Looking for a new MP3 player

locallyunscene

<div class="IPBDescription">and I'm picky.</div>I've done some googleing, but it failed to return any suitable purchasable product.

I currently own a plain old Zen Nano, which I like, but it's old and doesn't fulfil all of my mp3 player needs,
<b>Pros:</b><ul><li> No software to load songs, just use it as a USB drive.</li><li> No special hookups,just use a regular USB cord.</li><li> It's small and easily fits in my hand/pocket.</li></ul><b>Cons:</b><ul><li> It uses a AAA battery. I'd rather it charge through USB.</li><li> Disc capacity is small(1 gig). I'd like to get 4-8 gig, but I'd take 2 gig if all of the other criteria are met.</li></ul>The original LG UP3 seems like the right kind of thing, but nobody actually sells them; people just review them.

spellman23

Go to the dark side and get a iPod.

Unfortunately, there are very few good pure .mp3 players anymore. Everyone's moved on to making video players + any music format, which also usually means computer software. Thankfully some people are getting wise and using a USB cord, but still.

I think there were some Flash Drives that allowed you to play music loaded on to them. Can't recall if they were real or very good.

NeonSpyder

<img src="http://i.testfreaks.com/images/products/600x400/44/creative-zen-micro-photo.61484.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

<a href="http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=zen+micro&cid=4669128677994241939#ps-tech-specs" target="_blank">The Creative Zen Micro</a>

Everything you need in an MP3 player, for cheap, no frills, just music. (and an fm radio receiver...)

[WHO]Them

I'm usually residing on the side of apple hater. But for mp3 players, get an iPod Nano. It really is bliss. I've tried plenty of mp3 players (I think I own ~5 in total, including the original $500 nomad jukebox).

What I do is rip my entire cd collection to FLAC using winamp. Then using winamp again, I transcode my entire collection so that every song will just barely fit on the 8gb nano. You can then drag those mp3's into itunes and sync.

douchebagatron

i used to have a creative zen micro, and it was pretty nice and extremely small. i enjoyed it, but it crapped out on me after only a year of use, and i had a recurring problem where it would freeze on startup and wouldnt work until i plugged it into a computer, which caused problems on the go. the newer versions could be better, but i dont know personally.

since the zen micro died, i purchased a ZUNE and i friggin love ever aspect of it. it holds 80 gb (though they have 4gb and 8gb versions as well) and its plenty of space for everything i have. the screen is bigger than any other mp3 player ive heard of, so its actually feasible to watch movies and such on it, which i do on car trips. currently i have all 3 seasons of arrested development on it, plus 10 gigs of music, and theres still room for 5 seasons of 24, which im going to put on there once i get around to it.

heres a few things about it to consider
pros:<ul><li>fm reciever</li><li>large screen</li><li>large storage capacity</li><li>wireless syncing (you dont have to connect to anything at all to download stuff on it)</li><li>best earbuds ive ever seen come stock. they are actually really nice, hold in sound very well, and instead of a rubber cord its a braided rope-like cord</li><li>very usable menu. everything is easily accessable, and easy to find through quick scrolling.</li><li>the button can used as a button, but also as a touchpad, and it feels very fluid and easy to control</li><li>zune software is really nice. the software that comes with it is very nice, it keeps everything really organized and will rename your files to what you the song actually is and it will find the album info, should you want it to. I actually use the regularly and it is very nice and simple. best mp3 playing software ive used in my opinion</li><li>the drm only applies to music purchased through the zune marketplace</li><li>the zune marketplace is a great way to get legal music. its like 15 dollars a month and you can download anything you want. so you spend 15 dollars and get all the music you want, then wait a few months until youve got a sizable amount of desired music and you can do it again.</li></ul>cons:<ul><li>its a tiny big larger than the ipod</li><li>it requires software, but most mp3 players will anyways.</li></ul>
<a href="http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/security/WindowsLiveWriter/ZuneandiPodSizeComparison_DADE/zuneandipod.png" target="_blank">here</a>s a link to a size comparison of all the zunes and ipods

Drfuzzy

I got a phillips GoGear 4gb, it plays movies (you have to format their size though), plays .mp3 and .wma, views pictures, has a voice recorder, has a built in radio with a antenna built into the headphones that come with the mp3 player, has a lock switch so you can carry it in your pocket without pushing buttons, has pre-configed equalizer settings, and has over a 24hr battery life. I only paid like $80 for it at wal-mart, you can get a 8gb version i think. It plugs in via usb to micro usb and appears as a external drive on your computer so you can store stuff on it. You can put the music and video files anywhere on the drive, it scans when you turn it on again when it was plugged into the computer, all without 3rd party software. Only 3rd party software that it comes with that you need is the video format converter. Also its smaller than your typical slim phone so it takes no space in your pockets.

