20 gigs worlds smallest and the perfect match for the tl
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What make/model is that?

 

archos Gmini XS-120 the worlds smallest player.Also the company that invented the hard drive based mp3 player. Its all metal, big display,no software needed(drag & drop in windows explorer),playlist on the fly.Check out website www.archos.com

Also less $$$

 

How is that mounted? How's the sound quality through the cassette deck?

-LOD

 

I use a tackey clay like substance found in any hardware store.It comes on and off with no problem.The cassette is the best way to go.FM modulators are horrible(no volume,no clarity).

 

should i get that instead of an ipod mini for general listening?

 

YES i would.The ipod made mp3 players popular.But archos has been making them for years.I have the original one for 5 years (the size of a brick) and it still works.The new one is great, its so small and all metal,not plastic like ipod.

 

so 249 for a 20gig is the best bang for the buck, i might have to get one of these

 

my son wanted an ipod,but after seeing and using mine he loves it.The unit is recognized as a drive letter when you connect usb port.You can put any file on this unit just like a portable hard drive.Use folders and alphabetize everthing to keep organized. (Turn arc library off) its seems to work better.You will know what this means when you have the unit.Instructions are on the harddrive so don't look for manual(print it)

 

I don't think that's the best bang for the buck myself. I got a 40GB Creative Zen Xtra last year for $215.

Mike

 

Lots of players are better than the ipod...
At least soundwise and pricewise. I have an iriver player and they blow the ipod away in sound quality and are also drag and drop. However----IPOD has the best marketing by far and is not a BAD player--so people who dont focus on electronics or whatever are going to buy what the masses buy. They dont really know any better.

 

Im with the ipod for the 3rd party stuff, so i can connect it to my car and use the steering wheel/head unit controls to change tracks and stuff. plus it is not a cheaply made product! its very solid w/ all metal in the mini, and the backing of the ipods

 

Gasnet--what do you call the stuff you used to attach that? I have a home depot and a sears near me--I want to just tell them what I need as opposed to them guessing and f'ing up my car.

 

just ask for a tacky clay to hang pictures with. goes by many names

 

ipod/creative zen/etc all just to big and ugly

 

Gasnet, it just sticks to the console without any problems? It doesn't leave anything behind on the console when you detach it? Does it also come right off the player? Never heard of sticking things with a "tacky clay" but sounds promising... Thanks!

-LOD

 

Leaves no residue on car or player.Somtimes it leaves a little but it comes right up.Best to pick it up with the clay ball itself.Check out pic.
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myt .02 cents...the best thing about the ipod is the wheel...nothing on the market can beat it. I first tried the one from dell, the jukebox. Didn't like it because it was big and bulky and also heavy so I returned it. I got the one from Sony too, I forgot what it's called, but it was the small one with the black and silver case. It looked really cool and it was slim and light but the interface was horrible. It even hanged a couple of times. I also returned that one. I went to different stores like Best Buy and Circuit City and I tried all of them. Nothing really compares to the ipod when it comes to ease of use; looks wise it's in the top 3, price, little on the high side but because of its warranties it's well worth it. I'm BILL GATES slave but I have to admit that the Ipod is really awesome...It makes me want to buy a MAC.

 

I've been using Macs in my business and home for 19 years, so I'd be the last one to argue against the Mac.

I did want to respond to someone who was criticizing the sound quality of the iPod. It may be that you ripped the songs at a low fidelity - not the iPod itself. In the iTunes preferences, you can choose the type of format the program should use, and the sampling rate the program should use.

The lower the sampling rate, the smaller the resulting files, and the more songs you can fit into the iPod/MP3 player. Unfortunately, the lower the sampling rate, the lower the fidelity.

If you are thinking about getting an iPod/MP3 player, I would recommend ripping the songs at the highest sampling rate so you will get the highest fidelity. Think of the work you will do feeding in the 100+ CDs you own. You only want to do this once.

When I got my iPod I never considered wiring it into my car stereo, so I only ripped the songs with the medium sampling rate. I regret that now, but really don't want to re-rip my 100 CDs.

Apple continually increased the size of the hard drive in the iPods. I bought my iPod 18 months ago. The newest basic model (comparable to mine) now has double the hard disk size.

 

I had two ipods that I tried...a 3rd and 4th generation. I do love the wheel --its the best around for navigation. I think on a scale of 1-10 ipod sound is maybe a 6 or so...it distorts with too much bass and overall is kind of tinny sounding compared to the iriver players. (try one)--If I never heard any other players I would have thought the apple was great. Just my 2 cents...

 

Question for those of you who criticize the iPod's sound quality: Is this based on using the stock earbuds? I switched to Shure E2C, and my iPod sounds WAY better in comparison.

 

I think we are getting off topic. Sound quality being equal.The ipod just looks like crap

 

How is it off topic? The title of the thread is "Better than iPod."

And as far as looks go, I think the iPod looks damn cool.

 

Umm......before you consider buying Archos, do some careful reviews of it. It is a French made product that, in my opinion, has poor quality build. I had 3 Archos units crap out after 2 days, 12 days and 4 days of BARELY using them and not even taking them out of the house. Good thing CC honored their warranties.

Everyone has different results and I'm not going to plug any other company.

Do your due diligence and then make your choice of an MP3 player.

 

Can you customize the equalizers on the Ipod. I mean setting 200Hz, 500Hz...5KHz etc to diff DB level (not rock, jazz, pop etc..).

 

white plastic(goes great with acura interior)/ to big/shit battery life/made in china

 

i have nothing against IPOD, however , you cant beat the fact you can choose to organize your mp3s in folders using this other player ..

I have over 40-50 gb of music .. nicely arranged in folders. and the moment i move it to any "new" mp3 players including IPOD (after loading crap xtra software), they tend to organize it based on Id3 tags. and it just screws up the entire way I am used to looking at my music library. More so, some times ID3 tags have similar artists, or genres spelled a bit diffreent, and then good luck finding your song.

I am awaiting an MP3 player, which has a similar search feature like winamp. just key in a few letters, and it searches based on folder name, or id3 tags, or file name and puts all results together.

 

One solution is don't use iTunes! Red Chair Software has very good, very simple software for many, many players, including the iPod (see www.anapod.com)

I agree that the folder method seems to be more intuitive and easier, especially if you're sharing a player and can create one folder for the wife and one for yourself (Saves sorting through all of her music).

On the other hand, to create playlists, the folder organized players I had would require that you copy the song from your album folder to a playlist folder, resulting in two copies of the song existing and taking up 2x's the space.

Have the changed folder organized systems to alleviate this problem?

 

Kills the interior design... I will mount it elsewhere ... hide it