What mp3 player should I buy [out of... all of them!]

corblimey

I'm looking for a good mp3 player, and have narrowed it down to ....er....all of them

I would prefer not to get tied into the iTunes/iPod setup, and all my music is currently in mp3 format on an external hd. I believe there's some way of playing mp3 files on an iPod, but it seems a little hacky.

I only need about 4gig (1000 songs). Any more is just a waste.

I need the transfer software to be easy to use and fast (so out goes the Sony player, apparently)

I need no other functionality, no shuffle play, no video, no pictures, no crap like that.

I have a Creative Zen and found it to be okay, although I wasn't happy with the ripoff iPod clickwheel kind of thing which seemed kinda finicky on my version.

leche solara

Have you looked at iAudio by Cowon?

corblimey

I have, but there doesn't seem to be much going on below 30gig unless I missed a page somewhere.

phantom_lord

Get the 6gig sony walkman. I used sonic stage to put on the music and I had no problems with it.

corblimey

Well that would certainly solve it, I like the look feel and sound of the Sony, but was concerned about the slow software.

missingtime

The new Philips 6gig player looks very cool.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Philips_GoGear_Jukebox_HDD1630_6GB/4505-6490_7-31503514.html

Or else maybe an iRiver. I'm always on this site: www.advancedmp3players.co.uk drooling over the many many players.

I'm saving for the creative zen vision:m.

Bard

corblimey wrote:

I only need about 4gig (1000 songs). Any more is just a waste.

How about one of these pretty young things?

bpmurray

How about this: http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/09/dada-unleashes-code-m-mp3-shoes-on-an-unsuspecting-populace/

corblimey

mp3 shoes? really?

Anyway, took a trip into town today and have it narrowed down between the iRiver h10 and the iAudio x5 20gig.

There's a bit of a diff in price (about 80 quid?) and really, I think the extra features of the iAudio would just be wasted on me (I have no reason to watch video on the move, and having more than a couple of thousand songs available is pointless.

I believe that the supplied headphones with the iRiver (Sennheiser?) are top-notch, and add in the tuner and the ease of transfer and I'm leaning towards it. The only thing I don't like is the touch sensitive pad, I'd prefer the joystick of the iAudio.

And of course, the iAudio is very very pretty

Toss a coin?

Slutmonkey57b

You'll be surpised how quickly even 20gigs fills up

marcsignal

Don't know a lot about mp3 players etc but i got one of these on the web from UK as i understand the H10 model has replaced them here in ireland ?? (don't quote me on that ? that's what the guy in PEATS said)
40gig storage space and it plays All formats (mp3 ,wma, etc etc..) But I needed one i could record on to with external mic for interviews, as well as line-in, however it has a built in mic as well and the quality is good, as usual the 'new model' only has half the features of the h340 check the link

https://www.foneplanet.com/default.asp?showpage=productinfo.asp&pid=1011759

was expensive and they charged £40 sterling to deliver to Dublin, but i ordered it thursday and it arrived on monday morning, hope this is helpful ??

good hunting ;-)

Bard

marcsignal wrote:

Don't know a lot about mp3 players etc but i got one of these on the web from [the] UK as i understand the H10 model has replaced them here in ireland ?? (don't quote me on that ? that's what the guy in PEATS said)

The 'guy in PEATS' is correct. The H10 Series (unfortunately) directly replaces the H300 Series.

Personally I really dislike the direction iRiver have taken with their players. I find the H10 to be a complete let-down... but I guess maybe that's just me... (?)

Desmo

Bard wrote:

The 'guy in PEATS' is correct. The H10 Series (unfortunately) directly replaces the H300 Series.

Personally I really dislike the direction iRiver have taken with their players. I find the H10 to be a complete let-down... but I guess maybe that's just me... (?)

I got a 6gb H10 2 weeks ago and I used to have a 500mb flash card player so it is my first big capacity mp3 player and I love it.
The hardware is excellent value with a detachable battery; battery plays for 12 hours, the FM radio is fine. The main complaint is the daft firmware which you can change. Having done that I drag albums onto it like a USB disc and use a free utility (easyh10) to update the onboard database. I never had anything else from iRIVEr so I do not know what I am missing I guess. What do you not like about it?

Bard

Desmo wrote:

What do you not like about it?

Let's see... the firmware that's bundled with it, lack of drag & drop ability out of the box, the lack of features compared with their older (H300) product range (no line-out, no direct line-in encoding or transferring files from cameras, etc. without the as-yet unavailable dock - oh and the graphic equaliser & sound enhancement features are poor), the over simplified menu system, the touchpad (I prefer a joystick/button driven interface), the lack of OGG Vorbis support, the lack of support for any O/S other than Windows XP, the removable and easily losable rubber cover for the interface port at the bottom of the player, ...

need I go on?

Pinkchick03

OMG

I am so confused.
There is too many mp3 players i don't know where to start.
I just want a basic one. but that iaudio 6 is pretty cool.
Trying to find the price of it - but can't find one anywhere.
I was just going to buy one of those slim ones - but i should probably get a bigger one as they do fill up pretty fast.
What other good ones are there?
I have heard of creative zens and IPods
don't want an IPod - i know i'm so fussy!
I want a FM radio on it - but thats about all the extras i want!
Any help appreciated!
Thanks!

Scubadevils

The iAudio 6 will be available here in about 3-4 weeks all going well. The current price works out around 299 which is a tad too expensive for a 4GB player. The reason for this is the use of the new micro HD which are not yet in mass production. Cowon are one of the first to use it. It should hopefully be nearer to about 269 when it hits our shores.

Another very relevant point is that flash memory is dropping in price big time. Over the next few months expect to see a lot of high capacity flash players appearing from all the big names - we should see players with around 8-10GB of flash memory very soon. These will have multiples of 2GB flash chips - Toshiba are mass producing these now thanks to the Apple Nano (but I'm sure Apple are buying up most of these at the moment). Benefit of this for anyone that doesn't know is that the players will be physically smaller and less prone to faults as flash memory has no moving parts.

Dont be at yourself

Sony players are great, but the software is awful. Dunno if it'll play well with external drives either.

Creative Zen Neeon is launching over in Europe soon, a really nice player. 6GB, drag and drop, really small, it's cool.

CiaranC

Avoid Sony like the plague.

I have found Apple and creative to be unreliable - went through 3 early creatives and was plagued with battery issues with Apple. iRiver are great, but the newer ones are gone to pot.

Which leaves iAudio.

offensive word removed

MiCr0

i've been using an ipod 30gb for the last few days
one thing i've noticed - you can now use winamp to transfer tracks over
bye bye itunes

quintron

No mention of the Archos 402 or 402cc? Well worth a look!