What's your portable audio solution?

[Droid party]

iRiver S10 2 GB. Tiny little unit with bugger all space, but meh, works for me.

[ott0bot]

I use a 4gb iPod Nano. It's the newer model that supports video. I use it with a PC actually and have had really good luck. I love the interface, and it's got great sound quality. I bought it from Best Buy with a warranty, so every two years I can say the software is messed up and return it for a new iPod of equal value and re-buy a warranty and repeat it all over. Did it with my girl friends and her brothers too. You would think they would care, but apple just credits them so they don't mind. The geek squad barley even inspects them anyway.

[Niode]

Probably user error. I've never seen an iPod do that on a mac. Nothing that a re-install of iTunes wouldn't fix. Besides if you have an Apple store local to you they would probably fix it for her in 10 minutes at the 'Genius bar' (man I hate that term).

I don't know the details, but she took it to the mac store and they didn't fix it. I cant imagine how she broke it if OSX is so solid and idiot-proof'd like people say.

I never said it was idiot proof, it's certainly more versatile than Windows though.

Until you have used a mac for a long time you can't really comment on what they can and can't do. There's a hell of a lot of nuances you miss when you use a Windows machine.

Like the global shortcuts for things (always the same for every single application regardless).

The ability to close windows but keep programs running in the background (for every single program, regardless)

Bonjour networking, I can connect to any mac/ipod touch/iphone from any mac/ipod touch/iphone without even bothering setting it up (it will even find all the samba shares and vnc on my linux server after enabled avahi and I can serve my itunes library to every computer in the house through mt-daapd, which automatically pops up in any instance of iTunes that is running and even my PS3 and 360, hell I could get my iphone to use it too if I really wanted to)

The integrated web server. That can be upgraded to a full LAMP in a few clicks.

A system preferences that is actually useful.

A real terminal, whenever I want it.

A proper calendering system that syncs with my phones whenever I connect them.

Bluetooth on every single modern mac.

Standardised hardware means more stable programs.

The list goes on. How many of those things can you do on a windows PC out of the box with little to no config? (and i mean clicking one box and it's set up with the option to configure further for power users?

Sorry to jack the thread but you're asking for it saying things like that.

[turbolegs]

I highly recommend Sony, I have had sony CD players and MP3 players for about a decade and they still offer, imo, the best sound quality. Unfortunately, Sony know this so they're always fairly expensive....

[Mozgus]

Sorry to jack the thread but you're asking for it saying things like that.

It's not what I said. It's what people said to me. It's also what Apple says. Take it up with Apple and their fucking shameful marketing division.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

PSP Slim + 4gb card

[lordofduct]

I don't do a lot of portable music listening. I got an iPod a long time back and it now basically sits in my car hooked up to my stereo via usb. It's good for not having to carry my CDs in my car on road trips. But alas, surfing through several gigs of music while driving is a pain in the ass... so instead I listen to all my bands that start with 'A' or 'Z', if I hear Against Me! or Anberlin one more time I might just vomit.

How did "Anberlin" even get on my iPod? WHO IS ANBERLIN!?


Anyways...

Yeah I have to agree with Moz on the tagged music. I have a lot of music I ripped personally a long time ago long before ID3 tags were common place, I'm talking like pre Napster days! And this whole "media server" get up all these gadgets are using is annoying. Not only is it going on with your portable sound devices, but even our PC music applications, and consoles do it too. What the hell? The PS3 and 360 need a "media server"? What they aren't savvy enough to figure out basic network protocols? So instead they need some UPnP bullshit? Come on... not everyone and their brother have easy access to these programs... a simple WindowsNetwork/SAMBA set up would be PERFECT! Reading folders isn't all that intensive or hard! And what the hell? My XBOX 1 over SAMBA with XBMC can handle large multi-gig files over a 10/100 connection. Very high resolution movies are passed easily via SAMBA, not matter it be MPEG2 or XVID even when my network is getting slammed with requests. But my 360 has some freakin' issues randomly trying to stream standard definition stuff "streaming" from my Windows machine!? Why, what the hell is in the way!? My server can host the SAME 5 gig DVD image to 2 PCs and my XBOX 1 simul-fucking-taneousily, but the 360 hickups trying to watch "The Daily Show" I recorded last night on my PC at standard defintion on a network free of any other use?

