Apple I-pod

[Begs]

Anybody else got an i-Pod, these things are amazing.

[Sunny Valentine]

Absolutely great!

I just bought a new one in Bangkok (40 Gig replacing my almost 2 Years old worn 10 Gig), amazing price (21000 BT, much cheaper than in Europe!)

Sunny

[bubba]

Count me in as an iPod lover as well, particularly here in Thailand where it can be hard to come by the music that you want. Only problem is the price of iPods here, I suppose due to all the taxes and funny money that transacts during import.

In Thailand, the 20 gig iPod costs 20k baht. In the USA or Hong Kong, it costs about 14.5k baht. That difference would almost pay for a day trip to HKG on one of those cheap 6000 baht Orient Thai flights.

[LivinLOS]

I am sitting back using a 256MB player until there is an ipod or equivalent that is 200GB or so.. I have 80GB of just essential mixes (UK DJ sets) and another few hundred GB of regular albums..

Until I can fit my whole music collection one it does cross my financial pain barrier.. if I am out of the house for a while the 256 can hold enough to keep me going.

Plus I am hopeing to pick up a Motorola MPx220 phone that can hold a GB of storage and plays MP3's later this year..

[Begs]

I bought my 20GB i Pod in the Apple store in Ginza, Tokyo. ( Amazing Store )

20GB Pod @ 42,800 Yen = 15,630 Baht

Firewire & USB 2.0 cable @ 2400 Yen = 876 Baht

Total with tax @ 5% = 47,460 Yen = 17,332 Baht.

I upgraded the earbuds yesterday, i bought some Sony MDR EX71SL ear canal buds, cuts out most of the external noise which is great for flying etc. They cost around 1700 Baht, but they are good.

[Phil Conners]

Why do you need 200 GB for Techno? Isn't it just the same 1 MB repeated over and over again?

[Bobcat]

Where is a good place to purchase an i-Pod in Bangkok?

[bubba]

Well, there are good places, but no cheap places to purchase an iPod in BKK. I like the Apple store in Discovery Centre. I think iPods are pretty much sold at list price everywhere, and you won't find a 20 gig one for much less than 20k.

Regarding headphones, I fly a lot on business and the iPod is a constant companion. I am not especially keen on any of the in-ear buds, so I purchased the Sennheiser PXC250 noise cancelling headphones. These cans are very light, fold for travel and they sound reasonable after a short break-in period. The most amazing part is the noise cancelling feature. Switch that on, and instantly nearly all the background airplane rumble is gone. These sell for about US$100 in the USA and Hong Kong. Sim Leng Plaza in Singapore had then for about US$140. Who knows what kind of exorbitant price they sell for in Bangkok, if you could find them.

[redwood13]

Regarding headphones, I fly a lot on business and the iPod is a constant companion. I am not especially keen on any of the in-ear buds, so I purchased the Sennheiser PXC250 noise cancelling headphones. These cans are very light, fold for travel and they sound reasonable after a short break-in period. The most amazing part is the noise cancelling feature. Switch that on, and instantly nearly all the background airplane rumble is gone. These sell for about US$100 in the USA and Hong Kong. Sim Leng Plaza in Singapore had then for about US$140. Who knows what kind of exorbitant price they sell for in Bangkok, if you could find them.

Yes, I bought one of these a couple of years ago. I think it's a must have for anyone who travels with their music. Not only vastly improves the quality of the listening experience but also will likely save your hearing by lowering needed volume levels.

-redwood

[stumonster]

Plus I am hopeing to pick up a Motorola MPx220 phone that can hold a GB of storage and plays MP3's later this year..

My N-gage will take a 1gig MMC card( though only the TEC brand has been tested so far) and it has a built in hardware mp3 player.

the only thing I have against the Ipod and similar hard drived based machines is the hard drive, those fine tolerances and high speed disk does just not have what I consider the robustness required.. I would much rather it be solid state memory. Power consumption also with the motor required to spin the disk can be an issue.

[LivinLOS]

Why do you need 200 GB for Techno? Isn't it just the same 1 MB repeated over and over again?

Ahh yes the blind leading the blind..

Of course all electronic music simply must be techno and therefore nosebleed house...

Part of the reason I desire large storage is that I favour lossless encoding for the majority of my audio collection (which covers a lot of ground from Bach to Beltram (a nosebleed producer just in case you have not heard of him) and while lossy encoding is fine for non critical listening, if the setup deserves it, you should always make the most of the source... The other part is that I have a fairly large audio collection and my desire for a 'portable' player I can drag with me on my world travels would be so much higher if I could store all my audio, even if I have to step down to lossy versions of it while on the road.

