MP3 player v i-Pod......

Shyster

Im looking to buy an mp3 player but I dont know where to start looking?!
I only need memory for about 200songs in the €200 price range r so.
Ive been told to get an mp3player over an i-Pod because of the radio....is it the way to go or should I not be ruling out an i-Pod??

bush

Shyster wrote:

Im looking to buy an mp3 player but I dont know where to start looking?!
I only need memory for about 200songs in the €200 price range r less.
Ive been told to get an mp3player over an i-Pod because of the radio....is it the way to go or should I not be ruling out an i-Pod??

Thats like asking should I get a granny smith or an apple

Le Rack

rule out i-pod! they dont work on any computer except apple! I have a Creative Zen and its the best thing ever! Iv over 1000 songs so far and theres still room! theres two choices a 20GB or a 5GB they're both 300 euro but well worth it! the reason they're both the same price but have different memory is cuz the 5GB one is pocket size whereas the 20GB is a bit bigger. But its the best machine ever!!!

RobertFoster

Le Rack wrote:

they dont work on any computer except apple!

... :rolleyes:

Shyster

bush wrote:

Thats like asking should I get a granny smith or an apple

hmmm....Im sure thats a fantastic metaphor type thing but i dont get it sry!

Asok

Le Rack wrote:

rule out i-pod! they dont work on any computer except apple!

WOW! Really!?!

jesus_thats_gre

Le Rack wrote:

rule out i-pod! they dont work on any computer except apple! /QUOTE]

Do not listen to this persons opinion. I think it is fair to say that...

L5

Le Rack wrote:

rule out i-pod! they dont work on any computer except apple!

wow, i must just be imagining using mine on my pc then



Bullshít.
They work 100% perfectly with Windows pcs.

Shyster

so whats the disadvantage of an ipod then-radio?

L5

get an ipod mini. credit card sized, holds over 1000 songs. costs about 200 euro.

flogen

Le Rack wrote:

rule out i-pod! they dont work on any computer except apple!

When was the last time you read up on ipods?
You should probably check the Gadgets forum to get more information on what's out there, but if you really want a radio built into it then ipod isn't the place to look. Ignoring that every type of mp3 player has its pro's and con's so the best thing is to figure out exactly what you're looking for (size, price range, versatility, features, design, colour, connection type, shape, button dexterity) and see what matches best on the market.

anna20

got an ipod mini for my bday from my wonderful friends in college(only saying that cause they mite read this). its the coolest thing i've ever gotten. it works grand on my laptop and its a DELL so not sure bout this vicious rumour that it only works on apple computers. whoever typed that is clearly crazy. get on ipod!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

youcancallmeal

bush wrote:

Thats like asking should I get a granny smith or an apple

No its more like asking should i get coins or a piggy pank. The ipod stores mp3's so the 'vs' statement makes no sense.

Anyway the answer to the original question is i-river...

Rhyme

Buy an i-pod and dont look when you are selecting your song and hey-presto... an i-pod shuffle...

Otherwise, Creative are the way to go

flogen

Rhyme wrote:

Buy an i-pod and dont look when you are selecting your song and hey-presto... an i-pod shuffle...

Otherwise, Creative are the way to go

or buy an ipod and hit 'shuffle' and hey presto, an ipod shuffle!

andrew163

I've got a creative muvo^2 4GB. Same capacity (actually exact same model of hard drive) as an iPod, only cheaper...

tbh, it's a good player but it has serious drawbacks. It's too fidgity, and the screen is tiny. iPod mini's are so much nicer to use.....that big wheel thingy on them is genius...

If you're gonna get a Creative, make sure it's either got huge buttons on it (like the Zen Micro) or that scroll wheel button thingy that the MuVo NX and Zen Xtra have. Don't get a MuVo^2.

I used an iRiver once (for about 10 minutes) and liked it alot. Seemed similar to the iPod mini (although only got a quick look at it), only it felt more solid or something...(and bigger).

Shyster

hmmm, are we still talking about ipods here...?!

