Slacker G1 v G2

RoadRunner

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Oct 13, 2008
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Anybody here have any experience with the Slacker G1 player?

I'm a cheapskate (my Sirius tuners are Brix Streamers, and my XM is a MyFi), and wonder if I'll be happy enough with the older player to settle...
 
Oct 29, 2008
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Well I have not used it, but could comment. A 4 gig G1 is about half the price of a G2 plus you may have to pay tax, and shipping. The G1 is considerably larger in size, and all the media buttons are on the side. Will you want any accessories for the G1 ? I have not really seen anything for sale on the web for accessories. So you might save70-80 bucks, or something. Is that worth it to you ? Seems performance of the player stated by others was pretty good. If you don't mind the size of the player. If you can live without accessories. Then mine as well go for it. If you really feel you are saving enough money in that route. You could poke around the slacker forum as well. They have a G1 forum......
Official Slacker Forums • Slacker G1 Personal Radio Players
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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Well every review I've seen on the G2 seem to compare it to the G1 and all of them said the G2 was a pretty substantial improvement over the G1. The size different is pretty good between the two and small is always better these days. The G1 had that weird touch strip that most actually hated and apparently it is a pain the butt as I recall from reviews. The other thing was the improvement in SQ between the G1 and G2.

You know the old saying you buy the cheap seats you get the cheap seats.
 
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There you go. I am sure you would be much happier with the G2. It's not like the price difference is a absurd amount. You'll have standard accessories to choose from. It is pricey, but it is not your average MP3 player. Chances are you will be very happy with it like many others are. If your not buying from BB. Slacker site has free shipping, no tax, and they will pre load player for you.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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There you go. I am sure you would be much happier with the G2. It's not like the price difference is a absurd amount. You'll have standard accessories to choose from. It is pricey, but it is not your average MP3 player. Chances are you will be very happy with it like many others are. If your not buying from BB. Slacker site has free shipping, no tax, and they will pre load player for you.

Very good post OOC and I couldn't agree more! :egypt:
 
Oct 29, 2008
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Free shipping, no tax should be pretty good arsenal to persuade the wife. Maybe see can create a few stations, and you could share it with her sometimes......
 

runciter

New Member
Dec 21, 2008
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Since there seems to be a lot of proG2 replies, I'll counterpoint for G1 (I also have one, never used a G2). Currently the cheapest price for a 4gig G2 appears to be $200 shipped vs $80 shipped (buy.com) for a 4gig G1. Let us assume you have never heard a G2 so while theoretically it may sound better than a G1, if you don't do an A/B comparison, you won't know (both will sound better than Satrad).

How are you going to use it? If in vehicle or at work, size doesn't matter. Conversely using the reverse size argument, the G2 has a smaller display. As for accessories, let's face it, nothing beats the ipod family of accessories so while the G2 has more than the G1, there aren't a lot. That being said, it doesn't look like the dock featured in the included pamphlet will ever come out (for the G1) and probably no new accessories will come out. If you want accessories, get a G2.

If you're thinking of dipping your feet into Slacker, the lower entry point of a G1 will give you a good feel for how you like the service/device and you won't be missing out on any features. If you are patient, Woot occasionally has the 2gig (15 station) G1 for $50(+$5) which would be an even better starting point to determine how much you might enjoy it. Just my $0.02 from a G1 owner. I don't feel like I am missing out on not owning a G2.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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Good post runciter... I made my post in regards to the G2 giving a comparison. But you are absolutely correct. Having purchased 2 of the G1 during the Woot listing, I have played around with the G1 a good bit. I wanted to refresh the playlist and make sure the firmware was all up to date prior to gifting them. Anyway... Now that I have I can say that while the size is larger it really isn't that big of a deal. There are aspects of the G1 that I actually liked a little better than on the G2 one was the size of the text. But then nothing is worse than the iPod Touch in terms of text size showing the song info, so I can live with my G2.

Anyway.... I guess my only concern about the G1 is that it appears to be the long lost child of Slacker. No updates since mid year and when you mention anything about it, the silence is deafening on the Slacker Forums. Not to mention the ongoing controversy with music being missing on the G1 vs G2. In my opinion the music that is missing unless you just like those specific few groups isn't a big deal. 99.9 percent of the music available on the G2 is available on the G1.
 
Oct 29, 2008
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Since there seems to be a lot of proG2 replies, I'll counterpoint for G1 (I also have one, never used a G2). Currently the cheapest price for a 4gig G2 appears to be $200 shipped vs $80 shipped (buy.com) for a 4gig G1. Let us assume you have never heard a G2 so while theoretically it may sound better than a G1, if you don't do an A/B comparison, you won't know (both will sound better than Satrad).

How are you going to use it? If in vehicle or at work, size doesn't matter. Conversely using the reverse size argument, the G2 has a smaller display. As for accessories, let's face it, nothing beats the ipod family of accessories so while the G2 has more than the G1, there aren't a lot. That being said, it doesn't look like the dock featured in the included pamphlet will ever come out (for the G1) and probably no new accessories will come out. If you want accessories, get a G2.

If you're thinking of dipping your feet into Slacker, the lower entry point of a G1 will give you a good feel for how you like the service/device and you won't be missing out on any features. If you are patient, Woot occasionally has the 2gig (15 station) G1 for $50(+$5) which would be an even better starting point to determine how much you might enjoy it. Just my $0.02 from a G1 owner. I don't feel like I am missing out on not owning a G2.

