MP3 players: Best, current MP3 player for audio books......
Best, current MP3 player for audio books......
by skywagon - 1/11/05 7:33 PMSince some of you guys are gurus on MP3 players for use with audio books..., what would be your current choice for an MP3 player that is primarily used to listen to audio books while driving or exercise, etc., ....and, why?
What feature allows the player to remember exactly where it left off, in case of power loss, etc. so that when powered up, you will come back to the same place in the book.
Best, current MP3 player for audio books
by dgriffin - 1/12/05 3:47 AM In reply to: Best, current MP3 player for audio books...... by skywagonTake a look at Audible.com to see which machines are compatible with their audiobooks - if you live in the USA you can get a good discount on some of them if you take out a year's subscription to Audible.
Personally I have recently purchased a Palm Tungsten T5 (and a 1GB memory card) which I can use as an mp3 player, an mp3 book reader, a film and picture viewer, a games machine, oh yes, and as a PIM. If I didn't have this I would be tempted to buy the Rio Carbon 5GB - the battery life is apparently very good.
Palm and Audible.com
by dianesm - 1/5/06 9:38 AM In reply to: Best, current MP3 player for audio books by dgriffinI'm glad you brought up Palm...
It's encouraging to hear you are successfully listening to Audible.com content on your Palm Tungsten. I would much prefer to have only one little device to handle my PIM and audio needs. And, since I'm already firmly entrenched in the Palm format (m515), the fact that Creative only works with MS Outlook made that a redundant and wasted feature (for me) on the Zen Micro, even though I was seriously attracted to the recording capabilities found there.
So, now for a few questions: Is it a problem that Palm is not compatible with Audible Format 4? Do you have any problems with the matter of being able to resume listening where you left off? Also, can you Podcast with that setup? How about using it in the car with an FM transmitter? (I'm looking at the iRiver AFT 100). Do the Palm units have recording capabilities?
If you could answer any or all of these questions (or others that I've not thought of) I would be very grateful. Thanks much.
New Generation Palm... poor reviews
by dianesm - 1/6/06 8:54 AM In reply to: Palm and Audible.com by dianesmI was quite disappointed by the user reviews of the newer Palm products on Amazon.com. The average rating was in the range of 3 to 3.5 stars for the various Tungsten models--not good enough to be persuasive. Too many folks are unhappy with the basic Palm features (Graffiti2, etc.) and since my m515 has been pretty reliable, it's probably not a good gamble to try to upgrade at this time (in fact it may not really be an upgrade if you start having problems).
Also, it seems that it can get pretty expensive to add memory in the form of SD cards. It sounds like audio playback could be considered something of an afterthought at Palm, whereas with other companies it is Mission One.
In spite of my high hopes for a Palm solution, after a few hours of exploring that possibility, I'm turning my gaze back to Creative.
Palm is great for audio! Battery life is only drawback.
by gillises - 1/15/06 9:39 PM In reply to: Palm and Audible.com by dianesmI use my Tungsten E (the older model) to listen to Audible audiobooks as well as music files. For music, I downloaded a 15-day free trial of Pocket tunes (www.pocket-tunes.com). The free RealAudio player that came with the Palm will play .mp3 files, but they take up a lot of space. P-tunes will allow you to play .wma files on a Palm. This is a valuable feature, since .wma files are much smaller and it's the default used by Windows Media player if you rip tracks off a cd. I liked p-tunes so much I paid the $35 to buy it after the free trial.
As for Audible, the Audible player for the palm is great. I prefer to use a card reader to load all my Audible files and music to an SD card. The audible manager makes this very easy using their download manager. (BTW, Audible formats 3 and 4 work on a Tungsten.) For music files its as easy as drag and drop.
