V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 It's hardware, but only distantly related to computers. The other day, my trusty little $7.00 mp3 clip on player that I bought on eBay a year ago decided it wanted to go kerflooey when I was on a bike ride and about 14 miles from home. ARRRRRGH! Don't you hate that? Anywho, when I got home, I immediately went out to the shop to scrounge through a box of goodies someone had recently given to me. I seemed to remember seeing a little mp3 player in the box when I briefly shuffled through there the other day. Sure enough! There was a brand new (still in the package) RCA TH1814WM mp3 player in that goody box. Here it is... These little guys are all over eBay for about $20 bucks. (link is for eBay search results) It's really cool! It uses one AAA battery, so no worries about recharging or internal batts going bad. It has 4Gig capacity. It shuffles. It has great sound. It has a flip-out USB 2.0 plug, so no cables and junk to loose. You can use it as a regular flash drive to store stuff, too. But wait... there's more! It slices. It dices. It even makes Julienne fries... er, no... wait. It doesn't do any of that. Too bad. I like Julienne fries, especially with brown gravy on top. UMMMM! But I digress. Anywho, if y'all are looking for a neat little (cheap) mp3 player to use on your walks or bike rides, this is the one. Later... ~Eric 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 (edited) Those little units have come a long way in 10 years. When I was still working I had one (Nexxtech I believe) and it had a maximum capacity of 64 MB (about 25 songs.) It was OK for taking a walk at lunchtime with my usual collection of mindless rock 'n roll and country. Even that was a huge upgrade over the Walkman cassette players or "portable" CD players we had in the early 1990s. Edited March 7, 2014 by raymac46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Built in usb is really neat. An you get legal free downloads too. Whooopeeeeeeeeee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Even that was a huge upgrade over the Walkman cassette players or "portable" CD players we had in the early 1990s. UGGGGH! You dredge up bad memories, Ray. Back in the big "Walkman" days of the mid-80s, I was the senior audio specialist for Sony's local service center here in Tampa. I had to fix those little multi-layered board, ribbon cabled nightmares from Japanese H3LL! The D-5 Sony CD Discman was the worst. I dreaded when those came in. The ones with real issues (component failure) were serious repair horrors. However, there were a bunch of cream pie easy ones with those D-5s; all the ones that came in complaining about skipping. Those were mostly NTF (no trouble found). They were skipping because fat-ascii was bouncing down the jogging trail with the thing hanging by a cord around his/her neck. CD players back then did not have very good laser anti-vibration hardware or error correction software. And, as we all know, the electronics has become so small (like this RCA above) and cheap that no repairs are done on them these days. They are all throw-away items. They'll be digging carp like this out of landfills in a 1000 years and trying to figure out what religious significance the item had to those "primitive" peoples back then. Built in usb is really neat. An you get legal free downloads too. Whooopeeeeeeeeee. Only an introductory offer for some subscription music service. You get 20 free songs to join. Costs $5.95/month thereafter. I passed. Thanks, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Yep I had one of those no error correction Panasonics back in the day. They worked great as long as you sat in an easy chair in the back yard and placed the player gently on the picnic table in front of you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 And there was no wind blowing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Well you certainly didn't want to thump the table when you put your beer glass down. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Or belch loudly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 (edited) Right now I got one of my favorite CDs from that time playing LOUD. B.T.O. Greatest Hits. Try, Try, Try To Let It Ride....but it's on a regular CD player - Technics SL-P120 from 1985. BTW ever hear the story of Winnipeg rocker Chad Allen? He was in a band with Randy Bachman..got discouraged and left. Burton Cummings came in and the Guess Who was born. Later on after Bachman left the Guess Who, Chad Allen and Randy got together again. Once again Chad Allen left the band, Fred Turner came in and B.T.O. was born. Talk about great timing. Edited March 7, 2014 by raymac46 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 BTO is one of my favorite groups. My favorite BTO song is Blue Collar --> http://grooveshark.c...ar/3elZb2?src=5 Chad Allen had some bad Karma... or timing. Oh, and my stereo system's CD player is a Pioneer PD-M400 that I inherited from a lady