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Odyssey 1000 anyone?

DoggyII	Date: January 28, 2003 @ 4:06 PM Keep waiting Thanos, by June you will be hearing about the next latest and greatest to be released for the holiday season 2003 and decide to wait. When those get pushed back to Jan '04, you wait and then will be drooling over the CES products coming June 2004, etc. At some point the waiting has to stop and the buying has to begin. First I was going to buy an Ipod, then it was an Odyssey, then it was a Zen, now it is an Odyssey again. My birthday is mid-March and I am buying myself a present..whatever is the best for my money then I am buying and whoever has a June or July release date is out of luck. Otherwise I could be waiting until the next great technology, not just the next great MP3 player.
Thanos	Date: January 28, 2003 @ 11:50 PM I'm happy for you doggy. Buy what and whenever you want. It makes no differenc to me. But i'm not you. I've never drooled over the ipod or odyssey or Zen. I'm sure there are people like you say that do. That buy a Nintendo only to buy an playstation 2 only to buy an Xbox after they realize Nintendo sucks. I will buy one player if it is good. I've read of these people who buy an ipod only to find out it sucks on a pc and is low on feature or they bought a zen and find out it horrible navigating through song directories and has no remote. I'm not throwing my money away on a bad product just cause its out by march or Edig says writes a good spec sheet. The proof is in how it functions. The fact that something better may come next year is irrelavant. If one used that rational they'd have no car, no house, no computer, no software, no job. Something better will always come along. I'd rather be patient and spend my money well. Go ahead and buy it off their website the day it is available. Go ahead and take the leap of faith. I welcome you to be the $350 guinea pig. All i said was i'd wait till june and make an informed decision after reading reviews. The truth is the waiting doesn't have to stop for me. I don't need an mp3 player I just want one. Its just a fricking mp3 player. I got a life and other stuff to do. It's not that important.
DoggyII	Date: January 29, 2003 @ 7:03 AM ...the closer my wife gets to killing me. I need to just make a decision and DO IT." id="31646">I wasn't taking digs at you Thanos...I have been sitting in the same boat as you and I was kicking myself in the pants to do something by writing that post. I am not the kind of person who runs out and buys everything I want either, I have no DVD player, no surround sound system, and no TIVO. Hell I only got a cell phone for the first time last month. I also don't "need" an MP3 player...nobody does. It is a luxury item for most people. However I would like to buy one and it would be a major convenience to finally have it. My problem is the more I research them, the more cool features I see coming out, the more I delay my purchase, the more I keep talking about it... ...the closer my wife gets to killing me. I need to just make a decision and DO IT.
Lordmusic	Date: January 29, 2003 @ 10:44 AM Can't we all be friends? Hope you two make up!!! Well anyways. The big wigs at Edigital are meeting to decide weigther or not to release it early. I hope they don't wait 'till the 5th of Feb, that would be way too long. Some features about the Oddysey people may not know: You can record FM and Voice. They will be named a default name and timestamped. You cannot rename them on the player, you need a PC. However, this is all good. The FM records at 96 KBPS i believe. This is so they do not have copyright lawsuits. The device will work very simpley in Plug and Play envoironments. No drivers are needed with say Win XP. You just plug in your USB and it looks like another drive. As you upload files (in regular windows format, no limit to directory levels) it will copy a name of each file into this hidden file which opperates the Voice Recognition. Completely behind the scenes. Voice recognition is simple, you say it and it plays it. The device is an external harddrive, you can stick anything on it. USB 2.0; speeds of 8 megs a second. Sometimes higher, depending on the system. That's soooooooo much better than USB 1.0's 500k a second. A planner and an addressbook may be added later. There's tons of Flash memory available, but they wanted to have a stable Firmware before they released it and added the extra fun stuff. We should see some nice eyecandy soon. Things like a screen play like windows media player does as the music is playing. Although there is no color, it will still be fun. I myself will GLADLY be a guine pig! There's always the money back garantee. I'll take the dive. I can't wait. Come FRIDAY we SHOULD be able to order it online. That is of course unless the big wigs feel they need to wait for the date they set. I hope not, I want it NOW! They have them all and one is just waiting for me to caress it. Oh and Thanos and Doggy... Why buy a console. PCs and emulators, need I say more? What is a console? A PC downgraded so people feel special. I am pro PC. Viva PC!!!
jdoubleg	Date: January 29, 2003 @ 11:01 AM Lordmusic - are you a shareholder at Edig or something?
DoggyII	Date: January 29, 2003 @ 5:13 PM ...and I don't play video games, my last console was a Magnavox Odyssey 2. Lots of my friends had Mattel Intellivisions and we played a lot of Utopia and Snafu. Ahhh, the memories As for the Edig Odyssey 1000, it sounds like almost everything I want. Add the wireless transmitting to an FM station and it would be golden!!!