Listening to audio files is different on Audible and P-tunes. P-tunes has better features for making playlists and moving around between and within tracks. However, if you use the Palm's power button to stop the music, you will have to turn p-tunes back on with your stylus (or fingernail) on the screen after you turn the Palm back on. This means you have to look at it to start it up again, so you can't do it in your pocket. Audible has two advantages in this area. One: you can turn the audio on and off just by turning the Palm on and off. You have to hit the power button twice to turn it off, and then once to turn it back on, and the audio will start playing where you left off; two: if you are not using any other programs simultaneously while the audio is playing (which you can do with both p-tunes and audible) the display on the Palm will eventually go dark while still playing the audio to prevent drain of the battery. P-tunes never goes dark.
Battery life is the ONLY issue that would compel me to buy a separate mp3 player, although I haven't caved yet. I really like having everything I need in my Palm. I worry that the battery in my Palm is not replaceable by the user, so I am hoping I don't kill it soon, since I have become a bit of an audio junkie.
As for playing it in the car, it can be done. If you have a tape deck in you car, you can get a tape deck audio converter used to play the audio of a portable CD player or DVD player through the car speakers. Just plug it into the headphone jack of your Palm and voila, audio through the car stereo.
I haven't tried podcasting yet, so no report on that. I'm not even sure if it's something I would need bluetooth or wireless to get, neither of which is available on my Tungsten E. Love to hear about it if anyone has tried it.
Recording - my Tungsten E does not have recording capabilities. Maybe the Zire models do? They seem to be more geared for multimedia.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
Podcasts on the Palm
by rikp - 1/16/06 6:31 AM In reply to: Palm is great for audio! Battery life is only drawback. by gillisesPodcasts are simply a radio program in mp3 format that gets sent to your computer automatically by subscription. You sign up for it and each episode gets sent to you. When you next log onto the internet, the podcast software connects with you and it downloads to your machine. You then need to drag it to your expansion memory card to play it on your Palm. My wife likes "On the Media" weekly from NYC's npr. There are quite a lot available and most are free.
Rik
Thanks - I've discovered podcasts!
by gillises - 1/16/06 1:46 PM In reply to: Podcasts on the Palm by rikpThanks for the tip. I've downloaded Juice (formerly ipodder) and have subscribed to my favorite NPR programs. What a great feature! Until now, if I wasn't in a car, I missed my npr fix. If only they would podcast entire programs (Morning Edition, ATC), that would be great.
Capturing streaming as mp3s
by rikp - 1/16/06 5:30 PM In reply to: Thanks - I've discovered podcasts! by gillisesSInce Morning Edition is streamed to your computer on demand, you can stream it and capture it with any number of audio programs. AudioGrabber or Total Recorder would do the trick. It's not as good as podcasting, but you can set up to stream one episode of Morning Edition and capture it with an audio recorder and save it to listen on your portable player. It's a little easier than it sounds, but it does take some work.
Rik
Capturing FM Radio
by medicinman - 8/14/06 7:33 AM In reply to: Capturing streaming as mp3s by rikpMy Creative Zen MicroPhoto MP3 device has an FM tuner AND you can record whatever is playing, so recording "Morning Edition" or anything else is easy.
Total Recorder
by rspears - 4/24/07 11:10 AM In reply to: Capturing streaming as mp3s by rikpI use 2 different programs to capture streaming audio:
- Total Recorder for the PC
- Audio Hijack Pro for my Mac
Both are very easy to use. I've probably recorded over 500 hours worth of audio from NPR alone that I listen to when I commute or when I do household chores. As I type this I'm recording an interview with mystery writer Sue Grafton from my local NPR station.
At one point, I subscribed to way too many podcasts and it was overwhelming. This way I pick what I want recorded. I do have a limited number of subs to podcasts still.
RS in Ohio
Palm Tungsten E: Good Idea, Bad Product, Terrible Company
by cecogar - 1/20/06 8:50 PM In reply to: Palm is great for audio! Battery life is only drawback. by gillisesI had my Palm Tungsten E eleven months to the day and the battery failed. Until then it did everything perfectly, and I became over-reliant on it. I religiously synced with my PC and conducted all of my personal and professional affairs with its robust features.
