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Mp3 Player Discussion Thread

ixcuincle

By ixcuincle
in The Tailgate

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ixcuincle

ixcuincle

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Disclaimer : Search function is not cooperating so if this current thread replicates any previous one , merge them :laugh:

So anyways the holidays are coming up and I've been thinking about acquiring a mp3 player to join everyone else in the 21st century. It seems like everyone has one of those mp3 music devices but me. So I was thinking about Apple , but those Ipods tend to be expensive. And then I thought about Zune , but I was discouraged by reviews online of how the software was uncooperative (plus I don't like the Zune wireless thing , if you send me a song I should be able to listen more than 3 times...).

Do any of you know any efficient mp3 players better than Apple Ipods? I'd like something that isn't that expensive (under 200) but can hold 5 - 6 gb's of content.

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ixcuincle

ixcuincle

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I thought so too but then I read of the wireless capabilities and the whole "when I send you a song , you can only listen to it 3 times unless you buy it" nonsense , plus the first 2 reviews I read off Amazon complained of the Zune software. People seem to like Itunes but me and Itunes don't get along , I've never used Itunes to download music to a mp3 player though.

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Reic

Reic

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I thought so too but then I read of the wireless capabilities and the whole "when I send you a song , you can only listen to it 3 times unless you buy it" nonsense , plus the first 2 reviews I read off Amazon complained of the Zune software. People seem to like Itunes but me and Itunes don't get along , I've never used Itunes to download music to a mp3 player though.

3 days, not 3 times.

I go to ODU and have never found anyone with the zune, so the wireless is useless to me.

Itunes and Windows Media can sync together and send the music directly to the zune.

You can download any music you want and drag the file from your p2p program to windows media player and it will autmoatically sinc it to zune as well.

It takes a second to get used to the software, but some people need things simple for them, and if they don't get it the first time, they give up and gripe :)

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Reic

Reic

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the vision M is good too.

I was going to buy it but didn't want to shell out the extra cash, so I bought the 30 gig zune

the screen is also huge, 3 inches. it plays like an HDTV too, it is gorgeous.

Zune also has FM radio.

No integrated mic, but that is probably not important to most poeple.

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ixcuincle

ixcuincle

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Zen Vision M is the early leader in the race : 160 dollar price on Amazon and you all seem to like it. But this review on Amazon is holding me back...

http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000CS7U1C/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?%5Fencoding=UTF8&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R267L6XW46DQH8

The bad:

- Very slow startup, especially if you haven't started it in a while.

- Battery life isn't so hot after a year

- I still like Apple's click wheel better than the touch pad

- The four buttons on the sides are annoying to use; they require a very strong push.

- There is no "All" tab when selecting albums and artists --- on an iPod, this exists. So it is impossible for me to view all the songs by an artist. I HAVE to view them by album.

- The software is horrible. I am pretty good with most technology but I can still not figure out how to make playlists on this! The software freezes all the time since I have over like, 10 songs, and I can never get anything accomplished. iTunes can be slow but it blows this out of the water.

- If I open up a folder that has nothing in it, it freezes.

- When it loads songs sometimes, it makes an annoying clicking "processing" sound for a second.

- Sometimes upon starting a song you'll get strange feedback in the song. This happens at random and not very often, and if you restart it goes away, but it's still annyoing. I've seen this in other reviews.

- The font looks cheesy, I'll just say it.

- The charging device is ridiculous, with its various attachments.

- Menus are slow in general

- When on hold, the screen goes black, and I can't see what I'm listening to.

- The date and time are always wrong, no matter how many times I set them correctly.

- Also, the time is not displayed at the top of the screen like in an iPod, so I can't use this device like a watch.

- No smart playlists; I miss this from the iPod

Overall, former iPod users will be very dissappointed with this. For a first mp3 player it might not be horrible, but at this point there are so many better, cheaper options out there.

Are these issues true , and if so , are they as annoying as this guy puts them out to be? I'm also wondering about the so-called "Better , cheaper options out there" mentioned.

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Sticksboi05

Sticksboi05

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Zen Vision M is the early leader in the race : 160 dollar price on Amazon and you all seem to like it. But this review on Amazon is holding me back...

http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000CS7U1C/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?%5Fencoding=UTF8&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R267L6XW46DQH8

Are these issues true , and if so , are they as annoying as this guy puts them out to be? I'm also wondering about the so-called "Better , cheaper options out there" mentioned.

