MP3 Players

[Paranoid]

There's probably already a long thread of debate about this, but basically I'm looking into getting a new MP3 player.

I'm not a first time user, I want something of medium volume (say 20Gig at most), not really interested in these new movie ones, and its gotta be nice small and portable.

So who recommends what and why? Dare I say I've been tempted by the iPod but stories of short battery life, the pathetic restrictions on mp3 types etc kinda put me off so a good alternative would definitely be of interest.

Cheers guys, hope exams have gone well for ya all!

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[iamme]

creative zen. or look in advice bit of sinner, i asked a while ago and got loads of good advice but went for zen micro and its great. no complaints.

[Yemminie]

I second the vote for Creative Zen. I have a Creative Zen Touch, which is rather larger than iPods are these days, but which is also INFINITELY SUPERIOR. Yeah. Anyway, I love it, the sound is excellent, it's pretty basic, and it has external volume buttons. And it's a lot cheaper than that iPod filth. If you're looking for something smaller though, go for a Zen Micro. They're supposed to be fabulous, and they're really cute too. The only reason I didn't get one of those was because I wanted more storage space.

[OffHeGoes]

i have:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AM ... e&n=172282

which suits me fine. only 6gb but its enough to keep me going for weeks without needing to making any changes, plus its so easy to use than even i can cope.

[pea]

I have the Creative Zen. It's just called ther Creative Zen. 20gb, looks like the Zen Micro, is a bit bigger, light, easy to use. Only down side is the battery. But it's cheap for what the quality at only £150.

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[grousefanatic]

I'd third the vote for Creative Zen. I have a Creative Zen Xtra 30GB model and it's great, a bit clunky to carry and temperamental for a while after I update the firmware but otherwise excellent and really easy to use.

The only problem for me is that I like to buy music off iTunes, but the programme I use to remove the DRM stuff no longer works due to constant Apple iTunes updates, so unless I buy an iPod the only option for me right now is to keep burning CDs as I buy, or buy an iPod. Hats off to the buggers tho, it's a good way to make people buy iPods.

I have to say that my flatmate was given a 6GB Sony MP3 player, one of the ones advertised on posters in the Union and they are very nice and should continue the tradition of excellent Sony quality. The only qualm I have is with the software for that one. Otherwise it's quite lovely and does the job well.

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[flarewearer]

Sony do indeed make fine MP3 players, but their software of choice, OpenMG SonicStage, is a complete and utter pile of crud. It's an emormous, lethargic, buggy piece of shit who's sole purpose seems to be slowing down the putting of tunes onto your player and trying to convince you to put everything in stupid ATRAC format (which, incidentaly has no 128kbps equivalent so is a rather stupid format, the files are either too big or too low quality.) : no worse than iTunes then, eh?

That said, and I know this isnt' what you are after, the 1GB walkman bean (damn stupid name) is a little work of art. It's a tiny thing about the size of a tamagotchi and iv'e seen inline controls that are bigger than it and it has 3 tricks up its sleeve;

-Firstly, it has a built in USB port that pops out when you slide back a cover that doubles as the hold switch, thereby plugging into any computer without the need to carry cables around.

-Secondly, it has software loaded onto the drive that means you can transfer files to it from any machine.

-Thirdly, it actualy charges though the USB socket, and at a great rate of knots too. 3 minutes in the USB will give you the equivalent of 3 hours playback, and a full charge keeps you going all day. It constantly charges when you plug in to update your library and so the chances of it going flat are slim, and even then all you need to do is pop it in a friendly computer for a few minutes to keep you going.

It also seems to have been designed so that you can use it without taking it out your trouser pocket, into which it fits nicely, with all the neccesary controls workable by the thumb.

I would heartily recommend it to anyone looking for something cheaper (£90), smaller and very convenient for just walking around the place, and not as an alternative to their hard drive.

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[Fionnlagh]

Quoting Paranoid from 22:15, 17th Jan 2006
Dare I say I've been tempted by the iPod but stories of short battery life, the pathetic restrictions on mp3 types etc kinda put me off

I have an ipod (my second) and I'm not sure what you mean by pathetic restrictions on mp3 types. Although itunes is initially set to create songs with its own format, it can be changed to create bog-standard mp3s. Fair enough, the ipod wont play ogg (or even wma, although itunes can convert wma to mp3 for you), and it is more restrictive than many others, but it's not that bad.