Piste

I have a creative zen micro and have gotten it replaced twice already, my third is broken as well, they seem to be fine for everyone else though

grimloch

am ipod mini might suit you, last time i checked they were less than 200 euros, little things are damn comfy in your pocket too

im not mad on the zen on account of its weight

Dinner

I'd go with the iPod, well I already have one, but you should go for one. I was using a zen micro on thursday and the bloody thing kept on playing songs when all I want to do was just have a look at the songs.

embee

I've a 20GB iPod. I love it. Currently have 1134 tracks on it, some of which are pretty long, but I still have 14GB free space. The click wheel is great, and they look pretty too.

Oh, and they work with Windows. Fancy that!

grimloch

of course they work with windows unless ive been imagining things

the OP is only looking for the capacity for 300 songs if i recall, the ipod mini is less than 200 thus my recommendation

ShevY

Rio Carbon -

I have one, its about the same size as the ipod mini, but has a 5gig hdd compared to the ipod minis 4gig, also the battery life is up to 20HOURS, compared to the ipod minis 8hours.

Way cheaper than the ipod mini online. about 180euro.

Interface isnt as good as the ipods. (i used to have a 4g 20gig)

Glad I got mine instead of the ipod mini, especially since, when I ordered one, thay sent me 2!!!

i am aware that i have type ipod mini quite a lot in this post :]

Creamy Goodness

i would suggest anything but an ipod of any carnation. i had a 3rd gen one about 5 months ago. the things i found wrong with it was.

1. battery would drain even without using it, this was even when it was only 2 weeks old.
2. no radio.
3. earphones are rubbish.
4. have to buy attachments to make voice recordings (i find this handy)
5. i started to dislike it as i found out it could only play stupid file types m4a, acc etc. no ogg or even wma.

i went for an iriver h140, they are discontinued now but you should look at their products aswell as the others that were mentioned above like the offerings from creative.

the zen micro has a radio built in and they look great and are small.
if i was going for a mp3 player right about now i'd go for the iriver h10
http://www.iriver.com/html/product/prpa_product.asp?pidx=61

the reasons for me picking this is it has all the features of it's rivals and more
1. more stylish looking (in my opinion) than the ipod, ipod mini, and zen micro
2. you get quality sennheiser headphones with it (they are unbranded sennheisers though, same thing).
3. supports mp3, wma, ogg and almost every other file format.
4. has a built in radio.
5. records voice (handy for college, or if you're a journalist)
6. it has a line-in jack
7. you can view photos on it.
8. only one of the 4-5gb player range with a colour screen.
9. you can also record off the radio on to the player.

the only downside is that it's 50 euros more expensive than 200 euros
http://www.mx2.co.uk/acatalog/MX2_co_uk_MP3_Players_50.html

RicardoSmith

Shyster wrote:

Im looking to buy an mp3 player but I dont know where to start looking?!
I only need memory for about 200songs in the €200 price range r less.
Ive been told to get an mp3player over an i-Pod because of the radio....is it the way to go or should I not be ruling out an i-Pod??

I guess it depends if you listen to the radio of not doesn't it?

Theres a load of players at €200 and less. I like the Rio Carbon myself. Smaller than the iPod mini and longer battery life. No DRM issues. I think its allows drag and drop. No radio. If you want a radio you have to look at a Creative Zen or IRiver.

grimloch

i retract my ealrier statement about the ipod mini being sub-200 euro

cant for the life of me recall why i thought that

so maybe the zen micro?

rabbitinlights

The old 4gig model was €189 for about a month before they changed them, and the new minis do not come with a wall charger.

I would also go for an Iriver h10. pretty slick player. they are about €279 in shops though.

S.

Egyptian

Iriver H10 would be my choice in your situation,

Although if your willing to spend a little extra, check out the Iriver H320.

