the ruler pocket of my jeans. <g>

as per the pricing on the Rio 600 - still expensive for only 32 megs and the add-on packs (which i swear i have only seen the 32 meg on for sale) are pricy as well. but yes, you can use the same ecoupons i did at staples. Whatever. i made my decsions regarding "overpriced gimicks" and am quite happy with them.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

quote:

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Originally posted by pcgamingnet.com
back on track to mp3 players, i have had my rio pmp300 (a legacy product now) and i absolutely love it.. i got it a while before i knew about handspring, so i didn't have to decide between stand alone or springboard. i can say that is hasn't failed me and i am still cranking out great music (especially with the help of an extra 32mb smartmedia card.) the 64mb combined holds a descent amount of music, but when i got the unit, i got it for a great price of $100, and the 32mb mem at a pricey $100 mb. this was a while back, and mem. prices have dropped significantly (just check amazon or ebay). now, the pmp300 is limited in features but has just about everything i would use on a daily basis, except usb (the serial is not unbearably slow, but, well, yeah it is..)

[snip]

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Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

quote:

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Originally posted by prometheus
[snip]
As of yet, there aren't any springboards that I really have to have. A backup module would be nice, but I sync every day. The Eyemodule is crap compared to my Mavica (and it's not even a high end DC). The 8MB module is too expensive for what you get. I don't have any need for wireless internet or a even a regular modem. I'm beginning to think that I should have bought a Palm Vx! The only module that I'm considering now is the Geode or the Magellan GPS for the mapping capability. Even then, I would get a Garmin ETrex for outdoor use since it is rugged and water resistant. While I might bring my VDX backpacking (that's how much I like the thing!), I wouldn't want to use it for a GPS when it's raining one of those Sierra storms, get dust in it, or drop it on the granite at Yosemite or Kings Canyon or Mammoth.

I'm still praying for Springboards that I will go nuts over.

p

[Edited by prometheus on 01-25-2001 at 01:28 PM]

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Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 8

The downside with mp3 players are numerous.

A) not enough storage space. I don't know about you guys, but I don't encode in 128k/sec. Most of my mp3s are 192k/sec or greater. In my case, 64megs just doesn't cut it. Even with swappable memory cards, it's a big hassle. 128megs would be nice, but I'm going to wait for 256megs or more.

B) getting music into the Visor is too slow. Even with USB, moving 64-128megs of data to the Visor is going to take some time.

C) selecting music is too tedious for me to do everyday. I just don't have time to sit there and say "today I want to listen to this song and this one and that one" and then download it all to my Visor (see Point B). Sure you can have some desktop mp3 programs random select songs everyday, but then that's almost like radio.

D) Battery life. mp3 players just consume too much battery life. The Visor is great because you can use it for days to weeks before changing/recharging your batteries. I use a Prism and further shortening my battery life is not appealing.

E) One good thing about mp3 players would be if someone would use the mp3 format to release audio books. It would be nice to be able to ride the subway to work while reading Avantgo and listening to an audiobook. Audiobooks would solve a lot of the problems mentioned above (only have to download once-not every day, can encode at lower bit rates for longer books, etc.)

In my opinion, the current state of mp3 Springboards is just not worth it.

Thomas

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 6

A) not enough storage space. <snip> 128megs would be nice, but I'm going to wait for 256megs or more.

woof. 196...if i want to do listening that critical, i'll get the cd and listen in the living room with the Marantz monoblocks and Joseph Audio Monitors. 128 is fine for music while working on the computer and 64 is ok for headphones on the subway or gym.

B) getting music into the Visor is too slow. Even with USB, moving 64-128megs of data to the Visor is going to take some time.

takes about 3-4 minutes to load my Rio with 64megs. but haven't used the soundsgood yet - so YMMV.

C) selecting music is too tedious for me to do everyday. I just don't have time to sit there and say "today I want to listen to this song and this one and that one" and then download it all to my Visor (see Point B). Sure you can have some desktop mp3 programs random select songs everyday, but then that's almost like radio.

ok - that i agree with. but you can tailor the randomness to fit certain conditions (style of music, what folder, etc) to design a playlist.

D) Battery life. mp3 players just consume too much battery life. The Visor is great because you can use it for days to weeks before changing/recharging your batteries. I use a Prism and further shortening my battery life is not appealing.

don't know yet what the impact is and i would suppose not being able to drop a new set of batteries when things get dim would give one pause.

E) One good thing about mp3 players would be if someone would use the mp3 format to release audio books. It would be nice to be able to ride the subway to work while reading Avantgo and listening to an audiobook. Audiobooks would solve a lot of the problems mentioned above (only have to download once-not every day, can encode at lower bit rates for longer books, etc.)

try audible.com and rioport.com (used to have them) - both have spoken word and audio books available for download.

i figure that i have so many of my CD's ripped, i might as well use them outside the desktop.