[NTLUG:Discuss] mp3/video players

[Chris Cox]

On Mon, 2010-08-23 at 18:08 -0700, lesa goats wrote:
> I am using kubuntu Linux and want to use mp3 and mpg video player and am tired of proprietary windows and apple products.    

Well... there's nothing contemporary that makes me smile at the moment.

My all time favorite (though a bit hefty and chunky now) was the Cowon
A2.  Cowon does NOT produce anything like the A2 anymore and most of the
new stuff I'd avoid like the plague.

The player I carry with me all the time, due to size and capacity, is
the Insignia Pilot.  I have the 8GB model with a 32GB SDHC card
inserted.  The device does bluetooth, handles ogg and mp3 and does Xvid
for video.  It will NOT handle high res video, only video sized for the
player... but I'm used to sizing for the player, most players have
difficulty handling 480p and higher.... yes, there are some EXPENSIVE
players that will handle that... but they have other issues (e.g.
quality in the case of Archos).  The Pilot has great battery life, and
while it does feel cheap, it's probably taken the most abuse from me and
survived.  Durable.  Downside, the Pilot doesn't run Linux internally,
but it doesn't run Windows* either.  The problem is that the firmware
has a limit of 2000 entries.  So, using the 32GB SDHC is useful if you
load up a lot of video, but I'd go smaller if talking just about music.
Oh... you can view photos with the thing as well.  You can pop the card
out, put it into your camera, pop it in and view the photos if your
camera uses jpg format.  Obviously the full size SDHC slot is one of the
biggest benefits.

Ok... so the Pilot is also dead product... but you can find them cheap
on ebay.  Also the Pilot has a replaceable battery...   battery life is
great.  I use it for weeks without recharge (using it for about 2hours a
day).

It's great on long air trips (e.g. overseas) in that you can usually
watch 2 full length movies on a charge (sometimes more).

The firmware sometimes glitches... but it's not a big deal... IMHO it
doesn't glitch as often as my old Creative Zen.  I'll be honest though,
you can probably expect one hiccup during a charge.  What happens is the
player will reset and you'll have to go find where you were again.

Another downside is that the Pilot (almost like any tag based player)
has to rescan memory at start up to form the tables.  This is because of
the lack of control associated with how media is attached and dumped to
the player (just give this some thought and you can understand why MTP
exists).  This player however will show up a normal drive (two drives if
you have the SDHC in).

Very long movies (ones that are over 2.5 hours or so) will have to
broken up into multiple files (sorry).  Just a limitation of the player.
Album art has to be embedded via tag and ONLY works with mp3's.  So no
album art with ogg.  Player does let you move around in the windows and
pictures and such while the music is playing.  It does remember where
you were when you shutdown and supports m3u playlist and allows you to
set bookmarks in audio and video.

Equalizer is grotesque and sound quality isn't the greatest... but I
have a Cowon A2... so you might think the quality is ok.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eGbyNTt07w

The youtube above is a capture from my Pilot using a iPod Gen 1 video
cable (Best Buy sells these).  Capture was made using my external
Hauppauge grabber.

> 
> 
> 
> I have a Sansa Fuze that does not work consistently with the video.  I also have an  ipod that won't work with Linux.  What would do you use or recommend and how is it working for you?

I have ONE more Pilot 8GB to give away at NTLUG... so if you come to a
meeting, you just my win one. :-)