Thanos	Date: January 30, 2003 @ 3:23 PM Lordmusic. We don't always have to be friendly. Besides this dicussion needed some livening up. Glad there are some new players coming out because this topic sucked when there was no competition. Now that there is some upcomeming competition the coversation got lively. I have nothing against anybody here and I'll take the criticism and dish it out. As for emulators i tried them when they first came out but i didn't like them. I PCs are great for real time strategy and first person shooters but some things i think have better controls on consoles. Like Grand Theft Auto 3 for example. Me i like both consoles and pcs. " id="31797">well i'm glad to hear you say that Doggy because i thought you were taking digs at me. You weren't so i'm not taking any offense. I didn't mean to convey a dig at you either. I said "i'm not you" in an attempt to convey that i don't need to buy anything buy march so I can wait. And i tried (maybe unsucessfully) not to classify you as a person who has to have every fad. I meant to convey i know there are people like that but i'm not one thus i can wait. I still hope you guys go buy it cause if it sucks i'll surely find out about it. Lordmusic. We don't always have to be friendly. Besides this dicussion needed some livening up. Glad there are some new players coming out because this topic sucked when there was no competition. Now that there is some upcomeming competition the coversation got lively. I have nothing against anybody here and I'll take the criticism and dish it out. As for emulators i tried them when they first came out but i didn't like them. I PCs are great for real time strategy and first person shooters but some things i think have better controls on consoles. Like Grand Theft Auto 3 for example. Me i like both consoles and pcs.
ThaCoyote	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 12:41 PM IT'S OUT FOR SHIPPING!!! YAHOO!!! Going to submit my order right now! Hope it reaches my house before the 7th of Feb!
ThaCoyote	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 12:45 PM I'm glad Thanos and Doggy have worked things out btw!
ThaCoyote	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 12:46 PM And this post makes me an intermediate member!!! Yeah! What a great day it is!
Lordmusic	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 1:29 PM https://www.myirock.com/myirock/shopping/index.jsp?product_id=&store _id=101&afl_id=-1&dist_id=-1&productID=&quantity=1&f uncID=9901&department_current=40&search_product_name= Or go to your local CompUSA. That little baby turns any portable device into a FM station. Not a lot of power, but if you did some modifying. ;) Let me know if you do. Thanos - I agree my friend. My problem is I like 1st Person shooters only really. I'll play Starcraft or Warcraft, but that's about my variance from 1st Person Shooters. ThaCoyote - If you placed your order, it is on its way this afternoon. They're not going to wait for the 5th to start shipping. This afternoon they are sticking them in boxes and they are GONE! Now for the news and stats. Within 15 minutes of allowing orders they got 62 orders. They have a total of 1000 units in stock now and another shipment on its way from Korea. They believe their 1000 units will be out of stock on Saturday. So that means if you don't buy before roughly Saturday you will be put on a 2-3 day backorder, so you'll wait an extra week to get your unit. Now for info about the units. They say that the units are stable as can be. They also have informed me that within 2 weeks a new firmware will be out, and another 3 months after this. Some time within the next two firmware updates they will stick in the Calendar option (BATTLE THE IPOD) and also OGG support. That's right; they are flexible as to the encoding options they support. We're looking at the future development of all popular audio encryption codexes! They also want input from their customers. They will change the functionality as per the mass of the customer's requests. In other words, if the customers want it, it will probably happen! This is a company willing to go where we want them to! I have already ordered mine and I will post a follow-up of my true opinion next week. If this is half what I hope it is, there's some big competition here that will push MP3 players into the next level. Lordmusic" id="31897">Jdoubleg - Not a shareholder, just know a good product when I see one. I also call up a lot to get the lo-down. I wish I could buy stocks, but I don't really know how yet. DoggyII - Fm transmitter huh? Well, here's the remedy I came up with. Hope to: https://www.myirock.com/myirock/shopping/index.jsp?product_id=&store _id=101&afl_id=-1&dist_id=-1&productID=&quantity=1&f uncID=9901&department_current=40&search_product_name= Or go to your local CompUSA. That little baby turns any portable device into a FM station. Not a lot of power, but if you did some modifying. Let me know if you do. Thanos - I agree my friend. My problem is I like 1st Person shooters only really. I'll play Starcraft or Warcraft, but that's about my variance from 1st Person Shooters. ThaCoyote - If you placed your order, it is on its way this afternoon. They're not going to wait for the 5th to start shipping. This afternoon they are sticking them in boxes and they are GONE! Now for the news and stats. Within 15 minutes of allowing orders they got 62 orders. They have a total of 1000 units in stock now and another shipment on its way from Korea. They believe their 1000 units will be out of stock on Saturday. So that means if you don't buy before roughly Saturday you will be put on a 2-3 day backorder, so you'll wait an extra week to get your unit. Now for info about the units. They say that the units are stable as can be. They also have informed me that within 2 weeks a new firmware will be out, and another 3 months after this. Some time within the next two firmware updates they will stick in the Calendar option (BATTLE THE IPOD) and also OGG support. That's right; they are flexible as to the encoding options they support. We're looking at the future development of all popular audio encryption codexes! They also want input from their customers. They will change the functionality as per the mass of the customer's requests. In other words, if the customers want it, it will probably happen! This is a company willing to go where we want them to! I have already ordered mine and I will post a follow-up of my true opinion next week. If this is half what I hope it is, there's some big competition here that will push MP3 players into the next level. Lordmusic
Thanos	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 1:29 PM i got the "now shipping" email. does anyone know if you can delete the preloaded music? Anyone know any news of a remote control?
