MP3 player - what one to choose?

[Lighters]

Ok, all my friends have an MP3 player or an Ipod and i'm the only one without one.

I have alot of music that i can add thats in the standard of wmv and mp3
These are the only 2 formats i will probably be using unless you can think of another format like .wav or something that i will also be using.

I just want something that will let me listen to alot of songs add excelent quality and let me load songs on quickly with no hassle and let me not have to worry about breaking the product or so. I just want to fit it somehwere in my coat or pocket so its user friendly and the interface and battery life would also be a great added extra as i see myself doing alot of listening.

I would also prefer a screen, as i would like to know what songs i am listening to.

Extended features like connecting them into speakers voice recording is bonus not neccess but speakers would b nice.

[Supreme2k]

For the "cool" factor, go with the iPod Nano. Or better $/Gig ratio would be regular iPod

There's a few here that will give you more bang for your buck (one that even plays video).

[curlyween]

I have a Creative Muvo TX FM and it's great!
I would highly recommend this unit to you.
Has all the features you're asking about.

[hoyboy]

Ipods are cool.Until they break.

[Cobra]

I've got a MuVo TX (the 512MB non-radio version) and it has proven itself to be pretty tough. No drivers are needed - just plug it in and Windows XP sees it as a removable drive. Drag and drop files on to it, and you're off! You can also use it to store data alongside your music - I've got Portable Firefox on it, which I am currently using.

The only thing it needs is support for Ogg Vorbis files. That codec leaves everything else standing.

[rallynavvie]

IMO Apple would do so much better if they finally incorporated an FM tuner into the iPod series. I thought perhaps they had done so with the Nano but I don't think it has a tuner. Sure you can store a ton of random music from your computer and have it mix it for you but sometimes you just want to listen to random crap from the radio, or perhaps get weather reports when you're out jogging and see bad weather moving in. However I do own a 60GB iPod, I got it for free through work so I'm not complaining. I rarely use it for music though, mostly just for its portable hard drive space.

[MackemX]

from day one I can't understand how people ever paid stupid prices for the ipod and how it got so popular with it's monochrome screen and lack of radio etc. It's a little more expensive here in the UK for ipod stuff though and in the beginning was just ridiculous

unbelievable but I guess it's another case of the muppet mass buying and making somethingt so popular so they still take the piss with the prices. Obviously now you can get all the fancy extras but the price of official stuff like speakers etc is a ******* joke but again the masses go for it. You can get stuff cheaper on ebay but again you get idiots who even pay OTT for stuff on there

example of muppets HERE

currently £360 and it will probably go a little higher even though you can buy it new for less than £280 delivered if you shop about. So the muppets are paying £95 (inc P&P) extra just for the songs even though it's not brand new

what I piss myself laughing at is the new BMW 1 series ads here in the UK. A whole TV advert or advertising billboard dedicated to the fact it has a connection to plug in your ipod so you can use your steering wheel controls. **** man, I must rush out and buy a BMW 1 series as no other car has an ipod connection

http://ipodyourbmw.com/

are they taking the ******* piss or what? are people really that stupid they would buy a BMW just for the fact it's got an ipod connection for your ICE?

I see my fair share of what I call 'insulting' adverts on TV etc and can't believe that they spend money advertising this feature but I guess there are muppets out there who fall for crap like this

these days there's so many mp3 players to choose from that people aren't sure which one to get so most will opt for the ipod just because of the brand name

why buy an ipod when you can get something with more features and probably cheaper? I guess it just shows you how much people think that the ipod name means something these days

@rallynavie, as a company why incorparate something when the can sell it as a plugin for silly prices again? . At least you got yours free

muppets the lot of them!

[rallynavvie]

I don't even know how that eBay auction is legal. And even if I were offered an iPod with 40GB of music on it I would promptly format. Not because I'm opposed to music piracy as such but because it's a waste of precious hard drive space.

