[Clashman]

So, I'm going to be moving to China next year, and rather than lug over all my CD's or having to cull my collection for the year. So I was thinking of getting a nice, HD based MP3 player and downloading all my CD's on to it and taking that with me instead, and leaving my CD's in storage with my parents. So I was looking for some recommendations. I know there will probably be quite a few votes for the Ipod, but I'm wondering if people had any other suggestions. I've heard pretty good things about the Creative Nomad Jukebox, and the complaints I've heard seem relatively trivial to me. Right now pricewatch is showing offers of $208 for the 30 gb model, which also sports better battery life than the ipod. Any other suggestions? Are there any mp3/video players worth looking at? What features do people suggest looking for in models? Any help would be appreciated.

[Paul]

Your going to start seeing more video+MP3 players later on this year, including Some Sony model assuming it gets brought to the US(no reason why not).

I would wait IMO, especially since your moving next year.

[Clashman]

Thanks for the suggestion. I've had some terrible experiences with Sony equipment, though, and so I'll probably avoid that one.

I should also elaborate on what I'm looking for.

Factors I'm interested in, (in no particular order):
1. Build quality
2. Warranty
3. Storage (I have about 300 cds as well as some rare, bootleg mp3's and vinyl I'd be interested in transfering)
4. Ease of use.
5. Cost. This is a fairly significant one here. I need a significant amount of bang-for-buck, because I'm kinda short on bucks.
6. Features. Radio would be kinda nice. Video could be a plus too, although I highly doubt I'd be willing to pay 600 bucks for it.
7. Battery life, (along with that, ease of replacing a battery once it dies. I've heard that ipods' generally die after a year and a half, and cost between 100-200 to replace. Is this true?)

That's all I can think of for now. Keep the suggestions coming.

Edit: Also, when I said "next year" I'll be moving, that really could be as early as November or so this year, just to clear that up. I still think of "years" in terms of "school years", even though I'm out of school.

[jvd]

I've had bad problems with sony products too.

Right now the best for a large collection are the bigger ipods . Dell also makes a really good one . But i would go ipod .

[PC-Engine]

iAudio M3

http://reviews.cnet.com/Cowon_iAudio...-30842848.html

[Natoma]

IPOD batteries die after about 3-5 years. Not 1.5.

[Sage]

i had a creative for a while, much prefer the iPods. They just feel more solid and fun at the same time

[Deepak]

Why moving to China? Are you from China?

[Clashman]

I'm going to be teaching English in China for a year. I've studied Chinese politics and history extensively in school, but I have yet to really pick up much of the language. I intend to study Chinese politics and history in grad school, and so going to China to teach seems to be the best way to both gain valuable teaching practice as well as to learn Mandarin.

[Clashman]

Originally Posted by Sage

i had a creative for a while, much prefer the iPods. They just feel more solid and fun at the same time

Yeah, but they also tend to cost almost twice as much per megabyte, and so I don't know if I can stomach forking out that much more.

[Clashman]

Has anyone tried out or know anything about the RCA Lyra A/V?
http://www.shopharmony.com/product.asp?i=RD2780

Ideally I'd like a bigger model if it's going to be used for video as well, but still, this is very reasonably priced for all that it offers. Arcos also has quite a few video players like this, although they tend to be a bit more pricey.

[Mariner]

I've got a Creative Zen Xtra 30GB which I purchased recently. It's pretty good with decent sound quality and is a heck of a lot cheaper than the equivalent iPod. The front cover seems a bit flimsy and the navigation isn't perfect but I'm pretty pleased with it still. A recent round-up review in a UK magazine selected the iRiver player, however over all the others. This was a bit more expensive than the Zen but still cheaper than the iPod.

If you do go for a Creative player, I'd recommend the purchase of Notmad Explorer which is much better than the standard software. I also use Tag&Rename software to keep the ID3 tags organised. Both of these pieces of software are worth the relatively small cost, IMO.

Be prepared to spend a lot of time converting your music collection to MP3 and use a good quality encoder!

[Florin]

Originally Posted by Natoma

IPOD batteries die after about 3-5 years. Not 1.5.

Mine is after 1.5. Although strictly speaking I guess it isn't really dead. It just runs only 20 minutes on a full charge.

Which is almost enough for my commute, so it could be worse.

I still love the thing and my next player will be another one.

