June 16, 2009
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Looking for a portable mp3/video player that meets my needs have proven to be very disappointing. I never thought that I would miss my Dell Axim so much, as that turned out to be the best portable mp3/video player that I’ve ever own. The Sony Walkman didn’t fit all my criteria, neither did the Sanza Fuze, and surprisingly the Zune was a no no too. The very popular iPod line was the only hope I had, and regretfully it too wasn’t completely what I was looking for (although it was very close). I was begrudgingly stuck using my BlackBerry Storm as my mp3 player, and while it was adequate and met my basic needs, I wasn’t happy falling on that. Then after a couple of weeks doing the research, I finally found what I was looking for. “Podtrapper.” That’s an application for my Storm that is intended for podcasts and what not, but surprisingly enough, it’s the closest thing out there that met my criteria for what I wanted in a portable mp3/video player.
So what were my criteria?
Portable? Yes
Plays mp3 and video? Yes
Instant custom playlist creation on the device? Yes
Video playlist allowed? Yes (this was a big factor that most mp3/video players couldn’t do)
Allows mp3 AND video into one playlist? Yes (another huge factor that was lacking with the others)
Dedicated keys to play/pause, rewind, and fast forward? YES (the Storm’s convenience keys)
Integrated speakers on the device? Yes (my Storm’s speaker is even louder than my Dell Axim’s)
Easy way of transferring music/videos from PC to device? Yes (drag and drop yo!)
Word processing? Yes (didn’t expect to find this on other players, but since the Storm’s got it…)
Affordability? $10 (+ The Storm’s price, if you count that)
…oh, and I guess it has podcast playing features too, although I’m actually ignorant about those. hehSo there it is. Podtrapper + BlackBerry Storm = my portable mp3/video player, and a smart phone too. Which brings me to the point that while that list looks pretty close to what an iPhone can do, if you notice there are a few criteria that it can’t meet, that my Podtrapper + Storm can. Besides, I’m a verizon guy, and an iPhone wasn’t even an option (iPod touch maybe, but that too didn’t work out for me).
Now the Podtrapper isn’t completely perfect, as it is still more or less a work in progress. There is still the problem that once a file in the playlist has already been played, it automatically gets taken off the playlist. In order to put that file back in the playlist, I have to mark it as “restart playback.” This is a little bit of a hassle and kills the whole “going back and forth between files on a playlist” thing. They are aware of this issue and will work on it for a future update, but it’s something I can completely live with considering what else this does right. Also, if you are a person that likes creating your own playlist on the computer (m3u) and transferring it over to the player, it doesn’t look like PodTrapper accepts that. I don’t really do that though, so it’s not a huge deal. So far those are the few negatives I’ve noticed, as I’ve only really been using PodTrapper for a few days now. Despite the small issues, consider me a happy camper.
For the record, I am currently using Podtrapper Beta v.2.1.1
http://www.versatilemonkey.com
Comments (5)
interesting, but doesn’t it drain your blackberry’s battery to use it as a mp3/vid player?
@kalamai - Surprisingly enough, no, not really. From a 100% battery start time at the beginning of my day, and probably about 2-3 hours worth of media playing within that day, I still end up with over 50-70% left on my battery.
You can still buy dell axims: http://www.porterelectronics.com/servlet/the-184/DELL-HANDHELD-PC-POCKET/Detail
nice.well fyi, i’ve been told that the iphone batteries suck when it comes to playing games/mp3s anyways =P
@darren_macintyre - I considered buying another Dell Axim, but came across Podtrapper. $10 for pretty much what I was looking for? SOLD