MP3-players

A

Amaru

Guest
Hey dudes, I need some advise. I wanna buy a MP3-player with at least 4 gig storage, but I definitely wouldn't mind having a 20 gig player. Costs aren't that important. Anyway, I don't know what to buy. And I don't know if the obvious way (iPod) is the best. I heared the iPod only works with this programm iTunes, but I definitely wanna be independant of what s0ftware I use. I also heared the iPod breaks easily and in general don't have a long life. So what do you guys suggest? Do you have mp3-players with large storage yourself? And are they any good?

Share your thoughts.. Thanks!
 
The creative silver 30gb is a pretty good mp3 player
And its under 200 bucks
 
iRiver, 6 bg or 5 gb mp3 player they are very very good looking, colour screens and the like plus different, everyone has an ipod:p
 
I have a Creative Zen Touch, 20Gb capacity, nice long battery life and cheaper than the ipod, but it only supports a limited range of files (which doesn't make any difference to me).

It is also compatible with a fair few programs you can use to transfer files back and forth - there is the one which came on the install CD, which I never used once, and there's a couple of 3rd party ones, including one named Notmad Explorer. This is what I use, and it basically opens a special Windows Explorer window within which you can drag and drop files to your player simple as pie.

It has worked perfectly for over a month now, without ever even freezing (which is supposedly a common, non-critical error) and needing a cold reset. However the reliability thing is a pit-trap with a lot of players - there have been a lot of people whose Creative players have died unexpectedly, and there have been a lot of people whose iPod, Rio or whatever players have seized up too. I think it's just a danger of hard-drive based players, and people maybe not treating them as delicately as they should.
 
I would go with a Creative Zen Touch for around $220 USD. It holds 20 GB.. The sound quality is superb. Always trust a company that is known for its audio. When you think of Creative you think of speakers, audiocard, superb quality, etc.. What about Apple you say? I think of a good interface since it is a mainly a computer brand but mediocre sound quality..

EDIT: I did forget to mention battery life. The Creative is a 24 battery. My friend left his on the whole day while he was at work 10-8, and it never dropped a bar.
With Apple, it would definetly be down to 1 bar.. You cannot trust iPod.. I do not see how they got so big either. I understand they were pretty much the first MP3 players out on the market, but how did they get this huge?
 
Creative Zen Touch here too!

Just read what Laivasse said :D
 
I personally own the Creative Zen Micro 5 GB model. It is amazing. 12 Hour battery life is perfect. Plus, the sound quality on there is awesome.
 
Creative Zen is supposed to be great - hoping to get one soon myself!
 
sabre0001 said:
Creative Zen is supposed to be great - hoping to get one soon myself!
Click to expand...
They are not supposed to. They ARE.
 
If you feel the need to express your uniqueness by not buying an iPod, that's pretty sad. Frankly, there's a reason for it to be so popular. It's the best, it's the sleekest.
 
I have a Zen Micro 5gb, use it when I work out, very small.
 
Got a 5GB Creative Zen Micro here too. Excellent MP3 player. Very small and portable you can take pretty much anywhere. You can also put computer files on it too if you need to. Very easy transferring computer songs to it. I got mine for my birthday about two weeks ago and haven't had any problems.

EDIT: One more thing I forgot to mention is that it has a built in FM radio that you can listen to.
 
Shamrock said:
That looks amazing IMO. You can definetly get a better MP3 player if you were to purchase a Creative Zen Micro for ~16.5 Euros more.
Click to expand...

Yeah....although I did buy the previous version of that mp3 player, the xen emp-400, and it was really nice.
 
good topic, thinking of getting a mp3 player myself, looks like creative zen ftw then? wonder how much they are over here?
 
TheSomeone said:
If you feel the need to express your uniqueness by not buying an iPod, that's pretty sad. Frankly, there's a reason for it to be so popular. It's the best, it's the sleekest.
Click to expand...