who didn't care to pay to change out the bad laser. I fixed it and brought it home from the shop. It was nearly new. It probably had only played 5 CDs the whole time the lady had it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuddster Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 The last MP3 player I owned was a Creative Zen Nano Plus. Nowadays I use my old Droid 3 smartphone with a 32 GB microSD card to play tunes at work. I pair it up with an HDMX Jam Bluetooth speaker, (or headphones when I need portability) and it sounds great, especially since it looks like a crappy little speaker that doesn't have much to it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 (edited) I had one of those early Pioneer units in the early 80s and it died on me out of warranty. I was like your lady I guess. Bought a new Technics and it has run ever since. Amazing how the cost of these gadgets has come down and the functionality has gone up. Your average Blu-Ray player today will handle anything from CDs to MP3 discs to DVDs to Blu-Ray. My receiver is a Yamaha RX360 which has also been a good unit. Speakers are Mirage (Canadian brand.) I also have an old Akai turntable but it doesn't get a lot of spin these days. Edited March 8, 2014 by raymac46 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 I use my bluetooth or headphones with my smartphone (iPhone 4S) for music and audiobooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 I used to have one of those little mp3 units that you plug a headset or a fm transmitter into. Jim has it now. He loves it! I had no need of it once I had the smart phone that did a great job with music (and I do have an fm transmitter/charger for the car for the iPhone too ... a Belkin one) and it works great for when I am not using my bluetooth. I bought the charger/fm transmitter for my old iPod 2nd generation, and it works great for the iPhone too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrat Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 I have Sansa Clip+. Chosen because it plays FLAC, OGG Vorbis and a few other formats. 4GB onboard plus microSD slot, sounds good even when I plug it in to our 12,000 watt PA at work, and you can clip it on your clothes when doing exercise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 14, 2014 Author Share Posted March 14, 2014 Heard good stuff about Sansa, but they're out of my price range. Of course, anything much higher than "look what I found under the sofa cushion" is out of my range these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 My son-in-law has the latest iPad mini. He hands me down his "obsolete" units which work fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted March 14, 2014 Share Posted March 14, 2014 We own two Sandisk Clip+ mp3 players. I loaded my husband's songs on a micro sd card so he could listen when he had to wait for an appointment anywhere. I finally decided we each needed one. I use one of three speakers to listen in the car or house. I bought the black speaker pictured here for $5 at a Five Below. I use this with the Clip+ and with netbooks that I want to increase the sound I bought this for $9 at a store's summer tent sale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 I have a 8GB Sansa View, 4 years old and still going strong. It is mainly used with a radio transmitter like this when I am doing the 200 mile round trip to me mums every fortnight. Rarely listen to music as I would rather listen to BBC radio productions which take me to some pretty strange places as I drive. I have a pair of wrap around headphones for listening in bed or cutting the lawn. The battery on the View lasts about twelve hours and the transmitter uses 1xAAA battery and lasts for ages. I have glued a pair of ear buds into my motorcycle helmet and hook these up to the View kept in a pocket of me leather jacket. I only listen to music if using the View with me motorcycle and it is great cruising the small roads round the lakes with the B52's . Recently I purchased a Sansa Fuse+ inc 8 GB micro sd + charger cable for £22.80 manufacturer reconditioned of E-Bay, for a friend. It is thinner and lighter than the View but the touch controls are not a patch on the wheel of the View though they do work well once you have had a practice. I would have bought a Sansa Clip but I prefer the larger screen on the View. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross549 Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 I have an iPhone dock in my car for charging, audio, and GPS purposes. Having earbuds in a motorcycle helmet sound dangerous. How do you hear whats going on around you? Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 If you only use one side for audio like with a bluetooth one, you still have your other ear for road audio. Here's one: J&M WLS465 Has Intercom to/from up to 3 helmets in close proximity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 15, 2014 Author Share Posted March 15, 2014 Well... you folks have all kinds of spiffy gadgets. