Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by IMBoring25 »

MP3 players are one of the markets that has been severely distorted by the ubiquity of smartphones. Unless you want to have MP3s somewhere that you can't take your phone, it's difficult for most people to justify a separate device.

Many phones (and MP3 players, for that matter) with MicroSD slots exist, but extremely large flash memory has not come down as quickly as merely large flash memory.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by theholycow »

For those purposes it's not like there aren't options, though probably nothing as simple and neat as the old fashioned portable jukebox device.

An inactivated smartphone (or even dumbphone for that matter) with a big microSD card is an effective device. Make sure it's sdxc compatible and slap in a 512GB card. Carry another and swap it in easily for a terabyte, or wait a little longer for terabyte cards to hit the market. Wait, nix that, the 1TB cards already exist https://www.sandisk.com/about/media-cen ... -SDXC-card

Alternatively, get a player that will play from USB or a deactivated smartphone that supports USB host mode, and use a large traditional USB flash disk or a small form factor SSD with USB interface.

More down-to-earth, though, and more directly addressing your practicality concerns...why not skip the player device and let your bluetooth (or non-bluetooth) headset do the playing? I recently acquired a bluetooth speaker that unexpectedly has a MicroSD slot. I haven't tested it for capacity but I suspect it would work with 32GB cards; 512GB of them would easily fit in a container the size of an iPod Nano. I've been using it with a 2GB card that I had handy with some music on it already. I'm amazed at the sound quality, volume, and battery life from this speaker.

...so, yeah, I just checked Amazon. For $6 and up you can get bluetooth earphones with microSD slots (though those cheap ones only support up to 8GB cards).

Granted, swapping out a bunch of tiny cards isn't the same as a 512MB library all at once, but it's still pretty decent.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by tankinbeans »

I've had to start asking if a CD player is included as I have plenty of things that can't be found online. The new VWs have CD players in the glove box, which is a weird spot for it.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by theholycow »

If your CD has hard to replace music you might want to convert it and store the original safely...then if you still prefer the CD medium, burn a copy to play.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by AHTOXA »

theholycow wrote:
An inactivated smartphone (or even dumbphone for that matter) with a big microSD card is an effective device. Make sure it's sdxc compatible and slap in a 512GB card. Carry another and swap it in easily for a terabyte, or wait a little longer for terabyte cards to hit the market. Wait, nix that, the 1TB cards already exist https://www.sandisk.com/about/media-cen ... -SDXC-card
Thing is, not many phones will support that much storage. And definitely not dumb phones.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

tankinbeans wrote:I've had to start asking if a CD player is included as I have plenty of things that can't be found online. The new VWs have CD players in the glove box, which is a weird spot for it.
looks like they're finally succombing to social/market pressue; the new tiguan has no cd player. this means almost all of the new generation VWs will have no CD player. this seems to have started with the honda civic and is creeping its way into new models. new cr-v doesn't have one (but odyssey does). new accord probably doesn't. the mazda 3 2016 refresh sneakily cut out the cd player. they may think it's ok to do this, but they fail to realize there ARE still people (and not just me) who play cds in the car. i remember being upset when i couldn't get a CD changer for my 2012 cr-v (the older ones offered one). :shock: :x :cry:
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

AHTOXA wrote:
theholycow wrote:
An inactivated smartphone (or even dumbphone for that matter) with a big microSD card is an effective device. Make sure it's sdxc compatible and slap in a 512GB card. Carry another and swap it in easily for a terabyte, or wait a little longer for terabyte cards to hit the market. Wait, nix that, the 1TB cards already exist https://www.sandisk.com/about/media-cen ... -SDXC-card
Thing is, not many phones will support that much storage. And definitely not dumb phones.
i thought apple was the only one who did this no SD card thing, but now a lot of them are doing it. Apple also seems to have paved the way for the invisible headphone jack, as others have adopted this practice. price gouging on upgraded storage bothers me a little. what really bothers me is they had this new iOS 11 in beta for what seemed like forever, and now it's glitchy as all get-up and eating batteries. they've had one update already but it was for something else. hope they fix the glitching soon so i'm not reminded of why i left android.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by tankinbeans »

I currently have an iPhone 7 and think with the next go around I'll go back to Android. There are enough features that I've found just don't work as well with the iPhone as with Androids and I haven't quite fallen into fanboi status.

Sure it's okay, but I can't justify spending more for a piece of garbage hardware. I keep having a coworker asking how my iPhone is and my only response is that it's just like a phone.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

tankinbeans wrote:I currently have an iPhone 7 and think with the next go around I'll go back to Android. There are enough features that I've found just don't work as well with the iPhone as with Androids and I haven't quite fallen into fanboi status.
not a fanboi (don't think eye yam at least) but i can never stay with android. i've gone android several times, and always end up crawling back to apple. iphone has its limitations, which some people cannot deal with, but i can go years using iphones (not necessarily the same models - it's like they're designed to wear out), while i typically don't last a year using android at one time. maybe eye yam a fan boi after all... :? :x 8)
Sure it's okay, but I can't justify spending more for a piece of garbage hardware. I keep having a coworker asking how my iPhone is and my only response is that it's just like a phone.
what kind of response is this though? you mean it's just like a home phone or dumb phone?? i think it maybe used to be, but it is way more complicated than a home or dumb phone now and for the past few years. the phone interface especially is not as intuitive as it used to be.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by tankinbeans »

It's simply that the iPhone is just like every other smartphone I've had, but slightly worse.

Truth be told if Blackberry had one where I could stream Pandora and Stitcher I'd likely have one of those. I don't see them as often.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

tankinbeans wrote:It's simply that the iPhone is just like every other smartphone I've had, but slightly worse.

