Questions about Price, Controls, and a few other Features

[Genius314]

Hi,
I'm new to these forums, but I've been looking at new mp3 players on abi for a while. I've been planning to replace my iPod nano 3G, and now that I've completely filled it, I've started to get serious about finding a new player.
After reading about the features of the J3, I figured that it was the best player for me.

However, I did have a few questions:

1. About how long do Cowon players take before they start to drop in price?
From what I've read, it'll take at least a couple of months. I'm fine with the $300 price tag for the 32GB J3, but if I can get a better deal before the end of the summer, I'd much rather wait.
(I see that the price on Amazon has already gone down about $3, too! Haha)

2. I like the fact that the J3 has tactile controls in addition to the touchscreen. But do the fast-forward/rewind buttons allow you to skip through songs?
On the iPod (as well as most media player software), if you hold down the fast-forward button, it will fast-forward, but if you just press it once, it will go straight to the next song. It'd be nice to have the same feature on the J3, but most places I've seen just refer to the buttons as fast-forward and rewind.

3. Is it possible to queue songs in a playlist? The lack of this feature was a big disappointment on the iPod, although the only places I've ever actually seen it were in a few media programs, such as Winamp and Amarok. Not really a dealbreaker, but it'd definitely be a plus.

4. Will there ever be a firmware update to increase the number of files the player can handle?
If I did the math correctly, 8000 music files should add up to around 48 GB (at the average bitrate for most of my music). That means if I get the 32GB player, the most I can add to it for music is a 16GB microSD card. I assume this will be enough space for a while, but it's a bit annoying knowing that a limit is there.
And if no, will something like Rockbox be able to increase the file limit?

5. About how long does it take to sync a full 16GB microSD card to the library?
If I ever do run out of space, it's nice to know that I can load several cards with different music and switch between them. But if that means having to wait several minutes each time for it to sync up, I wouldn't want to do that too often. And even if I don't run out of space with music, I'd probably still load a separate card with videos.

6. I also noticed in another topic that the player has to sync the card and internal library every time the player turns on. However, is there a sleep mode for the player, or does it have to be fully turned off every time it's not in use?

Thanks for any help!

[CrowdAds]

[chri5peed]

The file limit was increased on the D2 via firmware, that was after they released a 16GB one btw.
Yes there is a sleep mode...batters battery life.

edit - 32GB card on D2 loads in seconds, used Panasonic SD-formatter[speeds it up]. Formatting takes a while.

[Olley]

It took a year and a new model for the price of the Cowon S9 to drop $20. The S9 and J3 are great devices, and hold their value well.

The track buttons FF/Rew if held down.

You get a favorites option to throw songs into. That's it from the device itself. You can put playlists on it from WMP.

No knowing if we'll get another firmware update for file limits. These devices tend to grow in memory size though, and along with that often comes a firmware update to support the greater memory. Only time will tell.

It depends on how many individual files are on the card. 30 seconds is my estimate of an average.

Yes there is a sleep mode. Very handy.

[Xul]

File limits are difficult beasts to get right because, file size varies. When ever you add a file, the J3 will create Databases and copies of your Album art for its own use. So you are filling the available space from below, while the j3 is filling the same space from above. And the two should never meet.

[Genius314]

Thanks for the answers, guys.
I'm gonna skim through the rest of the forum, and see if there's anything else I need to know, and then I think I'm gonna buy this player.

Originally Posted by Olley

It depends on how many individual files are on the card. 30 seconds is my estimate of an average.

Okay, that's not bad at all. Especially since there's a sleep mode.
When I was looking at Sansa players, people were saying it would take 10-20 minutes to sync a full card. Glad that's not the case here.

[DSperber]

Originally Posted by Olley

You get a favorites option to throw songs into. That's it from the device itself.

I understand. This is the 250 Favorites item.

You can put playlists on it from WMP.

I don't understand. What are "playlists from WMP" that you mention?

I didn't think there was support in the J3 for anything at all like standard playlists from PC's, like PLS or M3U (which are really fully qualified path names for files comprising that "playlist").

I have considered overcoming the 250 track limit on official "Favorites" functionality by creating my own "album" folders which I would build myself, containing [unfortunately] duplicate MP3 files of those which appear in legitimate genuine [album] folders elsewhere. Whereas album art in the genuine [album] folders would appear only once as cover.jpg in that folder, in my "pseudo-playlist folders" I would have to either (a) imbed the album art inside each ID3v2 tag for each MP3 file using MP3TAG, which is a pain, or (b) copy the cover.jpg file from the original [album] folder and rename the copy to %album_title%.jpg, also a pain. I guess I could go back and rename the cover.jpg original album art files to be %album_title%.jpg, eliminating the need to do anything unnecessary when I construct these special pseudo-playlist folders.