Quiet Devil Poster (666)

Also in Ireland (Jimbo118) I priced a 40GB Creative Zen for 319 euro in dixons.
 
sabre0001 said:
Quiet Devil Poster (666)

Also in Ireland (Jimbo118) I priced a 40GB Creative Zen for 319 euro in dixons.
Click to expand...
thx, 319 eh? wonder what a 20gb would be? dixons are pretty expensive, one of the workers even told me to look elsewhere their prices were so expensive:p
 
I got a 256 MB iAudio U2. I don't think iPod is very good, in fact, I think it sucks ass. I don't think you will need a 20 GB, unless you're plan to get one with a screen, so that byou could watch movies on it. If not, 2 GB should do it, that's about 600 songs.
 
Thanks everybody for the reactions! :D

So.. Concluding from all your opinions, I guess Creative would be a good choice. I'm definitely gonna focus on that brand.

But like TheSomeOne said.. The design of Apple-players is an ace, as well as how easy to use they are.

But if you take price into account, Creative really is a good choice?

And then another thing: how easy do all of your mp3-players scratch? 'Cause I like to keep my expensive stuff as new and I don't really like using protecting covers (or something).

About the durability, I guess the harddrive is just fragile. But aren't there any non-mechanical systems that still can provide a 4+ gig of space?

I know.. A lot of qeustions.. I'm sorry about that.. But your help is very much appreciated.. Thanks!

edit: I also heared not-having-a-good-Bass-problem of iPod's is a bitch, but can't you just buy another headset?
 
i just read the creative zen 20gb/40gb is not to be used while jogging etc, is this true? also it doesnt support fm radio outta the box? not that you buy mp3s for the radio but still i'd like to have the option...
 
About the durability, I guess the harddrive is just fragile. But aren't there any non-mechanical systems that still can provide a 4+ gig of space?
Click to expand...

I'm not too sure, but I think you can get flash-based players (as opposed to HD ones) which go up to 5GB at top of the line.

edit: I also heared not-having-a-good-Bass-problem of iPod's is a bitch, but can't you just buy another headset?
Click to expand...

I've heard that the bass/volume problem is something that is common to *all* mp3 players. Everyone's used to CD players with big bombastic bass setting, and then when they switch to mp3 players, which devote a lot of their power to running the HD, they find the volume or the bass doesn't match up. I found this to be the case in the first few days after getting my Zen Touch. After experimenting, I found I can get a comfortably loud and bassy sound with the EQ preset to 'Disco' (even though I listen to metal :p) and the volume turned to 18 out of 20.

Depending on the production of the album I am listening to I may get slight distortion at this volume. The Zen Touch has a custom 4 band EQ but I am not skilled enough to get a nice balance with it yet. Anyway 'Disco' just pretty much turns up the bass and treble settings which gives the overall impression of louder sound, which is what I want.

For aspiring audiophiles, an extreme solution to all of this is to buy a portable headphone amp, like this little baby, which is what I'm currently considering. That would solve all the power problems of any portable player, and make it capable of driving any headphones (and the one I linked actually doubles as a USB sound adapter :O )

Also - beware firmware updates which put European ear-safety standard limitations on your player's EQ! I have not yet updated the firmware on my Zen cos I got scared by this rumour. Some people recommend updating immediately, to improve reliability and bug fixes, etc. but with the original firmware I have to say that my own player has operated very reliably and without a single bug for over a month.
/fingers crossed + touch wood

i just read the creative zen 20gb/40gb is not to be used while jogging etc, is this true? also it doesnt support fm radio outta the box? not that you buy mp3s for the radio but still i'd like to have the option...
Click to expand...

Yeah, the zen touch doesn't come with FM radio out of the box, you have to buy some sort of add-on. The Zen micro might be different though, and someone posted here that they have a zen micro with FM radio on it.

I would be wary about jogging with any HD-based mp3 player to be honest. If you held it in your hand maybe it would be okay, but really if you're looking for something to jog along to I would go with a flash player just to be safe. I mean if you took your hard disk out of your PC and then wanted to take it to your friend's house, you wouldn't stick it in the arse pocket of your jeans and then go space-hopping over rough terrain, would you? The Zen is slightly larger than the iPod, so maybe it is more susceptible to shaking and knocks (just speculating here), but really I would be surprised if the makers of any hard-disk player advertised their product as 'ideal for jogging'. **edit - I remember now that one of the sony players, the HD3 or HD5, or something like that name, has a mechanism that protects it from shocks, although I think this is more to prevent it from being destroyed if you drop it. Maybe it would make it viable for jogging, I dunno, you could check this out.

btw, re: the price - I got my Creative Zen Touch 20Gb for about £140-150 at Amazon.co.uk.

