From: Rocker <rocker_at_shaw.ca>
Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2007 22:28:36 -0600

Paul you wrote:

Out of curiosity, have you used the H100 or H300 personally? If you're
going to say that it probably runs more smoothly, I would suggest you
back it up with some reference toward what parts of it perform better.

Good point. I'm very sad to say goodbye to my IHP-140. Sure it's monchrome
but since I'm blind that really doesn't matter. 32 megs of ram was pretty
good in it's day don't you think? I won't miss the knobby joy stick though
LOL! It also had an excellent genuine leather case that really prtected it
well. except the last time I dropped it. (grin)

The H100 and H300 have superior recording hardware, for example, as well
as the H100 having the optical input and output. While these don't
qualify as an aspect of how smoothly they run, they are objective
benefits to the hardware itself.

I'm going to miss just about everything you mentioned. I also loved the
sturdy feel of the metal caseing and solid buttins.

If hardware is going to be compared in this conversation, the best way
it can be done requires that you not state one hardware is better than
another unless you've got objective grounds upon which to do so
(something one can do better than the other) and you've either
experienced this firsthand, or are very confident that the difference is
real because it's been documented somewhere.

So guesss that leaves out the I-pod eh? LOL!

In terms of the original poster's request, the easiest fullsize player
(HD based) to get and use with Rockbox that works "well" is probably the
Gigabeat F or X series. These only require copying over of files for
installation, and run Rockbox well, with plenty of extra processor power
beyond what is needed. In terms of audio features, they only offer
playback, no recording or radio, but due to their great processor power
and large 320x240 screen they do offer video playback at a good quality.

That's the one I am looking at. Don't like the fact that it's made from
plastic though. BTW: How much ram is on the F series?

I would not recommend the iRiver H10, Sansa e200, or iPod line of
players, as those all use the portalplayer CPU which is not well
supported. If you must get a flash player though, I would suggest the
e200 over the Nano, because it at least offers a decent battery life
owing to the larger battery it contains.

The iAudio X5 and M5 are comparable to the H300 and H100, offering a
smaller form factor and different controls. As stated the recording
functionality of the H300 and H100 series is superior, but the players
are older and often hard to come by. All four share equivalent
processors and differences in actual Rockbox performance should be
minimal, though the grayscale targets usually perform a bit better. As
well the X5L and M5L come with significantly larger batteries that
result in a quite large battery life.

Do you know if the form factor is smaller then the Gigabyte?

The remaining players are the Archos players. They don't really compare
in terms of "modern" features, being only capable of playing MP3 and
uncompressed audio, but many would say they have the best sound quality
of the lot, and due to the use of 2.5" HDs in the larger ones, they're
expandable to significantly larger capacity than the other players.

Love my FMR, recorder V1 and
LOL, it's been so long I don't recall the model of the Archos flash player I
had. Well Menchum from Germany has them all now!

Cheers...rocker
Received on 2007-06-24