GarryMac said:
kcrudup said:
I'm thinking of buying an .MP3 player, but I need something that's (1) got a FireWire port and (2) lets you load .MP3s as a regular file-system (I run Linux and won't be able to run any Windows-based loader software). Do any players do that? I have a "Key Player" that's a USB mass-storage device that does that, so I'm assuming at least one of the big-storage players are also capable of it.
You can use the iPod as a mass-storage device; it's essentially just a hard-drive.
http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/tutorial/t9.html. As you probably know, the Mac OS is Linux-based. And the iPod comes with a FireWire connection.
FYI common feature with most MP3 players today.
Ergonomics and looks go to iPod. Audio quality generally goes to creative. More format support and native drag/drop goes to iRiver. It's a toss up.
Rio has had a ton of issues but does have some nice features like support for lossless formats like FLAC, digital out on some players, ethernet port, but that is offset crappy support and a 90 day warranty for most of their products. I wouldn't take a product of theirs if you gave it to me. Carbon has been out for a few months and they finally fixed the grounding issue with the headphone socket.
It really boils down to small form factor or large, less storage or more... then drill down from there.
In terms of software... iTunes works fine with the iPod. Ephpod is a solid, free alternative if you don't want to use it.
The software that comes with Creative/iRiver sucks. Don't even bother installing it.
http://www.redchairsoftware.com makes a great app for the most popular MP3 players.