As far as battery life goes, I can't say I've had an issue with the new one at all (i have a 30gb 5G, replacing a 40gb photo, which i must admit didnt have the best battery life)

Having plugged the ipod though, or at least attempted to dispell your fears, the creative zen stuff does look very nice and feature packed as already mentioned. And I never liked them, but iRiver had a very good reputation not that long ago, I don't know about their new stuff though.

[Magus]

Have recently picked up a Logik 4gb for £80. You can use it straight from WMP, so no pissing around with software. Does me fine, all controls on outside, so don't have to extract it from pockets. 10hr battery - not fantastic, but better than some.

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[Smith]

i have a toshiba gigabeat, it comes in 10, 20, 40, or 60GB versions, it works with windows media player and is seriously the easiest thing ever to use.

When I plug mine into my PC, it automatically updates itself with any music added to my library that was not there before, until it is full. Deleting tracks is as simple as clearing a media player playlist.

The on-board software is excellent, and the player has a colour screen, and can be used to store and display photographs at surprisingly high resolution.

It's slightly larger than an iPod, but easily fits inside your pocket, and weighs roughly the same amount.

Oh yeah, and the 40 and 60GB versions come with a headphone remote control, quite nifty.

edit: plus it has a 16 hour battery life, and can charge up in less than 2 hours.

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[flarewearer]

MP3 PLAYERS ROCK

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[Duggeh]

I have an ipod (my second) and I'm not sure what you mean by pathetic restrictions on mp3 types. Although itunes is initially set to create songs with its own format, it can be changed to create bog-standard mp3s. Fair enough, the ipod wont play ogg (or even wma, although itunes can convert wma to mp3 for you), and it is more restrictive than many others, but it's not that bad.

For the love of god people dont use itunes for ripping your cds unless youre going to use the lossless format.

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Duggeh: Master Of Ceremonies
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[The Famous Philosopher]

I'd agree with the Creative Zen

I had a 30Gb Zen Xtra(before I launched it off a table) and it was excellent, althought very bricklike.

I got a 20Gb Zen a couple of days ago and it seems so far to be excellent. Although the battery only lasts about 9/10 hours on one charge.

[Thalia]

Just to add my two cents...

I have an I-river H10 (20Gb) and i'm pretty happy with it. It's not tiny but it's small enough to fit in my pocket and not too heavy. It has a colour screen and you can view pictures and text files. It also has voice recording and an FM radio. When you connect it to your computer it just synchs with windows media player, making adding files pretty easy.

The play/pause and skip buttons are on the side, kinda like on my old cassette player which i find kinda cool

Oh and the battery life is 16 hours.

The only thing i really have against it is that i can't delete things on the player, i have to connect to a computer and delete it that way but that's a minor thing considering the only thing i've wanted to delete so far was a recording i made on it.

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The shadow proves the sunshine...

[A Saint]

I bought a 60gb photo ipod, by far the best mp3 player I've had. I have friends with sony versions and the ipod is in my opinion by far the best. The ipods are much more versatile with a lot more addons to buy if u feel the need,I also installed ipod linux on it so now i can play full avi movies on it without spending any extra.

[Griggsy]

How much is an iPod mini these days?

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[Duggeh]

if you want an ipod mini, just try entering any competition run by walkers/iwantoneofthose/etc

they cant seem to give them away these days.

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[Eliot Wilson]

I fought the iPod urge for a long, long time - oh, they're over-hyped, they're too expensive, I don't really need one - but I now have a little black nano and it's fantastic. Sorry.

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[Manic23]

Yeah I have the u2 edition of the 20gb iPod, and aside from the battery life not being amazing, they are really nice and accessible, as well as iTunes being very comprehensive.

[Tweedle-Dum]

Quoting Manic23 from 22:25, 1st Feb 2006
Yeah I have the u2 edition of the 20gb iPod, and aside from the battery life not being amazing, they are really nice and accessible, as well as iTunes being very comprehensive.

The iTunes integration has to be THE selling point. No other putting stuff on a thingy program comes close. I love my iPod.

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