New MP3 player

L

London Geezer

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Hello everyone, havent been around much lately, i still have PBSCSD (Post Board Software Change Stress Disorder) so i haven't posted much...

Anyway, the time has come to buy meself a nice new MP3 player.

The question is, which one?

Do i just go for a bloody iPod? Makes it easier for everyone... But i'm reading good things about the Creative ones too, and the Sony ones are just SO sexy...

So, which iPod? Or which other MP3 player?

I've been looking for websites doing reviews and stuff but Google can be very stupid sometimes.
 
Alright, but they're more fragile. I wouldn't want to drop one of those - and it WILL happen sooner or later... Compared to a HD player it's smaller, cheaper, much lighter and its battery life is longer. Plus, the HiMD player will be ideal for backing up sensitive computer data/documents.

Discs are relatively roomy, very sturdy and non-magnetic and specced for a million rewrites. That's 10x more than flash memory, and even though it takes quite a while to use up even 100k, it feels a little safer IMO. :) Also, if a disc goes bad (after like 40 years of use I suppose haha), just toss it and grab another... With flash, you need to toss the entire player when the RAM goes bad.

Of course, 1GB HiMD < 4+GB HDD, but for a non-flash player I still believe HiMD has the edge overall. Also, it looks GORGEOUS. The EL display is completely invisible when it's not lit up, the case looks completely smooth just like the flash players.
 
Friend of mine got the 60Gig Sony player and absolutley adores it, battery life awesome, and 60gig... well. I plumped for the more modest Zen Micro which has awesome sound quality, better battery than the iPod mini and more storage. So it depends on the price point I guess.

~20gig I say sony
~5gig I say Zen Micro

Either way make sure you get some sony earphones...
 
I've seen reviews which say that the main problem with the Sony players is that the software which comes with them is absolutely poo.

I've been happy with the Creative players I've bought but when you say you need a HD player, to you mean a big one (60GB) or one of the dinky ones (4-6GB)?

I think the new Zen Neeon looks pretty nice:

http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/zenneeon/
 
I'm thinking more on the region of 20GB just to be sure...

I have also heard that SonicStage is just a piece of junk, and it's the only thing keeping me from getting the HD5 straight away.



What concerns me the most is sound quality, battery life then maybe size and general happiness with the product - i think SonicStage would become frustrating, though some people seem to be happy with it.

Point is, if the iPods have decent enough sound quality (i'll be using it with the Sony in-ear-whatever-they're-called earbuds), i'll just get one of those.

I think it comes down to the HD5 or a 20GB iPod or a Creative Zen Touch.

The HD5 seems to have fantastic battery life, same for the Creative, and the iPod is crap in that regard, without even considering that the battery is not interchangeable.
 
sytaylor said:
....

Either way make sure you get some sony earphones...
Click to expand...
Just don't get the Sony MDR-EX81LP in ear (c)anal phones without trying them on first.
I made the mistake buying them based on some favorable review without trying them first myself, but they do not fit my ears at all.
mdrex81lp7ey.jpg

The part that's supposed to go over and behind your ears are just not the right shape and size for me, and I just can't get them to stay in my ears.

Also do try any in ear type phones just to make sure you are able to wear them at all.
I must have too tight holes, as even with the smallest "cushions" I can't make them go deep enough.

I bought them for replacement of my PSP standard earphones, and while the sound quality is better it's only if you can get them deep enough inside your eard otherwise the bass is lacking.

Edit: The sound quality in the latest revision iPods have improved quite a bit compared to the earlier iPods, and are now among the better sounding players now. But only with earphones other that come with them (as most players).

I'd probably go for some Sony HD model if I were to buy an MP3 player. The only thing that's worse than in iPods is the Sonic Stage, and that's not too bad either.
And if you don't buy a lot of music through the software, it is rarely used anyway with bigger storage HD players. However I think iTunes is better at sorting and stuff if you have all your MP3's just uin one folder and would like them to be better categorized...

A big plus for Sony's over iPods is that the battery is replaceable, though maybe you should wait and see a couple of months and see if there are new iPod models coming soon... ;) If iPod had replacable batteries I might buy one.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
atlantis said:
A good opton would be buying a pocketpc, or a smartphone or a palm and a good sd card or microdrive.
Click to expand...
Arent they a bit more costlier than HD MP3 players? What about the sound quality with them?
 
rabidrabbit said:
Arent they a bit more costlier than HD MP3 players? What about the sound quality with them?
Click to expand...
Price in some cases is a bit higher, but you can do a lot of things with a pocket pc, even watching films and videos

Sound quality is identical to mp3 players

(disclaimer = I own a pocket pc, an ipod shuffle and a n-gage 1st gen.)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Uhh... do PocketPC's have a HD?.....?? Don't they mostly just have some hundreds of megs of storage? (I really am not sure anymore :D )
Wouldn't a better option then be a PSP if you want to also watch video and play games.

Edit: Ok you said memorycards or microdrive, that would increase the storage but not up to 20Gig HD players.
 
rabidrabbit said:
Edit: Ok you said memorycards or microdrive, that would increase the storage but not up to 20Gig HD players.
Click to expand...
AFAIK biggest microdrive is 4 gb, so yeah :) (didn't saw hd space req)
 
Creative Zen is by far the loudest and has top-notch sound quality. iPods suck because of the battery thingy.

The Sony one is anything but loud enough, so be sure to try it before bying.

And those Sony phones above didn't fit my ears either. The loudest and most comfortable phones are Sennheiser PMX-60. Pretty cheap, too ($20-30).

PMX_60_pro2.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
See my point is that it seems the iPod is considered one of the best when it comes to sound quality. Pretty much every review i see has sentences like this one

Sure enough, it delivers sound quality that rivals that of the Apple iPod,
Click to expand...

But then you talk to people and they say the iPod is not actually all that when it comes to sound quality.

Who to believe?

In the end i think i won't go for the iPod because of the battery issues (not long life and not take-out-able).

So i guess it now comes down to either the HD5 or the Zen. The HD5 has a volume lock which is unlockable so i wouldn't worry about it not being loud enough.
 
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