Lordmusic	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 2:09 PM Thanos - Of course you can delete the preloaded music. No plans for a remote control. They HAD mentioned it, but maybe in a revision of the product. That's something I will have to ask edigital about.
Thanos	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 3:14 PM Hey lord you never know. I had to ask. I wouldn't put it past any company to get shady and negotiate some sort of deal with a record company and somehow make the music permanent. I don't really know why they would put any music on there but hey that's just me. I just have nightmares of a player arriving loaded with Britney Spears and O-Town songs that will never come off. Oh the horror!
Lordmusic	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 4:14 PM http://www.wedigmusic.com. The service there is free, but down the road it will cost money. However those who own an Odyssey 1000 will have a free membership. So that's where the music is from. Now that's not official, so take my idea with a grain of salt. Also Thanos, you have odd dreams." id="31913">The music on the player will probably be from off their sister site: http://www.wedigmusic.com. The service there is free, but down the road it will cost money. However those who own an Odyssey 1000 will have a free membership. So that's where the music is from. Now that's not official, so take my idea with a grain of salt. Also Thanos, you have odd dreams.
Jmac823200	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 4:17 PM Lordmusic, I've heard that the iRock sucks. My source is TechTV.
ThaCoyote	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 4:28 PM LordMusic: I'm not too worried about when they start shipping; I'm worried about when this thing around, since my habitat is The Netherlands... I rang them (wonder what it has cost ) and they said it could take 3-5 business days, but also several weeks. I really hope it gets here on friday at latest. The back of the unit is solid aluminium. The front is some kind of chromed plastic, which I hope won't wear off with frequent use.
ThaCoyote	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 4:30 PM I'm worried about when this thing arives..."" id="31918"> "I'm worried about when this thing around,..." ehmmm I'm worried about when this thing arives..."
LifeInHell	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 8:03 PM http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/ubb/Forum493/HTML/000001.html And no one on that forum liked it. I then saw this thing: http://www.arkon.com/SF121.htm but I can't find a review on it so I am a little hesitant about it (although it lets you choose a station on the entire FM band instead of a station on the 88's) Can filmware at a later time make the Odyssey 1000 in to a FM transmitter or is that impossible? Also, I have tried quite a few other MP3 players and I got the TREO 15 to tied me over. I chose that because I like the play features, mainly the ability to play ALL the songs randomly instead of having to make a playlist. I figure since edig made the Treo 15 they kept that feature for the Odyssey 1000. Any thoughts on this? " id="31924">Well I've been waiting for this thing since October and was all set to buy it. I mean, this was it for me. No question in my mind. UNTIL I saw the cool FM transmitter feature on the Yepp 900. I was stumped. I want that FM feature so when I drive a long distance (to a cabin or someplace with a stereo) in a car with a CD player instead of a cassette player (for an adaptor)it won't matter. Then I read LORDMUSIC'S suggestion of the IROCK!. I read reviews on it at: http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/ubb/Forum493/HTML/000001.html And no one on that forum liked it. I then saw this thing: http://www.arkon.com/SF121.htm but I can't find a review on it so I am a little hesitant about it (although it lets you choose a station on the entire FM band instead of a station on the 88's) Can filmware at a later time make the Odyssey 1000 in to a FM transmitter or is that impossible? Also, I have tried quite a few other MP3 players and I got the TREO 15 to tied me over. I chose that because I like the play features, mainly the ability to play ALL the songs randomly instead of having to make a playlist. I figure since edig made the Treo 15 they kept that feature for the Odyssey 1000. Any thoughts on this?
LifeInHell	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 8:12 PM http://www.arkon.com/SF120.htm and not the SF121 model. I am concerned about the sound and if it will sound thin. " id="31925">Actually it was this one I was looking at: http://www.arkon.com/SF120.htm and not the SF121 model. I am concerned about the sound and if it will sound thin.
