Buying a new MP3 player...need feedback

[Vectork39]

hey guys im in the market for a new mp3 player but before i list them i will tell u what my needs are:

1) needs to be fairly priced (under 250)
2) between 1 and 10 gigs, preferably somehere in the middle
3) my car plays mp3 cds so i wont be using it in the car (with a car kit)
4) needs to be relatively small
5) i want a display
6) not a huge ipod fan but it is an option
7) Primarily used at the gym
8) dont really need an FM tuner or games

so here is what i narrowed them down to:

1) Ipod Mini - $240 or so 4gigs
2) Creative ZEN - $215 - 5 gigs
3) Dell Pocket DJ - $180 - 5 gigs

 

[anthrax]

Zen micro or iRiver H10 (both 5 GB)

 

[Phaded]

nothing is better or more sleek than the ipod..

 

[jaded]

I want an ipod mini. A pink one. lol.

 

[Razorguns]

just get what i got. a nice little RIO $75 mp3 player that sticks on your arm and works off a smart card.

every day i just stick my smart card in it's reader. upload my mp3's with fresh new songs. and away i go.

having 500+ songs/10 gigs, etc. where my daily playlist is maybe 20 songs at best is not worth the price.

 

[SoreArms]

Creative Nomad 30 Gig is around that price

I have one, it's pretty cool, not as small and sleek as the ipods but not bad.

 

[blut wump]

I have an iPod but for the gym I got a Creative Muvo Tx. They are very small, have 512 megs and, being solid state, are perfect for when exercising. Uses real batteries so you're not stuck if you forget to recharge but you can still use rechargeable batteries. There's also a model of the Muvo Tx with a built-in fm radio.

If it's primarily for gym use then 512 is plenty since you can change the tracks every few days. Audio quality isn't quite as good as an iPod (but then what is?) but the difference is small and not noticable in a gym environment with cheap headphones/ear-buds.

 

[Phaded]

only bad thing about an ipod is after 2 years you gotta buy a new battery..

 

[blut wump]

I've had mine almost three years and still get seven or eight hours out of it. It helps to empty it and refill it every once in a while. Kind of like defragging a hard drive.

 

[mekannik]

just get what i got. a nice little RIO $75 mp3 player that sticks on your arm and works off a smart card.

every day i just stick my smart card in it's reader. upload my mp3's with fresh new songs. and away i go.

having 500+ songs/10 gigs, etc. where my daily playlist is maybe 20 songs at best is not worth the price.

Ditto.

Rio has some 512mb flash players that you can stick a 1 gig SDI card into. Big fan of no moving parts as opposed to hard drive players, no matter how skip-resistant they are.

 

[baron76]

Got a Creative Zen abit ago, very cool. Battery is replaceable so no Ipod worries, has a touch bar for scrolling, and small enough to pocket for the gym. And a gig more then the ipod mini. My buddy got one too, no complaints thus far.

 

[jackangel]

what will you do with it at the gym? just lift? or some cardio as well?

if you're going to be running and/or jumping around with it, consider not getting a hard drive based player. they may still work fine, but from what i've heard...it's better to be safe with a flash player.

i use a rio cali 256mb flash player. it's about 2.5 inches in diameter (fairly small), and can attach nicely to your upperarm for running (or whatever). it does have an FM tuner, which is mostly shite. it has an acceptable display, but i don't know if it has any useful features beyond it's basic functionality. you can get one for $100-$140 new.

 

[Vectork39]

mostly lifting....and if its cardio i place it on the machine

 

[SoreArms]

mostly lifting....and if its cardio i place it on the machine

thats what I do

 

[DJ_UFO]

This one looks pretty good!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=75453&item=5749012493&rd=1

 

[season7445]

This one looks pretty good!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=75453&item=5749012493&rd=1

I have the rio cali which is the older model to this. I haven't had one problem with it. I like the fact that mine holds about 50 songs. I get tired of them evey few weeks and i just change them out. It is small and has an arm strap for your upper arm. Keeps it out of the way when you do most excercises.

season7445

 

[Y_lifter]

I knew little of the IPOD, and since I don't care for a Mac PC, I put
them in the same boat.
Until my daughter got an IPOD Mini for Christmas from friends.

I spend a couple hours this weekend reading up on it, installing itunes and converting a copy of 4GB worth of my WMA's music she likes into Apples AAF format. That process took forever, (hours) so I just let it run and had no issues.

If you have your stuff in WMA, just be aware that it will need to copy/convert them to AAF format. If your stuff is MP3 it will not need to convert them as the IPOD will play AAF and MP3 formats. I can only Imagine how long a full 40GB of WMA's would take to convert.. Seemed to be about 15 seconds a song or so.

Downloading the 4GB of music to the IPOD via USB2 went amazingly fast.
15 min or so

The one thing that the IPOD had up on all other players IMO is the touchpad interface. The Mini has it and the regular IPOD does not.
Picture it working like a round laptop touchpad and you can use either side and even go in a circle to move between the menu's with 4 buttons surounding it and the center button.

Plug in your headphones or touch the pad anywhere and the IPOD comes on instantly. I hear that the itunes interface is good as I have not messed with it too much.

Unless you need a solid state device for heavy bumpy activities or jogging etc,
I would go with the IPOD mini. I needed the durability of a flash player so the tradeoff is needing to refresh the 512meg song list every week or 2..

My MPIO player has been left out in the rain accidently and got so wet that water was actually dripping from the SD and battery slots.
I simply took out the expansion card and batteries NOT POWERING IT UP and let it sit for 4 days to dry.. Hit it with the blow dryer for a bit, installed everything and it powered up and never even missed a song that was installed..