The One or Two Device Argument for Digital Media Devices
July 12th, 2006 Jason Dunn
In the Windows Mobile world, there are two types of people: those that use a Pocket PC and a mobile phone, and those that use a single device that is their PDA and phone (either a Smartphone or a Pocket PC Phone Edition). There are people that feel passionately about the subject on either side of the fence: the one device people (converged) say it’s easier to carry one device that does it all. Less bulk, less hassle. The two device people tend to think that one “do it all” device has too many compromises, and a dedicated PDA with a big screen partnered with a mobile phone with great battery life will give them the best of both worlds.
This issue comes up just as strongly when it comes to digital media devices, whether they be digital audio players or full-blown portable media playback devices. For years, I used my Pocket PC as my only digital audio player. I loaded up big memory cards with music, connected my headphones, and enjoyed only carrying one device. I shunned the idea of using a dedicated music player, because it was easier for me to have a converged device. Then one day I was given a 4 GB Zen Micro player, and after using it, I became a two device guy. The single biggest reason? Battery life. I found that when I was using a single converged device, I was worried that listening to music for too long would result in a dead battery. And a dead battery on a device that is my phone and PDA is disastrous - I rely on my device heavily. So that resulted in me not listening to music on a plane trip for example. On the other hand, having a dedicated audio player let me listen to as much music as I wanted, and when the battery went dead, I lost nothing but the ability to listen to music. Earlier this year I picked up a Creative Zen Vision:M for exactly the same reason: even though the screen is bigger on my I-Mate Jasjar, and the video playback more impressive, with the Vision:M I can use it as much as I want and not care about the impact on my communications and organization.
However…
Last week I picked up a Qtek 8500 (a.k.a. HTC Star Trek) and I decided I’m going to try going back to the one device world. The Qtek 8500 is nice and small, and once Sandisk sends me one of their 1 GB microSD cards, I’ll load it up and use it as a music player. The Qtek 8500 has impressive battery life as a phone, so I’m hoping it will be equally impressive as a music player. I’ll let you know how things go!
Entry Filed under: Opinions
6 Comments
1. Damion Chaplin | July 12th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Hey, good luck on that. I also began with using my PocketPC as my music player. It’s what got me into MP3s in the first place. I went to 2 devices for the other reason: storage space. I’ve long said that if my PPC just had 20GB of storage (and a longer battery life to suit), I’d never have felt the need for a dedicated DAP.
2. » Are you making co&hellip | July 12th, 2006 at 2:12 pm
[...] I was reading Jason Dunn’s latest blog entry on The Two Inch View about digital media players and convergence and wanted to add my thoughts on the discussion regarding mobile device usage. There are two camps in the mobile device world, those who want one device that does it all and those who prefer multiple devices working together. I used to be a two+ device guy with a dedicated PDA, a mobile phone with the ability to connect to it via Bluetooth, IR, or a cable, a dedicated digital camera, and a dedicated MP3 player or satellite radio player. However, I discovered a Pocket PC Phone Edition a couple of years ago, followed by the Treo 650, and I haven’t gone back to a two device solution since then. [...]
3. Jason Dunn | July 12th, 2006 at 2:15 pm
Yeah, definitely the storage space is a factor - for me it’s a bit less important, because I have 67 GB of music and it’s only recently that any digital media player that I was interested in can come close to holding all of it. So I’ve always been a “selection” type of guy.
4. angelp | July 12th, 2006 at 7:22 pm
I used my Dell Axim as a music player until I realized that I’m the type of person who likes to have a ton of music on me. Also, I wanted to listen to my mp3s in the car. I ended up getting a 30GB iPod with video and I don’t mind carrying around the extra device (even though battery life isn’t all that great with the ipod when viewing video).
5. alese | July 13th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
I wanted to use my Universal as a media player. But it turned out that it sucks as a player. The storage problem can be solved to an extent by buying large (4Gb SD), which I guess should be OK for music, but not for Video. But there are also problems with using BT headset (can’t play Video smoothly with BT headset) and the biggest issue is not beeing able to control what is played and how with device closed - buttons just don’t work…
I guess I’ll have to find something else.
6. cjr1967 | July 14th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
I finally converged mobile email, cellphone and PDA a couple of months ago with the Cingular 8125. I’d been carrying a BB 7290 and an HP IPAQ 3750 - using the IPAQ as my media player.
The 8125 has been great. Paired with a Moto stereo headset, loaded with a 1GB miniSD, 70 MP3/AAC files, 3 Audible.com audiobooks and 5-10 podcasts. Battery life hasn’t been an issue, but I’m a daily charger and even carry a pocket AA-battery USB charger for emergencies.
My wife has a Nano - and it is a superior player to the 8125, but I’d be dragging three devices along with cables, etc. every time I go for a run to duplicate the capabilities of the 8125. A slightly compromised sound quality is a very small price to pay for convergence!
Haven’t made the jump to mobile video yet - but I just can’t see the value in PMPs. Way too much time loading media, etc. for a very small viewing experience. If I’m in a situation where I want to watch a video and have 1-2 hours to spare, I practically always have my laptop and access to AC.