ThaCoyote	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 7:25 PM I think this has become so standard on a jukebox, that it hasn't been mentioned in the list of features. And a wirmware (software) upgrade cannot turn the Odyssey 1000 into an FM transmitter, 'cause the O'1000 lacks the hardware to do so. Personally, I don't see the benefit in having an FM transmitter, since I find the Odyssey 1000 small so I can carry it anywhere I want. Regarding the car: I'd plug the O'1000 in a line-in. This also gives much better quality than the best FM transmitters." id="31959">LifeInHell: "I figure since edig made the Treo 15 they kept that feature for the Odyssey 1000" I think this has become so standard on a jukebox, that it hasn't been mentioned in the list of features. And a wirmware (software) upgrade cannot turn the Odyssey 1000 into an FM transmitter, 'cause the O'1000 lacks the hardware to do so. Personally, I don't see the benefit in having an FM transmitter, since I find the Odyssey 1000 small so I can carry it anywhere I want. Regarding the car: I'd plug the O'1000 in a line-in. This also gives much better quality than the best FM transmitters.
jdoubleg	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 9:42 PM I looked at the Odyssey's specs and it seems like the sound could be weak. S/N ratio of 90dB and max output of 50mW. Compared to the Nomad Zen with S?N 98dB and 100mW, that doesn't look too good. Any thoughts?
Lordmusic	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 10:23 PM Perhaps jdoubleg, however they have the SRS WOW enhancement in there like Windows Media Player, so I am sure it makes up the difference. I'll let you know on Monday when I get mine.
Lordmusic	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 10:25 PM LifeInHell - I'll let you know about that FM transmitter. I picked one up for 20 bucks. I'll compare them and maybe sell my IROCK.
georgegliddy	Date: January 31, 2003 @ 11:21 PM e.Digital. I ordered it next-day air on Friday, but they use DHL which doesn't deliver on Saturdays (other than by special extra super-expensive arrangement not offered by e.Digital)!! WTF! Why can't they use UPS or Fedex!? I've been waiting over a year and now I have to wait until the workweek begins when I won't have time to play with it until next weekend, when I should have it right now having paid $20 extra for next-day air. Arghhh!!!!!!!!!!" id="31969">Yeah, well, damn e.Digital. I ordered it next-day air on Friday, but they use DHL which doesn't deliver on Saturdays (other than by special extra super-expensive arrangement not offered by e.Digital)!! WTF! Why can't they use UPS or Fedex!? I've been waiting over a year and now I have to wait until the workweek begins when I won't have time to play with it until next weekend, when I should have it right now having paid $20 extra for next-day air. Arghhh!!!!!!!!!!
jdoubleg	Date: February 1, 2003 @ 2:57 AM I don't any kind of software like WOW can make up for true hardware power.
austonia	Date: February 1, 2003 @ 8:25 PM name.mp3" and then organize them in directories (like artist name) and subdirectories (like album) on the player. There is no auto-indexing of all your files based on ID3 tags, like the iPod and Nomad Zen do. Because there is no ID3 tag support you won't be able to point-and-play a particular Genre, Composer, etc like you can on iPod/Zen. All the MP3 players for the last few years support ID3 tags - so you can see detailed information about the song while it plays. But not on the O1000." id="31994">FYI, The O1000 DOES NOT SUPPORT ID3 TAGS. Download the product manual from the edig website and read. Also, in order to get the VoiceNav to work right, you have to rename all your MP3s to "song name.mp3" and then organize them in directories (like artist name) and subdirectories (like album) on the player. There is no auto-indexing of all your files based on ID3 tags, like the iPod and Nomad Zen do. Because there is no ID3 tag support you won't be able to point-and-play a particular Genre, Composer, etc like you can on iPod/Zen. All the MP3 players for the last few years support ID3 tags - so you can see detailed information about the song while it plays. But not on the O1000.
georgegliddy	Date: February 2, 2003 @ 12:31 AM Looks like I'll be buying the iPod after all, which I could have done a long time ago but eDigital was previously lying about the weight of their player - before they said it would be lighter than iPod, but now their specs show it is both bigger and heavier than iPod. And, they force you to use individual directories for album and artist, and the voice nav only works with up to 85 files in a directory an only with filenames no more than 32 characters. What a pile of crap!!!! Screw this, I'm buying an iPod. Thanks for nothing, eDigital." id="32011">Damn... the f'ing Edig bastards didn't have that product manual up when I ordered my Odyssey on Friday (or at least I couldn't find it). Now that I've read the manual, I am definitely going to return it. Thanks for the heads up since I'll save the $50 "restocking" fee by returning it before opening the package. Looks like I'll be buying the iPod after all, which I could have done a long time ago but eDigital was previously lying about the weight of their player - before they said it would be lighter than iPod, but now their specs show it is both bigger and heavier than iPod. And, they force you to use individual directories for album and artist, and the voice nav only works with up to 85 files in a directory an only with filenames no more than 32 characters. What a pile of crap!!!! Screw this, I'm buying an iPod. Thanks for nothing, eDigital.
ThaCoyote	Date: February 3, 2003 @ 4:15 AM Well, concerning the size and weight: If you kept track of the O'1000, you'd have seen about half a year ago that it's expected size and weight do not compare to those of the iPod.
