[Tfug] iPods

[John Gruenenfelder]

On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 12:17:04AM -0700, Nathan England wrote:
>
>My primary phone now is using my skypeout, so having a device that I could
>use to make calls and receive calls without using my laptop would be really
>nice. I'm considering a skype wifi phone... But we'll see. I cannot justify
>spending any money on an iPhone or Touch if I'll have to use windows. I do
>not have windows, nor any real access to a windows machine that I could do
>anything with it if I had to. If I cannot plug the device in and copy my ogg
>files to it, I really don't want it!
>
>I'm mentioning this because I'm hoping someone else has lots of ogg files and
>uses some media player device to listen to their ogg files without converting
>them to something else.
>Not so much on this list, but what I have found on most other "linux" user
>lists, most of the users are windows people with a partition that is
>occasionally booted with linux... So finding another linux user with input,
>and especially about ogg files, I have not found yet!
>
>nathan

Wait for me!

I have input for you.  Good input... *useful* input.

I have a random smattering of MP3s, but nearly all of my music is in Ogg
format from my CDs that I have ripped.

For a number of years now I have been very happy with the products that iRiver
makes.  Function and stylish, plus they all support Ogg.  Currently, I am
using an iRiver S10 device and it's great.  A few years old now, its biggest
drawback is its modest 2GB capacity.

*But*... in return for putting up with that, you get the so-called S10
"postage stamp" device.  Called that because its size is roughly that of a
large stamp.  It only weighs a couple of ounces, has a organic LED (OLED)
display (bright and low power), has great battery life, and it has an FM radio
and mic (both of which it can record from, if you like).

I replaced the lanyard on mine with a short string with a clasp.  I hook it to
one of the belt loops on my pants and it's always there when I need it.

It functions just like a normal USB mass storage device, so no problems there,
and it scans the filesystem itself so there are no playlist files (although I
think you can create them if you want).  I almost always have mine set to
random playback, but it understands the concept of an album (in this case,
just a directory) and can play through them, too.

At this point, one of the only annoying parts is rather similar to iThings in
that you need a Windows program to update the firmware.  Used to be that you
could do it by simply placing the file in the root directory and use the menu,
but now they make the files hard to find so you have to use their Windows
music manager app to update it.

Okay, so it's a great device.  Unfortunately, I don't think iRiver makes them
anymore.  I'm sure you can find on on the Net someplace, though.  Or get
something newer from iRiver.  It's pretty much standard at this point that any
device iRiver makes will have an FM radio receiver, mic, record ability, and
Ogg playback.

Oh, one last item.  That fancy FOSS firmware available for many music
players - RockBox, I think? - is not available for the S10, though it is
available for a number of other/newer iRiver devices.  Of course, I've really
never had a reason to complain about the standard firmware.  It does its job
quite well.

Also, no Skype.

Hope that helps.  :)


-- 
--John Gruenenfelder    Systems Manager, MKS Imaging Technology, LLC.
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