[Hoots]

It seems many of us have hundreds of GB of lossless files...many FLAC.  While this works well for a Squeezebox-type setup, how do you leverage those files outside the home?  At the moment I have ad hoc ripped mp3, wma files for temporary use outside the home.

1. Excercise and gym - do you use an ipod-type device?
    - do you transcode for smaller files and compatible formats (i.e. mp3?)
    - I like small light devices like Nano, Samsung P2, small Zune which have low capacity

2. Planes - do you keep songs on your notebook?  portable player?  phone?
    - laptops are big and eat battery so I like to have a different hand help player
    - I always have my PDA or phone...don't really want to pack another box. 

3. Car - do you connect a portable to your car stereo or use cds?
   - making mp3 cds is a pain, I like connecting my portable and with my SYNC system I can connect my portable with BlueTooth audio, Line In or my preference is USB so I can control the display and playback wtih the car radio and voice commands.
    - I could put a laptop USB drive in my console

4. Exploring - I have been using Rhapsody unlimited subscription service to hear new music on my PC and portable.  If I continue this would drive my selection of portable.  The sound is not good enough for Hifi use....good bu tnot lossless...160kb wma protected.


All the other choices make me want to have 1 big media server for lossless files and then a smaller disk of compressed files for portable usage.  I'm thinking:

* FLAC for media server
* mp3 for other devices

For portables I'm attracted to:
* ZUNE for big screen video, subscription music, 80gb capacity
* Samsung P2 for small lightweight device for exercise, subscription music and bluetooth connection to phone

But if not for the extra monthly charge I like the idea of phone/music/pda
* iPhone
* Instinct

I also like the iphone web in your hand capability.

I have a company issue PDA so iPhone/Instinct are out.   I worry the big Zune is too heavy/bulky for running and as a movable hd not durable for in and out of hot cars and exercise movement...risk of dropping. 

[Rashiki]

I keep everything in FLAC format, but I also have a script that creates a parallel directory with all of my music encoded as variable bit-rate MP3 files. Those are what I copy to my MP3 player for listening on the train.

I never could get in to watching video on a portable device. If it's small enough to carry around, then the screen is too small to watch anything worthwhile.

I've tried using my phone as a music player, but I've never found a phone with decent audio quality and a feature set that I could live with.

If you want to use your phone as a music player on a plane, be sure you can set it to "airplane mode" and turn off the networking.

I have an iPod Nano 8GB, and find that it's a good size for carrying around. It's small enough that I don't mind carrying it in addition to my phone. It actually fits in the case that I use to carry my headphones, so really there's no size penalty. I find that 8GB is large enough for a decent variety of music. 16GB would be even better, but 4GB is not enough. Unfortunately, I find that the sound quality on the latest Nano is inferior to some of the older iPods, so I'm thinking of replacing it, but I haven't found anything suitable yet.

 -Rob