This has lots of features including

1. MP3 Playback
2. Video Playback
3. Radio (multi region)
4. Recording (internal/external mic)
5. Picture Viewing
6. Text Viewing
7. USBOTG
8. Drag and drop for ease of use
9. Colour screen

____

Clank

Ive had a 20GB iPod and currently have a 30 GB iPod Photo both served me without a problem, I currently have 5668 songs on my iPod and iTunes really is a godsend.
(Half the battle when youve as many songs as me is good software and there is no better music organiser than iTunes)

Id recommend iPods or iRivers, Creatives are poo, they have an appalling return rate, theres a reason theyre cheapest, they use cheap components.

gandalf

Choice I see it is as follows.

If you want something thats easy to use go for the iPod anyone can use it. My Ex has one and I was impressed with how easy it was to use. (no radio thou)

I went for an iRiver H320 which I use with iTunes (I had it on my system for the Ex's iPod). I find the iRiver excellent and it has a decent enough radio and the ability to record programs as you listen to them which is quite handy. It also has voice activated recording (if you need that sort of thing!).

RicardoSmith

rabbitinlights wrote:

The old 4gig model was €189 for about a month before they changed them, and the new minis do not come with a wall charger.

I would also go for an Iriver h10. pretty slick player. they are about €279 in shops though.

S.

So on a budgt of 200 you'd go for one thats 279...

The older 4GB iPod Mini is 209 and the 5GB Rio Carbon is the same.

cormie

Well 200 songs is less than 1 gigs worth so maybe you should go for a flash based player. It depends whether you intend on getting many more albums and making them into MP3 for portable use or not. If your more of a radio person than album person, then a flash player is probably more down your line.

Do not get an ipod shuffle, they don't even have an LCD display!!! They are just well marketed like their iPod brother. You can get better for cheaper in both cases. Listen to what others have said about other brands, iRiver in particular.

Keep an eye out in the for sale forum and you may get one in your budget

RicardoSmith

The 1GB iShuffle is €149. Whats the alterntives to that? The iPod Mini and Rio are 200 for 4G & 5G. Which seems like a better deal to me. Pity none of them have a radio and can record from a line in.

Shane O' Malley

Have to recomend the Rio Carbon myself.

Personally i think it is better looking than the mini, has better battery life and i am not stuck with using Itunes.

Also has good audio book features and will take voice notes.

Check the reviews, seems to come out on top in most. I have seen too many people have problems with ipods if they are using 2 or more computers, especially if they use a mac at home and a pc at work.

cgf

Clank wrote:

Ive had a 20GB iPod and currently have a 30 GB iPod Photo both served me without a problem, I currently have 5668 songs on my iPod and iTunes really is a godsend.
(Half the battle when youve as many songs as me is good software and there is no better music organiser than iTunes)

Id recommend iPods or iRivers, Creatives are poo, they have an appalling return rate, theres a reason theyre cheapest, they use cheap components.

I've had a Creative Zen NX 30gb since Sept. '03 and not 1 problem. During this time I was backpacking around Aus & NZ for 5months thru the outback and trekking the south island in NZ without a single problem. Met plenty of people with ipods daming their battery life. Ipod might "look" better but as it spends most of it's time in ur pocket does it really matter?

voxpop

most of the mp3 players are virtually the same

20gig
iPod = small,easy to use,nice looking
zen touch = prob best sound (going by tech stats),cheapist
iriver = best functionaliity(if you need it), big,ugly,bad customer support

all can be gotton second hand for €200 or less

1gb
creative muvo micro- has radio, cheapish, small, http://www.nomadworld.com/products/muvo_Micron200/
iriver - has radio - http://www.iriver.com/eu/index.asp

voxpop

I have seen too many people have problems with ipods if they are using 2 or more computers, especially if they use a mac at home and a pc at work.

mybe if you use iTunes, but you can use ephpod - its free

Blisterman

Ipods can't create playlists on the fly, Which is what I do most of the time on my Creative. Also it doesn't play wmas, so forget about using Napster or any of them except I tunes.
The only things it's got going for it are that it looks cool, is small and is easy to use.

Creamy Goodness

Blisterman wrote:

Ipods can't create playlists on the fly, Which is what I do most of the time on my Creative. Also it doesn't play wmas, so forget about using Napster or any of them except I tunes.
The only things it's got going for it are that it looks cool, is small and is easy to use.

ipod's can create on the go playlists, just hold down the centre button until you selected song flashes still ipod's are far the least functional players that are out there.

