Cheap crappy gadgets that r cool

I just bought a cheap Chinese made mini stereo, but it plays fine it has cd/radio/turntable plus an sd card slot and usb connection so I can dub records or even tapes if I connect a deck to the aux. Pretty nifty and it cost me stuff all at weekend market.

Anybody else buy cheap no name brand gadgets which do cool stuff and work as well as the brand name stuff?

Yeah. I bought an iAudio U3 instead of an iPod Nano. It was nearly $100 cheaper, supported more formats (including FLAC), and didn't require any special software like iTunes to transfer songs. I'm super happy with it.

With stuff like ipod I think you're paying for a name as much as anything. A few of my friends have gotten just as good performance from no frills mp3 players that are a fraction of the price.

robelanator, does it work ok? When I was searching around a few years back, I looked at consumer reports, and it said that the Ipod was the best, (but still pretty bad.)

And what's it's capacity?

2GB. Sadly, that's the largest they come right now. It works great, though. Tiny, lightwight, and it sounds nice. And it's LOUD. It can drive a pair of unpowerered portable speakers quite effectively, which is nice for picnics and whatnot. The battery life is impressive, too. 15-20 hours per charge. Theoretically, I could play video on it, but I haven't attempted that yet (who wants to watch on such a tiny screen?).

Check out the user reviews on the site I linked to above for more info.

It looks like the current price ($120 shipped) isn't as competitive as it used to be (2gb Nano is currently $150), but I'd still take it over the iPod just so that I wouldn't be tied to iTunes.

I just don't like being forced to use anyone's software. The iAudio U3 can either be used with WMP (which I share your distaste for) or it can be simply mounted as a USB drive and files and be copies and pasted in Windows Explorer, which I love since I can sort my files however I want and I can also use it to transfer non-music files.

Oh, and since it's mounted as a standard USB device, the U3 can also be used with Linux, unlike the iPod.

Itunes sucks. As do many other things.

Well, I'm impressed. Except I already have a pod, and 4 gigs is a little small.

Oh, and since it's mounted as a standard USB device, the U3 can also be used with Linux, unlike the iPod.

Negative- it's pretty easy if you have the right software. [Link removed - login to see]

I just use Amarok when I'm synching with my *nix machines. Not that I'm in love with iTunes or iPods, but my iPod's been reliable as I could ever dream.

Nothing so far...but im a big fan of replica's lol! Cost me much cheaper than the original stuffs.


Regards,
sisidka
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