The best flash player

[Hot888]

which flash player do you guys think is the best:

IAudioU2
IaudioG3
IriverIFP999
Creative N200
New Sumsung flash player with photo viewing

[Piggen]

Depends on what your requirements are :)

[Hot888]

Song quality
long battery life
user replaceable battery
nice features especially OTF playlist

[notguilty]

Samsung: ??
N200: small and light. Great case/clip. Lesser sound quality than other others in the list.
iRiver iFP-999: decent case, good quality all around, coolness factor, Expensive.
U2: small, integrated battery, decent case, integrated battery, a->A adapter.
G3: larger than U2, 40+ hours on nice AA rechargable batteries, no a->A adapter..

[Hot888]

Sumsung: http://reviews.cnet.com/Samsung_YEPP_YP_T7X__512MB_/4505-6490_7-31278883.html?tag=topprods
Iriver ifp-999 is only $166 on
compuplus.com
what is a->A adapter?

G3 sounds good but cnet said it is not durable

If U2 battry died how to you replace the lithium battery? there is no where to buy

[tsayin]

assuming USB, it is probably a mini-A to A adaptor, so you can plug the first end into your device, and the second into your computer.

[Hot888]

I am inclined to get either G3 or U2,
which one do you guys prefer? The U2 has short battery life and can not change the battery, G3 is bigger and looks not as cool as U2.

[slag[]]

I'm caught between these choices myself. I think I have it narrowed down to:

-iRiver 999T
-iAudio 5
-G3
-U2

It's tough though - I definitely like the cool looks of the iRiver and the U2, but the internal battery is a big minus in my book. But they are so incredibly sleek!

The iAudio 5 and G3 are both nice for the replaceable battery, but CNET says the i5's recording sucks and the G3's durability sucks. I think I'm currently leaning most heavily toward the iAudio 5 though.

[Scotty Mac]

user replaceable battery


I don't think the U2 has this...at least not a common battery even if the rechargeable is replaceable.

It took me a long time to decide between G3 and I5 myself. I finally chose I5 becuase of larger screen, more stylish, colors, newer...i think that's about it, not much. The reason for G3 would be if you want a longer batter life. As far as durability and recording quality, i doubt there's really a huge difference. I think you'll be happy either way though.

[Hot888]

I read that you can get U2 battery changed at jetaudio for $40, this is not too bad. But the battery life is only 15 h. I like the AA or AAA battery because you can have a few rechargable batteries around.

FOr G3 and I5, how about I5 noice when you change songs, I have this kind of problem with iriver H-140 when use remote to change songs, I can hear a noice with shure E2c but not with the iriver ear bud. It is annoying. This is why I give up using remote

G3 is $164 at pcmall, sounds like a ggod deal. I5 for 169 at pcmall and U2 for 161 at amazon

[Erasure4ever]

Don't get Samsung players, they aren't that great. Some of them look nice but when it comes to sound quality and features it falls way behind iAudio.

[slag[]]

The U2 is just amazing for size and coolness, but 20 hours battery life isn't that great - although I guess considering it's size, it's respectable enough. Besides, how often do you listen to music for 20 hours straight - and if that isn't very often, how much of the time that you aren't listening to music are you near a power source?

I am leaning toward the U2 just because it's so damn cool. It's beautiful.

[Hot888]

yes, that is true. But when you use user EQ, choose songs, it drains a lot of battery. I found I was constantly charging my H140 which has similar battery life with U2. Especially on weekends, I have to have a full charge.

How about wait for U3 with a color display then?

[slag[]]

The iRiver 999T is a faster alternative to waiting for a U3. It's very similar in size to the U2 (although more square and not as beautiful in my opinion,) and gets 40 hours on it's rechargeable. It's selling for $160-$200 right now, which is the same range as all the other players.

The only reasons that I still prefer the U2 over the 999:
-compactness (the U2 is more sleek and slim)
-simplicity of model and display (I don't really want a color display, it just eats battery)
-recording bitrate (I have to use UMS, with iRiver max bitrate is then 96kbps)

There's a really nice review of the 999 here (http://www.misticriver.net/boards/showthread.php?t=12025&highlight=999+review) (lots of pretty pictures and comparison to the U2)

[Hot888]

slag;

do you know if the bug on u2: not fast forward mp3 VBr was fixed or not?
any OTF playlist? shuffle? on U2

Thanks in advance

[slag[]]

I'll be looking into that after my next class. These would be concerns of mine, as well.