ThaCoyote	Date: February 3, 2003 @ 4:24 AM Btw: Where the * did you guys find the manual? Can someone place the link here please?
austonia	Date: February 3, 2003 @ 9:39 AM http://www.edig.com/product-support/odyssey1000product-support.html From the manual : "When copying music to the player, tracks must be two folders deep, otherwise, an error message will display." "The order that tracks playback depends on how they were transferred to your player" "If you do not want to disrupt the original order of ripped files, you can use the Playlist feature" "It is important to use e.Digital Music Explorer for music files because the software interacts with the tracks on your Odyssey by administering the two level folder structure required for playback" "VoiceNav can search a maximum of 85 folder or file names within a list." "VoiceNav only recognizes the first 39 characters of the folder or track name. If you say a name that is longer than 39 characters, the file will not be located. If VoiceNav is not working as anticipated, check that the track name is not prefixed with the artist name." Also, Notice any mention of ID3 tag support is completey omitted." id="32085">http://www.edig.com/product-support/odyssey1000product-support.html From the manual : "When copying music to the player, tracks must be two folders deep, otherwise, an error message will display." "The order that tracks playback depends on how they were transferred to your player" "If you do not want to disrupt the original order of ripped files, you can use the Playlist feature" "It is important to use e.Digital Music Explorer for music files because the software interacts with the tracks on your Odyssey by administering the two level folder structure required for playback" "VoiceNav can search a maximum of 85 folder or file names within a list." "VoiceNav only recognizes the first 39 characters of the folder or track name. If you say a name that is longer than 39 characters, the file will not be located. If VoiceNav is not working as anticipated, check that the track name is not prefixed with the artist name." Also, Notice any mention of ID3 tag support is completey omitted.
georgegliddy	Date: February 3, 2003 @ 10:47 AM As for the size/weight: As of about a month ago, Edigital had the same size specs they have now (slightly bigger than iPod), but they had it listed as being an ounce or two lighter. Now they have increased the weight so it is heavier than iPod. I was willing to take the extra size as long as it wasn't heavier, but I won't take both.
LifeInHell	Date: February 4, 2003 @ 4:19 PM Any early comments/reviews from any new owners out there?
georgegliddy	Date: February 4, 2003 @ 5:20 PM Any early comments/reviews from any new owners out there? Sorry... I have my player sitting at home (about to ship back to eDigital), but I can't open it to test it out, because eDigital will only give you store credit once you open the box (minus the approximately $50 restocking fee of course). And what is the use of store credit when they don't have any other products I'd like? BTW, they told me they'd have firmware in a month or so to support ID3 tags, but I'm not gonna wait that long. By then the 40GB iPod will probably be available (seen lots of rumors about that). I think I'll just wait another month or two and see what's available then.
ThaCoyote	Date: February 4, 2003 @ 9:07 PM and probably pay $700,- for the iPod...
Thanos	Date: February 5, 2003 @ 1:19 AM does id3 tag support mean you still have to put the files in two level directories and rename them.
georgegliddy	Date: February 5, 2003 @ 2:14 AM does id3 tag support mean you still have to put the files in two level directories and rename them. That was the impression I got from the eDig guy I talked to.
austonia	Date: February 5, 2003 @ 9:41 AM http://www.austonia.com/PDAP.html Pics of the O1000 and compared to iPod, Zen http://www.austonia.com/pics/O1000/index1.html check out the crappy, unusable case that comes with the $350 Odyssey pics of current and upcoming gigabyte+ Digital Audio Players : http://www.austonia.com/pics/juke/index1.html" id="32263">Comparison chart for iPod, Zen, and Odyssey 1000 http://www.austonia.com/PDAP.html Pics of the O1000 and compared to iPod, Zen http://www.austonia.com/pics/O1000/index1.html check out the crappy, unusable case that comes with the $350 Odyssey pics of current and upcoming gigabyte+ Digital Audio Players : http://www.austonia.com/pics/juke/index1.html
ThaCoyote	Date: February 5, 2003 @ 9:43 AM Thanos, I don't expect that one actually SHOULD have to put their files in 2-level directories. I think this is just an example made in the O'1000's manual. I think its max directory level is unlimited. I think so, because it would be very stupid otherwise...
Thanos	Date: February 5, 2003 @ 1:24 PM i wouldn't want to put them in more than two levels. acutually less. But i see your point on the manual example. I just noticed they had one directory for the artist, then one for the album. Then the song was titled "songtitle.mp3" without an artist name. It actually doesn't make a difference because i'm not buying one so who cares what i'm curious about. I saw some of austonia's pics. And its too bulky for my purposes and i'm waiting to see the iriver with from the measurments given on the IGN gear website put it at virtually the same size as the ipod.
georgegliddy	Date: February 6, 2003 @ 12:34 AM Actually you DO need to use a 2-level directory structure. Quoting from page 26 of the user manual: "When copying music to the player, tracks must be two folders deep, otherwise, an error message will display."
ThaCoyote	Date: February 6, 2003 @ 5:45 AM ...that sucks then!
