December 31, 2002

Everything MP3 and the kitchen sink

Dell - Dell Home Systems Handhelds. I just figured that my son is much more relaxed with classical music playing in the background. So I downloaded some Mendelssohn, Mozart, Beethoven mp3s from the net and was stuck there. I could play them with my rinky-dink pentium 133 laptop, but the built-in speakers are horrible. Then I read up on mp3 players and drooled over the Apple iPod. 20GB of disk space for all your mp3s and still use the thing as an extra hard drive--hard to beat the slick design of the device either. But to spend $500 on it isn't justifiable. Then I came across a supposed deal on the 1 GB IBM compact flash microdrive at techbargains sold by newegg and read through the reviews. One of the reviewers questioned why anyone would want to buy an iPod when you could buy a Toshiba e370 Pocket PC and add more media like the microdrive to it for more content. I couldn't see a problem with that logic (other than the fact that with an iPod you could get a whopping 20GB of disk space). You sure could do a lot more with a Pocket PC for the money. And would I ever need more than 1 GB of songs? The Toshiba has a built-in 802.11b unit for wireless connectivity and so I could always stream my music on another computer for access by the Pocket PC at home, right? The problem is, the Toshiba Pocket PC is just pricey as the iPod. Step in Dell. You have to admit, the Axim handheld with 400MHz of power by the Intel X-scale processor is a sweet little machine. And at the quoted price of $299, it definitely is competitively priced compared to the iPaq and other Pocket PC units. Put this little device on my "wish list." $299 plus $235 for the microdrive and you have an iPod slayer. Pop in a wireless 802.11b card coupled with a Yagi antenna, and you got a wardriving toy. Now, the trick is, how can I get this device with my current salary? Looks like I have to collect lots of cans.

Posted by johnvu at December 31, 2002 01:23 AM
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