Good mp3 players?

[GregHess]

http://www.mushkin.com/epages/Mushkin.storefront/3f4f31960689290a273fc0a8010505e9/Product/View/991008

I got one of these guys. Small, multiple applications, works, long battery life, only cord you need is USB.

The rear belt clip is a bit loose, so I don't clip it on anything, just throw it in my pocket :).

Other manufacturers are making similar products. With 256 megs you can easily use it to do IT work, transfer files around between workstations, listen to music, whatever :).

[M.Rogne]

If your budget was a bit larger, I'd recommend the iPaq... But well, that's a harddisk player.

[BeCOOL_MiN]

www.iriver.com


Definitly Buy I-RIVER !!

tiny. powerful. Enough Space( 128, 256, 512MB ), Never-End Software upgrade service.


personally I love it.

[dvornik]

I have 3 different players and used to have an ipod, which I returned to Dell.

USB players are too slow to transfer music to (unless you can find one with USB 2), and even 512 MB of music gets boring really fast. I have a rio sports and hardly use it, only for jogging - that means almost never. They also tend to use propriatary software, at least rio does. Plus rio sports doesn't have downloadable drivers - you need to buy a CD if you lose the old one.

CD mp3 players are not bad but are the size of CD player and you need to carry CDs around. Still, my favorite player is Panasonic SL-CT800 - it's small, rechargeable and all you need is burn mp3s to CDs. No playlists though.
here (http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&itemId=63296&catGroupId=11119&modelNo=SL-CT800&surfModel=SL-CT800)

Harddrive players seem too propriatary in many aspects. Ipod is the best. I wish it had non-propriatary ports and had an option of transfering mp3s directly without all that software. And fixed that damn equalizer.

Generally look for fast transfer, small size, friendly software (better yet no software at all), non-propriatary connections, rechargeable and preferably replacable batteries.

[molson67]

I would also suggest looking at a Minidisc player. If you are looking at mp3 players that hold 128MB then a Minidisc player might be for you. The MD player will hold the same amount of songs on one disc. You can swap discs instead of plugging the mp3 device into your computer and uploading files. I bought the Sony 510 and am very happy with it so far. I have 5 discs that I rotate and listen to while Jogging. An 80 minute Disc holds about 160 minutes in lp2 mode.

The Minidiscs do use a proprietary compression method though (ATRAC).

Mark

[Neison]

I have a Memorex personal cd-player that reads mp3 cds and love it. Of course it has cons --larger than your average mp3 player and you have to burn your mp3s to a cd-- but at the same time you won't find yourself spending hours ripping all your music just to listen to it.

The thing only costs about $40 at Target in america.

that IRiver thing looks cool, expensive though :shrug:

[Hookflash]

So far, I've narrowed my choices down to:

MPIO FL100 (128mb)
Panasonic SL-CT800

They are about the same price. Decisions, decisions...

[dvornik]

I am considering this player (also iRiver), as soon as they release a 20 gig version (now it's 10). It's drag and drop USB2:
http://austinv.com/pics/ihp_gallery/ihp1.htm
http://gear.ign.com/articles/435/435472p1.html

Hopefully the prices will go down by the end of the year, it's too expensive now.

[iBlue]

Originally posted by BeCOOL_MiN
www.iriver.com


Definitly Buy I-RIVER !!

tiny. powerful. Enough Space( 128, 256, 512MB ), Never-End Software upgrade service.


personally I love it.

i have the slimX mp3/cd player. awesome thing. :)

[dvornik]

I've read good things about slimX. It may have better controls than panasonic and is almost as slim. Overall iriver seems like a respectable company.

[???]

http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/Home.jsp

[Hookflash]

Does anyone know of a Canadian iRiver retailer? I can't find anyone here in Canada who carries them. I think I'll probably wind up going with the SL-CT800 anyway (it's recieved glowing reviews).

Dvornik: I just read that the SL-CT800's don't have good volume (they say it's too low). Have you had any problems with this?

[dvornik]

Sounds loud to me - I use sony earbuds and it can go louder than I can stand. It sound pretty loud even with large headphones like MDR-V600, although with them I'd have to turn it all the way up.

[Sieb]

I got a a 10gig Ipod v1.0. I love it.. Ipods are pwn3g! :) I even turned my into a Winiepod so its a 10gig firewire drive in windows.

[RormanKnockwell]

I'm quite happy with my Archos Jukebox Recorder 20 (http://www.archos.com/products/prw_500277.html).

Some advantages compared with the iPod:
- Record MP3's as well as playback.
- Easily replaceable batteries (4xNiMH AA's, about $10)
- Hard disk can be replaced (with difficulty), so you are not s.o.l. in case you drop it on the sidewalk.
- Firmware can be replaced with excellent open source alternative (http://rockbox.haxx.se/), which is in active development.

The downside:
- Buttons are wobbly.
- Interface is less than intuitive.

Look for the older, boxy version of the Jukebox. The newer, curvy one uses a proprietary battery.

[Hookflash]

Here's what I decided to get:

http://www.avland.co.uk/panasonic/slct800/slct800lrg.jpg

Should be arriving within the next 5 days or so, which should give me enough time to rip my entire cd collection (I'm using "Exact Audio Copy" + Lame 3.90.3 --preset-standard).

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