TRG

Hi Gang,

Here is the update I promised.

I was able to get through the 10 hour book I had loaded. I did find out rather quickly that bumping the scroll dial causes the software to go into an unstoppable fast forward or rewind search. This occurred while listening in my vehicle. This also causes you to lose your position in the book. I had to pull over to the side of the road and manually find where I had left off.

After I was done listening to that book I went to load a new one. That’s where the fun started. I found out that deleting a book with audible manager does not delete the file on the Axim. I looked at the audible folder with Resco file explorer and the file I thought was deleted with audible manager was still there. I also discovered that no matter what I do I cannot load more than one book without the Audible player locking up.

The Audible player will load itself more than once into memory and causes conflicts.

Large file transfers (72MB format 3 Audible files) abort for no reason. Soft reset corrects this condition.

The title bar and start button “grey out” on occasion when running Audible player. There is no way to exit the program and a soft reset has to be initiated.

Lessons learned:
1. Audible Player 3.5 is NOT fully compatible with PPC2003
2. Only load one book at a time.
3. Soft reset before and after file transfer of book to Axim.
4. Don’t touch the scroll dial.

Final thoughts.
In addition to the Audible player problems I’m not real impressed with Windows Media Player either. More specifically with the general performance of the pocket PC dealing with audio. I’m sure that in order for Dell to keep the price of the Axim down they used the cheapest digital to analog converters and audio amplifier circuitry. There is a constant noise generated in my earphones that drives me nuts. There is also some clicking while I was playing some high quality MP3 music files I made from ripping a CD. I guess I might be asking too much from my $400 Axim. I was hoping for an all in one solution for my handheld computing and audio needs but it falls short in the audio department. I think I’ll cancel my Audible subscription until they release a player that works properly without all the issues I named above or I treat myself to an Ipod. It may not sound like it but I’m totally satisfied with my Axim. I am not real crazy about Microsoft’s involvement in its development however. Ever since “Reboot 95” Microsoft has a lot of bloat and too many unresolved issues. But that’s a subject for whole other thread.

-Tom

Timdjohn

Well perhaps try a 3rd party MP3 player like win-amp or now MP3. I haven’t had any issues with the media player in WM2003. But then I haven’t had the chance to use it much since the upgrade.

Also just don’t use the Audible player. in a word it SUCKS!

I shall have to try the loading or more than one book. I have usually loaded a book on a separate CF card.

mhoel

Ya TimdJohn Audible sucks but MS Media Player is worse. The problems you have with the Audible player are the same as I experienced with my old Cassiopia PDA. It's just a bad program they are trying fit into all types of devices. I like the large buttons - make it easier to pause while driving and the damn cell phone goes off!! There goes that safe driving reward.

I've listened to several 10 hours books using fromat 3 without any problems - yet ! It is a bit of a pain but one gets used to it - especially when comparing with the Otis.

Timdjohn

What I hate the most about Media Player the desktp and the Pocket type. is for what ever reason microsoft has made it near imposible to select songs in a folder. they make you do this playlist crap which I hate. I have all my MP3 stored on CD I burend so they are not on my HHD. I am not setting up a friggin play list for tracks stored offline.

then to make matters wort with the one for Pocket PC is it wants to play all tracks on the device. I use Sync and go for some video news and so it playes these first. well I dont want them first I listen to music on my commute to work. but it like does an automatic shuffle.

So yeah I hear you I hate Media player just the same.

I thought I would give this new player 9 in WM2003 a try and it blows just the same as the one in PPC 2002.

So i loaded winamp last night. so much better and I can acually choose what folder I want not a figgin playlist, seash Microsoft must you make it so complicated?

duane1221

Does any one know how to convert an Audible format .aa file to an MP3? I would love to burn the book as an MP3 to a CD so I could put abunch on one CD, instead of each book taking several CD's that the "burn to CD" option requires.

Any other ideas on a good solution to get a book on a single CD would be great so I can listen to it in the car stereo instead on on the AXIM

__________________
AXIM X5 - 400 A04
256 MB Compact Flash
256 MB SD
Rinoskin hardcase

duane1221

Quote:

Originally posted by Timdjohn Just a word of advice. When you down load in CD quality format to your hard drive make sure you have selected the "no device" in the audible manager. Then you will not get the nag screen to load a blank CD. I just upgraded my Audible manager from the 3.5 to the new 4.0 version. In 3.5 it had a plug in to work with my Roxio Easy CD creator. In this new 4.0 version they have their own built in burner software. I guess it doesn’t matter but just a sore spot with me.

I upgraded to the new 4.0 version and when I select "no Device" it will no longer allow me to "burn" to CD. How are you getting that approach to work?

__________________
AXIM X5 - 400 A04
256 MB Compact Flash
256 MB SD
Rinoskin hardcase

TRG

Three weeks ago I wrote a VERY detailed message to audible.com explaining the problems I have been having with audible player 3.5 and here is their reply.

***************************

Thank you for contacting Audible.

I am sorry it took so long to answer, I had sent your problems on to the manager. The Audible Player has been tested on all of the systems that we list as being supported. However, there is a new Player being developed as we speak.

If you still are unhappy and wish to cancel, please call 1 888 283 5051, as we are unable to cancel accounts through email.

Sincerely,
Janet
Audible Customer Support

***************************

I waited patiently for three weeks and got a pretty lame answer. None of my specific questions were answered.

