MP3 Players
Thursday, January 13th, 2005 - 2:55pm
So I've done enough research to be dangerous.
I'm in the market for an MP3 player. I wanted to get a few opinions from those of you out there.
So far, my research has shown that the Apple iPod is overpriced, problematic (batteries and durability) and has good sound quality. There is prestige in being an iPod owner, but I'm immune to that spell. On the good side, adding tunes to your iPod is just drag and drop.
My sights have also been focused on Creative Nomad Zen Xtra. This little guy comes in 30, 40 and 60 gig formats and is cheaper than the 20 gig iPod. It boasts great sound quality and longer battery life, and a changable battery. The knock here is that you must install software to add songs to the unit.
Can any of you help me out? I'm seriously considering buying this Creative player. Which one of you works for Creative and can get me a discount? 
Thanks!
Oh crumbs, I'm all thumbs laying here with you. You're beautiful and busty and I'm a little rusty - I've forgotten what to do...
This is what I got and I absolutely LOVE it
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000AQIFW/104-0833359-540...
PAR
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For all who live in such times, it is not for them to decide. All we get to decide is what to do with the time given to us
I got a 40gig Zen Xtra for Christmas this year and I love it. It only runs about 200 bucks, so that''s half the price of the comparable ipod. Granted, it''s a little larger than an ipod too. Well, it''s a good bit larger. But it''s also a portable hard drive, as long as you have the drivers installed on the other computer... All in all I''m extremely happy with it. Definitely get some new headphones, though, the ones that come with it are crap. All in all, I love the thing... hope that helps!
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I got a Dell Dj from my wife for Christmas. The thing is absolutely fantastic and I''m completely happy with it.
But, when I was shopping around before Christmas, the Creative Zen lines looked very appealing. While I recommend the Dell hands down, the Creative line sounds like it''s got a lot of good things to offer. You might check out the reviews on it at cNet if you haven''t already.
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Don''t put too much weight in the reports of ""problematic"". The battery thing especially is FAR FAR overblown. My friend''s 1st generation iPod still takes a full charge. Some people have had problems, sure, but they represent a small minority, and after all the hoopla about it, Apple finally implemented a good replacement battery program (better than you''ll get for most devices).
It definitely is a premium product. You get more space for less cost in the Zen, but you get a device that, IMO, is far sleeker and more of a joy to use. The Zen interface just doesn''t stand up (though it''s certainly better than the old Archos I used to have a few generations ago!)
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I got an Ilo 256 for xmas (80 bucks at Walmart, killer deal for 8 hours of music and the AAA that runs it lasts forever), which is made by Rave-MP and is basically double the content of PAR''s and it''s fine for my needs.
However, between what you listed and what we have is a big gap that you will have to decide on - flash or disk. From your listings, it looks like you don''t want a flash player (the Rio and my Ilo). I also spent some time pondering the two and of the non-flash memory ones I thought the Creative one to be a fairly solid machine. Plus, although I realize I''m in the minority here, I have always had solid performance from anything from them and will choose them over another product given a choice and all other things being near equal. Local radio station was giving the Nomads away as a weekly promotion last month and the winners have been calling in saying how great they are.
There was a post on this I read a few days back where another model was suggested over the iPod...can''t recall the item but it looked fairly interesting. Would be worth looking into (couldn''t be more than 3 pages back, threadwise) and couldn''t hurt to at least compare it.
The software install is a bit of a downer though. My player is easily loadable using nothing more than it''s USB cord to drag and drop, or, if I want to get all fancy, use WMP9 or greater to make playlists, folders, etc.
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I can quite thoroughly recommend the iRiver H-120 and the iRiver H-320 as the best alternatives to the iPod.
My brother owns a 120 and I myself have a 320, everything about them oozes quality:
Fantastic sound reproduction, 20-gig HDD, good battery life, excellent features, well supported via firmware, quality build and the best LCD screens in the business.
The 320 even allows video playback and the ability to plug in any USB mass storage devices, such as digicams or zip drives on the move.
Many of the more techie amongst us can also attest to their excellence.
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I''ll second illum on the Iriver-H120. I have one and the only problems I have with it are that gapless play isn''t really gapless and you can''t make playlists on the fly (The most you can do is queue up one song to play after the current one). I also use mine to record my jam sessions and band rehearsals. Very useful.
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I am listening to my Creative Labs Zen Touch Micro as I write this.
It competes directly with the Ipod mini but has an FM tuner, is 5 GB''s, contains a swappable barrtery and has better sound quality.