Thanos	Date: February 6, 2003 @ 11:55 AM i'm surprised there's no remote. I'm surpised ipod went small and in a year no one has gone smaller. You would think the companies would try to top it in size and features. Well some beat it in features but my point is normally the products that come out later are better more complete hardware. I mean who said ok to the rio riot? Cell phones all got smaller. I would love to be a fly on the wall in these product development meanings. I bet there was one guy who said "it needs to be smaller" or something else and they ignored him. Seems like all the recent players are close but have some sort of flaw or flaws. its either size, function,price,etc.
HenryHead	Date: February 13, 2003 @ 9:29 PM SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER THIS!! I was just about to order the Odyssey until I got confused by some of these posts. Does this player allow you to simply connect to your pc, and click and drag music to and from the player? I want to make sure you don't need any software to transfer music. If that's the case (which I hope that it is) then the whether the unit supports id tags or not is irrelevant to me. I would much rather organize my music myself than to have to make sure all of my id tags are correctly inputted so that my music is organized properly. And one other question - about the size. Isn't it 8.1 ounces? That's only slightly heavier than the iPod (which is remarkably small). And it's still 2 ounces smaller than the Archos FM Recorder which too is a fairly compact size. If it's 8.1 ounces, then I'm happy. Thanks in advance for you help!
austonia	Date: February 14, 2003 @ 1:38 AM e.Digital Music Explorer to load music. However, you can just drop music on there but it won't be seen on the player until you do the "reconcile" function on the player. I've never tried this. However, all the files can be taken _off_ the player with no software. About the weight, it is a little lighter than Nomad Zen, but a little bigger too. It's still pocketable and not too heavy, but if you put it next to an iPod its significantly bigger. iPod is the most portable and it has an in-line remote too which is nice if you don't want to dig the player out of your pocket all the time. If you use Ephpod (free) software with iPod you can drag and drop songs on it and it will index them based off filename or ID3 tag. Odyssey is probably better if you don't want to deal with ID3 tags but that limits its functionality too." id="33516">Henry - you should to use the e.Digital Music Explorer to load music. However, you can just drop music on there but it won't be seen on the player until you do the "reconcile" function on the player. I've never tried this. However, all the files can be taken _off_ the player with no software. About the weight, it is a little lighter than Nomad Zen, but a little bigger too. It's still pocketable and not too heavy, but if you put it next to an iPod its significantly bigger. iPod is the most portable and it has an in-line remote too which is nice if you don't want to dig the player out of your pocket all the time. If you use Ephpod (free) software with iPod you can drag and drop songs on it and it will index them based off filename or ID3 tag. Odyssey is probably better if you don't want to deal with ID3 tags but that limits its functionality too.
HenryHead	Date: March 14, 2003 @ 7:42 PM I just don't get it - why the hell don't mp3 manufacturers make it easy like Archos and Neo Jukebox? Hell, all I want is everything that the Archos gives you, but a little bigger lcd display, a slightly smaller size, a more sleek and polished user interface and look to the player. Archos has got the goods, they just need to learn how to package it better. Nonetheless, I keep coming back to the Archos 'cause nothing else beats it in my opinion. And I keep trying to find something, as I've bought several mp3 players since my first Archos, but like I said, I keep coming back. " id="33595">Well, to their credit, I just got a call back from edigital. However, it wasn't the news that I was hoping for. It's frustrating that mp3 manufacturers just don't create a player that we all want (they seem to just not get it). It doesn't seem like it would be that damn hard. Here's the problem with the Odyssey and why I NOW won't buy it (I'll keep on with my Archos FM Recorder): * The player will NOT allow you to create playlists on the fly - you must use software (HELLO, McFly, are you there? Why the heck would you make a player w/o this capability - and I'm really surprised the iPod is the same way - it keeps me from buying players w/o this function) * The good news is that you DON'T have to use any special software to transfer music. You can use the included software to do this if you want, but if you don't want to, you can simply go into "my computer" and click and drag music onto the player like the Archos. However you do need to install drivers onto your computer apparently. The bad news, and in my opinion, REAL BAD news is that the player is very inflexible. You MUST create folders two levels deep. That is, you can NOT just copy a song into the root directly - that won't work. Instead, you have to do something like this... Create a folder named "Pop", then another folder named "Maxwell" then have all of your mp3's in this folder. There is NO other flexibility. That sucks in my opinion. Because I have some folders that go 3 deep. For example, on my Archos, I have "Pop", then "U2", then "The Joshua Tree" then all of the songs. The Odyssey 1000 is NOT capable of doing this. I just don't get it - why the hell don't mp3 manufacturers make it easy like Archos and Neo Jukebox? Hell, all I want is everything that the Archos gives you, but a little bigger lcd display, a slightly smaller size, a more sleek and polished user interface and look to the player. Archos has got the goods, they just need to learn how to package it better. Nonetheless, I keep coming back to the Archos 'cause nothing else beats it in my opinion. And I keep trying to find something, as I've bought several mp3 players since my first Archos, but like I said, I keep coming back.
milladrive	Date: February 17, 2003 @ 5:24 PM .
