17 janvier 2006

my iPod is dying

I've had it for longer than both my brothers, even though we bought it at the same time and I have been the roughest with it. I've actually crash-landed on it on a memorable friday night 14 months ago during a high speed skating session. It looks old and battered and used.
The hard drive was actually in pretty bad shape, I suspect clusters had been damaged during the fall and I could not listen to a few tracks; it would jump like a damaged CD. But it would work nonetheless. Until now...

Last saturday, it hung at the start of a song. No response to the clickwheel, no reaction when I plugged it, none either when I unplugged it, even the screen stopped being updated alltogether. Well, it all went back to normal when the batteries ran out and I plugged it. Until I tried listening to it in the train, unplugged. It died on me again, at the worst moment.
I'm trying to reinitialise it to see if it could help, but am quite sceptical it will last much longer.

So, I've started looking for a replacement. It needs:
at least 20 GB of harddrive space, possibly 30
Support for MP3 and OGG, if possible FLAC
Excellent sound quality
At least 8 hours of battery life
Easy navigation
Easy update process
Overall strength
Small form factor

It doesn't need:
video playback
picture galleries
fm radio
recording

And it's damn hard to find something cheap with these requirements
Best bet are:
Philips HDD6320 (no OGG)
Creative Zen Sleek (no OGG)
Neuros 442 (too big and no OGG yet)
iRiver H320 (super expensive)
iPod (no OGG)

this is tragic...

3 commentaires:

Anonyme a dit…

I'd go with the iPod again... I remember my friend who had an iRiver saying that it was a bit crappy, but didn't elaborate. I can imagine how tragic it is to lose an iPod, or any gadget that plays music, in fact. Subway rides seem to stretch to eternity without music.
-Kala

Anonyme a dit…

Oh, I forgot: update on the gadget you're getting, ok?

kala the curious one ;-)

tommpouce a dit…

Hmm, hard to decide, the choice will be between the iPod and the Philips (though this one doesn't work with linux nor apple). But I'll tell you in the end...