As for Creative''s big boys....they all some sort of issue. But i suggest you take alook at the prices and reviews over at http://www.shopping.com/xPC-~PD-22413113~NS-1
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I have an iRiver 20 gig, that I use when I want access to a lot of varied music, or when I''m on a trip. It is recognized by Windows as a USB hardrive so you can pretty much drag and drop anything you want to it. I sometimes use it to transport large files to and from work. The new color models look pretty sweet too.
Lately I''ve just been using my Treo 600 mobile phone, Pocket Tunes software, and a 1 gig SD card for day to day music listening since I always have it with me. Works great and will even mute the music and let an incoming call come through.
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I find myself staring at the iRiver on web-retailer sites all the time. I never buy it though. I don''t need one. I just want one really bad for no reason.
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I have had a Nomad Zen (the Zen 2.0 USB from a few years back) and liked it, but the song synching and software was crap. I hope they have made slicker software since then. Last year I bought an ipod, and the combination of itunes and the ipod are really tough to beat. The store is a joy to use (although I don''t use it much), the itunes software can be a bit quirky, but is quite intuitive and works well. The ipod itself (current gen, with the touch scroll wheel) is probably the easiest interface ever. My wife could not use my Zen for some strange reason, but she took to the ipod faster than I did.
I have no experience with the iRiver and Archos stuff, but everyone who has owned one has nothing but glowing things to say about them. I honestly don''t think you can go wrong with any of them, but you might want to take software into account, and I really think Apple is hard to beat in that area.
I''ve got the 20 gig Dell DJ. Can''t recommend it enough. Also, I highly recommend the third-party music library software from http://www.redchairsoftware.com.
I really like my iRiver as well, but I didn''t think it did video, only pictures. Did they add video in a firmware upgrade or something?
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My boyfriend bought the Nomad Zen last fall, and I could only resist for about three weeks before I had to get one of my own. It''s a really nice device. Get at least the 30GB, especially since they''re so incredibly cheap - you''ll be surprised how quickly it fills up.
As for the software - the Nomad integrates really nicely with Windows. If you install a small driver, Windows will treat it as a drive, so you can use it for moving files and backing stuff up in addition to storing all the music. You can also sync with it using the Windows Media Player (which has gotten really useful in version 10) or the jukebox software that comes with it..
I bought my brother and iRiver for Christmas based on some people raving about it here, and it is a pretty awesome player.
As for video yeah it supposedly does video if you are willing to put the european firmware on it or something. Details can be found at this site misticriver.net.
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I''ve had a Zen 40gb for over a year now and I''m still happy with it. When I bought it, it cost me about $260 after tax which was still cheaper than a 10gb ipod.
I use it at work and I also like to connect it to my laptop at school while i''m waiting for my next class.
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OK, my birthday wish...
60 gig Creative Zen Xtra!
Oh crumbs, I'm all thumbs laying here with you. You're beautiful and busty and I'm a little rusty - I've forgotten what to do...
So my birthday came a little earlier this year...
I am the proud owner of a new Creative Nomad Xtra 60 gig.
$299.99 at Fry''s with a $40 mail in rebate. Not too shabby!
Woo hoo!
Oh crumbs, I'm all thumbs laying here with you. You're beautiful and busty and I'm a little rusty - I've forgotten what to do...
Nice!
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Oh crumbs, I'm all thumbs laying here with you. You're beautiful and busty and I'm a little rusty - I've forgotten what to do...
I just got my wife an iRiver N10 512MB for gym. Tiny, neck wearable, has an OLED display, exceptional sound quality.
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I thought I would add that in addition to my first generation iPod (with a battery that needs to be replaced), I picked up one of the 1GB iPod Shuffles. I''m listening to it at work right now in fact and really like it. The big downside, of course, is the lack of a display but the 1GB at a pretty cheap price point certainly a good device.
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So... now I have this spiffy new MP3 player... the ear buds that came with it made my ears hurt in about 10 seconds flat.
Can someone recommend a set of good headphones? I don''t mind over the head types, but I want to look into behind the head style. I''m not overly fond of just plain ear buds.
Durable. Affordable. Comfortable. Any suggestions? Sounding good helps too.
Oh crumbs, I'm all thumbs laying here with you. You're beautiful and busty and I'm a little rusty - I've forgotten what to do...
Sony Fontopia MDR-EX51LP
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000095SB6/qid=1108764724/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-8135999-7132808?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846
They''re incredibly comfortable, do a great job of blocking outside noise, and IMO, they sound excellent. I''m using them with my DJ20 and they''re a vast improvment over the standard buds that it shipped with. Reasonably priced too and free shipping at Amazon.
Added: Let me say, I really wasn''t pleased with the idea of ear buds until I tried these, but I''ve been really impressed. They''ve converted me to a degree (I''d still prefer over-the-ear phones if I''m at home or whatever, but for the morning commute, they''re fantastic).
We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.