Has any body every tried to power their empeg from batteries ??? I want to use it on the train next week, I don't fancy taking all my CD's with me so I thought great, use the empeg. but I don't want to go to the bother of making a battery pack if it only lasts a few minutes.

The batteries I use are not important (ie weight and size not an issue) I have some 12v starter motor batts from scooters but I don't fancy carrying these around in my bag. Any clues ???

Cheers

Cris.

Maybe the train will have ac outlets?

It's been done. Do a search for bikempeg. Tanstaafl did it on his bike. Here's a pic or two. He used a power supply that is in the shape of a water bottle if i remember right.

thats the geekiest thing i've seen in a while

AC out lets on a train in the UK. You jest. Ever been on a train over here, mostly they never turn up. I think they have them in First class, the pigs.

I've been thinking, there may be a headphone problem too (from the FAQ's)

I fancy an ipod or a Rio Riot though, which is best ???

Rio Riot has more storage space for tunes...

For occassional use I'd suggest a small sealed lead-acid battery like that which you have found, as a common car battery charger should be able to charge it.

For regular use I'd investigate NiMH technology as used in RC vehicles. RC airplanes often use large cell count packs, so suppliers would be able to easily provide a 10 cell pack (Each cell is nominally 1.2V). But you would also need to buy a charger for it, so costs would mount. Depending on which size cell you'd be willing to lug 10 of, you should be able to get capacities from 2-7 Ah. With sub-c cells you should be able to get 3Ah, which should give you 3-4 hours playing time. (IIRC the empeg averages about 0.75A).

Well, it so happens that I've got both an iPod and a Riot sitting on my desk as I type. The Riot has more storage space (20Gb versus the iPod's 10Gb), but the iPod is smaller -- not by as much as you'd think, though -- see the attached.

I can't comment on the UI -- I've not used the Riot that much, but the iPod was initially a little odd, when compared to the car player (for example).

Personally, I think that the iPod is cuter.

the iPod is smaller -- not by as much as you'd think, though -- see the attached

Glad to see a side-by-side comparison. But if you don't take into account the scoops in the sides of the Riot, it's as wide as the iPod is tall and is twice as tall as the iPod is wide, which means you could place two iPods within the space of one Riot. And since most places where you'd want to worry about the size aren't going to accomodate the strange shape of the Riot, the iPod is way smaller, in my mostly ininformed opinion, as I've never held a Riot.

As far as the iPod's UI goes, it works pretty well, but I don't like the fact that it works in Soup mode by default and that it doesn't take ``The''s into consideration in its sorting. I should bother to create playlists for everything, I suppose.

which means you could place two iPods within the space of one Riot.

Yeah, OK, but I've seen an iPod in person, and it's freaking TINY, so even something twice as big as an iPod is still very portable.

A mate at work has an ipod and I fell in love (similar feeling to seeing empeg for fist time) but I doin't like the fact it is not PC supported (by apple I mean) and it has a small capacity. But it is so well made and so cute.

But I prefer the idea of the Riot, with the built in FM tuner and 20Gb of space, but I could not fit this in my pocket at the gym :-( Also they aint available in the UK yet (15/04 release) and I need it for my trip next week, mmm what is a man to do ???

Maybe a custom back pack with a car battery and a custom remote display is required, although this may take a little longer than 1 week to put together, maybe 2 ;-)

Nah, they exist - at the back of the luggage racks for starters. I think they may be 110v on UK plugs, but whatever they are the empeg PSU can probably handle it as it's autoranging (at least the IEC version is).

Ok, so this kind-of limits where you can sit...

Hugo

Also, is there a temperature concern if the unit is used without proper ventilation?