(sort of) new gadget...
Jun. 8th, 2007 04:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
senoritafishOne of the things that excited me about my iPod was the fact that I could put text files on it, and I thought I could use it to read things on the bus. I was very disappointed to find that yes, I can put all the text files I want on it; however, if you try to read them, it truncates after about a page and a half. The cut-off was about 4-5K. I actually took a file and divided it up into 5K bits - which worked, but it was a pain in the ass to do, and to have to change files so often when reading. So I gave that up as a bust.
Then a few months ago, I was looking for a recording device I could keep with me and pull out to record some of my dad's crazy stories when he starts them. And I found this thingy at Fry's, among the small mp3 players. It's a bit thicker than a Nano but not as tall, with the same amount of memory. And I was pleasantly surprised to see that this little gadget does more stuff than the 'pod. Plays music, records, FM radio (WHY does iPOD not have this?!), plays back recordings, photos, and video! Granted, the screen is tiny and and the resolution is not great, but whaddya expect for something less than a third of the price. Also the MP4 on the front is misleading - it's part of the brand name. It does not play mp4s directly; you have to convert them to .avi format with the included software, and because the screen is square instead of rectangular, photos and video get trimmed a bit on the sides. But I didn't buy it for that, so that doesn't bother me so much. The buttons are not all that intuitive and sometimes do unexpected things. However, I was thrilled to find that text files are not truncated on this thing - or at least it'll accept a much larger text file before doing so. I found the cut-off is about 64kb - enough for a good sized chunk of text. I downloaded a fanfic to read on my commute and found that I only had to divide up a few, very long, chapters, and then only into two chunks. The screen does divide up words in odd places, but I've gotten used to it pretty easily.
Yes, I suppose I could have gotten a different gadget specifically for reading, but it would probably be bigger and a lot more expensive. I just hope I don't wear out the scroll button too fast.
Then a few months ago, I was looking for a recording device I could keep with me and pull out to record some of my dad's crazy stories when he starts them. And I found this thingy at Fry's, among the small mp3 players. It's a bit thicker than a Nano but not as tall, with the same amount of memory. And I was pleasantly surprised to see that this little gadget does more stuff than the 'pod. Plays music, records, FM radio (WHY does iPOD not have this?!), plays back recordings, photos, and video! Granted, the screen is tiny and and the resolution is not great, but whaddya expect for something less than a third of the price. Also the MP4 on the front is misleading - it's part of the brand name. It does not play mp4s directly; you have to convert them to .avi format with the included software, and because the screen is square instead of rectangular, photos and video get trimmed a bit on the sides. But I didn't buy it for that, so that doesn't bother me so much. The buttons are not all that intuitive and sometimes do unexpected things. However, I was thrilled to find that text files are not truncated on this thing - or at least it'll accept a much larger text file before doing so. I found the cut-off is about 64kb - enough for a good sized chunk of text. I downloaded a fanfic to read on my commute and found that I only had to divide up a few, very long, chapters, and then only into two chunks. The screen does divide up words in odd places, but I've gotten used to it pretty easily.
Yes, I suppose I could have gotten a different gadget specifically for reading, but it would probably be bigger and a lot more expensive. I just hope I don't wear out the scroll button too fast.
