Hi Patrick & Mobirders:

  I have not had any experience with an ipod. By works better I was
referring to navigating the menu to get to the bird song you wanted. I also
have heard how easily the ipods tend to get scratched and there poor battery
time. Several weeks ago I experimented with a Creative Zen (256 mb) MP3
player of my grandchildren. It was smaller than a pack of gum and very
difficult for me to use with my large hands. It seemed very difficult to
click to the bird that you wanted. I have been researching this topic for
the last several weeks and everyone seems to have their favorite. Guess I
am going to have to get off the fence and buy one, possibly from wal-mart so
I can return it if I am not satisfied with it.

Later,

Jack Hilsabeck
St. Joseph, MO (Buchanan County)
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Harrison" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 8:30 AM
Subject: Re: alternative to ipod nano's ???


> Jack and mobirds-l,
>
> There are cheaper options, but each has its own set of caveats.
>
> Once can create a cassette tape of individual songs or groups of songs and
> use that in the field. This is the cheapest option I know of. Downside:
> tapes don't last long (not very durable), you have to fast forward or
> rewind
> to find the song you want, takes time to MAKE the tape and unless you
> record
> all songs, you run the risk of "needing" a song you don't have available
> when in the field.
>
> There are some devices on the market that are much less expensive than an
> I-Pod or a Palm that come preloaded with some bird sounds. I have no
> experience with these. I believe Edge Wade used one for a brief period of
> time in California. To my knowledge, the device didn't make it back to
> Missouri!?
>
> This leaves you with the two more expensive options that have been
> discussed
> here in the past. I'm curious as to your comment about "works better than
> the I-Pod". What issues have you experienced with an I-Pod that make you
> feel there is something better? The individuals that have an I-Pod /
> BirdPod
> device have told me that it takes some getting use to with regard to
> manipulating the device to find the bird song. The device is small and the
> screen // buttons are small too. An additional issue some have expressed
> to
> me is the need to recharge the Pod after about FOUR hours of use?! Did you
> experience this too? Lastly, the speaker that is recommended by BirdBod to
> accompany the device is excellent at rendering all the songs clearly. One
> trade off is that the speaker isn't as loud as the self-amplified speaker
> I
> use with my Palm, which I believe does ALMOST as good a job rendering the
> songs.
>
> To be clear on this: Great-horned Owl and Black-and-white Warbler and two
> of
> the most difficult calls for small speakers to handle. The recommended
> speaker (by BirdPod folks) does a slightly better job of playing these
> songs
> than does my self-amplified speaker from RadioShack. On ALL other songs,
> it
> does an equal job and at a higher volume...
>
> **There are probably other ways of doing sounds in the field using other
> types of equipment / devices. I hope to hear about them via this
> listserve.
>
> Hope this has helped and look forward to your reply.
>
> Patrick
>

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