RE: SliMP3 vs. Rio vs. AudioTron vs. Exstreamer - a less biased comparison :-)

["Kevin Hawkins" <lists@xxxxxxx>]

Added a few +'s and -'s - I use all three and each is quite different
in
it's feature set - I have hit the limits on library size on all units
now
apart from the SliMP3.



Kevin



-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Harrison <Mark@xxxxxxx> [mailto:Mark@xxxxxxx] 
Sent: 30 January 2003 20:32
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] SliMP3 vs. Rio vs. AudioTron vs. Exstreamer - a less
biased comparison :-)



The things marked :

+ are good, 
- bad, 
= some uses/users may consider this positive, others negative
? I don't know and would appreciate an update...


SliMP3:
+ Good display - although hard to incorporate in a hi-fi setup
+ Display useable for things other than just MP3 stuff -particularly
useful
as a xAP display device
+ Ongoing development
+ Web control
- Requires external control
- Requires external amp
? Requires custom server software

+ open source and written in Perl - can customise if you can code -
most
easily modifiable unit

+ supports large number of files 75000 +

+ 48Khz and mp2 support - UK DAB radio

-       remote control is fiddly to use -
hard for unfamiliar users

-       no native support for WMA -  WMA
ogg vobis and wav support via
transcoding only

-       no pcm support



Rio:
+ Buttons on the front
+ Built in amp
+ Ongoing development from third parties (open-source)
+ Web control (from third parties)
- Display poorer than the poorest thing in poorland
- Requires custom server software

-  supports only a small library - someone mentioned around 10000

+ supports WMA and mp3



AudioTron:
+ Superb looks (hi-fi aesthetic)
+ Buttons on the front
+ Digital out (limited bitrate support)

- No mp2 or 48Khz support - can't stream UK DAB radio for example
+ No custom server software required
= 19" form factor
? Web control

-       contained and closed source
code  - library index internal to unit -
30000 max typically

+ plays WMA and mp3 


- Price

Exstreamer:
+ Price
+ Ongoing development
+ Web control
- No display
- Requires external control
- Requires external amp
? Requires custom server software

? supported formats ??



Regards,

Mark