"In announcing its “Best of CES 2006” award winners, CNET has named Creative’s Zen Vision: M “Best in Show,” its top pick of all of the products shown at the annual consumer electronics convention. Citing the device’s “brighter screen, better battery life, and more features” than the iPod, CNET’s editors suggested that the device was an “iPod killer,” praising its support for multiple video formats and “winning design.”"

Amazon user reviews are generally unreliable and I'd say it even if it was a pro-Zen review.

ec_seal_0106.gif

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VASkins540

VASkins540

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Zen Vision M is the early leader in the race : 160 dollar price on Amazon and you all seem to like it. But this review on Amazon is holding me back...

The bad:

- Very slow startup, especially if you haven't started it in a while.

- Battery life isn't so hot after a year

- I still like Apple's click wheel better than the touch pad

- The four buttons on the sides are annoying to use; they require a very strong push.

- There is no "All" tab when selecting albums and artists --- on an iPod, this exists. So it is impossible for me to view all the songs by an artist. I HAVE to view them by album.

- The software is horrible. I am pretty good with most technology but I can still not figure out how to make playlists on this! The software freezes all the time since I have over like, 10 songs, and I can never get anything accomplished. iTunes can be slow but it blows this out of the water.

- If I open up a folder that has nothing in it, it freezes.

- When it loads songs sometimes, it makes an annoying clicking "processing" sound for a second.

- Sometimes upon starting a song you'll get strange feedback in the song. This happens at random and not very often, and if you restart it goes away, but it's still annyoing. I've seen this in other reviews.

- The font looks cheesy, I'll just say it.

- The charging device is ridiculous, with its various attachments.

- Menus are slow in general

- When on hold, the screen goes black, and I can't see what I'm listening to.

- The date and time are always wrong, no matter how many times I set them correctly.

- Also, the time is not displayed at the top of the screen like in an iPod, so I can't use this device like a watch.

- No smart playlists; I miss this from the iPod

Overall, former iPod users will be very dissappointed with this. For a first mp3 player it might not be horrible, but at this point there are so many better, cheaper options out there.

Are these issues true , and if so , are they as annoying as this guy puts them out to be? I'm also wondering about the so-called "Better , cheaper options out there" mentioned.

*ahem*

- The only time mine has a slow "start up" is when the machine needs to "relocate" your library, or something like that. Anyway, it's no big deal.

- Battery life is my only real beef with the Zen. It does seem to run down pretty quickly, but that may just be me since, as I said before, I take it EVERYWHERE.

- touch pad is infinitely better, IMO, but it's all about personal preference. I hate the Ipod click wheel, it's too slow.

- I don't have a problem with the four buttons, but again this is an opinionated issue.

- Personally, I don't really care about not having an "All" tab. If you really want to be able to view them all at once, you could always just put them all on a playlist.

- Never had a software issue. I can't really compare it to Ipod's as I've never messed around with it.

- No idea what he's talking about. A folder on the software? on the Zen? :whoknows:

- Now he's just nitpicking, lol.

- I don't know that I've ever gotten any feedback noise on mine, but it doesn't really sound like that big of a deal, IMO.

- issues with the font are a matter of personal opinion.

- menus sometimes do become a little slow, more so when your machine is being filled near capacity with songs. Occassionally mine has become frozen, but I'm not sure if this is a genuine malfunction or if it's just because I'm impatient.

- When on hold, you're generally not supposed to be concerned with seeing or changing which song you're listening to.

- never had date and time issues

- dunno what he's talking about?

I feel that you're getting a solid product for the price you pay. Most of the mp3s that are sold for less are naturally going to have smaller harddrives, fewer features, or both. In my obviously biased opinion :silly: , you're not going to find a superior product in the same price range.

EDIT: I agree with the post above, Amazon isn't really a reliable source for product reviews. Though, my post may not be any better. Ultimately, it's all just a matter of personal preference.

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PokerPacker

PokerPacker

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to start off, you don't want an mp3 player with a harddrive, moving parts are too likely to fail. you said you were looking for something to hold 5-6 GBs? The sansa e200 series mp3 player is probably exactly what you are looking for. they can hold 2,4,6, or 8 GBs depending on the model you get. not only that, but they also have expandable memory via a microSD expansion slot that can hold up to 2 GBs right there.

Features:

video playback= the screen resolution of 176x220 is just fine for watching videos as long as there isn't text to read.

FM radio

built-in Voice Recorder- with just a press of the button you can use the sansa to record lectures are anything

battery life- battery stays charged for 16-20 hours, more than enough.