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 We don't have anything like that ... but we have friends with Harleys that do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 15, 2014 Author Share Posted March 15, 2014 I use to have Harleys. Now I have a bicycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 I hear ya. I have an old 1997 Honda that I purchased at the end of '96 that I had to replace a CV, a wheel bearing and front brakes on within the last 2 months. My Jim who used to have a beautiful Honda 450 (w/custom 6" rake on the front) lost that to some idiot driver making a left out of a parking lot and then coming right out and hit him and trashed the bike and Jim's knee. He paid back the credit card companies since he had to pay the medical bills for the damaged knee and wasn't able to get a replacement bike because they took too long to settle. Now he has a 1994 GMC Sonoma that we just had to replace all four tires on and the driver's side window regulator within the last month. Those are just this year's damages on the vehicles LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross549 Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 The tires on my Jetta are getting quite worn. It is about time to replace them....... Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 OK, let's compare hard time tire stories. My '82 Chevy pickup (my only transpo at the moment other than my bicycle) has Bridgestone Dueler all-terrains on it that were installed in 1994. Yes, that's right. 1994. they probably only have 20K on them, but they're much too old to be trusting for anything other than under 45 mph neighborhood driving. They've been excellent tires. They never lose any pressure. It's amazing. I go out there month after month and check the tire pressure. It's always right at 40psi. I didn't put much mileage on these guys because I had two other trucks and two motorcycles over the years along with my ol' girl. Here's a pic of her... 122,000 original miles. Knocking on wood that she keeps going and going and going till I can afford to do more than the recent baling wire and chewing gum fixes. It is what it is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 No motorbike here. I'm too old to survive any car-bike interaction. Do have a couple of used cars though. I have a couple of fairly spiffy desktops but hey - you only live once. My stereo stuff is solidly 1980s, and I use my son-in-law's old iPod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abarbarian Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Having earbuds in a motorcycle helmet sound dangerous. How do you hear whats going on around you? Adam The buds are glued into the foam padding of the helmet. So the sound I get is like what you would hear from a car stereo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross549 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 OK, let's compare hard time tire stories. My '82 Chevy pickup (my only transpo at the moment other than my bicycle) has Bridgestone Dueler all-terrains on it that were installed in 1994. Yes, that's right. 1994. they probably only have 20K on them, but they're much too old to be trusting for anything other than under 45 mph neighborhood driving. They've been excellent tires. They never lose any pressure. It's amazing. I go out there month after month and check the tire pressure. It's always right at 40psi. I didn't put much mileage on these guys because I had two other trucks and two motorcycles over the years along with my ol' girl. I am not sure offhand when I got the current set of tires on the Jetta. The car has 138K on it, and being a TDI, will give me many more miles. Like most cars its age, the parts are starting to fall off the car as designed, The only major thing to be replaced has been the camshaft and followers (What a mess that was). The turbo shuts itself off every once in a while (phantom fault), the headliners is peeling away, but the engine is still going strong. A while back, one of the tires blew out, so I replaced it. Its the only one that has more than 1/4" of tread on it. When in Virginia, I would put almost 50 miles per day on the car while commuting to and from work. I started with 89K on the car, and have had it since 2008. Right now, it looks like my commute will be about 11 miles per day, so I will get a lot more life out of any tires I buy. Assuming 20 days of work per month, I should put about 2200 miles on the car per year for work. I've been looking into new tires, but am debating between two sets. One has a 40K treadlife, and the other has 50K. I am debating wether the extra 150.00 for the 50K would be worth it or not. I would get another four years of commuting here out of them, but if I did not move again, it is unlikely I would see the end of these tires. Decisions, decisions..... Adam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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