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evilfunkgenius said:
Regarding the posts where people want to get an iPod for $150... I found a deal with Audible.com where they will give you $100 off the price of a iPod mini if you sign up for a year of their service.

Link: http://www.audible.com/adbl/store/p...hhkcefecegedfhfdhfk.0&uniqueKey=1096670967578

If you already subscribe to the service now, you can still do it. PLUS, amazon has the iPod minis for $236 right now, so you end up getting it for $136 delivered, door-to-door. Seemed like a no-brainer to me.

Just thought I would put it out there.

Oh and if anyone is signing up for Audible service, remember to use my name as a referrer ("evilfunkgenius"). Thanks!

Hey evilfunkgenius,
maybe you should read the fine print on the $100.00 offer. It expired September 30, 2004. The coupon code they gave you is good till Decmeber 31,2004.
Just thought I'd let you know and everyone else before wasting any time.
 
CalfCanuck said:
The slow transfer speeds of Compact flash have to do with bad USB connections, or with poor implementations. As I just posted, the transfer speeds on high end cards are now pushing 20 MB per second - don't tell me THAT is too slow for audio playback.

20mb/s isn't too slow... and it's definitely not too slow for audio playback.. but the speed i was talking about isnt audio playback speed, it's computer syncing speed.
 
iPod Lite $149

Apple introduces iPod Lite. All the things you love about the iPod, now even smaller and lighter. Comes with 256MB of interchangeable compact flash memory. $149 for the 256MB version, $199 for the 512MB version.
 

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BTW, I think the 20MB/second figures for high-end flash cards are a bit optimistic but 9MB/second is a reality now, more than enough for music.

Also, there's the reliability issue - in the past Microdrives have been notoriously unreliable!

Mike
 
Sir_Giggles said:
Apple introduces iPod Lite. All the things you love about the iPod, now even smaller and lighter. Comes with 256MB of interchangeable compact flash memory. $149 for the 256MB version, $199 for the 512MB version.


Yuk, I will skip on this product. :p
 
må¥å said:
Yuk, I will skip on this product. :p

Are you sure? I know you love it... especially the Sailor Moon Limited Edition iPod Lite.
 

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Chaszmyr said:
20mb/s isn't too slow... and it's definitely not too slow for audio playback.. but the speed i was talking about isnt audio playback speed, it's computer syncing speed.
And 20 MB per second is slow for "computer syncing speed"? I think not... Just an I/O problem with the hardware that use the cards, not a problem with the cards themselves.

My basic complaint in these threads is with the people who've been making statments like "Flash memory is too slow". Sure, first generation cards were dogs, but those days have come and gone. The performance of these cards is changing VERY rapidly.

The robustness of Flash cards is a HUGE issue - even normal memory cards are designed to be dropped a couple of meters onto hard surfaces. One web site testing I/O speeds dropped a compact flash card out of a second story window onto concrete below(by mistake) - not a single image stored on the card was effected. Solid state will make a huge impact on warrranty returns, etc.

Of course cost is an issue with these high end cards, but that will fall in time. My first 1 GB external HD in 1993 cost $1500, but look what's in a $400 iPod now!
 
thedoc1111 said:
BTW, I think the 20MB/second figures for high-end flash cards are a bit optimistic but 9MB/second is a reality now, more than enough for music.

Also, there's the reliability issue - in the past Microdrives have been notoriously unreliable!

Mike

You're right 9 MB is more than enough, but 20 MB is the reality for cutting edge cards.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0409/04092806sandisk_extremeIII.asp

People have no idea how fast the Compact Flash industry is changing - the latest Canon pro camera models (Canon EOS-1D Mark II) shoots 8.2 Megapixels at over 8 frames per second. Of course a lot of this goes into a buffer, but they still need to offload that huge buffer.

I was watching prime time TV the other day and say an ad for Sandisk Compact Flash cards - when was the last time you saw generic memory advertised at $500,000 per minute?? This is an industry on the move, chasing big dollars!
 
I think that Apple will need to do something good with a flashplayer to compete well. Many have radios, replaceable cards, nice features etc and are getting cheaper every few months/

What I like to think is that these plans actually link with Motorola's new relationship with Apple...a mobile phone with half a gig memory, decent camera, radio etc would be pretty attractive...
 
Rower_CPU said:
Something else that might come of this...it would be interesting to see if Apple sticks with the iPod name or goes with something different on a new player.

iPhone with a CF card? ;D I so much hope apple would come out with a cell phone because I'm probably gonna have to get a new one in a year or so. too bad I don't think that's gonna happen.
 
