Mobile Electronics

[WormGod]

Recently, my "3rd" iPod in the last 4 years has died on me. I am done with Apple. I did some soul searching and investigative web chugging on other MP3 audio products that I could use in my home, vehicle, work, etc. I found myself checking out the Zune. Reviews are very mixed on it. Those who like it, LOVE it. Those who don't like it, HATE it. Kinda hard to gauge these sorts of reviews. Well, on an impulse buy, I picked one up. Amazon.com had a black 30G for $180. Great price compared to the iPod equivalent. Not knowing anyone that has one, and it only JUST arriving here at work via UPS, this is going to be a jump-in-head-first for me. Hopefully its a good product and I have a good followup for it.

Also, I have had my eye on a mobile GPS for a while. SO MANY OUT, that I feel overwhelmed. I want affordable and simple, since I travel very little but have no sense of direction when I do. I know tons of people with them, and they all went hi-end, paying in excess of $600+ for them. Sorry, but mapquest is a LOT cheaper than that, heh. Anyways, after researching on my own, I found the TomTomXLS. Compared to many other units, it is affordable ($350 range), has the features I NEED (no fluff), and appears to have some great reviews. Anyone have any experience with this or a similar one that has some thoughts?

[tom4bren]

I have the TomTom 310 at home and a 510 at work. I got Dad a Garmin for Christmas 2 years ago. In general, I like TomTom but the Garmin had better places of interest (gas stations, resteraunts etc) & that was better for Dad.

Map upgrades on TomTom are a pain in the butt. I haven't tried it on any other brands so I can't say if they are any better or worse.

You have the right approach though. Find one with the features you want at the price you want to pay. Use it & enjoy. Don't second guess your decision.

[nfpgasmask]

Glad you are done with Apple. The I-pod as a device is ok, but I-Tunes is BAD. I have a creative Zen Vision 30 GB and I have been very happy with it. Drag and drop MP3s and you are on your way.

Bart

[Gussie2000]

Hey what's going on ?

Since you don't travel a lot i'll recommend you the tom tom,it's one of the less expensive one & yet very reliable,i got one my self.

You may also want to purchase a 2GB memory card so you can dowload all the US & canada map all together,a 1GB memory card will do a good job too.

I'll also suggest you to add an external antenna which you can either attach it over the rood due the magnetic stoone incrusted inside or either inside the cabine with the glued ring that comes with it.


GOOD LUCK !

[CrnCnn]

I have had my iPod for a while now and I like it. My creative zen micro crapped out on me after 4 months of use. I use mine every day sometimes for 12 hours or more a day. When my iPod dies I may get a Zune, but really not sure yet.

[WormGod]

I got the Zune all set up now. All the reviews I read that stated software and setup issues apparently did not apply to me. It was all super fast and easy. VERY easy. And the Zune software (MS version of iTunes basically) is very intuitive and easy. Far easier to navigate and faster than iTunes. The only issue I had was having to convert some of my .m4p files over to .mp3 so the Zune would recognize them, and converting some video .mpg over to .wmv. In all, so far, this thing is a welcome change from the iPod.

And the TomTom sounds like a good bet. Any little quirks that it has will be negated since I will rarely need it anyways. But, I will have it if and when I need it.

[tom4bren]

My boss's boss was using the TomTom from work & accidentally removed the SD card while it was operating. Don't know why but it crashed the thing completely. It took me about 8 hours to get it functional again (with much tech support). The repair didn't cost anything tho so all is well.

Do swap out the 1G SD card for a 2G ASAP & follow the directions for backing up the unit on your desktop.

Play with it at stop lights - not while you are driving.

[reptiles]

The Zune is well supported and the only detraction I ever heard from migrating users, was the inability to play AAC files ripped by iTunes or purchased from the iTunes store. But that's an Apple / DMR issue.

Another fascinating option would be the Empeg indash computer (see http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT5630105143.html or check Wikipedia.

Cheers,

Mark

[nfpgasmask]

The Zune is well supported and the only detraction I ever heard from migrating users, was the inability to play AAC files ripped by iTunes or purchased from the iTunes store. But that's an Apple / DMR issue.

Another fascinating option would be the Empeg indash computer (see http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT5630105143.html or check Wikipedia.

Cheers,

Mark

That's actually pretty cool, but 6GB is not even close to enough. I will buy something like that when it has a 200 or 300 GB capacity. I am ready for a 60GB Zen Vision, my 30 GB is full and I want more space.

Another few years I guess.

Bart

[Bulldoggie]

Glad you are done with Apple. The I-pod as a device is ok, but I-Tunes is BAD. I have a creative Zen Vision 30 GB and I have been very happy with it. Drag and drop MP3s and you are on your way.

Bart

Apple Hater!! Bad! Bad!



My PC friends love the Data DVD's of all of my music.
and I can "drag and drop" songs into playlists, and they sync to iPod???????

[nfpgasmask]

Apple Hater!! Bad! Bad!



My PC friends love the Data DVD's of all of my music.
and I can "drag and drop" songs into playlists, and they sync to iPod???????

What do you mean by "Data DVD's of all of my music"? When I am talking about drag and drop, I mean Windows Explorer style drag and drop. I don't have to mess with I-tunes or playlists or anything. Not sure what you mean.

Bart

[Bulldoggie]

What do you mean by "Data DVD's of all of my music"? When I am talking about drag and drop, I mean Windows Explorer style drag and drop. I don't have to mess with I-tunes or playlists or anything. Not sure what you mean.

Bart

Most people don't have a clue, how powerful iTunes is.
If you choose Data disc for burning, you can make a playlist of your entire music library, and burn it.
It takes less time than an audio disc to burn (aprox 10min per DVD) Faster than you can see songs blink in the play window.
It will include all info and artwork too.
When put in another user's computer, (even PC's) it's like they were on their music libraries.
Data DVD or CD's will not play in your car or home player.
But once added to iTunes, can be burned to CD or Mp3 disc's for standard players.

I plug in my Nano, iTunes come to top and looks for changes to my selected playlists and syncs them automatically.
If I drag a song to a "selected playlist" it will sync that song to that playlist.
You can have as many songs on a playlist that you want.
You can have as many playlist that you want.
Songs can be on as many playlists that you want, still only taking up space once.

I've accumulated songs from many sources, and iTunes likes them all.


I have a 8g nano2g, and I have more song and playlists than I can imagine, it also keeps all my contacts info.

I have no interest in watching a movie on anything less than a 8" screen. even on a plane. Laptop?

[WormGod]

Grabbing me the TomTom today. Taxes done and Uncle Scam only hated on me a little bit, so I can get me a Tax celebration gift and spend to try to give the economy a boost.

All advice about the TomTom is well appreciated. Thanks.

Toyed around with the Zune some more over the weekend. Pretty cool how well it works with XBox Live. A buddy of mine also was talking to me about some hacks for it that sound pretty sick, but I am hardly game for that. In all, I am very pleased and I am still learning things about it by the day.

[WormGod]

So I got my TomTom XLS. Easy set up, intuitive software for the pc, and for a very affordable price. I use this thing everywhere I go now, even if I already know how to get there, heh. I don't know how I never got one earlier (ya I do.... PRICE!). I have a road trip coming up next month so it will get a great break in.

5/5 *****

Now I just need to get used to having another distraction in my cars.

[tom4bren]

WormGod,

I leave my TomTom on all the time too (even when I know where I'm going). It's nice to have the projected arrival time, the speedo is more accurate & it's fun to try to confuse the thing.

How about testing it to find your way to one of the DC area meets this year?

Tom