I am not especially keen on any of the in-ear buds, so I purchased the Sennheiser PXC250 noise cancelling headphones.

I have not tried these specifically but Sennhieser generally put out great equipment.. I have seen a few headphone amps for the ipod (I hear it puts out a slightly low voltage) that can improve its sound...

In fact despite being a little down the insanity road when it comes to audio one of the best listening experiences I ever had was with some DiY gear connected to electrostat headphones.. Simply superb.. Of course listening to 'techno' I guess I am wasting my time...

BTW for those that like to 'buy Thai' Norh Audio (norh.com) produce in Bangkok some world class audio equipment at prices that, if not quite Thai, are still a steal compared to the 1st world..

[Ian_B]

Mr Stuart Monster,

You said you have an N-Gage - now you need to buy an i-Pod just to cancel out the dorkyness of the taco phone

I have seen a few N-Gages on the BTS but have never seen anybody use it as a phone - I guess most people turn it off when in Public for fear of ridicule

The new QD seems like a big improvement, but this does not play MP3 I understand

Can't wait for Nintendo DS & PSP - will be getting Japanese imports of both thoses babies!

[bubba]

I have not tried these specifically but Sennhieser generally put out great equipment.. I have seen a few headphone amps for the ipod (I hear it puts out a slightly low voltage) that can improve its sound...

Not sure what you mean by headphone amps "that can improve its sound", but presumably you mean to boost its output and make it louder.

The iPod sold in EU countries [only] has a software based output limiter, since the EU have a rule limiting the amount of output on portable audio devices. (Don't you love how much the EU caes about you?) There is an easy hack to remove that, and then I think an iPod is plenty loud.

[igotworms]

I have considering buying an I-Pod for a long time before I decided againt it. Too expensive, and its widely known that the I-Pod battery is useless after a year and in older models irreplacable. I'm not sure about the newer models, but before purchasing them (from a recognized Apple dealer of course), make sure to inquire about the battery problem and on the duration of the warranty. And do not use the low quality ear buds that come with the eye pod, spend a few baht on a decent pair. You will notice the difference.

I eventually picked up a Sony MP3 Walkmen for B5000. It claims to have up to 100 hours of listening time on one charge of the battery. I have surpassed 50 hours and the battery is still going. You can fit 100 to 200 songs on one data cd depending on the format. So, you can likely fit your entire mp3 collection on 10 to 20 discs.

B5000 compared to B20,000 was quite an easy decision for me.

[bubba]

I have considering buying an I-Pod for a long time before I decided againt it. Too expensive, and its widely known that the I-Pod battery is useless after a year and in older models irreplacable. I'm not sure about the newer models, but before purchasing them (from a recognized Apple dealer of course), make sure to inquire about the battery problem and on the duration of the warranty. And do not use the low quality ear buds that come with the eye pod, spend a few baht on a decent pair. You will notice the difference.

I eventually picked up a Sony MP3 Walkmen for B5000. It claims to have up to 100 hours of listening time on one charge of the battery. I have surpassed 50 hours and the battery is still going. You can fit 100 to 200 songs on one data cd depending on the format. So, you can likely fit your entire mp3 collection on 10 to 20 discs.

B5000 compared to B20,000 was quite an easy decision for me.

Widely known? Sheesh, the iPod battery thing has become practically an urban myth. Suggest you read this.

And comparing a Sony Walkman mp3 player to an iPod is not exactly apples and oranges. But if you don't mind carrying 20 discs along with a large, clunky device, with no PC interfceability, then you have made the correct buying decision.

"And do not use the low quality ear buds that come with the eye pod, spend a few baht on a decent pair. You will notice the difference."

But you don't have an iPod, right?

[Begs]

B5000 compared to B20,000 was quite an easy decision for me.

Yea but the i-Pod don't half look good.

Seriously, i would never go back to a cd/mp3 player, if battery life is such a huge problem , get the Belkin battery pack for the Pod, takes AA type batteries and lasts 20 hours.

I got 1109 songs on my Pod, using 4.57 GB.

100Mbps ADSL + Kazaa + i-Pod

[Ian_B]

Apple will announe the next batch of iPods tomorrow!