Flash memory is now bigger than the mini

CalfCanuck said:
People have no idea how fast the Compact Flash industry is changing...
I was watching prime time TV the other day and say an ad for Sandisk Compact Flash cards - when was the last time you saw generic memory advertised at $500,000 per minute?? This is an industry on the move, chasing big dollars!

Exactly. Why does everyone think that a CF iPod would be small or slow?

According to Samsung,

http://www.samsung.com/us/Products/Semiconductor/USNews/Flash/Flash_20040920_0000069977.asp

“NAND flash technology development continues to double density growth on an average of every 12 months,” said Dr. Chang Gyu Hwang, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics’ Semiconductor business.

"...Dr. Hwang said the industry has seen densities grow from 256 Megabit (Mb) in 1999, to 512Mb in 2000, 1Gb in 2001, 2Gb in 2002, 4Gb in 2003 and now 8Gb in 2004.”

"The 8Gb NAND flash memory will allow designs of up to 16Gigabytes (GB) of storage on a single memory card."

According to Samsung and elsewhere, we should see 16 Gb CF cards out by next summer. What's to keep Apple from putting an (older) 4 Gb model in the iPod mini? Or doubling the capacity of the iPod mini to 8 Gb of flash memory?
 
i would have though that this is misunderstood and the flash memory deal would be so ipods would have a larger shock protection cache and therefor would need to use the HD less often possibly doubleing the battery life.
 
CalfCanuck said:
The demands of photographers shooting 7 frame per second digital cameras is driving the compact flash industry, and innovation (and investment) is quite breaktaking.

Here's another link about 20 MB per second transfer, just to save a second posting ...

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0409/04092806sandisk_extremeIII.asp
Also, there is Pretec.

They have a 12GB 80X (12MB write/13MB Read) card.

Price is currently prohibative except for those who need this capability for work.

However, as we all know, prices drop. I see where Pretec has a 1GB card for $189 retail.

Getting excited about the possibilities!

Sushi
 
QFace said:
Flash players are pretty useless, except for jogging and running. Their lack of skipping is the only redeemable factor. I don't see how a flash player could become a good enough product to have the "iPod" name.
Think outside the box a bit.

Take the iPod mini. Shrink it a little. Replace the HD with flash memory.

Simple. And in some markets, there is a huge demand for something like this. Especially here in Japan where folks ride the train to work each and every day.

While I love my iPod, I use my flash player (256MB) a lot as well. Heck the battery lasts for something like 20 hours. I can tune FM stations and record via the built in mic. And it is only the size of a pack of gum, and is very light. Oh, and they have the same model with 512MB.

Sushi
 
I see a market for this. I just tried to convince someone that an iPod mini would be great for him. He rejected the idea because it was still too big and heavy for him to jog with. The problem I see is if you get much smaller than the iPod mini where do you put the scroll wheel - an iPod trademark? I don't know about production costs but you could put 2 or more flash cards in it to up the capacity.
 
People, use your brains!

Flash Memory does not necessarily mean Compact Flash.

If it did, a compact flash based iPod would be the exact same size as an iPod mini.

It is possible to use flash type memory directly on a circuit board without the CF or SD or any of the other types of interfaces. Using the memory directly on the board is what could shrink the size of the iPod mini. Also, skipping the CF interface could save manufacturing costs.
 
Flash based iPod? Like ATAT said when the first rumors about the iPod mini were coming, "3 and a half songs in your pocket". I would surely not buy it, but I know a lot of people who would like to have an iPod without spending more than $250. My guess is that, if it would appear, it would come in the next generation iPod mini.
 
who needs macrumors.com??

This site is just rehashing of AppleInsider.com, so why not just straight to the source?
 
Bear said:
Flash Memory does not necessarily mean Compact Flash.

If it did, a compact flash based iPod would be the exact same size as an iPod mini.

It is possible to use flash type memory directly on a circuit board without the CF or SD or any of the other types of interfaces. Using the memory directly on the board is what could shrink the size of the iPod mini. Also, skipping the CF interface could save manufacturing costs.

I agree that memory can be set in other configurations - I've been usig the discussion about Compact Flash as a proxy to dispell many of the misconceptions that posters have about the texhnology.

But if Apple can stay within the confines of Compact Falsh dimensions, the sheer volume of this format will translate into a lower price point. I'm not sure that everyone wants an iPod the size of a coin - my wife (with small hands) gave up on a tiny cellphone with buttons so small the keypad was worthless, and chose a larger model.
 
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