MP3 Players

[Shlup]

I'm going to ask for an MP3 player for my birthday. I don't think I want an iPod tho. Anyone have any recommendations?

[Jojee]

I have an iPod-mini, four gigs. I've never used it... not very interested in using it. >_> My parents got it for me cos' my brother wanted one, so for some reason they got me one, too o_0 Haha, if they wanted to spend money on me, I'll take clothes, any day! ;] A camera would do, too... I need one of those.

Anyway, iPods are supposedly better?

Edit: hehe then again, I just got my Ipod thingiemajig last weekend, so maybe I'll mess around with it now =)

Edit, again >=): Oh I thought you were trying to choose between an mp3 player and an iPod ^^ In that case I dunno. Why don't you want an iPod?

[Zell's Fists of Fury]

Ipods are trendy and dumb.

[Shlup]

Which is why I said I wanted something else.

Well, mostly because I hear bad things about them. Like their batteries die and you have to replace the whole thing.

[LH]

Ipods are dumb. I think you want something from Archos; you can get similar capacity and the capability to watch MPEGs and view photos on their products for similar prices. But I would suggest getting a hard drive MP3 player in one form or another over the flash memory ones because for the same price you get something that holds as much as 20x what the other does. If you really want something cool, get the Sony hard drive MP3 player, but for how simply cool and well-designed it is, it only deals in Sony's propietary software and formats and is really expensive.

edit - Shlup, the battery issue is something you will face with any MP3 player. It's because of the type of rechargeables they use (Typically lithium-ion) which after a few hundred charges no longer work properly. I believe the Ipod's battery is built-in and is not removeable, and I imagine other companies have built a better design, so when your battery does die you can at least replace just the battery rather than the whole thing.

[Jojee]

What's the diff?

I just like my old fashioned CD player <3

[Lindy]

iPods have awful battery life, sound quality, potential storage capacity and are just plain bad.

Instead, try one the wonderful and varied Creative Zen range of HD MP3 players.

Try either, the Zen Touch :

http://creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=10274

Or the more moderately price Zen Xtra and Zen NX:
http://creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=9288

http://creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=4836

I have a Zen NX myself, and it's a wonderful thing, great sound quality, very good battery life, it supports a lot more audio formats than the iPod and the fact that it's useable to store any kind of data like a removeable HD, unlike the iPod, is a very handy addition.

Also, the batteries are removable and rechargeable through the player, so if you're planning a long trip, you can always order a few more batteries and charge them up.

Considering how long Creative have been in the music business, and they are very well known for being reliable, I'd say that a Creative player is a pretty good option for a cost to quality tradeoff, since you get great quality and prices that aren't insane either.

And no, I don't work for Creative just like Dingo doesn't work for Apple.

[Miriel]

I love my Ipod, but then again I am a bit of a trend whore, so I guess that makes sense.

Anyway, I've heard good things about the iRiver (http://www.iriver.com/).

[DMKA]

Lindy is right. I've seen iPods and the Creative brand MP3 players, and I'd definitely recommend them over iPods.

iPods are ok, but too damn expensive for what they are.

[Samuraid]

Instead, try one the wonderful and varied Creative Zen range of HD MP3 players.

Using an iRiver as an mp3 player is like using a sledge hammer to drive a thumbtack...a very expensive thumbtack.

Creative makes good stuff.

EDIT: the 20GB Creative Zen Touch is about $249 and has 2 times the battery life of an iPod.

[Shlup]

edit - Shlup, the battery issue is something you will face with any MP3 player. It's because of the type of rechargeables they use (Typically lithium-ion) which after a few hundred charges no longer work properly. I believe the Ipod's battery is built-in and is not removeable, and I imagine other companies have built a better design, so when your battery does die you can at least replace just the battery rather than the whole thing.
The issue I was referring to was the fact that you have to replace the whole iPod when the battery goes bad, not the battery itself.

I'll look into Creative stuff. :D

[Yamaneko]

I have the 5GB Zen Micro. No need for anything bigger (except perhaps the 6GB version which comes out soon) I've found, unless you're gone away from your music collection for a long time and need 20GB to store it all.

[Dingo Jellybean]

I want to make things clear about the iPod:

The battery IS replacable. Apple recommends that they are not user-replacable. The iPod batteries are $20-$30 online, depending on your model. It's not hard to replace the battery.

When you want Apple to replace your battery, they replace the whole iPod. Meaning if you have an older model iPod, and want a new battery, Apple will not only replace the battery, but they'll replace your iPod with the most current model.

Although there are other MP3 players with longer battery life, I have a 3G iPod. The battery life is 8 hours. I've NEVER had a problem with low battery life. I can't imagine too many people listening to their music players for 8 hours straight. Then again, I do have an FM transmitter in my car that also charges the iPod, but for times away from a power source, I never found battery life to be a problem.

The current iPod models use 12 hours of battery life, the new iPod mini has 18 hours of battery life, and the iPod photos use 17 hours of battery life.

I'm not an Apple advocate...I only like the iPod and Mac Mini, but for the iPod bashers out there, just do your research...please. I know there are better players out there for the dollar. I've used the Creative Zen, it's great and all and gives more value per GB, but the touch-wheel/click-wheel makes the iPod that much better because of ease of use. Non-moving parts = more durability.

Lastly, the number of accessories that comes for the iPod is equaled by none. Even Best Buy offers to mod your car stereo to conform to the iPod. FM Transmitters out on the market will allow you to play your music through your car stereo. There are speaker systems designed for the iPod alone, namely Bose' Soundock. I can't recall any MP3 player that allows you to play them through the car stereo...unless you have a tape player...but that degrades the quality far more than an FM transmitter, but eh.