I've used it just about every day for all of my 60 hour work weeks at work, i love it. Stock headphones sound great, and the radio built in gets good reception.

Scythe

I'm in a similar position, but there's no way in any of the seven hells I'm installing iTunes simply to transfer some data across to a portable device. F**k right off.

If it doesn't show up as an external drive and allow me to copy files straight over, I don't give a damn about it.

--Scythe--

DiscoZombie

I have a zune. the Zune software is slightly less obnoxious than itunes, imo, but it is still software nevertheless. I have been seriously considering buying a zune subscription. Unlimited music downloads for $15/month, and they have an awesome selection (I haven't searched for an artist I haven't found yet), and I think you can cancel whenever you want and still keep the music, though you can't burn it to CDs. Seriously though, I wish both itunes and the zune software had better music indexing options. I work with Excel for a living and so I love looking at data exactly how I want it. Neither program lets you look at your music in truly convenient ways. they sacrifice so much utility for idiot-proofing...

X_Stickman

<!--quoteo(post=1686469:date=Aug 23 2008, 12:14 AM:name=Drfuzzy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Drfuzzy @ Aug 23 2008, 12:14 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1686469"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I got a phillips GoGear 4gb, it plays movies (you have to format their size though), plays .mp3 and .wma, views pictures, has a voice recorder, has a built in radio with a antenna built into the headphones that come with the mp3 player, has a lock switch so you can carry it in your pocket without pushing buttons, has pre-configed equalizer settings, and has over a 24hr battery life. I only paid like $80 for it at wal-mart, you can get a 8gb version i think. It plugs in via usb to micro usb and appears as a external drive on your computer so you can store stuff on it. You can put the music and video files anywhere on the drive, it scans when you turn it on again when it was plugged into the computer, all without 3rd party software. Only 3rd party software that it comes with that you need is the video format converter. Also its smaller than your typical slim phone so it takes no space in your pockets.

I've used it just about every day for all of my 60 hour work weeks at work, i love it. Stock headphones sound great, and the radio built in gets good reception.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I have the 2gb version of this, and it's by far the best MP3 player I've ever used or seen my friends using. It's small, easy to use, organises the MP3s by album, artist and genre automatically (as well as an "all songs" list), good battery life, good sound quality (although I use my own headphones) etc... and it's tiny.

The only problem I've ever had with it is that it charges via USB, and when I've forgotten to plug it in for a few days (but I'm still using it) and the battery cuts out, there's nothing you can do. I guess that's true of most MP3 players out nowadays though, it's just the one I had before this was AAA battery and I always had a spare or two on me when using it.

lolfighter

I've got an Archos 605. 80gb hard drive, plays mp3, wma, wmv and mp4. Data transmission via USB cable, no extra software required. Can also be used as an external hard drive, although with a maximum file size of 2gb due to the file system.

Faskalia

Grundig MPaxx MP 845 4GB

Nuff said!

4GB MP3 Player

No fancy pants stuff.

Chargable through USB.
Runs for 8h on a high quality Lithium-Ion pack.

Goes for less than 50€.

locallyunscene

Thanks all! I'm going to have to research some of these, but <b>Fask</b>'s <b>lof</b>'s and <b>Fuzzy</b>'s mp3 players sound perfect. I'll yet y'all know what I end up buying.

lolfighter

Let it be noted that Archos doesn't believe that the words "cheap" and "mp3 player" go together.

Thansal

for me, cheap and good == Zen

I got one recently, and they are good sizes (4/8/16 and I THINK 32), and good prices.

They can do video, but I don't bother.

They do require software to load music, and it sorta ticks me off, but the software is fine and dandy (And once it is loaded you can then treat it as a drag and drop from your explorer).

It is an internal Li-Ion battery (rechargeable good, not user replaceable, bad).

Charges from a standard usb Mini cable.

And it is on sale from Amazon (just search Zen in Amazon)