e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[Tinroad]

A Cure For The IPod Blues
http://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2002/0114cooltools.html

By Keith Shaw
Network World, 01/14/02

When Apple announced its iPod digital music player, many PC users were left in the unenviable position of drooling over a device that they couldn't get (unless they "crossed over" and bought an iMac, which is what Steve Jobs wants you to do anyway).

Now some PC users can get revenge. E.Digital recently launched its Treo 10 digital audio player. The Treo 10 has a 10G-byte embedded 2.5-inch hard drive (twice the size of the iPod's 5G-byte drive). E.Digital sent me an evaluation unit, and the device cured my iPod blues.

The first thing you notice on the Treo 10 (not to be confused with Handspring's Treo communicator, which is a PDA/phone device) is its weight. While 9.9 ounces is not very heavy, when compared with other handheld devices it will seem a bit heavy. Of course, you need a little weight when you're carrying around 10G bytes of music.

The Treo 10 includes a small, backlit LCD display that shows the artist, album and song you're listening to. You can adjust the length of time that the backlight stays on, from "never" up to 5 seconds. Reduce the time to save battery life, but most likely you'll want the 5 seconds when you're picking the songs because without the backlight it can be tough to read the screen when it's dark.

The Treo 10 comes with two software applications, MXP Music Explorer and Music Match Jukebox. The MXP Music Explorer is software that lets you move the songs over from your PC into the device; and Music Match Jukebox is the software you use to create MP3 files from your existing CDs (remember kids, no Napster-like file sharing!). The device connects via a Universal Serial Bus 1.1 cable, and you also need the device connected to the AC adapter when transferring music. This makes the process a bit "wire happy" because you've got cords going from the PC to the device and the device plugged in.

This is also where iPod still shines because it transfers songs much quicker via a FireWire cable. Because FireWire on the PC is still in its infancy, I can see why e.Digital went with the more ubiquitous USB. With the slower cables, it takes about 2 minutes to transfer between 10 and 13 songs.

And it will take a long time to fill up the 10G-byte hard drive. I put less than 1G byte of songs on the device, about 13 CDs worth of music. So on average, you should be able to get more than 130 CDs on this device before you begin to run out of space. And I can't begin to calculate how long it would take you to listen to all of those songs.

You can listen for about six hours before the lithium ion battery needs recharging. More energy is spent on choosing songs or adjusting settings than just playing the songs.

Finally, the best part - the Treo 10 costs $250, about $150 less than the retail price of the iPod. If you've been Jonesing for a device like the iPod, head to www.edigital-store.com.

And there's another device out there that looks to raise the bar: D-Link launched the Roq-it MP3 Jukebox, which features a 10G-byte, embedded, 2.5-inch hard drive and a blue backlit LCD screen. The device uses a USB connection to show up as a new drive letter on the hard drive, for easy drag-and-drop copying to the player. In this way, you can use the player as an external hard drive if you want to transfer nonmusic data files. Included with the Roq-it are headphones, shoulder strap, carrying case, USB cable, lithium ion battery and AC power adapter/charger. The Roq-it costs $209, and is available through retail and reseller channels. Go to www.dlink.com for more information.

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