Recommend a PMP?

Portable Media Player, not pimp.

Looking at the Archos 5 and Zune HD.

Zune HD has no xvid or DivX support which is annoying. Is it easy to transcode? The hardware looks nice ...

Need something ideally with about 8 hours of video battery life.

I like Samsung and Sansa PMP's with a major earphone upgrade (Shure, etc.).

Here's a starting point

http://www.anythingbutipod.com

Get a Cowon S9... Beautiful OLED Screen, capacitive touch interface, fantastic battery life (11hrs video, 55hrs audio), great sound and awesome codec support (Audio Formats MP3/WMA/WAV/OGG/FLAC/APE Video Formats AVI/WMV). I'd get it if it had a built in speaker.

16GB
32GB

You might be able to find better prices.

My first PMP was the Cowon A2. It was the best electronic item I'd ever bought until the HD died. Since then, I've been a loyal Cowon fan.

Archos build quality is always an issue and their battery life is usually bad. Also, Archos nickle and dimes you for every little thing, including codec support. I have an Archos 504 and it is pretty bad (dull screen, poor battery life compared to the Cowons), but can play a lot of files.

If you have a lot of DIVX files, transcoding is a *****, even with a fast computer. Also, there is quality loss when going from AVI to WMV.

Stay away from the Archos. I had a 405 and it only lasted like a month before I broke it. (my own fault, but my other PDA's and ipod touch have survived far worse) The UI was also horrendous and functionality was brutal.

Well, since ur a fan of the android...... I think that's what the archos is using?

I didn't realize PMPs have such impressive battery life these days!

I use an old HTC Mogul with an extended battery to play movies on plane/car trips. It lasts anywhere from 3-5hrs depending on screen brightness. I have several movie playing apps that will handle DivX and I use DVDStudio to shrink a 700MB divx to a 320x240 version that's only about 200MB.

Originally Posted by BrettChaotix

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I didn't realize PMPs have such impressive battery life these days!

I use an old HTC Mogul with an extended battery to play movies on plane/car trips. It lasts anywhere from 3-5hrs depending on screen brightness. I have several movie playing apps that will handle DivX and I use DVDStudio to shrink a 700MB divx to a 320x240 version that's only about 200MB.

Not all of them have a great battery life, that's why you gotta research.

Even the Cowon O2 is really nice, and can be had for super cheap. You could get like an 8gb of that then just buy a big memory card.

What are you going to be using your player for? Music? Watching movies on a 4" screen? Going to the gym?

Movies on the plane. The battery on the laptop never lasts long enough for long haul flights.

My Asus 1000HA lasts 5 hours with a 6-cell battery. Now they are making 13" laptops that last 10-12 hours, if I remember correctly.

I'm looking at a Zune HD right now. It's really a nice piece of work. Wifi with a usable browser is included. And the creme de la creme: Zune Pass. For $15/mo you can download/stream all the music you want, and you also get 10 DRM-free songs to keep per month. BTW, it also has FM HD. I can't talk myself out of getting one. Amazon has the 16Gb on sale now for $189.

Just buy a netbook. No use watching a movie on a little screen.

Netbook or Iphone. Those Iphone are really dam amazing. Did you know it plugs into a HDTV and plays back high def movies. That really impressed me.

I had to get a netbook recently for work on the go. Use it for email, web and storing paperwork that I scan so I always have with me.

Originally Posted by Flambeur

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My Asus 1000HA lasts 5 hours with a 6-cell battery. Now they are making 13" laptops that last 10-12 hours, if I remember correctly.

Just got our Asus's last week. We got the 1005HA and the battery life is incredible. Only one draw back that I'm finding, and that is it just doesn't have what it takes to stream a ripped DVD without some jerkiness. We have 2 gigs of RAM and the 1.66 chip, so I figure it's the lack of video card. Sort of not a big deal, as streaming isn't something I need to do outside, which is where I tend to use this at home.

Do not want netbook :| I already carry a laptop, Thinkpad T400s (the thin and light one), that goes about 6 hours on two batteries but I need those hours for actual work. The PMP is for play. I fly pretty regularly to the UK or USA from Asia and those flights are around 12-16 hours.

I used to be satisfied with just music but now I demand more entertainment!

Also, if you have the money to spare and you want a thin, light 13.3 that lasts forever, get a Thinkpad X300 with the 6 cell in the main bay and 3 cell in the side bay and that will go 8-10 hours. I have one and love it but wanted to try the T400s when it came to choosing a replacement.

If you are thinking of these new CULVs, they advertise 8 but they definitely don't go 8. I just bought an HP DM3a for my nephew that seemed pretty nice though. The AMD Neo seems better than Intel's Atom, you get an extra core and a little bit more proc. power for similar power usage.

I'll have a think about the Cowon S9, Zune HD and Samsung P3. Seems like there's nothing else too interesting on the horizon. I toyed with the Apple Touch but didn't like it too much (irrational hate).