Which Phone, which Mp3 player

[yester64]

Hi,
i am on for a new phone and mp3 player. I wonder which are really good and work with linux.
With phone i guess anything with android should be good. But since everyone goes with an iPhone i am not sure where to go really. I took a look at the google phone and its not that bad really. But i am not sure if you can expand the memory.

and to some extent it is the same with an mp3 player. I liked the nano, but then again, maybe there are other options that as good or better. Since everything is hyped i am a little confused.

The one thing what is important to me is ease of use and it has to work with linux.
Any suggestions?

[ZankerH]

Just look at anything that supports Free audio formats and syncing by just plain copying files over without proprietary software like iTunes.

Which basically amounts to any non-Apple product out there.

If you want to run Free software on your audio player, have a look at Rockbox. It allows you to play Free audio formats on some players that don't support them by default, and adds a ton of features the player probably didn't have before.

http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/WhyRockbox

[squilookle]

Regarding the phone: I have a T-Mobile G1 (known as the HTC Dream in some places, I believe) running Android. It works as well with Linux as it could: when you plug it into the computer, it just acts like a USB stick, and it plays ogg.

The only annoyance I had with the phone at first was that the battery life seemed poor, but after getting used to it (and maybe because of software updates and learning to turn off things I don't need) the battery life doesn't seem so bad.

I have a 2gb memory card, which can be replaced. If I remember rightly, I was told by the bloke in the shop it officially supports cards upto 8gn, but I believe larger cards do work with it.

MP3 Player: I listen to new music on the G1, and my old music on my old Creative Zen Touch, which has proven itself to be pretty much indestructible - It's taken 5 years of heavy use.

[bvanaerde]

after getting used to it (and maybe because of software updates and learning to turn off things I don't need) the battery life doesn't seem so bad.

Define "not so bad"... is that: a day, a couple of days, a week?
My general complaint about all smartphones is that you need to charge the battery already after a couple of days. Some don't even last the day with a more-than-average usage.

[squilookle]

With 3g and GPS turned off, I can just about squeeze two, maybe two and a half days days out of it.

With those turned on, it would struggle to last the day.

I should probably have also noted there are plenty of newer Android phones out there now that might perform better on the battery front... worth looking in to.

[yester64]

Mm.. see, the GPS feature is actually the one thing i was looking in to.
I don't want to buy another gps portable unit and rather have a 'smart'phone which has gps.
In the car it should not be a problem since you can charge in the car anyway.
I was looking into the new google phone myTouch (which does not have a hard keyboard) or the htc (forget the model).
Here AT&T offers blackberry (not convinced) or iPhone, or Tmobile which has the android phones or Sprint which has the HTC Tilt2.

[Dharmachakra]

I own a Sansa Clip+ and couldn't be more happy with it. The battery life is nuts! It supports free formats, and more importantly, works well with Linux.

I've also heard great things about the Creative players.

[jacobs444]

Go with anything but apple, boycott apple.

[xuCGC002]

Define "not so bad"... is that: a day, a couple of days, a week?
My general complaint about all smartphones is that you need to charge the battery already after a couple of days. Some don't even last the day with a more-than-average usage.

I too have the Dream, or "G1". I got the extended battery and it lasts about 1-3 days. Unfortunately it extends the phone's thickness by a half-inch, so it's like carrying a brick in your pocket. D:

[squilookle]

Mm.. see, the GPS feature is actually the one thing i was looking in to.
I don't want to buy another gps portable unit and rather have a 'smart'phone which has gps.
In the car it should not be a problem since you can charge in the car anyway.
I was looking into the new google phone myTouch (which does not have a hard keyboard) or the htc (forget the model).
Here AT&T offers blackberry (not convinced) or iPhone, or Tmobile which has the android phones or Sprint which has the HTC Tilt2.

I use my gps quite often.. I just turn it off again when I've found where I'm going. :) I would expect any smartohone to have gps these days.

Btw didn't know about the extended batteries... interesting.

[cascade9]

I own a Sansa Clip+ and couldn't be more happy with it. The battery life is nuts! It supports free formats, and more importantly, works well with Linux.

I've also heard great things about the Creative players.

I've got an -River E-100, 2/4/8GB models, Micro-SD card expansion, Ogg vorbis/Flac support. Pretty similar to the Sansa Clip+.

The creative players are nice looking, but the only one I know that I would get is the Zen X-fi 2 (for the flac support). Probably a good choice if you want a flash-based player with a bit more base memory (8/16/32GB models)

[bvanaerde]

It is high time that more research is put into developing longer lasting batteries... portable devices are getting more and more demanding.

[yester64]

I've got an -River E-100, 2/4/8GB models, Micro-SD card expansion, Ogg vorbis/Flac support. Pretty similar to the Sansa Clip+.

The creative players are nice looking, but the only one I know that I would get is the Zen X-fi 2 (for the flac support). Probably a good choice if you want a flash-based player with a bit more base memory (8/16/32GB models)

thanks for all the input :)
Yea, i checked the Zen and it looks good:). I really consider it and it is expandable which is really nice. Looks almost like an iPod.

[yester64]

I too have the Dream, or "G1". I got the extended battery and it lasts about 1-3 days. Unfortunately it extends the phone's thickness by a half-inch, so it's like carrying a brick in your pocket. D:

Ah, my mistake.
The once i seen and interessted in was the Google myTouch from Tmobile and the HTC Hero from Sprint.
Not sure which is better and it makes me switch to a different provider. I am currently with AT&T, but i don't mind to switch really.
That extended batterylife is a good thing. So there is at least an option.