Choosing an MP3 player

[alarimer]

I think my Iriver H10 (20 GB) is on its last legs. The scroll bar is not working correctly. I think it must have gotten wet. In any case eventually I will have to replace it with something. I am thinking I do not really need 20 GB of space. This one is a little heavy for working out. But I want at least 8 GB. So it basically comes down to the Ipod Nano 8 gb, the Creative zen Microphoto or the Sansa e280. The advantage of the Ipod is ease of use and the longer battery life (up to 24 hours per the specs). But it is a bit pricier than the others. Plus it costs the same as 30GB video Ipod (what's up with that) so, cost per GB, it's cheaper to go with the 30 Gb but I don't really care about video capabilities. The other two I don't know much about. Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about any of these? I could also wait until the Irver clix 2 comes out, whenever that might be.

The format is really immaterial, as I have decided to give up my subscription to any sort of subscription service (where you pay a monthly fee to download as much music as you want but when you quit paying the files are unusable). I have decided to just rely on my own music collection and to buy mp3s. I use Emusic and Audio Lunchbox, which have the same sort of arrangement. Tracks end up being about 30 cents a piece. So not a bad deal and I can do whatever I want with the files- no DRM. Of course they are mostly just independent musicians and record companies so the selection is not as great but I do find a lot of what I like there.

I realize we have probably had this discussion before but new models are constantly being introduced so it might be worth revisiting anyway.

[NightWatcher]

1. I'm an iPod Monkey

I know that they get bashed because of the battery life and iTunes, but I'd personally stomp a dozen cute puppies for my iPod. It's a 30gigger with video and it's still truckin.

[pokerfan]

2. The Nano uses flash memory

instead of a hard drive. Flash memory is more expensive but it uses less power and there are no moving parts.

[alarimer]

3. That's what I read

And that is a plus for me.

[ghostsofgiants]

4. Check tihs site out...

http://www.dapreview.com

Has a lot of information and reviews.

[alarimer]

5. Thanks

looks like a good place to check things out.

[Chan790]

6. I love my Zen, but this post is about Apple.

I don't know anything about MP3 players though to make a comparison.

I do know that tech sales friends of mine laugh at people who buy IPods behind their backs...something about the "Apple" markup. Basically, the theory goes that Apple is so badass that they feel they should charge 20% more for any given product than what the competition is charging for a similar product. Given their history of innovation and product quality, it's not quite unreasonable.

I don't like their corporate philosophy on copyrights though, their are one of the worst tech companies in the world in terms of opening their technology to other people, one of the most closed-minded companies on the humanitarian value of technology, one of the most litigious software-patent holders, and one of the worst corporate violators of patents and copyrights. That and the ITunes thing. Anything that is bad for ITunes is good for humanity and good for the future of fair usage. (If you don't know what I am talking about, read Free Culture by Laurence Lessig. You'll want to string Steve Jobs up by the short and curlies and beat him with a whip made from Bill Gates' spine. In terms of corporate evil, Halliburton or Microsoft has nothing on Apple. BushCo has very little on Apple. Apple is evil.)

[alarimer]

7. Something else to think about, that's for sure

Since I already own a non-Ipod, I am pretty savvy when it comes to music downloading. I don't think any MP3 player would be too difficult to use.

A 30 GB Zen is much cheaper than a 30 GB Ipod.

right now I only use Itunes for podcasts. They have a lot in one place and so I can get all the ones I subscribe to right there. For some reason, Windows media player or Napster or Rhapsody have not integrated podcasts into their services. I think they should. There is no earthly reason why I have to get my NPR podcasts from Itunes. Maybe there is another way. I haven't figured it out yet.

[Lost-in-FL]

10. I had a bad experience

with the first non iPOD mp3 I got. It was a Samsung and it SUCKED!!

[BuddhaGirl]

12. I have a 30 G Zen

and I absolutely love it! Easy to use, has an FM tuner and voice recorder, which the Ipod doen't have. A friend has a 30 G Ipod and my Zen's video display is definitely better than hers. Better, crisper colors. The Zen is a better value than the Ipod, IMHO.

[ghostsofgiants]

8. The only reason I got an iPod was because I got it on the cheap, haha.

[Omphaloskepsis]

23. I don't really have the time right now, but...

Answer me this. If I rip a CD I own into iTunes, will it have DRM applied to it?