Well I am responding to G2 cause that is what I own. I really hope after the holiday more folks will have a G1/G2, and join in on the discussions. For me though a arm band is a absolute must have. This is not available with the G1 at this time. So I never considered the G1, and I never liked the first generation anyway. I played the waiting game for a while. Frankly I wanted the latest, and greatest. So it did not matter, but if a arm band was not available for it. I definitely would not have bought it. I can easily compromise with the car mounting. I don't want to compromise with arm band though I want to look good in the gym, and not have some ghetto set up hanging from my arm. :flex:
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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I don't want to compromise with arm band though I want to look good in the gym, and not have some ghetto set up hanging from my arm. :flex:

Your point is well taken in terms of the armband, but in regards to anything else there really would be very little difference. The fact is that there are a lot of us that don't care about an armband and the money saved for someone initially getting started with Slacker is substantial especially for those that got in on the woot deal.

I've always hated armbands and never thought they ever made anyone look good! LOL
 
Oct 29, 2008
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Your point is well taken in terms of the armband, but in regards to anything else there really would be very little difference. The fact is that there are a lot of us that don't care about an armband and the money saved for someone initially getting started with Slacker is substantial especially for those that got in on the woot deal.

I've always hated armbands and never thought they ever made anyone look good! LOL
I'm not arguing that. I'm just sharing what was important to me. We all have the freedom to make our own choices. If folks want the G1, or no arm band. I don't really care frankly, because I am not them. ;);)At the same time I don't expect folks to care about my choices. Certainly we have our opinions.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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I'm not arguing that. I'm just sharing what was important to me.

This is why I said your point is well taken! Everyone has different needs and some would be willing to sacrafice no armband for that super duper low price! That is my point! Nothing to argue really! ;)
 
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This is why I said your point is well taken! Everyone has different needs and some would be willing to sacrafice no armband for that super duper low price! That is my point! Nothing to argue really! ;)
Roger that. Hope more join our discussions after the holiday gift giving season !
 

runciter

New Member
Dec 21, 2008
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I'm not arguing that. I'm just sharing what was important to me. We all have the freedom to make our own choices. If folks want the G1, or no arm band. I don't really care frankly, because I am not them. ;);)At the same time I don't expect folks to care about my choices. Certainly we have our opinions.
Right, not disputing anyone's opinion, but I was just trying to counterpoint the large amount of G2 responses and especially since the OP had older satrad receivers, he would certainly be open to older hardware. Everyone needs to determine the value of each unit for the cost... there is no ONE right answer; else we would all have it.

Obviously since G2s are available at retail, there would be a lot more G2 responses as well as being the latest unit, would have more support from Slacker. Having said that, maybe there will be an influx of new G1 owners from Woot or Buy after Christmas (as well as G2ers).

DAB,
Yeah the lack of an official response to a supposed pending G1 firmware update is annoying, but hopefully it is just due to a smaller staff presence during the holidays.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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DAB,
Yeah the lack of an official response to a supposed pending G1 firmware update is annoying, but hopefully it is just due to a smaller staff presence during the holidays.

I hope so, because I really like the G1. I gave my first gift one away today to a buddy of mine. He opened it and he was rather stunned! He was a little disappointed I think because when he seen it was a Slacker I think he thought it was one like mine (G2). I told him I had set it up and put some stations on it I felt he would like and did a refresh on it. I could see he was a bit confused and didn't know what to think. I don't know at this point if the G1 gift was a hit or a flop. I guess I'll know after he plays with it for a week or so.
 
Oct 29, 2008
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I gave my first gift one away today to a buddy of mine. He opened it and he was rather stunned! He was a little disappointed I think because when he seen it was a Slacker I think he thought it was one like mine (G2). I told him I had set it up and put some stations on it I felt he would like and did a refresh on it. I could see he was a bit confused and didn't know what to think. I don't know at this point if the G1 gift was a hit or a flop. I guess I'll know after he plays with it for a week or so.
It would be interesting to see how this as a gift plays out. I'd think it really depends on the recipient of the gift. 99% of people I don't like to give these types of gifts. I'm afraid they will have issues connecting, or whatever. Or will they want to take the time to fine tune/create stations on the web. Then it will give them headaches if they don't want to deal with those things. So it turns out not being a great gift. Sort of like giving someone a sat radio as a gift then they have nothing but problems with install, service, etc. On the other hand everything could be flawless for the recipient of the gift. In which case it was a great gift idea. So these types of gifts are somewhat of a gamble, and the outcome can vary from one recipient to the next. Then again if they requested it as a gift then I don't worry about how it pans out. Hopefully it will be a positive experience for your friend.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
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Well by buddy came over to the office today to meet me for lunch. He told me that gift you gave me it GREAT! I ordered a cable to give me aux-input in my car but my wife and I listened to it last night for a couple of hours connected to our home stereo and we were both blown away.

He said he only had one problem and that was how to get some time with it because he felt like his wife was going to want to use it all the time. But he did also tell me there is one glitch that they don't understand. Seems like at the start of each song there is a skip or pause. He said it does it almost on every song, but said they enjoyed the music so much they almost fogot about it, but he could see over time it being rather annoying.

I seen yesterday on Slackers forum that someone reported at support rep told them there was going to be a G1 update coming in a few weeks. I hope that is true and that they fix this issue. Seems like a rather large issue to just ignore for all these months.

He and I talked for awhile and he hasn't even started playing with web player and checking out all the other music stations and/or the fact that he can create his own. When we discussed that I could see he was getting even more excited. He said, oh well if my wife wants that one, maybe I should let her have it and I could then get me a G2. He said you wouldn't be mad would you? I said Heck No, I hope she or you enjoy it! :)