5 replies to this topic

[Dodger]

All the buzz about mp3 players, iPods...manufacturers have started to sell mp4 players (claims to play video and audio).
All the mp4 players out there...i think they're only 3 big name ones now, all running Windows media software, kinda bricky, and have relatively short battery lives, w/ hard to get used to interfaces...w/ a coolness factor of about million. All rumor sites all think that apple, whatever steve jobs says, is going to get one out soon.
Has anyone actually purchased one? if so, are they small and futuristic?

[whyme]

mp4's? I haven't even heard of them until this thread...

[snlildude87]

Oh yeah, my friend has an MP4 player, and he claims that it can play videos and music. I don't know what they look like, but I'll try to get a peak Monday and post the results here.

[Señor Maniac]

Those sound really cool. Have not seen or herd util now but seems cool.

[gongbutan]

RealAudio, MP3, Liquid Audio, and many other technologies allow this compression. To compress audio to a point where it can be streamed over modems, you have to start squeezing the sound quality out of it.
But on one hand, MP3 files can't be streamed -- we have to download them (about 15-20 minutes for a 5 minute song) before listening -- but they sound good; and on the other, RealAudio files can be streamed, but they sound like AM radio, not like a CD.

[eMadman]

I haven't purchased one, but from the press conferences I've been to, these things are pretty sweet. The creative one is extremely nice, and is about the size of a Gameboy DS.

My favourite though is the iRiver H320 mp3 player. It's cheaper than the iPod if you search around and it's MUCH cheaper than the portable media center devices that were originally designed with video in mind. With a firmware hack, you can watch videos on it's color screen