fmo

I just received my Axim X50v a few days ago, so I've been configuring it and trying out a bunch of different third-party applications, which include audio (MP3) players, specifically free ones.

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I installed BetaPlayer, mainly for playing video, but it's also very capable of playing MP3 files. However, it does have some limitations, the main ones being the lack of a Playlist window and minimal player controls. Although, it was very easy to select and stream MP3 files from my laptop wirelessly, and I liked how it remembered the last folder I had been in, and clearly displayed whether the file was an MP3 or M3U file.

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Next up is GSPlayer which gets a lot of recommendations here at AximSite. The main reason I wanted it is because it had a Playlist window and I wanted to use the skin pictured below (first attachment). I've been getting in the habit of using landscape mode for a lot of apps, and I had to edit this Winamp Modern influenced skin so that it would properly display in landscape mode.

Now for the bad news. For some reason GSPlayer would never remember any of my settings on exit, including the custom skin I had chosen. Anyone else have this problem? It was also more of a hassle navigating to files on my network that I wanted to stream to my Axim, requiring me to type in the network address (for example //LAPTOP and then browse to My Documents/My Music) instead of just being able to browse to the folder. And it didn't display the file extensions like in BetaPlayer.

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MortPlayer is another free audio player that gets mentioned a lot here, and I went to the site with high hopes. But I'm sorry, that interface is way too fugly. I couldn't even make myself install it to see how it how it sounded.

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Which brings me to PocketMind's PocketMusic (freeware version, not trial). I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. The ability to use Winamp2 skins is definitely a plus in my books. It means that not only can I use an interface that I'm very familiar with, but that I have hundreds (actually thousands) of skins to choose from. I quickly chose my all-time favourite Winamp2 skin (picutred below in 2nd attachment).

While it may not be optimized for WM2003SE and VGA, it works fine and the skin looks okay even though it has to be stretched to the higher resolution. And when it comes to navigating for files, PocketMusic is my favourite of the players I've tried. Finding MP3 files on my laptop to stream to my Axim is a breeze.