so i wanna get one, which one should i get? preferably one with a usb slot or able to read memory cards, so please help me decided which one to get or what.
What kind of media? mp3, video, cd…
i would mostly want it for video, and have been looking at the new ipod
well, you’re not gonna get a card slot or usb port with an ipod… it’s nice though.
My brother has a Creative zen that has 20gigs and plays movies/dvds. Do a search.
i vote ipod
ipods are very overpriced and there are just as good/better products made by other companies.(I think)
iPods pre-video were fairly uncompetitive for price/features, but I’d say they’re more on par now
-Matt
i currently have a 3rd gen ipod, i love it, but it is out of date.
and as for the creative zen i looked on amazon and you need windows for that to work so it won’t work for me.
ipods maybe over priced slightly as you are paying for the name but they are superier to any other mp3 player on the market besides that small no radio playing ability.
How many people actually use this? I mean, I know I used to on my old 64MB MP3 player, but that’s because it only held about 16 songs. Between hours of your own choice of music and Podcasts, is a radio really neccesary?
I’ve just never met anyone who’s itching to listen to the radio over their own music choice. Maybe it’s my peer group, I dunno 
-Matt
I listen to the radio with my MP3 player. Seattle has some good radio stations and radio is actually worth listening to here. There is also talk radio. Sometimes I want to listen to a talk radio show.
Some talk shows are now offering podcasts, either free or as a paid subscriber option, so that people can listen to the shows at their convenience as an MP3 file. Radio is not dead, but it is changing by offering options like podcasting of shows or parts of shows.
I want a radio on my MP3 player. Sometimes podcasts aren’t an option.
GMINI 400
It’s by far the best piece of equipment I have ever seen or used. I never leave home without mine. It was about 75 bucks more than an ipod when I got it and its better for music both listening and recording (audio in slot and built in mic which is really good), video quality for the screen size is amazing (the screen is my least favourite part because it is pretty small), and it holds tons of video, 20 GB, plays wma, mp3, mophun games, Sega games with the new crack, avi with divx codec. Basically the best mp3/video/pmp I have ever seen (for the price) and as long as you buy a case and/or don’t drop it, it holds up wonderfully, I always go unicycling with it and it holds up really well for it.
for more info on it and other amazing products check out http://www.archos.com
ok so that sounded like a commercial but seriously i love this machine, its about the same size as the ipod too.
I don’t fully understand the need for video on a small portable MP3 player. I can see playing little clips of video, but watching an entire TV show or an entire movie on that little screen would be tedious. It seems to me that the utility of watching video on a little screen like that would wear thin after a very short period.
Portable DVD players are available now for very close to $100 (USD). They have a bigger screen. Most can also play CDs, and MP3s from CD. If I was going to watch a movie during a trip (long drive or a flight) I’d much rather watch the movie on a small portable DVD player than a little iPod. If I got tired of movies I could have it play MP3s or a regular audio CD.
The video for the little iPod and similar media players needs to be formated specially to be able to play on the device. Re-encoding video to be able to play on an iPod like device is not trivial. Re-encoding a DVD to play on an iPod is not trivial. I don’t see normal people (non-geeks) going through the trouble to set up a batch process to rip and encode a DVD overnight. Too much effort and too technical for most people.
Ah I see, That explains a lot - it’s very tough to find a decent radio station I can listen to over here. I have to station hop between three, and even then I commonly end up just turning it off.
I fully agree there, but it’s a nice “Look at me!” feature - and why else do we buy our iPods? 
Its video capibilitys interest me more, though, in the respect of using it on an actual TV. Assuming you can crank the resolution on the video up, that is
-Matt
a portable dvd player would be nice if i could hook somethining up too it like my ipod which already has some movies, i basically just want to be able to watch movies, im going to europe next summer,
ntappin:
thank you for giving me that site, i have never even heard of it, and they have a bunch of stuff i am serously looking at getting that. unless i find a portable dvd player i can hook something up via usb or firewire to view off of the attached device those look nice.
I’d get the ipod just for sexyness factor, I have two friends with ipod video’s, they are NICE, all I got is a crappy ipod mini. If I were to get another ipod I think i’d get the nano though, I’m obsesed with small form factor, also they got video to play on the ipod nano, just the screen is kinda small.
By they I mean people on the internet, IE most of the human race (Mostly the stuipid ones)
That makes me shiver whenever I see the price of those things. A few years back we got one for about $500 for our road trip from here to Utah, and now you can get ones with bigger screens for $100. Maybe the one we got was really high quality or something, I dunno.
yours is probably the same, its that when something comes out its really expensive.
as for me i have been looking at a 10 inch dvd player, the cheapest ive found it is 243 plus shipping, which would be fine for me, the only bad part is having to carry all the dvd’s with you.
i dont know about the ipod but with the gmini the quality of the screen is such that although it takes a tiny bit of getting used to it doesnt bother me or my friends to watch it at all. i quite often will watch movies or tv episodes on my commute everyday. plus its great when i need a bit of inspiration while unicycling, just turn on my favourite video and my mind is full of great ideas.
also you can hook it up to the tv and watch whatever is on there without affecting the quality at all
Where do you get the movies and TV shows in a format that can be played on the gmini? Do you need to encode them yourself?
And what happens when the battery eventually dies? Is the battery replaceable?