MP3 Players

[Giggly]

Aside from iPod, does anyone have any recommendations on which ones are best?

 

[Falcarius]

Depends how much memory you need;

Shuffle alternative: Creative Zen Stone Plus.

Nano alternative: Cowon iAudio 7 or Creative Zen.

 

[scantilyclad]

I have a creative zen sleek photo 30gig, and i think it is better than the ipod. It is also cheaper than a 30 gig Ipod.

its sort of outdated now i guess. I also enjoy the Zune.

 

[spirilis]

I don't have any specific recommendations ('cause I'm an iPod whore) but I will say one awesome thing about USB players (ones w/ built in usb connector) is some newer car stereos (i.e. aftermarket units) support them so you can play the music on your player direct through your car stereo. No aux cable required. Many of them support the iPod too (using a separate iPod dock cable)

 

[Giggly]

I don't have any specific recommendations ('cause I'm an iPod whore) but I will say one awesome thing about USB players (ones w/ built in usb connector) is some newer car stereos (i.e. aftermarket units) support them so you can play the music on your player direct through your car stereo. No aux cable required. Many of them support the iPod too (using a separate iPod dock cable)

Ooooooooh, thank you! That's good to know!!

Its also nice to know what player everyone else uses.

 

[spirilis]

Ooooooooh, thank you! That's good to know!!

Its also nice to know what player everyone else uses.

Yeah I'm a bit of a quality whore, so I only do car setups with direct data links (no headphone/aux cables--just iPod dock or USB). Being able to control the player from the stereo's front panel is critical too because it's a little bit safer than looking to the side or down to fumble with some small gadget.

 

[Giggly]

Yeah I'm a bit of a quality whore, so I only do car setups with direct data links (no headphone/aux cables--just iPod dock or USB). Being able to control the player from the stereo's front panel is critical too because it's a little bit safer than looking to the side or down to fumble with some small gadget.

Can you control the the player with the stereo's front panel with a USB hook up?

 

[millerm277]

I've got a 30gb Creative Zen Vision M, and while it's probably a bit outdated now, I still like it a lot. I've heard good things about the current creative players.

A friend of mine has the Zune, and if I were buying one now, that's what I'd get, very nice in my opinion.

 

[spirilis]

Can you control the the player with the stereo's front panel with a USB hook up?

Yeah, the ones I've read basically use the USB player as a dumb hard drive and read the mp3s from it. So the headunit is its own mp3 player, it justs use the usb player as an HD. You can likewise just shove a usb flash drive in there full of mp3s.

 

[Giggly]

Cool, thanks. Unfortunately, I don't have an MP3 player unit in my car so I have to wait on the car bit.

 

[entropie]

Can build you one from scratch .

I have a schematic here and it is one of the projects I want to accomplish in the next days.

Just tell me what you need, full usb support and SD Card support at any size I can implement. We can even try to tap into the power managment and create a battery long-lasting device.

your call

 

[Giggly]

Can build you one from scratch .

I have a schematic here and it is one of the projects I want to accomplish in the next days.

Just tell me what you need, full usb support and SD Card support at any size I can implement. We can even try to tap into the power managment and create a battery long-lasting device.

your call

Ambitious!

 

[Giggly]

What IS it about iPod that makes people so crazy about them, as opposed to non-Apple MP3 players?

 

[Jeffster]

I got one for free, but it was some cheap offbrand that didn't hold much songs, and then the battery went dead, and it has like an intricate 7 step process for changing the battery so I said screw it and tossed it somewhere and don't use it. It'd be nice in certain situations I've been in to have one, but honestly I don't really have much patience for the whole process, I'm kind of an old fogie when it comes to stuff like that. I held out on buying a CD player until 1998, so it's likely I will eventually use an mp3 player but it might be awhile yet.

 

[millerm277]

What IS it about iPod that makes people so crazy about them, as opposed to non-Apple MP3 players?

Nothing I've seen...never had a problem with mine. A major problem I have with them, is that I can't stand having to use iTunes for everything. With many of the other players, you can just plug it straight into the computer, and drag and drop songs (and other files too, you can use them as big flash drives normally), no drivers necessary.


On the iPod, you have to have iTunes/drivers installed, and to have it synced up with the library. And, it can only be synced to one library at a time.

 

[Giggly]

I got one for free

I got an ipod for free too several years ago and have never gotten into it. I find iTunes to be annoying.

Nothing I've seen...never had a problem with mine. A major problem I have with them, is that I can't stand having to use iTunes for everything. With many of the other players, you can just plug it straight into the computer, and drag and drop songs (and other files too, you can use them as big flash drives normally), no drivers necessary.


On the iPod, you have to have iTunes/drivers installed, and to have it synced up with the library. And, it can only be synced to one library at a time.

I use Rhapsody music service and I'm looking into the devices compatible with that or just switching from Rhapsody to Zune. Do you know anymore more about Zune or it's compatible players?

 

[spirilis]

What IS it about iPod that makes people so crazy about them, as opposed to non-Apple MP3 players?

For me, it was the aforementioned car integration. iTunes was never a problem because I don't use it; my PC runs Linux most the time and I have linux software that connects with the iPod.

A coworker was all about them too (and Mac computers in general) so he provided the gentle "push" that led me to go the Apple route.

Before that it was just mp3 CDs in my car's Alpine and crappy mp3 CD discman players for when I hiked/walked. I was excited about portable players like that when they came out but I hated spending money so I never bothered, and if I was going to shell out cash it better had been quality shit. So when I did buy my ipod I selected it because my Alpine headunit only supported ipod, nothing else. And from everything I'd heard at the time, ipods sounded like high quality devices, and not once have I ever seen anything to challenge that perception.

So in a nutshell:
1. High quality device that lasts for years
2. Well connected with other audio equipment

 

[millerm277]

I use Rhapsody music service and I'm looking into the devices compatible with that or just switching from Rhapsody to Zune. Do you know anymore more about Zune or it's compatible players?

I know that there is a similar service out there for the Zune, but I know nothing about what kind of selection there is, or anything like that.

If you like Rhapsody, I'd suggest you look through their "compatible players" page. iRiver, Creative and Sandisk usually make good players, and Sony has had some good ones too.

 

[Kleinheiko]

I have a SanDisk Sansa e260 4 GB mp3 player that I got refurbished on woot.com for 45 bucks (usually about 100). It's pretty much a knock off of the iPod nano, though it's much thicker and has a larger screen.
It only has 4 GB internal memory, but it has a micro SD expansion slot, so you can add extra if you want.
It has a very rugged full metal casing, as in I'm not sure if I could break this thing if I threw it off a cliff.
It has drag and drop for mp3's, or you can sync it with WMP, but if you want to add video to it, you have to use a special converter, and the video and audio get off a bit. I don't use it for video, though, so it's just perfect for me. Since I've just got a tape player in my car, and no special stereo setup, I just use the simple tape adaptor.