Can anyone recommend a good starter MP3 player?

JG1

Hi

I am pretty clueless when it comes to music technology but I would like to buy an MP3 player. My needs are simple! I want something that is easy to use, holds 2000-4000 songs (don't care for something that is an all singing, all dancing piece of equipment) and can be used with speakers. A friend has an iPod which is a very neat piece of kit but i have read that there are sturdier models on the market. Any suggestions are welcome!

dulpit

Realistically an iPod is probably the way to go, it's the easiest thing in the world to use... Alternatively, (if you're an iPod basher) you could check out the Creative Vision M, it's kinda similar to the iPod, physically slightly thicker, but other than that very similar players...

JG1

No, I'm not an iPod basher! This is where is starts to get complicated for me. I would like to transfer my CDs onto the player. I thought that with iPods, you had to use iTunes. I have a lot of CDs and don't want to have to buy them again via iTunes. Will an iPod allow me to transfer music from existing CDs?

dulpit

Ya, as far as i know it's just a simple matter of sticking the cd into the drive, and using iTunes to rip them onto the computer... You'll have to do that no matter which mp3 player you use... (obviously not using itunes if getting a creative)

maxitwist

ya there's not much competion in the 30gb market.
there's only actually 5 players in the market that I can think of, toshiba gigabit s, iaudio x5, ipod video , creative zen vision:m and the zune but the zune isint actually out here yet (and it won't be for ages) So even though I don't personally like ipods, I would have to say if you just want something that looks nice, is easy to use then the ipod is probably for you, maybe you should check out the toshiba or zen though.

Bard

There are plenty of alternatives to iTunes, some of which you can see in thr FAQ thread in this forum.

pleasant Co.

like bard says, you don't have to use iunes, but you do have to use some sort of software...seems like the ipod would suit you, or the cheap (price wise) creative Zen Vision M.

Gran Hermano

OP, depends what you mean by a starter mp3 player

Get yourself a 30GB Zen Vision M, it's bundled with Creative's
own sofware which, whilst you don't have to use it, it'll allow
you to easily copy music from your CD to the player.

JG1

Thanks for all the suggestions. This has narrowed the search for me.

tattoo

I'm also new to all this mp3 tech. I just bought the creative zen v plus. I didn't fancy something that holds 15,000 songs. Although i would go for something with probably 8gbs. I found out that when it says it holds 1,000 songs, it really only holds about 500. The creative zen v plus comes with 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 gbs. I also bought the travelsound speakers with it and it sounds great.

I'm not sure but does an i-pod have a radio on it, the creative does, which was important to me.

hope it helps

kinkstr

Think you need one of these to be able to listen to the radio.

tattoo

You need a seperate attachment to play the radio? I'll stick with the creative thanks.

kinkstr

I think so but im not 100% on it, ive never owned an Ipod.

pleasant Co.

yes you do. The ipod does not have built in radio

JIZZLORD

creative ftw, transferring mp3s is as easy as dropping and dragging in media player. my last one was a sony and drm was like teh buttsecks, it was a terror. no problems with the creative (Zen vision:M 30gb)
249 in extravision, but a bunch of people bought them cheaper from some website that was on the bargains thread.

pleasant Co.

If you could get some one to ship a ZVM over from england you can get the 60gb version for 235 euro off amazon http://amazon.co.uk/o/ASIN/B000JP76TO/ref=s9_asin_image_3-1966_p/202-0070073-2258250?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1Z7T6RZQGJGZNDSTRCKF&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=139293691&pf_rd_i=468294

Venom

Another vote here for the Creative vison M 30g. Fantastic player with built in radio, better video quality and all your CD's can be ripped and imported via Media Player 10 up

pleasant Co.

Mactard wrote:

If you could get some one to ship a ZVM over from england you can get the 60gb version for 235 euro off amazon http://amazon.co.uk/o/ASIN/B000JP76TO/ref=s9_asin_image_3-1966_p/202-0070073-2258250?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1Z7T6RZQGJGZNDSTRCKF&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=139293691&pf_rd_i=468294

Just thought of something, you could get amp3.co.uk to price match this and they'd ship it over.

Gran Hermano

Mactard wrote:

Just thought of something, you could get amp3.co.uk to price match this and they'd ship it over.

I got them to do an Amazon price match a couple of months back...
Worth a shot.

JG1

Swinging towards the Creative. I am particularly interested in having speakers for the player for parties and soirees. There are accessories and all sorts on the shopping sites. Can anyone recommend reasonably priced set of speakers for, we'll say,the Creative Zen 30GB. I have seen speakers that are the size of a spectacle case which would be neat but perhaps not effective for phat beats.

pleasant Co.

the logitech x230 speakers are excellent, they cost about 60euro in argos and are simply fantastic for their price,

Royale with Cheese

I own 3 creatives. One old 30gb zen xtra I keep plugged into my xbox now, a 60gb zen vision:m and a 1gb zen stone. All very easy to use. Drag and drop. Unless you don't know how to use windows explorer then it will be the easiest mp3 player you'll ever want to deal with.

Have had to get other people's ipod's or sony mp3 players to work in the past. Instead of keeping things simple by just letting you drag and drop, they've decided people probably don't know how to do that and bundle the players with rubbish software with all that library + sync crap. It wasn't like I didn't know what I was doing but just for terms of ease of use the drag and drop system is absolutely miles ahead.

macpaddy

I have to say that the Iriver Clix Is just a brilliant small player, Iriver probably isn't as well known as Apple or Creative but I think it beats them both hands down,take a look at the reviews it gets on Cnet