The One or Two Device Argument for Digital Media Devices
July 12th, 2006 Jason Dunn
In the Windows Mobile world, there are two types of people: those that use a Pocket PC and a mobile phone, and those that use a single device that is their PDA and phone (either a Smartphone or a Pocket PC Phone Edition). There are people that feel passionately about the subject on either side of the fence: the one device people (converged) say it’s easier to carry one device that does it all. Less bulk, less hassle. The two device people tend to think that one “do it all” device has too many compromises, and a dedicated PDA with a big screen partnered with a mobile phone with great battery life will give them the best of both worlds.
This issue comes up just as strongly when it comes to digital media devices, whether they be digital audio players or full-blown portable media playback devices. For years, I used my Pocket PC as my only digital audio player. I loaded up big memory cards with music, connected my headphones, and enjoyed only carrying one device. I shunned the idea of using a dedicated music player, because it was easier for me to have a converged device. Then one day I was given a 4 GB Zen Micro player, and after using it, I became a two device guy. The single biggest reason? Battery life. I found that when I was using a single converged device, I was worried that listening to music for too long would result in a dead battery. And a dead battery on a device that is my phone and PDA is disastrous - I rely on my device heavily. So that resulted in me not listening to music on a plane trip for example. On the other hand, having a dedicated audio player let me listen to as much music as I wanted, and when the battery went dead, I lost nothing but the ability to listen to music. Earlier this year I picked up a Creative Zen Vision:M for exactly the same reason: even though the screen is bigger on my I-Mate Jasjar, and the video playback more impressive, with the Vision:M I can use it as much as I want and not care about the impact on my communications and organization.
However…
Last week I picked up a Qtek 8500 (a.k.a. HTC Star Trek) and I decided I’m going to try going back to the one device world. The Qtek 8500 is nice and small, and once Sandisk sends me one of their 1 GB microSD cards, I’ll load it up and use it as a music player. The Qtek 8500 has impressive battery life as a phone, so I’m hoping it will be equally impressive as a music player. I’ll let you know how things go!