My Birthday Is Tomarro

[jrksuperman]

i might get a gp2x with a 4 gb card or a ipod video 30gb
what do u think

 

[Paradox]

if your deciding between a gp2x and an ipod video, it seems like you want the 2x for videos...and since 30gb is far better than 4gb for films etc, then get the ipod... as much as i hate ipods ;/

 

[Squidge]

If you want movies, photos and videos, then iPod wins hands down.

If your more into emulating old games, then the GP2X is a better bet.

 

[pantera6]

get both***
even though ipods SUCK, well they dont, i just preffer irivers or creative zens

 

[kardasan]

for videos wouldn't iRiver PMP be better than ipod video?

 

[shinneri]

iPods
+ music
+ video (though I believe the supported formats are pretty restricted)
+ Massive storage
- I think you have to encode your videos first, correct?
- I've heard of a lot of broken or damaged iPods...

GP2X
+ music
+ video - no need to encode (usually)
+ decent storage
+ emulation (Genesis, SNES, MAME, PSX is on the way, etc)
+ interpreters and homebrew
- Kind of big for a music player
- MK2 screen's not the best ever..

 

[Magnulus]

I would venture a guess and say 75% of all broken mp3 players are iPods... Oh, and incidentally, 75% of all mp3 players sold are iPods. Seriously, though, there are problems, but I don't think the iPods are any worse than the others. In my store, we've had one very unlucky customer who is now recieving her second replacement iPod mini after waiting for AGES, even though the case was a follow-up to a previous case. But this and maybe one or two more have been the only cases in our store in a full year of iPod sales.

iPods are great for little vids. I've ripped and encoded all the Pixar shorts I've got on DVD to my iPod (I wanted to buy them on iTunes, but they haven't opened the video purchase section for Norwegian customers.) and it's just great fun to have them there to show people. I also download and encode (if needed) any fun videos I find on the web that seem worth keeping. The resolution of any iPod-encoded video, though, is 320x240, which means you're getting less than half the resolution of a full-size DivX file. So if you plan on watching the films on your TV, go for the GP2X and a few more cards.

And yeah. You have to encode them yourself if they're not already 320x240 quicktimes.

 

[Epicenter]

I sold my iPod in part to pay for my GP2X, because I Just plain don't need 20gb+ of music onhand at any given time; a select part of my collection is more than enough for most anywhere I'm going. Same for video. I'd also pick the GP2X over the iPod due to the larger screen, the tiny one on the iPod kind of drives me nuts. But if you're the sort who needs 20gb+ of music photos or video onhand at once, maybe that's the best bet for you.

 

[craigix]

Flash memory for the win over HDD eventually.

 

[A_SN]

Flash memory for the win over HDD eventually.

yup, except for the speed

 

[gamefan999]

Get a GMini, blows Johnny-come-lately VideoIPod away.
Plus the WOW factor will get you more chicks and make you more, better friends!!

http://www.archos.com//products/pc_centric...bal&lang=en

http://www.compuplus.com/i-Archos-GMini-40...ck=searchViewed

 

[shinneri]

My brother has that Archos thing.. It's very small and cool, but it bothers me the thing doesn't have a built-in speaker. Even digital cameras have speakers now, so it seems dumb they don't include even a crappy little one on those..

But maybe I'm just weird and don't like ear phones.

 

[iignotus]

Flash memory for the win over HDD eventually.

yup, except for the speed

What?

 

[PSyMastR]

Flash memory for the win over HDD eventually.

yup, except for the speed

What?

Ya, thats what I was saying...

Hard drives are fast in your PC, but on a battery powered device that has to stop the spinning of it to conserve battery life, damn its slow. Ive got an Iriver H320, I know when it spins up from being inactive for a while, then picking a song, it takes about .5-.75 seconds, where as flash is instant.

 

[Azure]

Simple decision: What do you want more -- Music/Videos or Games? If you want music/videos more, get an iPod; if you want games more, get a GP2X. If you want both equally, get a GP2X.

 

[parag0n]

why not get a gp2x and a cheap SD mp3 player? then you get the best of both worlds

 

[Magnulus]

why not get a gp2x and a cheap SD mp3 player? then you get the best of both worlds

But wouldn't he be carrying around both of them at the same time, making the SD mp3 player completely obsolete?
The way I see it, it's a question of hard disc space vs. breadth of entertainment.
Is it important for you to have loads and loads of space (for example for a ton of vids or for transferring your photos from your memory card while on holiday) or would you rather be able to play games as well?

There's also the issue of Ease Of Use.

The iPods are so simple and nice for backing up photos and handling music. At least I think so. Fine, I can't drop mp3 files onto my iPod while it's connected without going through iTunes, but all I really have to do is drop them into iTunes instead, and it updates my iPod for me. I've also told iTunes to get all my new photos onto the machine whenever it's connected, so when I've had a photo shoot and I need to quickly show the results to the "boss" the days after, I'll of course give them a CD with the pics on it, but I can also quickly whip up my iPod and give them a brief overview. Since it makes a copy in max 320x240 to show on the screen, it scrolls REALLY fast, too. No waiting between pics.

However, it's a bit of a nasty that you have to encode the videos yourself, and they HAVE to be 320x240 in size. You won't notice it standing about a metre (three feet) away from a 14 inch TV, but you'll see it if you slam it on a big screen.

iPods also have a wide variety of accessories that make it even more useful, like the camera connector for use on holidays (as mentioned). And the Hi-Fi, though slightly expensive, makes for a really nice stereo set and speakers for your PC (or mac).

But of course, there's the issue of games and batteries. Even though you CAN get a hold of battery boosters for the iPods, it's simply a much more simple solution to carry extra, charged AA batteries for your Gippex (sorry, GP2X). It also has a bigger screen (though the same resolution) and you can just pop things right on it, no software required. If I wanted to, I could download games and videos for my Gippex at work and at a friend's place.

You can also just get yourself a bunch of high-capacity SD cards, and you can expand as you go.

 

[Epicenter]

However, it's a bit of a nasty that you have to encode the videos yourself, and they HAVE to be 320x240 in size. You won't notice it standing about a metre (three feet) away from a 14 inch TV, but you'll see it if you slam it on a big screen.

You're expected to encode your videos anyway, with apps like iSquint, for the iPod video-capable models. Or you can buy video from Apple, but do they really have what you want to fill 30gb or so? I doubt it. So you're encoding either way.

As for 320x240 display on a TV. I haven't messed with it much yet, but if I recall correctly it's capable of up to 720x480 output-- the same a standard DVD uses, and within the limits of NTSC televisions (480 vertical lines of resolution.) So you can just keep your videos at 720x480 and they will be scaled when displayed on the GP2X display; just bear in mind CPU load will be higher to scale them to 320x240 for that, and battery life will be lower for it, of course. (This is decreased anyway by use of TV output, so not a big deal in all likelihood.)

 

[A_SN]

Flash memory for the win over HDD eventually.

yup, except for the speed

What?

Ya, thats what I was saying...

Hard drives are fast in your PC, but on a battery powered device that has to stop the spinning of it to conserve battery life, damn its slow. Ive got an Iriver H320, I know when it spins up from being inactive for a while, then picking a song, it takes about .5-.75 seconds, where as flash is instant.

oh, didn't know it was like that for HDD's in that kind of device. flash isn't that fast, that was my point.

 

[Magnulus]

You're expected to encode your videos anyway, with apps like iSquint, for the iPod video-capable models.

Yeah, I was talking about the iPods just then. Trying to balance it out so that it didn't sound like an iPod commercial.