Solo Technology

As it is once again Fall, and I haven’t been in a gym since Spring, I figured this was the month to saddle back up and return to world of fitness and strength training again.

Since I was a shameless pig all summer, that training will begin as almost pure running/jogging/cross-training. I like to run for 30 - 45 minute segments, depending on if I’m on a machine or track (ok, and how my old knees are doing) and I think it is time to take stock of my entertainment options.

I carry a hand-me-down (from my kids) MP3 player called “the cube”.  It’s nifty little thing that holds 1GB and takes very little space. However, it has tiny little buttons that my sausage-like fingers don’t relate well with. It’s going to have to be replaced soon before I bounce it off a window in frustration…

It does have an FM tuner though. That’s quite handy when there are games on.

I could use my iPAQ as the player, but that’s almost on the complete other end of the scale for size.  It’s not going to be in my pocket while on the weights, that’s for sure. I’ve tried it in the past for running. It can work, but I have to carry it, too big to be in shorts pockets unless I want them loooow.  No FM tuner either.

I tried eBook reading while on a cross-trainer once.  It wasn’t pretty, but I think that gym will let me back in again some day.

However, something like the iPAQ does open up the option for video when on the stationary machines. A nice mp3/video player combo would be pretty sweet, if I had the storage to keep a couple shows on it.  Right now I only have a 1GB SD card.  So I’m back to the size thing — this is awfully big for just 1GB of storage.

Hell, if I’m going to carry something the size of my iPAQ around, I’m going to have to upgrade to the Archos 605 unit.  I don’t know much about it yet, but it sure looks sweet! The heck with listening to podcasts, I’ll be watching my shows while on the treadmill

I see a lot of iPods at the gym.  While I don’t hate ‘em, I do have to confess I loathe iTunes.  For some reason it causes me to (almost) break out into a rash.  Thus, no iPod in my future.

Any suggestions or ideas? What do you use at the gym or when exercising? How about audio books? 

6 Responses to “Gym’tronics”

1. sintra on September 27th, 2007 4:16 am
   

   Well, I am dependent on my iPod. I used to have an mp3 player, I broke it (while jogging, of course) and since addiction was created, I bought the iPod.
   Audio books are great in traffic and since I am more and more busy and no time for reading (I’m missing it so much) I choose this method which is… ok, since I have no choice.

2. Rich G. on September 27th, 2007 5:21 am
   

   creative zen v plus 4 Gig works perfectly for me. I use it in gym and walking in parks. It plays well in the car for my audio books as well. It’s tiny but has a decent sized screen for reading play lists.

   I’m not an itunes fan and have used several ways to manage my music on the creative zen. I used the software it came with. I used windows media player. I did it manually with windows explorer. Turns out I prefer WMP. I was surprised by that.

   Great player, and decent price and pretty flexible with the software selection, unlike SOME mp3 players.

3. Rich G. on September 27th, 2007 5:24 am
   

   Ugh, no edit ability.
   I should say in the interest of full disclosure, when I first got it the zen v felt ‘cheap’ to me compared to an ipod because it’s so light weight.
   That’s a good thing when on a treadmill though, it keeps your pants up where they belong! I can slide it into a front pocket and forget it’s there. I never could do that with an ipod.
   It also has an fm tuner and survives in the pocket without a lot of scratches. It’s not invulnerable, but pretty tough.

4. Rob on September 27th, 2007 7:15 am
   

   Great question. I would like to know a good answer as well. I have seen the cube and thought it would be great, but I am not a fan of ‘passive’ entertainment and would like to spend my gym time reading, or at least listening to something that is mentally stimulating.

   I would love to have a machine that would READ an e-book to me. But alas, I am also a cheapskate. No over-priced iPod for me.

5. Chris on September 27th, 2007 8:40 pm
   

   sintra (and others) - have any good (and cheap) audio book sources?

   Rich - I’ve looked over the zen in the past. It might be a contender for the future. There’s an archos model I’m looking at as well that’s in that same size range.

   Rob - somethat read ebooks aloud would be interesting. Probably a bit scary too. Right now, the closest I get to that is with podcasts… but I think I need to dig into the audiobook world a bit more. Or get something with good video and record shows to watch.

6. » pingback » Looking for TV to Go » Solo Technology on September 29th, 2007 7:57 pm
   
   

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