New MP3 player

[_xxx_]

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.

Changing the iPod battery is ~$100!

If you can unlock the volume on HD5, that's nice. I had my Zen for 5-6 months and LOVE it. Those 5 gigs can accomodate lots of music, I have 28 full albums encoded with 320 kbit, and it's still below 3 gig. And frankly, you'll never need more than ~50 albums worth of music, unless you're a freak

 

[London Geezer]

Changing the iPod battery is ~$100!

If you can unlock the volume on HD5, that's nice. I had my Zen for 5-6 months and LOVE it. Those 5 gigs can accomodate lots of music, I have 28 full albums encoded with 320 kbit, and it's still below 3 gig. And frankly, you'll never need more than ~50 albums worth of music, unless you're a freak

Yeah the HD5 volume limit is unlockable, flatmate has one and was a bit worried about it. Apparently it even says on the instructions manual how to unlock it, though he found it on the internet.

 

[rabidrabbit]

Sure enough, it delivers sound quality that rivals that of the Apple iPod,

I'd guess that sentence could be read so that iPods are sort of a "standard" or "reference" to which the other players are judged against.
Certainly the latest revision iPods do deliver very good sound, earlier they were a bit lacking in the low end and the sound was a bit "matte" for my liking regardless of the phones.

Yep, the Sony players do have a "volume lock" in the settings that can be unlocked... It's there because of some stupid EU safety standard... I blame the french. The PSP also has that.
But even if you unlock the limit, you should pay attention to the sensitivity of the phones (choose ones with high sensitivity value) if you want to play it really loud. I think the volume level is high enough with just about any phones, but maybe in the busy noisy town of London and open earphones more volume would be needed than here in the quiet little town I live...

 

[Florin]

Just get the ipod already.

Sure, it catches a lot of flak because it's the top dog. But just try one for a while and you'll come to love it just like everyone else.

All the featuritis, audiophile wanking and cheapness of the also-ran competition hasn't brought us any devices that are as wholesome, balanced and loveable as the real thing.

As for common myths about the pod, mine is more than 2 years old and I still use it every day. It's scratched and pockmarked all over from the many times it hit the asfalt, but the HD is as reliable as ever.

 

[_xxx_]

All the featuritis, audiophile wanking and cheapness of the also-ran competition hasn't brought us any devices that are as wholesome, balanced and loveable as the real thing.

Both HD5 and Zen are much better than iPod.

 

[Florin]

Both HD5 and Zen are much better than iPod.

Oh. Well, never mind then. You convinced me.

 

[_xxx_]

Nice, that was easy!

EDIT: of course I meant iPod Mini, not the big old one.

 

[rabidrabbit]

I don't much like the Zen's. The touch sensitive ui has been almost unusable for me in the models I've tried as they are somehow too sensitive and it makes it very difficult to navigate for me.
Also the sound was somehow "harsh" for my liking (tried with various phones, so it's the player's character).

 

[_xxx_]

The sensitivity is adjustable, as well as the eq

 

[London Geezer]

F**k it, i'll get the HD5.

 

[rabidrabbit]

There is a reason why I never ask purchase advice from internet forums

 

[_xxx_]

You can't go wrong with either of the two. Just be careful with your choice of headphones.

 

[rabidrabbit]

If in doubt on what headphones to buy, please ask us, you'll sure get many helpful opinions !!!

 

[_xxx_]

Wait, buy an iPod with colour screen. You can run Doom on it

 

[London Geezer]

Wait, buy an iPod with colour screen. You can run Doom on it

Good god!! I think people will try to run bloody Doom on anything. Even microwaves. I mean how much more Doom do they need to play for God's sake!

 

[silence]

Good god!! I think people will try to run bloody Doom on anything. Even microwaves. I mean how much more Doom do they need to play for God's sake!

ROFL..... but it could be TEH fun on microwave!!!!111111 just imagine possibilities....

 

[RussSchultz]

Before you buy the Sony, make absolutely sure it plays MP3s and doesn't require you to convert them to Atrac format.

Almost all of their models require this.

 

[Guden Oden]

The newest batch of sonys DO play native MP3s, though I don't mind atrac myself at all. I've found nothing wrong with the sound, not for a portable player anyway. Most mp3s are far from optimum in their encoding quality anyway, and compared to the best schemes of today, not the most efficient storage-wise either. I'd rather re-rip my CD collection to a new superior format than continue to use old, moldy MP3s...

 

[London Geezer]

Before you buy the Sony, make absolutely sure it plays MP3s and doesn't require you to convert them to Atrac format.

Almost all of their models require this.

Yeah, up to the HD3 Sony forced you to convert to ATRAC but from the HD5 on they support all kinds of formats.
Though most of my music is on stupid-ass iTunes on stupid M4u or whatever they're called so i'll have to convert about 10GB of music to MP3 or ATRAC anyway.

 

[Solzhenitsyn]

all I have is an obsolete 128mb nuvo that i got for free from my cable company.

but I think if I was gonna upgrade, I really like the way those new Sony flash players look. I think 1gig would be enough for me, but maybe ill hold out a little longer and see if they make a 1.5 or 2 giger. They cost about $20-30 more than a shuffle of the same capacity, but they have a screen, a 50 hour battery charge, and you can quickcharge it for like 3 minutes to get 3 hours of playback. and yes it will play mp3s.