Palm would do NOTHING - - I called corporate relations in Milpitas, CA and expressed my utter dissatisfaction with the 90 day warranty and repair price of $149. - - $50 less than I paid new. Their offer: they'd split the repair cost with me.
Palm doesn't want or need our business. When your unit fails consider an HP or Dell. If you're not using software and other computer-based functions save yourself grief, time and money and buy a $30. Sharp or Casio organizer that syncs to you computer.
I had a $20. Casio organizer for ten years before it gave up. I replaced that lowly unit with the $199. Tungsten E that lasted 11 months. Consider the increased power, cost effectivenss and capabilites I gained after that decade.
Palm can't compete with its high volume sales of short-life products, and it product line is too large and confusing. Most important is that Palm must learn that customer service is king, and a company that abandons its customers as Palm does deserves to fail. And Palm will. Remember: economic boycotts work. When you get good service tell your friends. When you get bad service tell everyone.
Palms and Customer service
by mcatherinemcf - 8/15/06 6:40 PM In reply to: Palm Tungsten E: Good Idea, Bad Product, Terrible Company by cecogarI've observed that different people have different experiences with both their electronics (any, not just Palm) and customer service.
1st let me say that I've used my Tungsten E for 3 years and only had to do a soft reset twice, both related to 3rd party software incompatibilities. My unit gets a workout; in addition to the usual calendar, address bk, etc., I play a lot of games and read a lot of books. Now I'm looking to add music.
IMO, product purchases, electronics especially, are a gamble. As long as we live in a corporatocracy, quality will never be Queen. You can either give yourself an ulcer or learn to take positive action. Your economic boycotts don't work anymore; the world is too big and there are too many customers to take your place.
As for customer service, there is no such thing in the electronic world...or virtually none. If you want customer service, buy from a face (& cross your fingers). I'm happy to go through the motions that companies now require -- I'll read the faq or knowledge base. If that doesn't answer (which is usually), CS gets 3 chances: 1st, when they send me the canned reply without reading my message and 2 chances when I've shown them I know enough to read the help files first. Then I require reimbursement and if that isn't forthcoming, I report them to the state attorney general, BBB and their professional organization if applicable. If it is soon enough after the purchase, I challenge the charge on my VISA bill. Simple boycotts don't work but take BACK the money you've given them and it really gets their attention. <eg>
No, it isn't right but look around. Is the "real" world much better? Getting angry only hurts you; learning to work, or work around, the system is much more satisfying.
/soapbox @8~)
Palm info - Thanks!
by mcatherinemcf - 8/15/06 6:02 PM In reply to: Palm is great for audio! Battery life is only drawback. by gillisesThanks for your detailed info on the compatibility of the Tungsten E for audio. It is just the info I needed.
One further clarification: how is the sound quality? I have some meditation tracks I want to listen to but they have a tonal component that is integral to their effectiveness. Do you think the tones will translate cleanly?
Audio books on mp3 players
by ypsrudy - 12/26/06 10:29 PM In reply to: Palm is great for audio! Battery life is only drawback. by gillisesHello: I myself have a palm TX which I have been using as an ebook reader and audio book listener for about 10 months. I find it easy to download audio from free audio.com and audio.com. I have had a few problems with Audio books for free.com . I had more problems loading music thru p-tunes at first until you get to know the formats it likes. Well I hope this helps. later..
Palm Audible
by William W. Smith - 12/12/06 10:01 AM In reply to: Palm and Audible.com by dianesmMy Plam TX works better than any of the MP3 players I have tried including the ireiver. It always starts where you left off, even when you change MD's. When the palm does mess up, it always re-boots and you just start over. When any of the MP3 players, including the zunes, have a problem, they freez. Sometimes the only way to un- freez them is re-load the firmware operating system. This is easy to do, but it takes time and you loose all of your improted data. All MP3 players have this problem, exept for the palm.
Unfortunantly, all palms have a slight hiss in the audio. If palm would fix this, they would blow i-river and zunes and i-pod away.
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