[Florin]

Originally Posted by Clashman

Yeah, but they also tend to cost almost twice as much per megabyte, and so I don't know if I can stomach forking out that much more.

It's not a pc component. Don't approach buying one like that.

It's something you have with you all the time. Convenience, fun, build quality are the only things that matter. Oh and good looks help too.

[Clashman]

Originally Posted by Florin

It's not a pc component. Don't approach buying one like that.

I don't know about you, but price comes into consideration with all my purchases. I can't just throw price out the window, because frankly I don't have a lot of money to throw around. Those other things you mentioned are all relevant, but as with anything I'm looking for the best balance of all these factors, including price.

[Florin]

Originally Posted by Clashman

I don't know about you, but price comes into consideration with all my purchases. I can't just throw price out the window, because frankly I don't have a lot of money to throw around. Those other things you mentioned are all relevant, but as with anything I'm looking for the best balance of all these factors, including price.

You're right of course, but while raw capacity may seem like the most important factor in deciding on this, when you actually use them for a year or so you'll find out those other things are really what matters. All I'm saying is don't underestimate that

[McDusty]

As Mariner said the IRiver came top of its class in a recent round up

http://www.iriver.com/product/info.asp?p_name=H140

It has a better battery than the IPod offering around twice the playing time per charge. Plus a host of other superior features

[Clashman]

Yup, the iRiver does look pretty nice. I probably will wait and see what comes out in the next couple months, (and what drops in price), but the iRiver does look pretty good so far.

[zurich]

Why would you want to move to China?

[Clashman]

Originally Posted by zurich

Why would you want to move to China?

As I mentioned before:

I've studied Chinese politics and history extensively in school, but I have yet to really pick up much of the language. I intend to study Chinese politics and history in grad school, and so going to China to teach seems to be the best way to both gain valuable teaching practice as well as to learn Mandarin.

In particular, I believe China is going to be changing rapidly in the next couple of years, (as it has for the past 20 or so), and am interested in seeing how things develop in that regard from a ground-level perspective.

[london-boy]

Originally Posted by Clashman

In particular, I believe China is going to be changing rapidly in the next couple of years, (as it has for the past 20 or so), and am interested in seeing how things develop in that regard from a ground-level perspective.

^ ^ That's quite interesting. Being there when things start rolling over so to speak...

[RussSchultz]

Originally Posted by Clashman

Has anyone tried out or know anything about the RCA Lyra A/V?
http://www.shopharmony.com/product.asp?i=RD2780

Ideally I'd like a bigger model if it's going to be used for video as well, but still, this is very reasonably priced for all that it offers. Arcos also has quite a few video players like this, although they tend to be a bit more pricey.

From what I've heard, the battery life is awful. 2 hours or so, even for just music and not video.

[Clashman]

Well, I think I've somewhat narrowed it down, (although of course it still has the potential to grow again if new players are introduced). So here are my choices:

Archos GMini 220 Series (Cheap. 250 bucks for 20gb. Also, apparently very well built. Smaller than ipod. Allows photo storage and voice recording. Battery life is kinda low, though.)
Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra 30 gb (Another budget choice. Only 210 dollars. Has a 15 hour battery life plus (and this is a big plus) a modular battery, so that 15 hour life can be significantly extended by buying another battery)
Dell DJ Series (Good battery life. 15 gb for 200, 20 gb, (with remote and carrying case) for 275
iRiver 20gb Jukebox (Around 300. Comes with Remote. Pretty much top rated, from what I can tell)
Archos 3X0 Series (HD based A/V players. around 390 (20gb) to 480 (40 gb. Addtl module allows it to double as a 3.3 mp digital camera/camcorder with 3x optical and 10 digital zoom. Has ability to capture directly from DVD/VCR. Internal battery)
iRiver PMP 120 (Not yet released A/V player. Comes out at the end of the month. Initial launch prices are around 449, hoping it comes down. Long battery life, (20 hrs MP3, 5 hours Video), and modular batteries are a plus.

So, the more I read, the more I'm liking the Archos players. I don't know if I can justify paying that much for a video player, though. There's also the older Archos models, which feature a much smaller screen, but also only cost about as much as the MP3-only players. We'll see, though. I've still got about 3 months before I head off to China, so maybe something new will pop up by then.

[london-boy]

^ ^ U call that narrowing down...?

[Clashman]

Yeah, I know. And since you posted that, I added another.