MicroSD expansion bay

And to top it all off? they're dirt cheap. Sandisk just came out with a new mp3 player similar to the e200 series, called the View. because of this, the prices on e200s have been spiraling downwards. i've seen the e250 (2GB) selling for $30, just shop around online and you will find great deals on one of these.

conversely, if you want the View instead of the e200, it comes in 8GB and 16GB forms and also sports microSD expansion. this is a little better, though, because it supports the microSDHC format which right now comes in sizes as much as 8GB, so you could potentially have a 32GB flash-based mp3 player. Some of the features of the View are a bigger screen, and support for more video formats such as DivX (great quality and takes up little space). i personally have not tried the View so i cannot give you any reccomendations from experience, but i'm willing to bet its a nice player.

Bottom line:

You said you are looking for a 5-6 GB mp3 player, so i'd suggest going with either a sansa e270 (6GB) or a sansa e280 (8GB) and you'll always have the option to add more via the microSD slot.

side note: there is a 3rd party OS that i use for the e200 that does support microSDHC for the sansa e200, so if you want an 8GB card, it you don't necessarily have to get the View.

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Sticksboi05

Sticksboi05

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to start off, you don't want an mp3 player with a harddrive, moving parts are too likely to fail. you said you were looking for something to hold 5-6 GBs? The sansa e200 series mp3 player is probably exactly what you are looking for. they can hold 2,4,6, or 8 GBs depending on the model you get. not only that, but they also have expandable memory via a microSD expansion slot that can hold up to 2 GBs right there.

Features:

video playback= the screen resolution of 176x220 is just fine for watching videos as long as there isn't text to read.

FM radio

built-in Voice Recorder- with just a press of the button you can use the sansa to record lectures are anything

battery life- battery stays charged for 16-20 hours, more than enough.

And to top it all off? they're dirt cheap. Sandisk just came out with a new mp3 player similar to the e200 series, called the View. because of this, the prices on e200s have been spiraling downwards. i've seen the e250 (2GB) selling for $30, just shop around online and you will find great deals on one of these.

conversely, if you want the View instead of the e200, it comes in 8GB and 16GB forms and also sports microSD expansion. this is a little better, though, because it supports the microSDHC format which right now comes in sizes as much as 8GB, so you could potentially have a 32GB flash-based mp3 player. Some of the features of the View are a bigger screen, and support for more video formats such as DivX (great quality and takes up little space). i personally have not tried the View so i cannot give you any reccomendations from experience, but i'm willing to bet its a nice player.

Bottom line:

You said you are looking for a 5-6 GB mp3 player, so i'd suggest going with either a sansa e270 (6GB) or a sansa e280 (8GB) and you'll always have the option to add more via the microSD slot.

side note: there is a 3rd party OS that i use for the e200 that does support microSDHC for the sansa e200, so if you want an 8GB card, it you don't necessarily have to get the View.

That's just bad use by the owner. My Zen Microphoto has an 8 GB hard drive and it hasn't failed once. I mean I'd prefer flash but I'm not going to make him think the Zen Vision M isn't an outstanding MP3 player.

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PokerPacker

PokerPacker

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That's just bad use by the owner. My Zen Microphoto has an 8 GB hard drive and it hasn't failed once. I mean I'd prefer flash but I'm not going to make him think the Zen Vision M isn't an outstanding MP3 player.

i didn't mean to say that they always fail, its just another thing TO fail. and you know murphy's law... everything that can go wrong, WILL go wrong. ;)

edit: and with the ability to get 32GB onto a flash-based player, who NEEDs HDD players anymore?

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Enter Apotheosis

Enter Apotheosis

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i didn't mean to say that they always fail, its just another thing TO fail. and you know murphy's law... everything that can go wrong, WILL go wrong. ;)

edit: and with the ability to get 32GB onto a flash-based player, who NEEDs HDD players anymore?

Solid state storage isn't immune to failure, either. Its a definitely more durable but you get that at the expense of cost per GB storage. It also isn't terribly difficult to use up 30 gigs of space. :2cents:

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PokerPacker

PokerPacker

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I didn't realize the Sansa did... I guess it's the small screen...

its not so bad when actually watching a video, 1.8 inches is watchable.

edit: oh, and to build on my first post about the sansa, the View, which i glossed over a bit, has a 2.4 inch screen, and it has Video Out capabilities so you can hook it up to your TV.

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