Freestyle Audio Waterproof mp3

[NorthCountryWoods]

$129.95 on the website.

$99.95 at EMS Winter Clearance Sale and you get 50 free downloads.

Just picked it up for the wifes running. Her old panasonic died after 6 months in the wet weather, so we've been avoiding buying another since. Hopefully it'll hold up to the rain.

Updates to follow....

[NorthCountryWoods]

Well, not a great start. Appears the one we bought is defective. It won't sync with windows media player. Also one of the ear piece volume is a fraction of the other.

The tech at Freestyle Audio was helpful and said they would send a replacement, but would have to pay to ship the other back.
Why bother considering EMS will take it back for nothing?
Not sure if we'll try another or just go with another option. There really aren't any for waterproof tho.

First impressions:
Radio works and has pretty good reception.
Headphone sound is decent for waterproof.
The button combos for functions are a bit confusing and not exactly user friendly.

[take-a-knee]

Thanks for the info NC, I'd been eyeing that thing, it is a shame they couldn't produce a better product, esp for the price.

[NorthCountryWoods]

Well, returned it and they didn't have another so that kinda made the decision for us. She wasn't thrilled with the function of it anyway.

Was hoping to avoid the ipod, but the field of contenders is thinning. Also noticed the sales people at Best Buy are pushing the ipods hard. I asked questions of 2 different sales people about other manufacturers and you would've thought I was asking how to club baby seals or something.

[whitefoot_hp]

nature has a great soundtrack. its free and requires no batteries.

[NorthCountryWoods]

It was actually for the wife's running, not hiking, but heard quite a few talk about it here so figured I'd post up.

[whitefoot_hp]

gotcha. in that case there are plenty of cheapo's that do fine.

[FeO2]

I've been looking for an MP3 player with a radio for hiking (evening listening, weather reports, etc...). I haven't found one I like that takes a battery. The nice ones are pretty much recharged from the USB port, thus useless when it dies on the trail.

Anybody find something that works well on the trail?

Ideal characteristics:
1. Water resistant
2. Scratch resistant
3. AM/FM tuner
4. MP3's, ~2GB
5. AA or AAA batteries
6. Long life per battery
7. Compact, light weight
8. Nice sound

I know, I know, nothing beats the symphony of Mother Nature...

But... sometimes it's nice to put in those earbuds and get crazy

[take-a-knee]

I've been looking for an MP3 player with a radio for hiking (evening listening, weather reports, etc...). I haven't found one I like that takes a battery. The nice ones are pretty much recharged from the USB port, thus useless when it dies on the trail.

Anybody find something that works well on the trail?

Ideal characteristics:
1. Water resistant
2. Scratch resistant
3. AM/FM tuner
4. MP3's, ~2GB
5. AA or AAA batteries
6. Long life per battery
7. Compact, light weight
8. Nice sound

I know, I know, nothing beats the symphony of Mother Nature...

But... sometimes it's nice to put in those earbuds and get crazy

There was a thread on this a couple of months ago, and apparantly no such MP3 exists for sale now. A few older ones were close, but all the new ones are going to rechargeable batteries. I would add using a removeable data card to your list.

[Nightwalker]

Was hoping to avoid the ipod, but the field of contenders is thinning.

I use an RCA Opal. Unlike the Ipod, it works with Napster and Windows Media Player.

Napster is my favorite 14.95 per month that I spend on entertainment. It really kicks to have access to millions of songs. And unlike what the RIAA folks expected, we actually buy more CDs now!

[FeO2]

I did a little searching on USB specifications. It seems that a USB port has a 5volt source for devices hooked up to it. This is what the MP3 players charge their batteries from.

I picked up a small 5volt regulator (TO-220 package) and two small capacitors (.1uF and .33uF) and a 9 volt battery. I put them together to make a little, light weight charger.

I will se how many charges I can get out of a 9-volt battery to see if it is a viable solution to choosing an MP3 player with an internal battery that can only be charged on a USB port.

I am testing out the portable charger on my wife's Sony NWZS615FBLK 2GB Walkman Video MP3 Player.

[take-a-knee]

I did a little searching on USB specifications. It seems that a USB port has a 5volt source for devices hooked up to it. This is what the MP3 players charge their batteries from.

I picked up a small 5volt regulator (TO-220 package) and two small capacitors (.1uF and .33uF) and a 9 volt battery. I put them together to make a little, light weight charger.

I will se how many charges I can get out of a 9-volt battery to see if it is a viable solution to choosing an MP3 player with an internal battery that can only be charged on a USB port.

I am testing out the portable charger on my wife's Sony NWZS615FBLK 2GB Walkman Video MP3 Player.

Dude, that would rock it that works! Keep us posted. They even sell 9V lithiums now, I found them near the fire alarms at Lowes.

[FeO2]

Here is a pic: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/...?i=22050&c=553

This is a quick build to see how well it works. I would like to see at least 2 charges from a 9 volt battery. I will test it out and get the results posted.

If it works, I can considerably reduce the size of the circuit card and make it more "robust" for trail use. The pic is just a quick prototype to see if it works.