dryspell

The rounded edges look sweet imo. Here's a nice pictorial comparing both nano gens and a mini. Update on sq: Just saw a post in head-fi reffering to CNET. Apparently Jasmine France has already finished her review of the new nano and says that the sound is on par with the first generation. Another post came from iLounge stating that despite the uniform sound signature, the newer Nano has slightly lesser volume. But I'll take it with a grain of salt since the phones used are only PX100s. I'm guessing cnet labs has better phones used for their test. Taphil at head-fi has bought his and hasnt said anything significant (he owns an older nano as well). So there. I'll still spring for one. Its sooo freakin pocket friendly for 8gigs.

X2. I think the last buying factor for me is the sound. If the sound is better (or even on par with the previous Nano) I'm in. It will take a while for Rockbox but still, it'll come. And Zeph, yup, word is, it is 'a' Sigmatel chip although different numbering from the previous Shuffle chip. Time will tell if the sound is good. I'm all eyes in head-fi who can give a proper opinion and comparison. For this codec chip, the Samsung Z5 Sigmatel chip is soooo full and clear out of the E500. It even edges my beloved A2 (which Austin at DapReview said sounds better than the X5). iPod has a different chip although still from Sigmatel. Arghhh I'll be a bit pissed if Apple held off their Sigmatel chips for the later generation and not on the new Nano. I'm all set for the 8gigger nano while waiting for other 8gigs to surface from iRiver, Cowon and Samsung. It'll be a fun six months as new players roll in the markets.

iLounge... there's a ton of discussion going on so I'll try if I can find you the link. The discussion boiled down to some people's skepticism of the older Shuffle's sq to be replaced by the newer one. Some argued that the Sigmatel chip used on the older shuffle was never utilized again on the newer iPods starting iPod Photo to the present due to marketing misdealings between Apple and Sigmatel. This also explains why iPod was never able to produce the kind of sound the old shuffle presented. Then somebody in iLounge gave a news link article from three months back or sometime about Apple once again making dealings with Sigmatel and burchasing a bulk of processor chips (also chips that have perpendiculary memory compatibility which clearly spells iPods Videos 6th Gen). On the same week, Apple made dealings with Samsung's 8 gig flash drives (the new Nano we see). So putting all pieces together, this is clearly how Apple was able to pull out a lower priced Fow sound quality, we'll see from early lemmings how the new units will compare to the previous ones if Apple swapped the Wolfson to Sigmatel. Apparently, the Sigmatel chips will (or already are) be used by Cowon iAudio while Samsung already has it in their Z5 flash players.

That's an interesting discovery. But honestly, I doubt the firmware is responsible for the newer Ipod's battery life difference. The newer Ipods utilize a different kind of hardware, specifically a Sigmatel processor chip which explains the battery life despite the improvement of the screen's resolution "60% brightness". But nevertheless, your discovery is quite intriguing. And if more people will have similar observations with their 5gen ipods with the latest firmware, that'll be a nice reason for those the own the 5th gen to hold on to their accounts and wait a bit more for the real 6th gen ipod video.

I also wanna state the obvious that Creative now will have a bit of a headache since they have just updated the ZVM and aside from being significantly thicker and heavier, doesn't have as much beef as the 80 gig ipod and still has the bigger price tag. I dunno if Creative saw this coming and has countermeasures to resolve this but nevertheless, in the few weeks ahead, things will be interesting. Its either Creative will bump down their msrp on the 60 gig ZVMs or they'll pull something out of their sleeves as well. If they do, they better do it fast. I was quite intrigued with how Creative stuck Apple last year when the ZVM was released with the better screen clarity and resolution. Now, I was surprised of how Creative got ahead of themselves last week.

Yup, the Nano was announced to have 24/25 hours per charge. Only the black one comes with 8gig. Colored ones are 4gigs and the grey is 2. I was hoping for a blue 8gigger. But well, at least its thinner, better battery life and alloy body spells better durability and less prone to scratches (if they used the same matrial from the Mini). And these have the design of the previous minis. So I guess we'll call them Ninis (Nano + Mini) . The bumped down prices are smart considereing Sansa, Samsung, iRiver etc will breath down Apple's neck with better features in the weeks to come. Nope, the real Ipod Video (6th gen) is still having technical difficulties and may not see the light of day till first quarter of '07. This 80 gig model is published 5.5 gen.

Has any of you guys seen this available in Sim Lim? Around how much would this go? M visiting SG again soon and would hope to swipe this.

arghhhhhhhh according to a cnet asia announcement, looks like the vision:W's LCD has the same pixel resolution of the AV500 and A2. Here's hoping CNet was wrong coz it just doesnt make sense for Creative to go back to a lower resolution. Guys, if anyone can visit COMEX soon, I hope you can personally check the manual for the right figures. And as for Creative's new USB Host feature, it's too bad it not like the other portable's true USB OTG where you can transfer different kinds of files from the unit. SSMichael mentioned that only pics can be hosted to another device (catered for digicam fans). I was certainly hoping to transfer video or audio files to a small portable flash unit ie Meizu M6 like the A2. Oh well, I was willing to trade ogg vorbis support for a sweet screen but it seems like the difference would never be that big (rumoured that the W will carry PSP like LCD).

Don't know if this has been discussed before but Creative has unveiled their upcoming newer Vision PMP in Popular Mechanics magazine: the Creative Zen Vision W. I guess the W is for 'wide screen' and it seems like Creative has solved the poor screen viewing angles while retaining the Vision's screen resolution which is higher than other PMPs (640x480 pixels against A2 and AV500's 480x272). And now they have a 60gig model as well. Here's the article from epiZENter. Seeing how Creative does their marketing upon announcement, when do you guys think will these beauties be available on shelves in SG? And if that's the American currency pricing, then the 60giger would run $780 big ones in Sim Lim(?).

Ever since I stumbled upon this model at Gizmodo, I can't stop researching about it and have read a lot about it at DAPreview. Wow, seems to me like a perfect minimalist flash player. The screen of the ipod video in a nano form factor. Screen resolution is almost perfect. With DAPs, if you get good screen clarity, your battery life will suck. But doesnt seem with this player. The M6 passed the battery tests at dapreview with flying colors, even in video. This sweet beauty is thinner than most flash based video players sans nano yet has the screen clarity of the clix and 2.4 inch screen. People who tested the sound quality loved it and commented that the eq settings were spot on but sound is relative so I'd like to test this myself. Someone said it's like the body of a Nano but the voice of the X5 . Simple drag and drop and ogg support did it for me. Here's saving up so I can afford this sweet little beast sometime soon. Seetimex, which color in your opinion could withstand daily hastles of scratches? Or would retain better coating 6 or 10 months from now. Both colors look sweet. If the M6 will take off, I'm definitely interested in how Meizu will handle future offerings and developments.