[Yamaneko]

http://www.creative.com/zenmicro/welcome.asp?w=companion#

[Alice]

ipods have updated battery life now for 13+ hours. Also... ipods r not just trendy. I find them absolutely the opitamy of good design... apple actually worked hard on it and they always are top of the line...

ipods also went down in price 50$ so yah :P

if you want an mp3 player for a stupid windows use go with creative or dell but theyll break within years... if you want something cool go with the olympus m:robe... its the only thing i can even thing comparable to .. anything!

[Samuraid]

but for the iPod bashers out there, just do your research...please. Done. :D I looked at both creative.com and apple.com right as I made my last post.

iPods are fine music players. I was just recommending the Creative player as it is a better deal.

[boris no no]

i have a 512Mb mpman! i love it so much!
it takes normal AAA batteries so i've got some rechargable ones. they last about a week of listening to it about 2hours a day (my bus journey :-/)
i recondmend one! ipods arn't all that great.....why not look at some other brands?
i really reconmend mpman! really reall ygood for what it is! :love:

[Skogs]

I have a 4G 20GB iPod. It's great. They may be trendy, but the interface is great, there're plenty of accessories and a fully charged battery usually lasts me two days before I need to recharge. Just because it's popular doesn't mean its bad. From what I can tell, it's the second best HD mp3 player on the market, after iRiver.

[Yrkoon]

Rio and Creative offer the best for the price and are very reliable players :)

my freinds creative juke box 2 10 gig is still going strong after many years of heavy use. got a creative muvo2 1.5 gig my self and i can store around 644 tracks on it :)

[Citizen Bleys]

I like Creative's MuVo TX. I've got the 512 MB model, and it's more storage than I'll ever need, plus it has FM radio just in case I get sucked into an alternate dimension where there are non-crap radio stations in Moncton. Plus it uses the USB 2.0 spec, so file transfer is fast, no hassles, and no cords. It's like a little keychain.

It's basically a souped-up version of what Unne reccomended to me when I was looking into an mp3 player. The good Doctor steered me right.

[Caspian]

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/dj_pocket?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

So we go to this poker game. Friend #1 has 20GB iPod, Friend #2 has the 5GB Dell DJ.

20GB iPod dies after one 3 hour session, and the 5GB Dell DJ dies after 3 seperate 3-hour sessions.

Holds less music, but when your batteries die before you have time to listen to all of your music, what does it matter? I'd go with the Dell DJ, myself.

[rubah]

iriver makes a nice cd player that can play mp3/wmv/aac[I think?] burnt to cd. Not to mention regular cds.

and it's nice and small.

I wouldn't buy anything dell, but that's because I don't like dell.

[Nod]

I have a 20gig creative zen touch mp3 player. im not sure how it compares to the iPod size-wise; all i know is it has a battery life of 24hours- way longer than an iPod. for me it does the trick! :p

[Rye]

Man, am I the ONLY person without/not getting an mp3 player?

[Samuraid]

Man, am I the ONLY person without/not getting an mp3 player?

I don't have one either. :)

Unless you count my DVD-player, car CD player, and computer. :D

[Clouded Sky]

PSP with a ridiculously huge memory stick!!!! Sure it'll cost you waay more than it's worth, but then you can be one of the people setting a new trend. And people will you look at you and think "oooh, the new game thinger - but why is he not playing" as you bob up and down paying no attention to anything else. you'll look reta.....really really cool!

[sephiroth JR]

when i was chosing my mp3 player i was going to get an ipod but then i thought whats the point of spening 100's of £'s on a huge memory when your not going to use it my mp3 is a 256mb and holds about 8 long cd's.......PERFECT........

[Destai]

How many MP3's can the PSP hold?

[Endless]

I have a <a href="http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=215&product=9771">Creative Muvo TX FM</a>, 256 Mb, and I can't say I'm displeased (yay, double negation). It holds plenty enough music at a time, and it's fast enough if I want to change songs.

[Citizen Bleys]

Yeah, that's the same one I have, except the 512 MB model. I just wish I could get more battery modules, Creative won't sell them to me.

EDIT: Hey, me, Raf, and Unne all have the same kind of mp3 player. We should make the MuVo line the official mp3 player of EoFF. Especially since that would really rick Dingo off, as it's not an Apple product.

[Rye]

I don't have one either. :)

Unless you count my DVD-player, car CD player, and computer. :D

I don't have the first two. :(

[amratis]

Man, am I the ONLY person without/not getting an mp3 player?

Nope I dont got one, not going to get one either :D




Unless you count my DVD-player, car CD player, and computer. :D

I got all of these things too, which is probably why I wont be getting a mp3 player.

[Giga Guess]

Heh...got a 512MB MP3 player off of eBay for about $80...LOVE it...except it's capacity stalls out @ 99 songs (Still have plenty of space...) But still....it's far more than my discman ever got, so...:p

[Shiroi Kumo]

I'm usually not an advocate of Apple, but having a friend who works fortheir call centre tends to sway my opinions some. Since he lent me an iPod Mini to try out, I've been addicted to the bloody thing, and highly recommend it.

However, now I use earphones that allow for some ambient noise to seep through xD;

[Samuraid]

Unless you count my DVD-player, car CD player, and computer.

I got all of these things too, which is probably why I wont be getting a mp3 player.

*nods*

[-N-]

If you don't want an iPod, get a Zen (insert model here).

[Yrkoon]

my dad got him self a rio carbon 5 gig its a pretty impressive player an only cost about 20 pounds more than my muvo2 plus its a lot thinner and has a nice metal finish to it :)