TIIMMYY said:
I was thinking of buyinh this one:
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=566
Opinions?
Click to expand...

That looks really nicely designed. It has only 1Gb capacity though, which for many people would be too small.
 
Laivasse said:
That looks really nicely designed. It has only 1Gb capacity though, which for many people would be too small.
Click to expand...

Bah, I use a 128mb one at the mo, and thats fine for me :)
 
good post lavaisse, i dont jog much anyway:p so its not a major deal, i think ill go with the zen micro as i dont think i need 20/40gb, 5gb should be enough, or can anyone recommend a good creative 10gb mp3 player?
 
Creative Zen Micro, ftw. If you recall (probably not with all this Pi Mu-stuff), I made a thread about mine. EXTREMELY awesome MP3 Player... I mean, it's so secksey. I'm listening to it right now, actually. The bass is fine, the custom EQ setter is fantasic, the volume, to me, is just right. The loudest it goes hurts my ears so I guess it goes loud enough for me.

It fits in the palm of your hand so comfortabley. Mine has a black face-plate that lights up dark blue through the buttons and outlines the player. VERY secksey. Surprisingly small too for 5GB.

I know, I'm weery about buying things that people on the internet have said to buy, but trust me on this one. Buy one. If you do buy one and don't like it, I'll PM you my address and you can come over and bash my foot in with a steel baseball bat.
 
Q_onfused said:
Creative Zen Micro, ftw. If you recall (probably not with all this Pi Mu-stuff), I made a thread about mine. EXTREMELY awesome MP3 Player... I mean, it's so secksey. I'm listening to it right now, actually. The bass is fine, the custom EQ setter is fantasic, the volume, to me, is just right. The loudest it goes hurts my ears so I guess it goes loud enough for me.

It fits in the palm of your hand so comfortabley. Mine has a black face-plate that lights up dark blue through the buttons and outlines the player. VERY secksey. Surprisingly small too for 5GB.

I know, I'm weery about buying things that people on the internet have said to buy, but trust me on this one. Buy one. If you do buy one and don't like it, I'll PM you my address and you can come over and bash my foot in with a steel baseball bat.
Click to expand...
Don't you just love it so much? I have the Citrus Orange one, and it is beautiful. I am grateful for purchasing this contraption. I am glad I am not a trend whore and purchased quite possibly the best MP3 player. I don't hate Apple nor am I a Creative fanboy. I just hate the fact that iPods are for trend whores. If people didn't buy them for style, then I would have possibly purchased one.
 
Does the orange have an orange glow or white? Because blue would be kinda ugly...
 
Q_onfused said:
Creative Zen Micro, ftw. If you recall (probably not with all this Pi Mu-stuff), I made a thread about mine. EXTREMELY awesome MP3 Player... I mean, it's so secksey. I'm listening to it right now, actually. The bass is fine, the custom EQ setter is fantasic, the volume, to me, is just right. The loudest it goes hurts my ears so I guess it goes loud enough for me.

It fits in the palm of your hand so comfortabley. Mine has a black face-plate that lights up dark blue through the buttons and outlines the player. VERY secksey. Surprisingly small too for 5GB.

I know, I'm weery about buying things that people on the internet have said to buy, but trust me on this one. Buy one. If you do buy one and don't like it, I'll PM you my address and you can come over and bash my foot in with a steel baseball bat.
Click to expand...

I been searching for some info on the net about that one, and they say the battery is not too good. But damn, like you said, the black one, with the blue screen/buttons, sexay! :D

What can you tell me about how easy the software is? ..and the player itself?

I believe it's small too huh?

Thanks a lot! :cheers:
 
It's a long read but lots of info.

Well, they say the battery lasts for 12 or more hours. I just went to Cedar Point on Tuesday and brought the player with me (on one of those tour bus one-day things) and I left it on the bus while I was in the park. The ride there and back lasted eight hours or so and by the time we got home, it was down to one bar. So, I'm guessing it would last for another hour or so. Ten hours max is what I would say.