Truth be told if Blackberry had one where I could stream Pandora and Stitcher I'd likely have one of those. I don't see them as often.
whats weird is I went from iPhone 7plus to iPhone 8 (non plus) and i swear the 7 plus was better, and not just battery life wise. I traded through the Apple upgrade program and wanted the smaller phone instead of the big plus model. I knew battery life wouldn’t be as good. Non dual lens camera is more worse than dual lens camera on plus model than I expected. I think the iOS update chaos is making the new phone act crappy. Hoping new update will bring back warp speeds. Wireless charging is cool though.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by Teamwork »

potownrob wrote:looks like they're finally succombing to social/market pressue; the new tiguan has no cd player. this means almost all of the new generation VWs will have no CD player. this seems to have started with the honda civic and is creeping its way into new models. new cr-v doesn't have one (but odyssey does). new accord probably doesn't. the mazda 3 2016 refresh sneakily cut out the cd player. they may think it's ok to do this, but they fail to realize there ARE still people (and not just me) who play cds in the car. i remember being upset when i couldn't get a CD changer for my 2012 cr-v (the older ones offered one). :shock: :x :cry:
This is correct- we started doing preliminary shopping for my fiancee as her lease is ending in the beginning of next year and I can say first hand with my own eyes that VW no longer has CD players in most of the new models. The new GTI doesn't have one either in the glove box (mine does), the Tiguan, All track, and Atlas. Really I can't name too many that do (if any) as we look through the small SUV segment.
Thing is, not many phones will support that much storage. And definitely not dumb phones.
This too- I actually have attempted to do essentially to a tee what Cow outlined but was basically hindered by a 128 GB cap on my old S5. I'm not too sure if the new ones are still capping SD storage space but still...

I already dodged one bullet because I was seriously considering a Microsoft Zune at the time when I got my ipod classic circa 2008 but now I still feel like I'm approaching a new predicament here. I still buy vinyl for the record too (no pun-monday joke)... :D
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by Teamwork »

Eatting my words here a bit but asking genuine thoughts on compact SUV market (CX5, CRV, Equinox) without AWD? I'm not foreseeing a huge need as she is a teacher and I'm no longer in a profession where I am required to go in during inclement weather. Having the benefit of gas mileage and a few thousand shaved off the price up front seem like considerable pro's... am I making a mistake?
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

Teamwork wrote:Eatting my words here a bit but asking genuine thoughts on compact SUV market (CX5, CRV, Equinox) without AWD? I'm not foreseeing a huge need as she is a teacher and I'm no longer in a profession where I am required to go in during inclement weather. Having the benefit of gas mileage and a few thousand shaved off the price up front seem like considerable pro's... am I making a mistake?
i assume she's considering an SUV/CUV with having a family in mind, or maybe otherwise carrying lots of awkward stuff (skool supplies??) around?? she might very well be better off looking at minivans with their bigger space and passenger carrying capabilities. the small SUVs/CUVs may be cheaper than the minivans, but they don't have as much space, sliding doors etc. plus a lot of these newer SUVs are not trucks anymore so they don't have that over the minivans in FWD form. of the SUVs you mention, the CR-V would be my recommendation. i'd go to jersey or westchester to get a decent deal though (might have to go to southern jersey to find a FWD model anyway). all that said, i'm not sure i would pass up AWD just because she works in a school. at least up here, the schools don't always close when it's bad out. :shock: 8)
Last edited by potownrob on Wed Oct 04, 2017 1:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Misc Thread VI: Return of the Threadi

Post by potownrob »

Teamwork wrote:
potownrob wrote:looks like they're finally succombing to social/market pressue; the new tiguan has no cd player. this means almost all of the new generation VWs will have no CD player. this seems to have started with the honda civic and is creeping its way into new models. new cr-v doesn't have one (but odyssey does). new accord probably doesn't. the mazda 3 2016 refresh sneakily cut out the cd player. they may think it's ok to do this, but they fail to realize there ARE still people (and not just me) who play cds in the car. i remember being upset when i couldn't get a CD changer for my 2012 cr-v (the older ones offered one). :shock: :x :cry:
This is correct- we started doing preliminary shopping for my fiancee as her lease is ending in the beginning of next year and I can say first hand with my own eyes that VW no longer has CD players in most of the new models. The new GTI doesn't have one either in the glove box (mine does), the Tiguan, All track, and Atlas. Really I can't name too many that do (if any) as we look through the small SUV segment.
Thing is, not many phones will support that much storage. And definitely not dumb phones.
This too- I actually have attempted to do essentially to a tee what Cow outlined but was basically hindered by a 128 GB cap on my old S5. I'm not too sure if the new ones are still capping SD storage space but still...

I already dodged one bullet because I was seriously considering a Microsoft Zune at the time when I got my ipod classic circa 2008 but now I still feel like I'm approaching a new predicament here. I still buy vinyl for the record too (no pun-monday joke)... :D
i thought i responded to this, but i apparently didn't (got busy at work yesterday morning). it seems soon you'll have to go for a minivan (hint hint) to get a CD player, if even they offer them (the new oddity does). also didn't realize they snuck out the CD player on the Golfs. The big CD/SD card box in the glove box was kind of weird, but at least it had a purpose. the glove box was also cooled, by the way (never used that though). as for phone storage, iphone seems to like to polarize the options between too small (64 gb is already small when you can't expand upon it - cloud integration and file size optimization help though) and too much (256 gb FTW!!). i only wanted 128 gb for this iphone 8, but had to choose either 64 gb or 256 gb...maybe i'll actually use it in time though...
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