What MP3 player to get?

[Arlos]

OK, got some money for Xmas expressly for the purpose, and was wondering what the consensus is for the best MP3 player to get.

Ipod Nano? Ipod Classic? Zune? Creative Labs?

Video isn't an especially important feature for me, sound quality is, as is battery life. (size/weight is too, I suppose).

Mainly it's going to get used for listening to music as I walk to school, or for like when I'm on the plane to Hawaii in June.

So, what's everyone's opinions?

-Arlos

[10sun]

I like my Zune. It is bigger... but I usually wear jackets of some sort.
Battery life is excellent. It ran about 8 hours of movies on one battery charge which would have most likely been at least double that for just music. It charges from a USB port by default rather than an outlet (my old mp3 player was a wall plug in deal, sucked for travelling). I love the controls on it compared to the iPod's because I have larger clumsy hands & I don't hit the wrong buttons even while I have it in it's case in my pocket... so I don't have to pull it out of my pocket & remove it from the case to change songs.

These are only my thoughts, opinions, & observations though.

-Adam

ps. I also only paid $90 for 30gb... gogo Woot!

[Harrison]

Don't spend more than $100 to play music and play music alone.

If it doesn't suck your dick too, why are you paying so much money for shit you aren't going to use.

[Tossica]

Fuck MP3 players.

[Tikker]

if you don't want to drink the Apple kool-aid, the sandisk Sansa series is pretty nice, and good priced

[Eldred]

I got a sony walkman I really like it, it's small buttons are easy to use I hate the dial stuff. Sounds great, good battery life, and also charges though an USB. It's also drag and drop for pics music and vid's don't have to use any crappy software like w/ an IPod.

[Martrae]

If you don't listen to audiobooks...get a Zune.

If you do, go iPod.

[10sun]

I got a sony walkman I really like it, it's small buttons are easy to use I hate the dial stuff. Sounds great, good battery life, and also charges though an USB. It's also drag and drop for pics music and vid's don't have to use any crappy software like w/ an IPod.

Can you play the mix tapes that friends make for you?

[Kramer]

just do an ipod for christsakes..... all of the weenis' who have to make pointless and voiceless protests against big companies can keep it up.

[Harrison]

Besides the fact that Ipods are overpriced garbage, sure.

[Tikker]

just do an ipod for christsakes..... all of the weenis' who have to make pointless and voiceless protests against big companies can keep it up.

iPods are disposable =\


I don't know a single person who has one. everyone ends up getting a new one almost every year cause they just don't last. and once you're tied into iTunes, they have you by the balls

[Gaazy]

A. Ive had my iPod for like 3 or 4 years now, using it daily, especially connected into the lighter of my truck with one of those FM things (called a iTrip). I have had no problems whatsoever, and still on the original battery, that still go for hours and hours without a boost.

B. I like iTunes. I dont see why everyone hates it.


I really think most of it is just everyone wanting to be different from the crowd in not having an iPod, and thats about it. Everyone else I know that has one too has had no problems with theirs, except replacing batteries after a few years. Nooo idea where all the horror stories are coming from on them, maybe the million people I know that has one are just really lucky!

[10sun]

A. Ive had my iPod for like 3 or 4 years now, using it daily, especially connected into the lighter of my truck with one of those FM things (called a iTrip). I have had no problems whatsoever, and still on the original battery, that still go for hours and hours without a boost.

B. I like iTunes. I dont see why everyone hates it.


I really think most of it is just everyone wanting to be different from the crowd in not having an iPod, and thats about it. Everyone else I know that has one too has had no problems with theirs, except replacing batteries after a few years. Nooo idea where all the horror stories are coming from on them, maybe the million people I know that has one are just really lucky!

For me personally, I just don't like using the iPod's wheel thing. Nor did I enjoy the prospect of spending $200+ for a 30gb iPod video when I could get a similar product with better button selection & a larger screen for less than $100.

To the second part of what you said, my cousins & my younger siblings have all had multiple iPods each. Some have had issues with batteries, some with the HD failing, just a bunch of different problems & all of them resulting in multiple trips to the Apple store & after the warranties run out, the parents say tough luck... you are just going to have to suffer without it. This could very well be the fact that these kids are using them daily in their pockets, whereas personally I usually just leave mine in my truck to hook into the auxiliary input instead of carrying CDs around. This isn't to say that iPods are more defective than other products, the dataset doesn't exist for a lot of the other products. I don't mind building an alternative dataset with products that are ignored by the blind masses.

-Adam

[Kramer]

pretty much the same experience as Gaazy

[Ndaara]

I was looking at an ipod but it won't work with one of the audiobook services I use, Overdrive through the public libraries. After much shopping I ended up buying software (PocketTunes) to make my Treo into an mp3 player, that supports overdrive for my audiobooks. It turned out to be one of those really annoying things where I bought the software, BUT I needed a SD card to make it work, BUT I needed to buy stereo headphones, BUT I needed an adapter to use normal 1/8" (3.5mm) headphones because Treo uses 2.5mm jack. AND I had to figure out why some .wma files played just fine, yet others didn't (Lossless doesn't work on PocketTunes, but normal .wma files do. it depended on how i ripped the CD to my hd, geez! Troubleshooting nightmare!).

The moral of this story is, know what formats you want your mp3 player to read for you, before you buy it. If you just want it to play music, it doesn't seem to matter. And, sometimes it costs more to adapt a thing, than just to buy a dedicated thing. <curses proprietary jacks> didn't anyone learn anything from the Sony Betamax experience?!

Many friends have various ipods and they all love them, no complaints, just praise. Which one did you pick, Arlos?

[Gaazy]

10sun, I can definitely understand the wheel thing. It took me a while to get used to it, but now that I have, i can do it while im driving and not even have to look down or think about it, I know by the clickies I guess where Im at most of the time. But yeah, I can see where it wouldnt be too satisfactory for some people.

[Eldred]

I got a sony walkman I really like it, it's small buttons are easy to use I hate the dial stuff. Sounds great, good battery life, and also charges though an USB. It's also drag and drop for pics music and vid's don't have to use any crappy software like w/ an IPod.

Can you play the mix tapes that friends make for you?

I don't really want to listen to other people's music I want to listen to mine. I.E. Why I'm not listening to the radio or something like that. Heck I find myself DLing the pod casts of Bob and Tom and Opie and Anthony in the morning and listening to them rather than music now a days.

[brinstar]

IMHO ipods are crap

itunes makes me mad, their proprietary bullshit makes me mad, their "clever" advertising makes me mad, and the fact that you can't replace the battery without mailing it in and paying a huge amount of money also makes me mad (hence why most just buy a new ipod when the battery craps out)

[Gaazy]

Yeah thats one thing I think is fucking stupid (the battery thing). But Ive also got like 3 years in mine without a problem, so Im not complaining