But one good thing is that the battery is removable, so you can get a second one if needed. Ten hours is fine for me. I mean, if you're on a long trip, yea, it might run out but by the time you stop at a place (your destination or a motel for the night) you can charge it up real quick (only takes two hours).

By software I think you're meaning the menus? They're all nice looking, neat and crisp. If the title/album/artist is too big to fit on the screen all at once, it scrolls; slow enough so you can read it not like that crap Rio does. You can customise the main menu with what you want on it like Music Library (which goes into a lot of other stuff like Random Play and Rarely Heard, the latter one VERY useful) or All Tracks, Time & Date, Audio Settings, etc. There's about 20 things you can put on the front menu. I have [goes and gets player] Music Library, All Tracks, Now Playing, Extras, Date & Time, and System. All the things I use freqently are right on the main page, so it's quick.

The player itself, no, is not too small, it's just, to me, small for what you get. I'm 15 and about 6ft. and fits in my palm quite nicely: about one palm width tall and one half palm width wide. I'd say about two-fifths of the whole player is the screen, nice and big. Read-able from, oh... I'd say three or four foot away without the backlight.

The touch-pads are VERY nice. The vertical scroll takes, oh, a few hours to get used to. It seemed a bit too sensitive so I turned it to Low but it still seemed too sensitive. Now, it's just fine, you just have to learn how to use it. I find it rather easy to use now and I've had it for... two weeks? It supports ID3 tags which are, if you didn't know, little files attached to the song file that tells everything like Artist, Album, Year, Time, how many times it's been played, the size of the song, etc.

One thing, probably the only thing really, I don't like about the whole package is the software it comes with. You almost have to use that program to transfer files. You don't, you could do it manually (click and drag) but... you miss a lot of features. I'd just rather use iTunes... I really like iTunes but, eh, the program it comes with is OKAY. Nothing special. Oh, the transfer is UBER fast too. I transfered about 150 songs in 45sec. or so. VERY fast.

More on the look... it makes me melt each time I look at it. It has a black face plate while the rest of the player is white with dark gray buttons. The blue neon light outlines the player while the lights shines through the touchpads making the symbols of the pads glow (the Play symbol, fast forward, you know...). I mean, it just SO cool looking... I can't say it in words.

Overall, I feel I made a great purchase and for only $200, you get A LOT.
I'd post pictures of my player with the lights and everything but I'm at my Dad's so I'll post some at 7:00pm EST when I get home.
 
Well, they say the battery lasts for 12 or more hours. I just went to Cedar Point on Tuesday and brought the player with me (on one of those tour bus one-day things) and I left it on the bus while I was in the park. The ride there and back lasted eight hours or so and by the time we got home, it was down to one bar. So, I'm guessing it would last for another hour or so. Ten hours max is what I would say.
Click to expand...

One thing to note about battery life - whenever any manufacturer talks about their player's battery life, they are talking about mp3's encoded at 128kbps, played at moderate volume, with no EQ settings, I think. Anything fancier than that and you'll be cutting into the advertised battery life. I've had to accept that with my mp3's encoded at 192 as they are, and with my loud, bassy listening preferences, I'm probably not ever going to get the full 24 hours out of my Zen Touch. It still lasts plenty long, though.
 
Yep, the micro, that was what my whole article was on...
 
Q_onfused said:
Does the orange have an orange glow or white? Because blue would be kinda ugly...
Click to expand...

Orange and blue are complimentary colours :p

I got 1 256MB creative rhomba about a year and a half ago, I thought that would do....how wrong was I? I don't need massive amounts of space on it, so I think I too shall venture into the world of the creative zen micro.
 
The old Creative Zen NOMAD's are really fugly and old.

My bro bought a 30GB one a few years back, it's like a cassette player. Best to stick to the newer generation, Zen Micro and Zen Touch :)
 
JiMmEh said:
The old Creative Zen NOMAD's are really fugly and old.

My bro bought a 30GB one a few years back, it's like a cassette player. Best to stick to the newer generation, Zen Micro and Zen Touch :)
Click to expand...

As long as it plays music and holds quite a lot of it i wont mind...I mean its still smaller that my discman so im happy.
 
Either the Creative Zen, either Micro or Touch, or the Rio Karma (20 GB) or Rio Carbon Pearl (5 or 6 GB)
 
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