On Sun, 2004-09-05 at 01:22 -0500, Ian Stoner wrote: > I would like to get an 128 or 256 MB mp3 player to take along while > running or engaging in other forms of monotonous physical activity. It > has to support GNU/Linux, which, as I understand it, means it has to > function as a USB mass-storage device. It has to be reasonably durable. > I'd prefer that it plays ogg vorbis in addition to mp3. > > I've been looking at the Creative Nomad/Muvo, which definitely meet the > first criterion, dunno about the second, and they fail the third. Does > anyone have experience with the Nomads? Are there players that people > like better? I don't know about their flash players, but I've got the Diamond Rio Karma 20GB player, and it is awesome. Not only does it do USB2 (not as file storage, per se, though for some reason they are apparently planning to switch to a "normal" FAT-based filesystem in the future), but the base unit has a built in ethernet port (!), which makes it super easy to connect (and results in faster xfer for those who only have USB1) to a linux box. You don't *need* the base unit to charge it. And though it doesn't use a standard file system, it does have a "Rio taxi" feature that allows you to use the unit for non-audio file transport. I've never used that. They have an officially sanctioned "lite" cross-platform (Java) player that is (somewhat?) open-source, and works very well in linux (the "full" software suite is Windows-only, and I've never used it). It's intuitive and a breeze to use. I use the latest development version, which doesn't have the official stamp of approval yet. The operating interface on the unit itself is fantastic. Oh, and it does support Ogg of course. That's one of the main reasons I bought it. I had one of the original Diamond Rios and as truly *useless* as that unit was IMO, I was favorably impressed at that time by Diamond's engineering--and VERY grateful for their having won the lawsuit that legalized portable digital audio players. I didn't read any reviews on the Karma until I already brought it home, but I found this one on the web that sums up the Karma really well, and has heart-warming things to say about Diamond's engineering team as well: http://lonelymachines.org/karma.html I believe Diamond also produces flash RAM models, and if that's what you're set on getting, I suggest at least check out Diamond's offerings. If they're anywhere near as good as the Karma, you'll be stoked. Eric _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota Help beta test TCLUG's potential new home: http://plone.mn-linux.org Got pictures for TCLUG? Beta test http://plone.mn-linux.org/gallery tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list