MP3 Players

[swphreak]

Well, my 4+ year old Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra (40GB) is starting to do crazy things now, so I'm thinking of getting a new mp3 playa. Is there anyone here that can give me suggestions?

 

When I searched through Amazon, I couldn't find any plain ol' mp3 players. It seems they all have video playback and photo functions now?

 

I'm looking for something about 100-200 bucks, at least 20GB minimum, and [preferably] without any fancy photo or video features. I'm listening to music, not watching movies on a 2 inch screen, and why would I put photos on an mp3 player?

 

 

Any recommendations will be welcomed.

 

 

 

P.S. No iPods. I hate iTunes and iPods.

[MrWally]

Clicky

 

It can store photos as well (which I know you don't need, just pointing out), but a 20 GB Audio player for that price is still pretty nice, I'd say.

 

My friend has one and he loves it.

 

Customer Review (5 Stars):

 

Positives:

 

Functionality: Wow.

 

1. Ok, it handles 20 gig of music of both WMA and MP3s. Nice.

2. FM radio.

3. Great sound.

4. Excellent recording.

5. Great screen -- and color too. Very readable. I like this so much more than the Ipod.

6. Comes with its own charger. I like the way it interfaces to the computer and to the powercord. Much nicer than the Ipod, IMO.

7. Software is a nothing to install. For me, it was literally nothing because I have media player.

8. Comes with its own gummy case. I paid $12 or so to get three for my Ipod when all I wanted was one.

9. Really good battery life.

10. You can record voice and record music on FM. Very nice.

 

Negatives:

 

1. It's a brick. Well, maybe not a BRICK, but it is bigger than my Ipod mini. That was a surprise.

 

2. I dislike windows media enough. Itunes is a bit more intuitive. I have to figure out the playlists portion. I would've liked to see a better interface. I'm going to see if anything else will work with iRiver.

 

3. Doesn't use Itunes, but nothing except Apple does. This is NOT iRiver's fault. DRM management issues if you switch over, but nothing I couldn't handle.

 

4. There's a slight delay in the time it takes between pressing the buttons and playing the music.

 

5. Doesn't take MP4 files. No biggie. You can convert them with a bunch of free software (including ITunes).

 

6. Would like more documentation. That's my preference.

 

If you have an Ipod and switch over to the iRiver, you may be looking for it to act like an Ipod, which it doesn't. However, it's functionality, storage space and price made me think of this as a very viable alternative.[/Quote]

 

 

EDIT: Some of the reviews do complain about their iRiver freezing. I'm not sure sure. I've listened to my friend's quite a bit and it's never frozen on me, but I'll ask him about it.

[BongoBob]

I had that one, and it's alright. I liked it, however after I got my Sennheiser HD-595 headphones, they put too much stress on the headphone jack (it has a standard hueg plug for guitars, so it plugged into an adapter and made it the same height of the MP3 player) and it slowly died (had to keep pressure on it for both channels to come out, eventually snapped completely off the internal PCB). I had it for about 5 months, and if I had the reciept it would have been covered under warranty, but I lost it. Oh well.

 

If you're not looking to spend alot, I'd reccomend it, as long as your headphones plug isn't too large. If I had continued using my Sennheiser PX100's instead of my HD595s, I have no doubt it would still be working fine to this very day.

 

If you're willing to spend a little more, however, I'd reccomend the Creative Zen Vision: M. Great device, wish I had enough for one.

 

*curses his stupid 2gb nano*

 

EDIT: Btw, I didn't use WMP to transfer files to it. I edited the ID3 tags and stuff in Winamp for all of them, then plugged it into the computer in the "Emergency Connect Mode", and was able to just send the files right over to it. Then, I used a program called EasyH10 to update the database files, so they'd show up in Music.

 

EDIT2: It also does freeze every once in a while. I just taped a paperclip to the back of it, so if it did (which was like once every couple weeks), just stick the paperclip in the little hole and it resets.

[Boba Rhett]

I picked up a 20gig iRiver H10 for about $115 last August. It's a nice little machine and even supports ogg files. Throw RockBox onto it to replace the existing software and it becomes a pretty fine machine.

 

You don't have to use media player to load music onto it, you can take advantage of its emergency connect feature to treat it just like a mass storage device.

 

I found it handy that it also has a built in radio feature and you can record on the fly with it if you hear a song you like and would like to hear it later/download a better version of it.

 

It does use a micro hard-drive so it is susceptible to jolt/drop damage unlike newer flash players but hey, just don't drop it and it should last ya a very good while.

 

 

 

P.S. I need to experiment with your Zen Xtra, mail it to me please.

[BongoBob]

Wow. They got Rockbox ported over to it?

 

Last I heard they hadn't even started anything on it.

[jon_hill987]

Throw RockBox onto it to replace the existing software and it becomes a pretty fine machine.D

 

Anyone know if there is something like RockBox for the Cre^tive Zen Touch?

[TiE23]

Well, I'd recommend a Zen Vision M in a heart-beat. But since you don't seem to like video that much (which it is the best at), I'd go on Cnet and look for good stuff.

 

http://reviews.cnet.com/4323-6532_7-6509081.html?tag=dir

[manoman81]

I echo Tie's reply. I love my ZVM. Will not buy another player from another brand.

[BongoBob]

Yes, but the Zen Vision: M doesn't let you live the iLife like with the iPod listening on your iSpeakers while surfing on your iMac and watching iPorn.

 

I hate iPod fanbois, and I echo Chase's post. Brilliant man.

[swphreak]

I dunno about the iRivier. It has the "i" in it. That predisposes me to not liking it. And I kinda have all my stuff setup with MediaSource...

 

I went to Best Buy to get hands on with some players, and I liked the 30 GB Zen Vision. I was suprised at how clear and sharp the video was for something that small. I can see myself watching videos with it on a long car ride. What I wasn't happy about was the price. They're selling it for the same price of the exact same thing in iPod flavor. The first reason I went with the Zen Xtra was cheaper for more.

 

And apparently Creative doesn't ship an AC Power Adapter with the unit anymore, which sucks. I hope it charges via USB port. :/

 

 

And Rhett, I'll probably just give the Zen Xtra away to someone. It still plays music fine, just the menus and stuff go wonky once in a while.

 

 

Those Amazon Sellers are stupid, they're wanting 300 bucks and shipping when Amazon with sell it for less and throw in free shipping.

[BongoBob]

Yeah, I want a Vision M so bad. I'm only asking for 2 things for graduation. A 360, and a Zen Vision: M

[Boba Rhett]

If a Zen Vision is in your acceptable price range then yes, totally go for that one. I would as well.

[rozo100]

go to geeks.com. thats where i got mine for like $38-$40 dollars.

they sell lot of stuff cheap!