[Hot888]

I read this review before. It seems that IFP999 was discontinued. I doubt there will be further firmware support. Look at the H1xx series.i even doubt that the battery can be changed later on 999.

I am more inclined to get a U2 but considering with only $30 less than ipod mini 4 G. It is kinda of expensive. May be 512mb makes more sense. Since this player will be changed every 15 h. 512mB will be 8 h songs. Can change songs right after change. Plus 512 mb blue color is so so so sexy.

My the other half has ipod mini. I played once for a while. nice battery life, nice interface, OK sound, the only thing I dislike is that you have to delete songs on iTunes.

[Hot888]

Oh no, U2 still can not fast forward mp3 VBR. I have a lot of mp3 VBR. This bug kill the deal!! How about G3? any bug in G3

[iAudioLaBrea]

The I5 has the AAA battery, which I like for various reasons, and this player has an undeniable "bling" factor, which some people really like. Try showing it to friends, classmates or co-workers who were under the impression that the only players were various iPod models, and then let them listen to it, and you will "sell" them on the I5 on the spot. Yes, it's not tiny -- but only relatively speaking! (It's a little larger but noticeably lighter than my Creative Muvo TX.) The U2 is tiny and looks/sounds great, but what do you do if you're stuck on an airplane or in the gym or a waiting room (or otherwise "off the grid") when the battery runs down? I don't really need all the visuals with the I5, but it's an excellent complement to my microdrive hard disk player (which I love -- but awaiting announcement of a micro/mini from COWON).

In terms of sound, you can't go wrong between the U2 and the I5. Just depends on your battery needs/preferences.

[Hot888]

I heard a lot of noise problem with I5 when use shure E2C, that is the problem for me.

[slag[]]

It's good to know that the features are essentially the same. I have a great set of rechargeables (24 AA 2700MAH and 24 AAA 1100MAH) and I definitely know that benefits to being able to swap batteries. I am used to doing this; I did it all the time with my MPIO FL110 player.

However, the question at hand is how important it is to be able to swap the batteries. I can't imagine having an internal battery on my old player, but that's because the life was only 6-8 hours. Add 10 on to that and I doubt that I could deplete the charge in a day... while I do like the control of being able to swap batteries as needed, I think I can live with charging the player in to my computer or wall every night when I go to bed.

The "bling" factor of the i5 is definitely hot. My personal taste, though, is more centered around simplicity and subtlety. I am quite certain that the U2 is my favored player by looks alone. Are looks my primary consideration, though? Probably not, although they're high up.

How about the i5's line-in recording? CNET said that it was "highly distorted" - but I don't see why the U2 would be any different. And besides, we all know that CNET isn't the most reliable source for reviews. Just look at what they rate Apple players.

Voice recording is another consideration on my list... and I definitely like the U2 samples I heard. I understand that this may vary from player to player, even if they are of the same chipset, depending on placement of the microphone and the hole for the microphone. Has anyone had some experience with voice recording on the i5? Is it worse than the U2 due to hole placement? I believe I heard something of this issue.

[Hot888]

I have H140 with 16 hof battery life. let me tell you that I have never charged it more than once a day for one year. I took it on 14 h flight to China and no problem. I was sick of listening music before the battery running out. As long as it last more than 8 h with full user EQ and frequently changing songs (which equals ca 16 h), will be fine.

[608zz]

I don't like the Creative N200 because it seems really chintzy. Does its tiny screen even have more than one line? If not, it won't serve any purpose. Might as well have an iShuffle. In addition, it's not UMS-compliant and there's no consideration for Mac users. That's the same reason I didn't buy Creative's C100 (which IMO is way better than the N100).

I don't have an opinion of the Samsung player. Color/photo only means un-necessary technology to me.

Iriver's recording bitrate is hampered when you activate its UMS-compliancy.

I like and have the G3. Its replaceable battery capability comes in handy when the power runs out. Just yesterday, I ran out of juice (for the first time since I got it 5 weeks ago). Instead of being resigned to ambient noise, I popped in a freshly-charged AA and was back in business. Replacable battery also allows the player to last forever. I recently had to retire a PDA because its built-in lithium ion battery died. I hope to never have to use a built-in battery again.

Other things I like about the G3:
UMS-compliant.
Joystick controls (my preference), as opposed to rocker switches.

My problems with the G3:
1. Not UMS-compliant when managing the player's software - You must have a Windoze-based machine for both upgrading the firmware or removing the annoying welcome-animation..
2. No SD-slot. I don't appreciate being limited by the size of the player's internal memory.

I'm still looking for a good player with an SD-slot.