austonia	Date: February 17, 2003 @ 10:52 PM A couple more observations. The requirement that all MP3s be in a 2nd level directory (not 1st, not 3rd or other) is annoying. The player also has some stability issues - it's gone into a continual reboot-cycle a few times. The boot up time is way too long, at least 13 seconds. And no sleep mode. Sometimes the delay between songs can be as long as 10 seconds. When playing a track it only shows the time elapsed, not the total track length. Fast forwarding is at a constant speed that takes forever if you are trying to get far into a track. The "back" button doesn't work after you select a track to play, you have to use the "Menu" button to exit the way to the main menu. Not having an in-line remote makes this player best for keeping it on the desk not in your pocket. The VoiceNav feature works fine but I never use it, when would you need this?? Can't play tracks by Genre because it doesn't support any ID3 tags. On the positive side, battery life is good at about 10 hours and the scroll wheel is nice to change the volume of the player very quickly, like when I'm at work and someone needs to talk to me.
ThaCoyote	Date: February 18, 2003 @ 8:13 AM I got an email from edig which stated that my order has not been processed. I'm quitte happy it didn't now I've read your post, austonia! Battery life was claimed at about 12 hours, I don't know why there's a delay in playing songs, while they index every song! That's the reason one can't use Windows Explorer to transfer songs. I left a message on their voice-mail so I'll ask everything if they give me a call back. I'll post what they say
Expose	Date: February 18, 2003 @ 8:14 PM See what happens when you don't buy from iRiver?
austonia	Date: February 19, 2003 @ 1:40 AM as soon as iRiver releases thier new hard-disk player I'll be all over that. from what i remember of the mini review at IGN, it has line out, line-in (encoding), and optical out. sweeet.
Expose	Date: February 19, 2003 @ 2:13 PM They're thinking about Ogg Vorbis support by October, and MPC support by about then, iRiver definately rocks!
ThaCoyote	Date: February 20, 2003 @ 8:16 AM Okay, here's what they say: Concerning battery life: 10-12 hours, depending on the volume. He said he had personal experience with it. Continuous reboot-cycle: Very odd. He hadn't heard that before. They'll see it it'll occur more frequently and will then try to see a pattern in that behaviour. Song delay: Shouldn't be the case. Has probably to do with bad MP3 or the delay was mistaken with a 10 seconds silence at the end or beginning of an MP3. The Odyssey 1000 should play without delay, because it hasn't any trouble finding a new song, because if its music index file which is the reason one can't simply transfer MUSIC files with windows explorer and then play them on the unit without re-indexing. Music explorer auto-re-indexes. SRS-WOW doesn't work on WMA files. It does on MP3's. I find this very strange, since SRS-wow modifies sound. MP3 and WMA both produce sound, so why doesn't SRS-wow work on WMA? First firmware update will include e.g: - Fixed European FM radio frequency range; The european frequency range is different than the american. The Odyssey now only supports american frequencies, which however DO overlap with the european. - ID3-tag support which can probably be toggled in the settings menu. He confermed that there are concrete plans to include a contacts list in the Odyssey with future firmware upgrades, though he didn't think this would be in the first update. That's what he had to tell or at least all I can remember that was interesting to know. Greetz, Cheers
ThaCoyote	Date: February 20, 2003 @ 8:22 AM Oh, one more thing: The player is actually DESIGNED to limit people to 2-level folder music listening. It can't be simply changed. That's bad, BAD software engineering if you ask me. They chose to do so, because the MOST people think 2-level is the most practical and MOST people like to keep it simple. I don't see the problem people could have in 3-level depth, or unlimited (even better). Wouldn't make it any harder if you ask me. Especially if you take in mind that most jukebox listeners know something about operating computers, since one must connect it to a PC and copy (downloaded) music to it. Luckily, the restriction to 2-level folder depth isn't a problem for me, but I just can't see the reason they limited people to it. It's just not flexible. They even hard-coded it and that's what bothers me. Flexible software is what everythings about in software engineering... I'd love to get my hands on the software, so that I could release a firmware upgrade myself...
Thanos	Date: February 20, 2003 @ 11:57 AM http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20030219.html One point is its 512mb but it costs $349. Thats as much as a 5GB Ipod. I wonder what they will sell the HDD player for? Anyone know a price? The writer says "our enthusiasm ...dimmed ...Instead of organizing the songs strictly in musical terms -- title, artist, album, genre -- this player confronts the user with a folder-and-file structure, anchored by a master folder called "root,"". Does anyone have an iriver player? Do you think they will do the same type of thing like Odyssey did? " id="34088">i came across and interesting article about a recent iriver flash based player that made me think of some questions maybe some of you may have answers to. the articles is here http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20030219.html One point is its 512mb but it costs $349. Thats as much as a 5GB Ipod. I wonder what they will sell the HDD player for? Anyone know a price? The writer says "our enthusiasm ...dimmed ...Instead of organizing the songs strictly in musical terms -- title, artist, album, genre -- this player confronts the user with a folder-and-file structure, anchored by a master folder called "root,"". Does anyone have an iriver player? Do you think they will do the same type of thing like Odyssey did?