Blisterman

Oh, ok I don't think you used to be able to do that.

Waltons

I'm going to agree with gandalf. I've got an iRiver H320 myself and I'd recommend it to anybody. For the person who said it's ugly, well that's a matter of taste. I've had no problems with customer support either

eclectichoney

love my iriver to bits some ppl slag off how it looks but its a matter of taste i guess

Makaveli

Clank wrote:

Id recommend iPods or iRivers, Creatives are poo, they have an appalling return rate, theres a reason theyre cheapest, they use cheap components.

Bull, I've a Zen Xtra with no problems what so ever, however Ipods I've used freeze, skip tracks and lag badly. Itunes is also one of the most annoying programs I've used, feels totally bloated.

Shyster

Im not mad about iTunes to be honest, reckon theres better.. Radio's kind of important but not essential....!!

Third_Echelon

Waltons wrote:

I'm going to agree with gandalf. I've got an iRiver H320 myself and I'd recommend it to anybody. For the person who said it's ugly, well that's a matter of taste. I've had no problems with customer support either

Yeah id recommend i-river. I've the H120, 20GB model and i've never had a moment of bother with it. Great piece of kit...

For your situation I would recommend the 5GB I-River thats out at the moment. Cremo mentioned it earlier in the thread. A friend in work has one and i was playing about with it. Its really nice interface and the colour screen is a bonus....

Knifey_Spoony

Im thinking of getting an iriver H320 or 340 myself. Any idea can you conect either of them up to normal speakers, or would you have to buy iriver ones? Wanna be able to connect it up to my normal cd player speakers in my room. Also any idea how much they are? Cant find it on their site. Thanx

Bottle_of_Smoke

I have an iriver h140, its worked perfectly so far (except mycokemusic.com tracks won't play on it) in hindsight i might of went for a large flash player - no moving parts would be nice - the odd time the iriver will jump to the next track if im walkin fast.

My name is Mud

Blinky1 wrote:

Im thinking of getting an iriver H320 or 340 myself. Any idea can you conect either of them up to normal speakers

they are both the same mahcine, only difference is the 20 gig or 40 gig memory and yes, they can connect up to normal speakers using the line-out

Blinky1 wrote:

or would you have to buy iriver ones?

nope, no need

Blinky1 wrote:

Wanna be able to connect it up to my normal cd player speakers in my room.

thats a "can do"

I have a H340.

Best

Player

Ever

voxpop

Shyster - before you make your purchase, check out somewhere like www.head-fi.org, just to balance out all the iriver fanboys

Im not mad about iTunes to be honest

you can use ephpod instead of iTunes - http://www.ephpod.com/ - its free

cormie

Blinky, the best deal for a H320 is here and for a H340, here. I would advise getting the H340 if your music collection is anything near 20GB as it will more than likely grow and you will find yourself wishing you had spent an extra €70 or so on double the storage. www.mx2.co.uk had the FULL version of the H340 for €340 about 2 months ago. I think only 1 of about 5 people who ordered it (on boards) got it though. I'm not too sure about the speakers. If your CD speakers have a headphone jack connection then you will be able, but if their the ones with the red and black wires on each speaker that go into the back of a stereo, I'm not sure. I'm sure you can somehow, I just don't know how Maybe ask in the gadget or home entertainment forum "how to connect stereo speakers to a headphone jack"

bottle_of_smoke, if you have a CD burner just burn the mycokemusic files to a CD and then rip them back to normal MP3. I've never heard of the iRiver skipping by simply walking fast Is it definitely because your walking fast and nothing to do with the actual MP3?

For all those wanting to know the best way to back up a CD, click here

cormie

Angry_Penguin wrote:

Shyster - before you make your purchase, check out somewhere like www.head-fi.org, just to balance out all the iriver fanboys

Well this is also an un-biased site. It just so happens iRiver comes out on top here too;)

And when you previously said it's ugly, It's really a matter of oppinion. It may not be as fashionable as an iPod but it's still quite appealing.
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