Had the Nomad Jukebox for a month now ... some "long term" impressions.
01-10-2002, 06:30 AM
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Had the Nomad Jukebox for a month now ... some "long term" impressions.
After using the Creative Nomad Jukebox 20GB for a little more than a month now, I just thought I'd share my impressions with everyone here. I know there seems to be a continuous debate on how to get MP3s into/out of the TT.
I'm using a cassette adapter ... for now. Until I can solve the "no aux input" problem on the Bose head unit, it'll have to do.
Anyhow ... first THE BAD:
- Software interface for transferring MP3s to/from the unit to my PC has a great feature set, allowing one to edit everything about the ID3 tags. Using the software on my Win98 PC at home, the software crashes after every 10th transfer batch or so. So I set it up on my laptop, running Win2000 and it's much more stable.
- Creative needs to install faster hard drives in their new units. It gets to be frustrating when you press a button and there's a 2-3 second delay before something actually happens. This usually only happens when there's a song already playing. It's not so bad if I'm sitting at my desk at home because I can wait, but it makes for more than distracted driving while doing it in the car.
- The buttons themselves are NOT backlit which makes fiddling around with them at night in my car (on touch alone) virtually impossible without flipping on the maplight. I'm considering getting one of those tiny clip-on booklights to solve this problem. The screen fortunately IS backlit.
- Battery life is horrific. 3 hours at best. But I have the power cord hardwired to a switched circuit in my car, so this isn't an issue for me.
- To turn the unit off, you have to hold down the "Stop" button for a second or two. That's not a problem ... what IS a problem is that I bought the leather "skin" case to protect the Nomad and the damn thing is so tight that it presses down continually on the "Stop/Off" button, so as soon as it's turned on, it immediately turns off. Really ingenious design on the part of Creative. =) Solved with a few pieces of adhesive felt between the unit and the case.
AND THE GOOD:
- It holds 20GB of MP3s. That's over 330+ hours of music. So far I've put virtually every song I've wanted to put on it and the hard drive is still not even half full. It's completely changed the way I listen to music.
I know many here have chosen to go with a Flash Memory MP3 player with 64 or perhaps 128 MB. But that's simply not enough for me. I'd rather just burn my own CDs and put them in the stock CD changer instead. The short of it is: with all its quirks, and there are many, that Creative still needs to work out, I can't imagine now being without this unit. It's simply amazing.
One side note: I haven't completely solved the problem of where to put it yet. It does fit perfectly between the seats over the e-brake. But therein is the problem ... it's *over* the e-brake. Not the safest place for it to be. One option I'm looking into is using the open ashtray as a "tray" for it. I think I may leave it open all the time and simply velcro the Nomad to the ashtray. It fits perfectly there. With the shifter in 3rd, there's maybe 1 cm of room between it and the Nomad. Perfect.
<img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005QCU3.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg">
I'm using a cassette adapter ... for now. Until I can solve the "no aux input" problem on the Bose head unit, it'll have to do.
Anyhow ... first THE BAD:
- Software interface for transferring MP3s to/from the unit to my PC has a great feature set, allowing one to edit everything about the ID3 tags. Using the software on my Win98 PC at home, the software crashes after every 10th transfer batch or so. So I set it up on my laptop, running Win2000 and it's much more stable.
- Creative needs to install faster hard drives in their new units. It gets to be frustrating when you press a button and there's a 2-3 second delay before something actually happens. This usually only happens when there's a song already playing. It's not so bad if I'm sitting at my desk at home because I can wait, but it makes for more than distracted driving while doing it in the car.
- The buttons themselves are NOT backlit which makes fiddling around with them at night in my car (on touch alone) virtually impossible without flipping on the maplight. I'm considering getting one of those tiny clip-on booklights to solve this problem. The screen fortunately IS backlit.
- Battery life is horrific. 3 hours at best. But I have the power cord hardwired to a switched circuit in my car, so this isn't an issue for me.
- To turn the unit off, you have to hold down the "Stop" button for a second or two. That's not a problem ... what IS a problem is that I bought the leather "skin" case to protect the Nomad and the damn thing is so tight that it presses down continually on the "Stop/Off" button, so as soon as it's turned on, it immediately turns off. Really ingenious design on the part of Creative. =) Solved with a few pieces of adhesive felt between the unit and the case.
AND THE GOOD:
- It holds 20GB of MP3s. That's over 330+ hours of music. So far I've put virtually every song I've wanted to put on it and the hard drive is still not even half full. It's completely changed the way I listen to music.
I know many here have chosen to go with a Flash Memory MP3 player with 64 or perhaps 128 MB. But that's simply not enough for me. I'd rather just burn my own CDs and put them in the stock CD changer instead. The short of it is: with all its quirks, and there are many, that Creative still needs to work out, I can't imagine now being without this unit. It's simply amazing.
