I want an MP3 player, but...

S

strebor

Weaksauce
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Jun 29, 2004
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I want an MP3 player but I have no idea what to get.

I don't need the 20GB or whatever ones, 2-6GB would be more than fine. I don't want under 2GB though, otherwise I'll just buy an MP3 CD player. One thing I really want though is AM radio through it, if that is at all possible. I love music but I love talk radio in the morning. I don't care about being trendy, I just want something nice and not too expensive.

So:

- Budget: $250 at the VERY most. I'd rather have it around $200.
- Small, something I can put in my pocket comfortably.
- 2GB+ storage.
- Durable, good battery life, etc.
- Has AM radio capability, I don't care if I need to buy something extra.
- Something with the screen would be nice, I would like to see the name of the song and stuff when I play it.
- I want to use my MP3s on it freely, I don't want to use any Sony-type propietary song crap. Is the iPod like that?

I'm thinking a 2nd gen iPod mini (the smallest storage one, 4GB?), since the Nano just came out and maybe I can pick up one a little cheaper. My university also offers a little discount with Apple when I go through them (but now I can't find the mini on their site). Any other ideas though? Some of those Creative ones look nice but I don't know which one to get... help pleas
 
I've enjoyed some nice usage out of my 20GB iPod. I've seen and read about the Nano, and it looks good. I would get that if I were you and I believe you can get an extension that allows for a radio tuner. And AM radio? Listen to a lot of talkshows? :D j/k. Happy buying.
 
I am also looking for the same size MP3 player but don't need AM/FM tuner. Don't want an iPod however.

Any other suggestions in that price range?
 
The iPod nano would be a great idea, but one think your looking for it doesn't come with out of the box. The AM radio could be added on with sometype of extention I believe. But to make up for it you could just download and get updated Podcasts. Depending how much you like talk. Don't know how much you'd use the mp3 player in a car but remember more and more car manufactures are including iPod jacks.
 
Dell has some really nice MP3 players for a great bang for your buck..

I have a Dell DJ30 (30GB) and i only spent $202.00

Its retail price is around $400.00
-- on all the Dell DJ's, they have crazy discounts - im guessing to attract customers because the iPod is doing so well w/ iTunes. (Dell has also paired up with Napster)
I had 30% presented from Dell, and there are stackable coupons you can buy on eBay you can add on to your purchase, i also pre-paid 4months for Napster To Go, which gave me another $50.00 mail in rebate.

Right now, its been going great for me, i've purchased a few accessories along with the mp3 player which you can add on right through dell.. i have the FM Tuner - the FM Transmitter through my Car, i can work out/ jog w/ my mp3 player - i bought some accessories for that.
 
I have never seen a player with am tuner :confused:
Iriver
Creative
Jetaudio
Samsung
Archos
All make great player though
 
Althought the iPods are a widely seen as a fashion accessory they are still one of the best. The iPod nano is sex in a stick for me (design wise), and it has a good price point with great features.I myself have owned an iPod mini (1st gen), and I now have a iPod 20 GB (5th gen, with one with colour screens), and the features are the best that I could find. Im not bothered about the colour screen, but it is added bling, and the battery life is some of the best that I have seen. It also looks amazing, sounds amazing, is good value, doesnt weigh too much, and holds lots of songs ;)
 
Creative Zen Muvo 2 FM is for you. They have it on outpost for like 150. AM/FM capability and a 5gb HD

carloswill: they have a 4 gb version w/o AM/FM called Muvo 2
 
MP3 PLayers by people like Creative are players that are the good quality. as for an IPod, I don't buy those since they are far too expensive, and they have more than enough space.
now I know your budget is 250, and this borders your budget but let me tell you this MP3 player is worth it.
this is the I-river, 6GB, but it has freaking good sound, has radio, you can throw songs on there easily as the next, put them on there with windows explorer, you can make playlists with it, it records sound as well> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16855150055
also if you want something very small a cretive MuVo would be a nice MP3 player. You will eventually find that 20GB for music isn't really worth it after a while.
 
carloswill said:
This is a very nice designed MP3 player but too Microsoft designed/oriented.
:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

If you're saying "Can't use it in Linux," I'm willing to say that it will in all likelihood work with Linux since Creative's portable players typically are just seen as USB devices and portable storage.

Otherwise, :confused:
 
Nope, Linux sees that as an external USB drive and its simply drag and drop but I just find that those sync with office features and everything else add to the price.

Is very attractive none the less.
 
carloswill said:
I am also looking for the same size MP3 player but don't need AM/FM tuner. Don't want an iPod however.

Any other suggestions in that price range?
Click to expand...
Im ordering a creative zen micro, it has am/fm, it was compared to mini ipod in reviews i saw, it smoked teh ipod just my 2 cents tho

soulsaver_8229
 
make sure you decide what kind of transfer you want. There are those that are treated as mass storage, just like a drive so you can just plug and transfer.

then there are other that you must have some interfacing software just to use them. I have tried iPods and I found that very annoying because most of my mp3s are not properly tagged or in a foreign language which would corrupt the metadata and screw the iPod. i had to reset it quite a few times. I tried that Rio Carbon and it was easier to use since it acts just like a disk drive.
 
I would consider the IPod Mini because now that the Nano is out, you can get the Mini for a much cheaper price unless you really want that perfect little thing called the Nano. For the AM radio you can get mini am/fm recievers that plug into the Ipod. You could also find a good Podcast to get every morning.
 
Nano is far from perfect. Its just an attractive MP3 player with a less attractive price.
 
mastephens said:
I would consider the IPod Mini because now that the Nano is out, you can get the Mini for a much cheaper price unless you really want that perfect little thing called the Nano. For the AM radio you can get mini am/fm recievers that plug into the Ipod. You could also find a good Podcast to get every morning.
Click to expand...

Can you send me a link to the reciever? Thanks.
 
I highly recommend a flash based iRiver. Great sound, battery life is excellent, and supports Ogg.
 
carloswill said:
Nano is far from perfect. Its just an attractive MP3 player with a less attractive price.
Click to expand...

I only meant the visual and size factors. Other than that it is very overpriced and it has a few bugs to be worked out.
 
iRiver H10. I like mine a lot.

Regarding the requirements that the OP put up:
- Price is quite modest now
- Same size as the iPod Mini
- Comes in 5GB and 6GB configurations
- Pretty durable... but battery life isn't as good as they say it is (I get around 8, they quote 12ish)
- No AM radio capabilities (as far as I know)... I'd like it so I can hear traffic reports
- Colour screen (the main culprit for the so-so battery life)
- Supports MP3s and WMA files

The iPod Nano will be more durable due to it's flash-based design, but it doesn't support MP3 files directly...
 
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