Listen to twice as many podcasts in the same amount of time

[jimhayes]

Like everyone else I'm sure. I just don't have enough time to get through all the podcasts I want to on my portable music player (Creative MuVo).

Using Windows Media Player on my Windows XP computer I'm able to adjust the playback speed to 1.1X, 1.2X, 1.3X...2X without changing the pitch, so it's still easy to listen to.

I'm looking to buy a new portable player that has the same feature on the portable player itself.

I've found a couple of player that have a playback range of .8X - 1.2X but that doesn't save me enough time.

I've looked all over online (my eyes and shoulders are aching :) but I can't seem to find the feature set I'm looking for.

Does anyone know of/have a portable player that matches the criteria below? Thanks :)

Must haves:
1. variable playback speed without changing the pitch up to 2X preferably in 1.1X, 1.2X, 1.3X...intervals

2. small enough to fit in my front shirt pocket so I don't realize it's there.

3. at least 1GB of memory, hopefully 2GB or 4GB (512MB in an all worst case scenario) I normally listen to a show once then delete it from the player.

Nice to haves:
1. easy to just drag and drop .mp3 files onto the player without have to use proprietary conversion software.

2. runs on AAA batteries rather than rechargeable as I travel quite a bit on extended stays, I find it easier to just pop in batteries.

Not required:
1. doesn't need to be a big name brand

2. don't need any video, games, calendars, etc. - just the ability to play voice .mp3 podcasts. I don't need any music features either.

3. price is not an issue

A few friends recommended I look into "voice recorders" but they also seem to be very limited on memory it seems.

Thanks for your help in advance.

I really appreciate it :)

Jim Hayes

[Yotto]

Changing pitch (which you have to do if you change speed and want to keep pitch the same) is processor-intensive. Most mp3 players have processor speeds comparable to 15 year old computers, because that's all that's needed to play music, and they drain the battery less (less, in this case, is more).

I just don't know if an mp3 player exists that has the beef to do what you want, and if it does, it probably chews through its battery. If you find one of these, be skeptical of reported battery times and read reviews online before you buy.

[Rasheed]

Any, some shows already have their talking speeds adjusted to the listener's ears, so speeding up with not benefit you much. An example: Geekbrief. Cali just puts out those words as fast as you can hear them. Any faster, and you would start to miss words.

[WyethDigital]

Any, some shows already have their talking speeds adjusted to the listener's ears, so speeding up with not benefit you much. An example: Geekbrief. Cali just puts out those words as fast as you can hear them. Any faster, and you would start to miss words.

I think he's talking audio only. Even if he wasn't, I would not recommend consuming video in this way. Yowch! What a headache! :)

Eric

[jimhayes]

Thanks for your thoughts.

Yes, I am only referring to audible podcasts.

I have found some "voice recorders" that do what I'm looking for (increase playback speed), but the memory is only 512MB. It looks like I am paying a lot for voice recording capability (which I don't need) and then am forced to give up memory size in return.

Any ideas on what might match some of my criteria would be very much appreciated.

Thanks again,
Jim Hayes

[Rasheed]

I think he's talking audio only.
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8018/geekbriefzj1.jpg
FYI, You can listen to Geekbrief.tv as an MP3 file.

[WyethDigital]

FYI, You can listen to Geekbrief.tv as an MP3 file.
Wow! I didn't catch that. I would not want to listen to Luria at a faster rate of speed than she already speaks! I love her presentation method as it is. Speed her up and she goes from sounding like she's on an adorable sugar rush to sounding like she's on quaaludes. Not cool! Don't do drugs, Cali!

Eric