[Lost-in-FL]

9. The i-pod shuffle is good enough for me

I used to have the thick monster 40G iPod and decided to get the new generation Shuffle. I can say that the Shuffle is the only i-pod anyone needs (IMO). Why get the video ones if you can't hardly see the damn pictures?? IMO, that iPOD shuffle is all I'll ever need since is cheap, conspicuous, lightweight and convenient (don't even have to worry about my battery dying since it lasts 12 hrs of continuous use). I work out a lot and I don't even feel the thing, no need to get accessories, it is ok if I forget to charge it cause I know it will still have some juice left, etc. But of course, that's just me.

[alarimer]

11. I am looking for more capacity since I use mine in the car

on road trips and on plane trips. I figured 4 gig minimum, which is about 1000 songs, long enough for most trips, but then I start thinking about $$/GB and the bigger ones seem to be better value from that standpoint. And battery life is very important. Flash players generally have battery lives in excess of 20 hours but the hard drive based players have batteries that last much less than that.

[Lost-in-FL]

14. Oh yes... in that case you might want something bigger

I don't travel a whole lot but I do exercise so the shuffle is convenient. Is your car i-POD ready? I tried using my i pod in the car with the i-trip thingy once. What a disappointment. But of course, that was the first generation i-pods.

[smoogatz]

13. Love my iPod Nano--

trying to wangle the 80G iPod for my birthday. But I'm a Mac person all the way.

[Decruiter]

15. Try this site for fun new music

www.hypem.com
Sucked out hundreds of free tunez, legally.

[riverdeep]

16. You might also want to check out Cowon

-a Korean company. If all you're interested in is music and not video, although they make those too, check out the M3. It's considered old by today's standards, came out in 2004 I think, but it's a great player.


I've had mine since 2004 and it's still going strong, a great little player. You should know a few things. One, battery is not considered user replaceable. Mine is just now starting to get to the point where it's holding a charge less and less. Supposedly you can send it to the company to get it replaced for a fee, or take your chances doing it yourself if you're handy. Two, unlike a lot of players, the unusual design feature is that you use the remote to interact with the player. Some find this a dealbreaker, others find it convenient-leave the player in a bag, and just pull out the remote. Me, I just set it for random usually so I don't care. If you change songs a lot, the remote doesn't have as much space as a screen, so that could pose a conflict. Three, it has more codecs than typical-mp3,ogg vorbis, flac, wav. The sound quality, when replacing the stock headphones with decent ones, is excellent. As close to an audiophile mp3 player as you're going to get, although Creative's sound quality is also excellent. Fourth, the music is organized like it is on your computer, a file tree system, with no DRM limitations. Fifth, it has a hard drive, so it can take moderate excerise like running, but probably not strenuous excerise. Finally, it needs a dock, included, to do the fastest charging and transferring of files. Plays for about 8 hours conservatively on a full charge. The one above is 20 gigs. NewEgg has a 30 gig for $190. Mine is a 40 gig they don't sell anymore, different color too, metallic brown.

[alarimer]

19. I think having a user-replaceable battery is a better deal

I don't know that it's a deal-breaker, though.

[fishwax]

17. I can't provide much help on an MP3 player, but I have a question about audiolunchbox

Do you like this service? I hadn't heard of it until reading your post, but it looks like something I might be interested in. I had emusic and absolutely loved it, but had to drop my subscription the last time it came up for renewal last fall. So how do you feel about audiolunchbox compared to emusic?

I'm totally with you on the no DRM bit. That's the reason I loved emusic and have avoided any of the other subscription services. When I buy the music, I want to be able to do whatever I please with it :)

[alarimer]

18. I think Emusic has more familiar music.

And with Emusic I pay 9.99 and get 40 downloads (I joined before they reduced it to 30), so I get probably 3 albums per month. There are other plans. With Audiolunchbox I get 40 credits per month for the same amount. Most tracks are 1 credit and most albums, regardless of length are 10 credits. Some songs, however, are 4 credits and albums 40 credits (the most popular or newest ones I think). But you can also buy songs or albums on Audiolunchbox outright, which is not possible with Emusic.

[fishwax]

20. Thanks for the info

I want to do an annual subscription, rather than a month-to-month thing, which I noticed audio lunchbox offers. So I guess it's either that or buy myself a gift subscription to emusic. I do miss it :)

Thanks for the helpful info :hi:

[SKKY]

21. I tried/tested about 10 MP3 players before I decided on one...

...and without a doubt, the new Creative line is what I would recommend. Better sound quality, better value, and they just "seem" better built to me. The iPod is sexy, and it's a decent player, but for my money, Creative was the way to go.

[alarimer]

22. That's helpful

Thanks. The Sansa line seemed a little flimsy to me, especially the scroll wheel. I definitely have Creative on my list.