One side note: I haven't completely solved the problem of where to put it yet. It does fit perfectly between the seats over the e-brake. But therein is the problem ... it's *over* the e-brake. Not the safest place for it to be. One option I'm looking into is using the open ashtray as a "tray" for it. I think I may leave it open all the time and simply velcro the Nomad to the ashtray. It fits perfectly there. With the shifter in 3rd, there's maybe 1 cm of room between it and the Nomad. Perfect.
<img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005QCU3.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg">
01-10-2002, 07:08 AM
#2
Do you have the base audio system, no upgrade? Use this.
<img src="http://people.mn.mediaone.net/jbipes/jpgs/adapter.jpg">
It's a Blizsafe device from Autotoys. It ads an line level input to the head unit.
It's a Blizsafe device from Autotoys. It ads an line level input to the head unit.
01-10-2002, 08:20 AM
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can you re-tell the details on that jeff?
the yellow plug goes into where? how do we select between input devices using the main unit? the "mode" button?
man.. i read your posts but i obviously didnt retain anything. feels like class! hehe
man.. i read your posts but i obviously didnt retain anything. feels like class! hehe
01-10-2002, 08:42 AM
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I have a Nomad Jukebox....It sits on a shelf....neglected...because I just dont like all the steps
required to transfer music...Guess for now it will be CD's for me...I'm just not "tech" enough to make the transition....
Anyone looking for a Nomad Jukebox...? Let me know...
Anyone looking for a Nomad Jukebox...? Let me know...
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01-10-2002, 09:38 AM
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I got the perfect spot for you!
right UNDER the ash tray....
Open the little cubby and rest it there. That way, its completely out of your way AND there is a red light that is shining down on the buttons to see where it is. Hope that helps.
Open the little cubby and rest it there. That way, its completely out of your way AND there is a red light that is shining down on the buttons to see where it is. Hope that helps.
01-10-2002, 09:45 AM
#9
Sure. Check the link here also.
the Yellow adapter is plugged into the 13-Pin DIN Changer cable.
In the coupe, its in the side panel behind the passenger seat.
There are 2 RCA jacks on it.
Plugging it into the OEM head unit, with no CD Changer, tricks the head unit into "opening" the input making the head unit thiunk there is a CD changer installed.
When you hit the "mode" switch, the head unit switches to CD mode, and those RCA jacks now will accept *any* line-level input. I have tried this with headphone-outs from a portable CD player, as well as line-outs from a CD player, and it works great<ul><li><a href="http://people.mn.mediaone.net/jbipes/newttr/auxin.html">Auxiliary Audio Input to the Audi OEM Head Unit, Non-Upgraded system</a></li></ul>
In the coupe, its in the side panel behind the passenger seat.
There are 2 RCA jacks on it.
Plugging it into the OEM head unit, with no CD Changer, tricks the head unit into "opening" the input making the head unit thiunk there is a CD changer installed.
When you hit the "mode" switch, the head unit switches to CD mode, and those RCA jacks now will accept *any* line-level input. I have tried this with headphone-outs from a portable CD player, as well as line-outs from a CD player, and it works great<ul><li><a href="http://people.mn.mediaone.net/jbipes/newttr/auxin.html">Auxiliary Audio Input to the Audi OEM Head Unit, Non-Upgraded system</a></li></ul>
01-10-2002, 11:00 AM
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I have an unused Nomad, too...
I was given a 6gb model for free from the office and have never really used it. It took too long to upload files and the battery life and UI were abysmal.
Instead, I bought an iPod with my own $400 and use it daily. I also have an iBook at the office to use until the XPlay Windows software is released (next month).
Aside from size differences, the 2 main deal-maker benefits of the iPod are:
* Firewire transfer allows 5gb of data to be loaded before the Nomad's drive even spins up. Okay, a tad of an exaggeration, but not too far from the truth.
* 10hr battery life versus at best 3 on the Nomad. I'm sure the 32MB of buffer RAM helps out a lot.
Sure, the iPod is more expensive and holds far less music than the (20gb) Nomad, but the bottom line is that to me, the iPod is usable and the Nomad isn't.
YMMV, Void Where Prohibited by Law, Batteries Included, yadda yadda.
Instead, I bought an iPod with my own $400 and use it daily. I also have an iBook at the office to use until the XPlay Windows software is released (next month).
Aside from size differences, the 2 main deal-maker benefits of the iPod are:
* Firewire transfer allows 5gb of data to be loaded before the Nomad's drive even spins up. Okay, a tad of an exaggeration, but not too far from the truth.
* 10hr battery life versus at best 3 on the Nomad. I'm sure the 32MB of buffer RAM helps out a lot.
Sure, the iPod is more expensive and holds far less music than the (20gb) Nomad, but the bottom line is that to me, the iPod is usable and the Nomad isn't.
YMMV, Void Where Prohibited by Law, Batteries Included, yadda yadda.