I know I've tested %album_title%.jpg under Winamp and it works fine, but I don't know if I've tried the same on the J3. If this is not an acceptable way to get album-unique art displayed properly when a track plays, I'll be forced to imbed the JPG into the ID3 tag as my only solution.

Anyway, with just a single 250 track limit on "Favorites" this is a real issue. If I could build any number of PLS/M3U playlists on the PC and utilize them on the J3, that would be great. Otherwise, these manually built pseudo-playlist folders (duplicating MP3 files from other folders, with some acceptable albeit annoying manual solution for display of proper album art) may be the only trick left to accomplish the goal: unlimited user-defined playlists.

[DSperber]

Originally Posted by Genius314

When I was looking at Sansa players, people were saying it would take 10-20 minutes to sync a full card. Glad that's not the case here.

Just experimented with my J3 yesterday on this question. I hadn't realized that the external storage card is scanned at each boot (regardless of whether its contents have changed or not since the last scan) whereas primary storage is not scanned at boot as long as nothing's changed there since the last scan.

While I can't be precise, it took about 25 seconds to scan my 16GB card (about 13GB full) at boot time, which has maybe 2300 files on it (can't be sure, but probably close enough). Certainly nothing like 10 minutes, even if I was using a full 32GB card... while still remaining within the current 8000 file limit (most of which I'd try to put on primary storage, given a choice).

[Genius314]

Yeah, 25 seconds isn't bad at all, especially since it's only on bootup.
I probably won't even need the card for a while, actually... I've only got about 22 GB of music right now, and I'll probably get the 32GB player.

Also, I imagine the wait is less for videos, since there's less files in the same amount of space?

I didn't think there was support in the J3 for anything at all like standard playlists from PC's, like PLS or M3U

Can someone verify this? Is there at least some way to create a playlist, whether it's a player-specific format or what?

[NeedBalanceCtrl]

Originally Posted by Genius314

Yeah, 25 seconds isn't bad at all, especially since it's only on bootup.
I probably won't even need the card for a while, actually... I've only got about 22 GB of music right now, and I'll probably get the 32GB player.

Also, I imagine the wait is less for videos, since there's less files in the same amount of space?

Can someone verify this? Is there at least some way to create a playlist, whether it's a player-specific format or what?

Each time you transfer files, the unit will be shut off when you disconnect the USB cord from your computer. You'll have to power on. You'll be booting up often if you transfer video files to your J3 frequently, as I do almost on a daily basis. 25 seconds would drive me crazy. I don't have as many files as DSperber on my J3 yet, so mine is probably taking between 10-15 seconds per bootup and it's frankly very annoying.

But for those who don't transfer files often and leave their unit in sleep mode--there is no delay coming out of sleep mode--it would not be an issue.

[DSperber]

Originally Posted by Olley

You can put playlists on it from WMP.

Ping.

Can you please elaborate on what you mean here, and what is the form of this "playlist from WMP" that you imply is supported by the J3?

Thanks.

[NeedBalanceCtrl]

Originally Posted by DSperber

Ping.

Can you please elaborate on what you mean here, and what is the form of this "playlist from WMP" that you imply is supported by the J3?

Thanks.

I believe he means switch to MTP mode. Then you can use Windows Media Player to sync and create playlists. But this does not work in MSC mode. I don't believe it's a viable solution for those who want to use MSC mode.

[chri5peed]

Using the Panasonic SD Formatter, cuts the load time hugely, my 32GB SDHC card on my D2[full] loads in 12 seconds[when altered].

[Genius314]

Just an update: I got my J3 (32GB) today! I'm letting it charge as much as possible right now, so it'll probably be a few hours before I actually get to test it out... I can't wait, though!
Thanks again for all the answers.

[chri5peed]

sleep mode sucks battery power.

Say it again, use the Panasonic SD Formatter. Chops boot time.

[Genius314]

Originally Posted by chri5peed

sleep mode sucks battery power.

Say it again, use the Panasonic SD Formatter. Chops boot time.

Are you saying leaving the player in sleep mode drains the battery (which shouldn't happen, should it?), or just going in and out of sleep mode uses up more battery?

And the Panasonic SD Formatter... should I use that on the player itself, or only on the microSD card?

[chri5peed]

Just the card, takes a while.

My S9 went to 50% battery in one day. Isn't it like always being on pause?