This is from thinksecret.com

"July 17, 2004 - Apple will announce new models of its standard 'white' iPods on Monday, Think Secret has learned.

According to sources, the company plans to unveil thinner, sleeker white iPods with a major announcement on Monday, July 19. While the enclosure will be the same general size as that of current iPods, it will be thinner; it will also have a new scroll wheel of different style and look.

Apple will not announce the new models through a press event, though Think Secret has learned that the announcement will be delivered through an out-of-the-ordinary publicity medium.

While we are not able to confirm the prices of the new iPods, sources say that they will be lower than those of current models.

Sources are also clarifying an apparent discrepancy with previous reports of an August revision; those reports may pertain to a separate iPod mini announcement rather than a replacement to the standard iPod line. "

[bubba]

And here is what it looks like:

New iPod

[stumonster]

Mr Stuart Monster,

You said you have an N-Gage - now you need to buy an i-Pod just to cancel out the dorkyness of the taco phone

the ngage can be modified if you are worried what you look like when you are talking on an electronic device, or you can use the supplied headphone/mic set or a bluetooth earpiece. The only thing a man will show you to prove he has the smallest - is his mobile phone.

and yes the new Ipod www.apple.com/ipod/

''cool looking'' , but still rotating media

[Ian_B]

I stand corrected about the N-gage - never knew there was a mod to avoid the taco effect.

My Nokia phone came with a 64 megabyte card - are these the same type as in N-Gage? I'm thinking of increasing the card to 256 or 512.

I got the demo of Packet video and have been converting various TV shows to watch on the phone whilst in the taxi

[Bobcat]

Does anyone know if i-Pod accessories are available in Panthip? I am looking for the accessory which alows you to listen to i-Pod music through the radio in your car. This accessory is out of stock at the Apple Shop in Discovery Centre.

[stumonster]

the card in your phone should be an MMC card.

there is a list of compatible MMC cards for the ngage here

they should be compatible with your nokia.

the default movie player on my ngage is real one player which requires real media files.

some stuff can be found at www.phone-vids.com ( lots of southpark)

I have also tried out smartmovie as a player and found it to be quite good. I have ripped my dvds to mpeg/avi then converted them to xvid files using the smart movie player. a full dvd comes out at around 60-70 meg.

when transfering files to your MMC card use a card reader or if using usb or bluetooth make sure they do not go to the internal memory of the phone. files too large for the internal memory of the phone have been causing the white screen of death(WSOD) on ngages, which required a trip to the local nokia service centre.

my ngage also works fine for web browsing via GPRS using the mini opera browser or netfront, and mozilla is bringing out a mini browser shortly

[Ian_B]

Thanks for the link Stumonster... lots of stuff there

My nokia also uses realplayer and I am converting all my Xvid/Divx etc files using PVPlayer to .3og format (I think?)

Only problem is I've not found out how to fast forward yet, which I why I'm only doing short shows like Simpsons or seinfeld

[stumonster]

for both smartmovie and real player the up/down on the joystick should be fastforward/rewind

[stumonster]

instead of an Ipod you could check this out...mounts as a usb drive

iAUDIO M3

http://www.jetaudio.com/products/iaudio/m3/

though the only thing it doesn't have is a interface with an online music store.

or this unit

archos gmini xs 200

http://www.archos.com/products/overview/gmini_xs200.html

also mouts as a usb drive

[trajan]

I am addicted to my Mini iPOd (Blue) with white rubber skin

loaded 850+ songs from my CD collection.....use the arm strap when in the gym, and carry it in my back pack ...FANTASTIC.....

[igotworms]

How much are the minis going for in Thailand?

[trajan]

Bought my Mini iPod in Hong Kong last month on a long weekend trip for about the equivalent of Baht 11,000 (they threw in a free rubber skin and arm strap)!

saw the Mini iPod in Fortunetown IT Mall in Bangkok last weekend for about Baht14,000.

[camerata]

I may be in the minority here but I love my Sony Walkman minidisc. The rechargeable battery lasts forever and I can clip on an AA if it runs out while I'm travelling. I use a tiny stereo T-microphone for live digital recording of stuff for my website. At the office or in hotel rooms I use my digital camera's AV cable to plug the minidisc into the TV and listen to music through large speakers.

I don't find carrying 3-4 disks a big hassle and it's easy to record language cassettes or radio programs onto a portable disk.

[bubba]

Just to follow up on Stumonster's post, the iPod also mounts up as an external drive using either USB2 or Firewire.