What type of MP3 Player do you recommend?

[Narz]

Only three considerations really.

#1 : Toughness : If it breaks after a year it doesn't matter how snazzy it is. Ideally I'd like a product that's built to last.

#2 : Price : Obviously the cheaper the better.

#3 : Takes AA or AAA batteries. I want to be able to bring it camping or on long trips and not have to worry about charging a battery every 10 hours or so.

as for size 1GB would be my minimum.

Right now I'm considering this one : http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4091951

Mostly because it gets 80 hours+ per AA battery.

Open to other ideas though.

Thanks,
Narz

 

[sysyphus]

I'm in the market too. My 40G iPod just died after only 16 months, so I'm not in a hurry to buy another one of those.

I think I'm going to buy a cheaper one, I think I can live with only 1G, at least for now. For cheaper mp3 players, I find iRiver products to be of good value for what you spend. Apparently the Zen line from Creative labs also gets good reviews.

 

[aaglo]

Well, it depends how are you going to use it. And my advise, if you're going to listen to them whilst bicycling/skating/motorcycling is:
Don't get one at all - you'll live longer.

Other than that, I think you're safe with what you've inclined to

 

[El_Machinae]

I have no advice, but I get great value out of my mp3 player as an educational tool.

 

[Narz]

I have no advice, but I get great value out of my mp3 player as an educational tool.

Listening to audio books and such?

 

[Narz]

Well, it depends how are you going to use it. And my advise, if you're going to listen to them whilst bicycling/skating/motorcycling is:
Don't get one at all - you'll live longer.

Other than that, I think you're safe with what you've inclined to

Yeah, I agree. Biking and music are often a dangerous combo.

Actually, I'd extend that to driving too. Some people seem to think that driving while listen to loud music somehow makes you a better driver at fast speeds, invincible even.

 

[Paalikles]

Creative seems to be a good choice. Of course, my only experience is Zen Touch, which satisfies conditions 1 and 2, but not 3.

I have a 20gb ipod myself, and have had it for a year and a half. Still not dead, but I suppose it will die sooner or later...

Which reminds me never to get an ipod again....

 

[sysyphus]

Does the Zen have an internal battery?

 

[Paalikles]

I think so, which is why it does not satisfy 3. I bought one for my girlfriend, since it is quite durable (she later said she would have liked a smaller one). I am not sure how to change battery on it when the preinstalled one is depleted - and I suspect something similarly evil to that method of iPod though...

But conditions 1 and 2 are met. And I dont know much about flash based players, which I suppose is what Narz wants...

 

[sysyphus]

Really, you prefer replacing batteries over recharing an internal battery? I guess I can see advantages to both.
I don't know much about flash players either, but the partof my iPod that died was the hard drive, so I'm trying flash this time.

 

[Zelig]

I've been looking at two different flash mp3 players to get:

iAudio G3: 1GB player, fully featured, takes 1 AA battery. (For Canadians, ncix has iAudio players at good prices)

Samsung YP-Z5: 4GB player, fully featured, has an internal lithium-polymer battery.

They both support ogg vorbis, something that I demand from any audio player, and the G3 is about half the price. So I basically have a choice between more space, or the convenience of taking the batteries of my choice.

 

[Mise]

Are you looking for a solid state device or a hard drive one? I don't know much about either, but I boght a creative zen 30gb last christmas, and it's definately worth it. It's bigger and heavier than the iPod, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper. The interface isn't as good though. And it's not as cool . I've heard that the sound quality from the Creative products is better (as you'd probably expect from a sound card company!), but I'm not that desperate to find out really. I'm perfectly happy with what I bought, but if I had the money I'd buy an iPod, put it that way

 

[sysyphus]

iAudio G3: 1GB player, fully featured, takes 1 AA battery. (For Canadians, ncix has iAudio players at good prices)

Samsung YP-Z5: 4GB player, fully featured, has an internal lithium-polymer battery.

Cool, ncix is a great source, I buy alot from them.

A 4G flash player? I hadn't seen one over 1G before. I'm impressed!

They both support ogg vorbis, something that I demand from any audio player, [/QUOTE]

What's ogg vorbis?

@ Mise, actually, I was not at all impressed with the iPod's sound quality. My wife's cheapie iRiver had better sound.

 

[GenMarshall]

An iPod Nano is certanly good to have .

 

[The 777 Hoax]

The iPod nano is a very nice mp3 player, but I don't have one, so I can't help you there.

I do have an iRiver though, and it's very nice. The price is very good (got it from the internet) and I drop it a lot and nothing has happened to it. It takes AA batteries.

 

[diablodelmar]

iPod or the Creative Zen.

 

[Urederra]

Hi Narz,

Seems that you liked your girlfriend's iPod and you want to burn your first paycheck on a music device.

What do you think about this one:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=9277559/

Description: Get virtually unlimited storage capacity with the MZ-DH710 Hi-MD Walkman Digital Music Player. One tiny Hi-MD MiniDisc can hold up to 675 songs, and you can easily fit it in your shirt pocket. So, whether you are people watching in Soho or carving a trail on the slopes in Tahoe, all your favorite tunes can be along for the ride. The player features up to 100x data transfer rate, which means you can quickly upload your music, and it supports MP3/ATRAC3/ATRACplus as well as WMA and WAV audio formats2, giving you plenty of format options. The long battery life, up to 19.5 hours on one "AA" battery, is pretty handy for life's extra long trips into the concrete jungle.

It is not an iPod, or iPod lookalike, it is a minidisk, it is a bit bigger than an iPod thing, but other than that, it satisfies 1, 2 and 3. And you can store up to 1GB in every disk. Celltronics sells it for $129, I don't know if you can find Hi-MD cheaper than that, but that one seems OK.

I bought my MD player when I was in England some 5 years ago and it still works. normal MD are a bit of a hassle because you can only store up to 80 minutes of music, so you have to swap a lot. But with the new Hi-MD discs you can store up to 1GB, so you don't have to swap that often.

The only downside I see with the minidisc players, apart from the ocasional swap, is that they are a bigger than an iPod, but still fits in my pants or shirt pocket.

EDIT: Oh... there is another downside, 5 1GB discs go for $34. But those prices might change a lot.

 

[Zelig]

Cool, ncix is a great source, I buy alot from them.

A 4G flash player? I hadn't seen one over 1G before. I'm impressed!

What's ogg vorbis?

The iPod "whatever the thin one but regular width/height" is available in 4GB flash. I think Sandisk was also thinking of releasing a 4GB one, but they're the only ones. There are a number of 2GB ones available, including some other iAudio players.

Ogg Vorbis an open source audio compression format, like mp3, but better. I only have full quality CDs which I rip my music from, no downloaded mp3s, so it's great for me, not so useful if you download most of your music.

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

Getting an I-Pod from Costco gets you the good quality and sharp looking player, but with a lifetime guarantee.

 

[BCLG100]

ive got a 60Gb Ipod Video, its amazing, the only drawback is it has a very small battery life when playing videos and recharges using computer/mains so it doesnt suit number 3.