See when I first saw an iPod in person all I could think of was "damn, that's a small hard drive". I really didn't care about its primary ability of playing MP3s, I just wanted that much space to transport client DVD images about easier than my 3.5" external hard drive. I would perhaps have bought a 60GB color one when they came down to their current price just for that purpose but since my work bought over 1500 G5s from Apple there were a few perks that went along with the sale. The lucky few got vouchers for an obscene discount on Apple Cinema Displays (like bringing the cost of the big one down to $300 or something). I jumped on an iPod quick (this is when the 60GB one just came out) just because I had a good chance of getting one. I could have picked up a decked-out dual G4 system instead so it was a tough choice.

However if I had to choose between any MP3 player on the market right now for free the iPod wouldn't be my first. I'd get that one that has the compact version of Windows MCE on it that can play movies and stuff. That would actually have been better for my business so I could output video and audio to any TV I had access to. I think they're coming out with a better version of that player pretty soon so I'm just waiting for now.

[VideoTechMan]

Just about a week ago I gotten the Sony NW-E105 MP3 player, but this one only has about 512MB of space, which could also be used as an extra drive as well. The Apple Ipods in my opinion are overpriced, overrated and tend to break easily from what I have been reading. And I dont listen to radio that much so I dont need the FM tuner capability. Just the ability to play my MP3's on it and storing the small player in my shirt pocket or around my neck is pretty nice and I dont have to worry about carrying around a bulky cd player. For $100, it seems good to me.

VTM

[Faustus]

Got to see an iPod Nano this weekend. (it was my 10yos newfews and man did I want to just scream "YOINK!" and take it) and it was quite cool.

Very tiny, you see the pictures but until its in your hand its hard to really get a grasp.

If apple isn't your gig my co worker got a 1gig thumb drive MP3 player with built in FM off ebay for pretty cheap. Works will and has a ton of colors the backlight can be set to.

[vitualis]

Check the internet on the iPod Nano and "scratches". Definitely not cool for a pocketable MP3 player.

There are many great MP3 players out now and I suggest that you take a good look at the Creative and iRiver line-up. Or else, look at the standard iPod and iPod mini range.

I bought an iRiver H140 almost 2 years ago now. IMHO, it's almost a perfect player from the hardware point of view though the firmware had a number of annoying limitations (a constant source of angst for iRiver players). With "Rockbox" (a third DAP firmware which just so happens works on the H140 as well) installed, it has become the perfect player!

Regards.

[rallynavvie]

Yeah, you really need to get a skin for your iPod, the cool-looking chrome and pastic take to scratches pretty easy. However if you put the silcone skin on the Nano it's damn near indestructable. It's too light to cause much damage to itself if you drop it and with the silicone it would just bounce. If I were to get an MP3 player to work out with I think I'd get one of those. Get an armband for and you're set.

I also heard rumors of some car stereos taking the iPod interoperability one step further with the addition of the Nano. Someone was telling me that they're going to have them to where you just need to slip your Nano into what looks like a PCMCIA slot in your stereo face and now all your music is right there. Interesting idea anyway.

[vitualis]

Although I agree that all DAPs probably need some sort of protection, the new iPod Nano takes this to a ridiculous extreme.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/23/ipod_nano_scratching/
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@823.1UXDaaTXUpD.0@.68b94d61

IMHO, no plastic used for such a device should scratch against ordinary clothing or even a microfibre cleaning cloth!

I would suggest that until Apple fixes their use of materials in the Nano, that everyone should avoid it like the plague.

Regards.

[MackemX]

Although I agree that all DAPs probably need some sort of protection, the new iPod Nano takes this to a ridiculous extreme.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/23/ipod_nano_scratching/
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@823.1UXDaaTXUpD.0@.68b94d61

IMHO, no plastic used for such a device should scratch against ordinary clothing or even a microfibre cleaning cloth!

I would suggest that until Apple fixes their use of materials in the Nano, that everyone should avoid it like the plague.

Regards.

http://www.ipodcleaner.com/

unreal!!! do people actually pay $'s for it?