And another thing. I still can't figure out a good method for tagging my music. Ok for instance, say you buy a soundtrack, mix CD, or collaborative album. Where each song is a different composer. How am I supposed to tag these things? I like searching my music ONE way.

Artist/Collabortation -> Album

But no these devices can't understand folders? My 360 can't figure out a directory tree!?

But what the hell do you tag it when the album has several different composers? In a directory tree I split it a more basic way. I have a "Soundtrack" folder for movie soundtracks, and then in that folders for each movie, and the album in there. But in ID3 world there's a million different ways to approach it, and it isn't easy to update or manhandle all of them... and it just becomes a stupid freakin' headache. There's a reason I stick with basic audio players and sorting techniques, I can quickly and easily stylize them to my own personal taste in an intuitive fashion that makes sense to a physical counterpart.

That is what intuitive IS. It's an action to perform a job that can be easily related to some other common action you already perform. Like the Windows Desktop is an intuitive counterpart to the work area of a regular desk. But this ID3 searching and sorting has no real intuitive counterpart. Visually the music looks as if it can actually exist in multiple areas at once. How many times have you heard this from your less then computer savvy mates:

"What do you mean? My music is on my iTunes. What are you talking about my music folder? It's in my iTunes!"

GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! (tries real hard to not run over to Mac thread and yell at its counter-intuitiveness)

[Niode]

ID3 is just a ubiquitous standard for organising music files.

I'd rather have that than nothing...

Am I the only person who actually likes the way iTunes organises my library?!

[lordofduct]

ID3 is just a ubiquitous standard for organising music files.

I'd rather have that than nothing...

Am I the only person who actually likes the way iTunes organises my library?!

Yes you are...

and I get what ID3 tags are for. And yes they are better then nothing, but it isn't that OR nothing, those ARE files on a filesystem... can I see the filesystem please? But sometimes I'd like my hardware to understand MORE then that. The fact I can't search for my music via a directory tree, one of the most archaic methods, should be freaking standard! Editing ID3 tags is time consuming and cumbersome.

Have you ever tried editing the ID3 tags of 100 gigs of music? It isn't freaking easy! Yeah I'll get it to it sooner or later. I've already sorted about 40 gigs worth, but I have well over 100gigs left and it took me over a year to get this far as is. I don't have the time to man handle through it all. I'd like my software... AND MY HARDWARE to understand something that I can program a freaking wrist watch to do (over exaggeration, but you get what I mean).



speaking of iTunes... my favourite little nuance! Removing a song from the library, you click delete? Now this delete thing firsts eludes to the idea I'm "deleting" the file, which I'm NOT. Then on top of that iTunes has the ability to actually delete it as well when removing from the library via a check box click prompt box when you click it. K, I just don't use it. But then some ASSHOLE touches my computer (yeah they shouldn't be, but lots of families share computers), they remove a song and "accidently" click the "remember these settings" link and now I don't get the prompt box and my music is DELETED!

That is as counter-intuitive as say the method for ejecting a floppy disk in most of the Mac OS's. Drag to the GARBAGE CAN!? I remember my mother got a iBook from her brother with OS9 on it, she was very bothered by the dragging her floppy icon to the garbage can to eject the disk.

"NO, Dylan, I want to get my disk back. It took me 4 hours to type all that, I'm not deleting it."

"But Ma, that's HOW you eject the disk."

"BUT!?"

"Just trust me."

An action in a "user-friendly" OS should not be coupled with "just trust me".


[edit]
I have to say, Linux is probably the biggest monster in counter-intuitive interfaces. But Linux is a nerd OS made by nerds who are very elitist and usually don't like the idea of "compooter idiots" using their OS. User Interfaces aren't their area of expertise, nor do they advertise their OS as being user-friendly. Linux is known for being very mean to its users. So I expect it... but if you're going to tell me how idiot-proof and user friendly Macs (directed at Apple themselves for saying this), then actually use some intuitive design that makes sense to the user. Not to you, the Mac buff. Yeah once you get used to Mac it all makes sense... but I don't want to have to learn EVERYTHING over again. And I'm not a computer idiot... I very handy with a computer. I can't comprehend what non computer users have to deal with when coming into this.

[Niode]

command-e ejects, you could always 'right click' (ie ctrl+click) on the disk and select eject...

It's always been like that.