austonia	Date: February 20, 2003 @ 10:39 PM e.Digi tal's "patented" MicroOS for ya." id="34146">ThaCoyote - The rebooting thing is not only happening with mine. I have corrspondance with one other person that has this problem sometimes, which means its probably common. The Song delay IS NOT the track, and theres not always a delay, but it does happen occasionally. I've been using this every day at work all shift long so I know how it acts. The delay (8-9 seconds) is before it access the hard drive, because once i feel the drive spinning the song plays within 2 seconds. Someone also pointed out to me that the Backlight does NOT work on the radio screen. I found this true. The 2 level folder requirement for song files seems like it should be an easy fix, right? But I guess not. There's e.Digi tal's "patented" MicroOS for ya.
ThaCoyote	Date: February 21, 2003 @ 10:29 AM Austonia: I recommend you to contact edig about your problem and explain what happens with the reboot problem exactly like you did here. I posted what they said to me; it doesn't necessarily have to be true; might be sales-talk. As to the 2-level folder requirement: he said that the player was designed to be so. For I'm being a software engineer myself, I know that one can hard-code software to anything, so that it would be very hard to change the specific. Because I have no full confidence in edig, I wouldn't find it hard to believe that they actually HAVE hard-coded the 2-level folder requirement, thinking that this is something that will never change, making the software very inflexible, which means bad programming. Key rule in software development is: specifics will always change! So they SHOULD have designed it flexible, though I doubt they did. If the software would be flexible, then it is very easy to constrain it to a 2-level folder structure afterwards if they want... But if would appear that the 2-level folder structure actually is non-sence they could easily remove or change the constraint. That's how I would develop software. Oh, do I want to get my hands on this software!!!
austonia	Date: February 21, 2003 @ 10:12 PM http://rockbox.haxx.se). On a side note, I WISH THEY WOULD FIX THE BACK BUTTON. That's the most annoying "bug" in my opinion because its a constant. After you select a song to play the back button doesn't work. Instead of going back to the directory you were in you have to hit the Menu button and exit all the way to the main menu. How the hell did that get missed in testing?! The Music Explorer software is too simplistic. You can't even "move" a directory - if you try it starts copying the directory. No mass rename support either, so unless you songs are allready named the way VoiceNav likes ("Song Title.mp3) then its not going to be very useful. On the player, When a song is playing it doesn't tell you total track time or any details, just song name (FILE NAME, to be exact) and elapsed time. and VBR files make that elapsed time go crazy. I may be repeating myself but these are what stick out in my experience. The delays are still occasional, the OS instability is still infrequent, but considering how late this is to market I really expected a more polished player." id="34285">If they released the software for the community to tweak or improve they would probably sell more players. I would definately be more forgiving if they went open source. Archos did this and many people like the alternative (http://rockbox.haxx.se). On a side note, I WISH THEY WOULD FIX THE BACK BUTTON. That's the most annoying "bug" in my opinion because its a constant. After you select a song to play the back button doesn't work. Instead of going back to the directory you were in you have to hit the Menu button and exit all the way to the main menu. How the hell did that get missed in testing?! The Music Explorer software is too simplistic. You can't even "move" a directory - if you try it starts copying the directory. No mass rename support either, so unless you songs are allready named the way VoiceNav likes ("Song Title.mp3) then its not going to be very useful. On the player, When a song is playing it doesn't tell you total track time or any details, just song name (FILE NAME, to be exact) and elapsed time. and VBR files make that elapsed time go crazy. I may be repeating myself but these are what stick out in my experience. The delays are still occasional, the OS instability is still infrequent, but considering how late this is to market I really expected a more polished player.
MrTeatime	Date: February 28, 2003 @ 9:03 AM Well I have got mine today, i will post a review here..... firstly it looks nice. The radi oreception is terrible, I had a Rio Riot before this that has a radio, and the reception is a lot better on the Rio. I couldn't listen to the radio station I wanted to because of the interference. I don't know if this can be fixed, I hope it can. Also, the lack of ID3 support is really bad. You have to manually rearrange tracks on an album so they play in the right order, even the PC software supplied doesn't recognise track numbers. Sound quality is so-so, I've heard better. I hope they release some new firmware soon.
austonia	Date: March 15, 2003 @ 12:32 PM dapReview.com" id="36805">The Odyssey's line-out option doesn't actually give you a line out signal. Instead it simply sets the volume on MAX and disables the scroller volume control. Of course the whole point to line out is to get an UNAMPED signal. This is a feature that many audio nuts want, so thay can use a higher quality outboard amplifier. I took that off the list of its features at dapReview.com
joemommabstank	Date: March 21, 2003 @ 5:34 AM i ganked a preview copy of da odyssey 1000 off dis whiteboy and it be da bomb man----no wonder the punk startin cryin. dis odyssey 1000 be mad dope. i puff a blunt and listen to dis thang all day. it be mad dope man

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