When you go to Audible.com's web site and click on "compatible devices" here is the mention of the Dell and some others.

***************************

Like the HP iPaq, the Pocket PC organizers from ALL other manufacturers are AudibleReady®, including units from Hewlett-Packard (Jornada), Dell, Toshiba, Casio, Audiovox, ViewSonic, and NEC. Each model is equipped with one or more ways of expanding memory, using Compact Flash or SD (Secure Digital)/MMC expansion cards. All PocketPCs can play Audible formats 1, 2, and 3.

***************************

There is no mention of PPC2002 or PPC2003 operating systems. We all know that some 2002 software will not work on 2003. Well.. everyone other than Audible I guess. It's too bad too. I have been with Audible for two years and never had a complaint before. I feel like they handled my problem very very poorly. Goodby Audible.

A former Audible subscriber,
Tom

mhoel

Yep, I was so pissed :realmad: I wrote them to cancel my subscription and guess wht - I was still billed monthly. After much hassel I receeved a credit against future purchase - that month only and no cancellation.

I then down loaded (out of frustration :bang: ) the newest drivers and some how it's worked. No problems - but hate to see what happens if I need to do a hot reset and have to reinstall the damn program again.

Audible is not a customer friendly service. Someone needs to start some competition.

Glisson

I love audible content on my Ax with PPC 2002. Sorry to hear others are having trouble. I would however like to find out how to disable the scroll dial button as was mentioned earlier. It doesn't crash me but upsets me greatly. I would also like to convert them to MP3 to save file size and listen to them on my home stereo. Often I am engrossed in a book when I get home and would love the option of listening to the story on my home system rather than a tiny headset.

Glisson

__________________
To Live In Fear Is Not To Live

Gunslinger

I had problems after upgrading to 2003. So I called Audible and they walked me through the setup. So give that a try. Also, the gut who helped me said that Audible is not compatible with ActiveSync 3.7.1 so you have to use 3.7. After doing that it works great!

chuckz

I have 2 devices : Rio 500 and Axim5. I used to have some problems - mostly with authentication: the downloaded program would not play, etc. Unfortunately, these authentication problems cannot be avoided since Audible works with secure content.
However, I was partient, since I just love this service.
I've always been able to get a useful help from audible - by E-mail and by phone. Someone walked me through reinstallation, and it worked.
I upgraded to Win 2003, ActiveSync 3.7. I always download to CF.
True, sometimes after having downloaded a program the device must be soft-reset. I consider it a minor nuisance. I can also download more than 1 file.
Actually, Rio 500 works much better, and is more convenient to use. I find it very convenient to be able to use both devices, e.g. Axim on the train, and Rio while walking.
My opinion: there is no faultless software, and Audible do a decent job trying to keep up with all devices.
They sent me the following instructions - it worked. I guess if you need to reinstall, an important thing is to delete everything from your device and desktop, and then reinstall. Also, it may be necessary to call them first and ask to reset all your devices in their database.
Good luck.

1. Un-Install AudibleManager from your PC. Follow these steps to un-install:
a. Deactivate your desktop and portable players.
I. Open Audible Manager on your PC.
ii. Select "Devices" > "Activate/Deactivate" and follow instructions.
b. Close Audible Manager.
c. Uninstall > Audible Manager:
I. On your desktop, select "Start" > "Programs" > "Audible Manager" >
"Un-install Audible Manager".
Do a search for active setup. Start”> Find or Search”>Files or Folders”
>Search for Active setup “one word”>Delete any files you find under Active
setup. Next go to your start tab>run>regedit>Hkey local
machine>audible. Remove this folder. Go to www.audible.com/software. Install the new Audible Manager 4.0
make sure you open it or run it from its current location but do not save
it. Also choose your mobile device when prompted. Note if you are running
poquet PC 2002 At this time you must connect your device to the computer,
sync your device then click the install tab. Please do not install before a
sync is completed. Open the player file and allow it to install to default
location. If you do not see your device on the manufacturer's list but you
are running poquet PC 2002 just choose the Compaq Ipaq 2002, this applies
for 2003 devices as well. After this it will ask to activate the device,
Please follow instructions to activate. After device has been activated you
should have no trouble transferring and playing the titles on the portable
device.

elishab

Have any of you ever tried using MS Reader to play Audible books?

It works perfectly for me.

mhoel

Chuckz, Thabks for the great response. I got things fixed and working fine. I went to buy a Rio player and the one recommended by Audible is no long available. You right the Axim is a little hard to use if your not sitting still.

I have resorted to burning the CD's for long drives. Keeps my eye on the road and it easier to stop play.

Thanks again.

aonaran

The only problem I've had with Audible (using the Audible player and Audible manager 4.0 Active sync 3.7.1) Is that if I load a second program when I'm in the middle of listening to one I lose my bookmarks.

I can usually find where I was in a minute or so anyway, but I just make it a habit to keep 2-3 programs on my SD card at all times so i don't run out of content to listen to and delete ones I've listened to and replace them with new stuff when I hit the end of a book.

mhoel

I keep several titles on my cd card as well. Only problem with the Axim is if the program I'm listening to has "Volumn 2" or greater in title any book numbered lower in volume automatically defaults to the first book in the series when I reenter Audible. A pain but not unworkable.

Does anyone know how to change a file name from within Audible? Would like to number (1,2,3----) ahead of the titles.