MP3 players

Mr. Johnson · Post by **Mr. Johnson** » October 20th, 2009, 13:49

As I'm sitting on buses and trains alot lately, and I tend to get bored with my books quite often, I've finally decided to buy me an MP3 player to listen to some tunes while I watch the landscape roll by.
I'm looking for something good and sturdy, doesn't need too much storage but it can always come in handy should I want to put some larger files on it.
Furthermore it doesn't have to be too expensive as I won't be using it too much, but I tend to break things rather quickly...
Also no ipods as I never liked the interface and I don't want itunes.
Help me bitches, as the sea of digital media devices is massive and overwhelming!

buzzmong · Post by **buzzmong** » October 20th, 2009, 13:57

Creative Zen!

I do believe that 2 other 5punkers own them as well as myself (Deej and maybe Prof?), and I rate it highly.

Also has an SD Card slot for easy expanding of the internal memories (which is substantial anyway).

Stoat · Post by **Stoat** » October 20th, 2009, 14:02

I've got a 4GB Zen. It's lovely. Standard Drag and Drop file management, SD card for expanding (though songs on the card are not added to your library, so it can be a bit of an arse to manage).
The software isn't as awful as most Creative software- the video encoder works well, the playlist manager isn't the worst I've seen and it isn't iTunes.
It's got a backup ROM so if you brick it with an update you can recover it yourself in no time.
Great little thing. Better normalisation than my iPod too.

Lee · Post by **Lee** » October 20th, 2009, 14:03

I like the sony walkmans. Good sound quality, look good, simple interface, drag and drop or any media progam you want and ridiculously long battery life, 30+ hours.

Post by **Grimmie** » October 20th, 2009, 14:03

I swear by my Zen, I've had the regular Zen, and the X-fi.
They've made a touchscreen one now, but it's obviously pricier.

http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/zenxfi/

It also works great with WMP album management.
I just drag entire albums onto a bar on the right, and press Sync. Done.

Post by **Dog Pants** » October 20th, 2009, 14:09

I've got a Zen. It's been to Iraq and Afghanistan with me, survived the rigors of military transport, and the battery lasted the whole flight and more on every occasion. Only gripe I had was that the earphones hurt after about 6 hours.

Mr. Johnson · Post by **Mr. Johnson** » October 20th, 2009, 14:10

Excellent, the zen sounds exactly right for me, does anyone have any special recommendations on where to buy it?
They always charge you more here and it's generally cheaper for me to buy from the UK (what with the credit crunch and all)

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » October 20th, 2009, 14:11

How about a nice, shiny iP ... oh.

I often listen to music while reading. So long as it doesn't distract (avoiding music with lyrics is probably best) it can provide a soundtrack to the world in the book. Also it blocks out other distracting/annoying noises. However I commute to London, which is always busy, and I need an aural cocoon at all times to retain my sanity.

Post by **Grimmie** » October 20th, 2009, 14:14

I got mine from Amazon I do believe, along with a very nice protective leather case, after too many scratching incidents.
The default headphones that come with the X-Fi are noise reducing, and are exceptionally comfortable, I think the lower models have the cheaper ones.

Stoat · Post by **Stoat** » October 20th, 2009, 14:34

Grimmie wrote:I got mine from Amazon I do believe, along with a very nice protective leather case, after too many scratching incidents.
The default headphones that come with the X-Fi are noise reducing, and are exceptionally comfortable, I think the lower models have the cheaper ones.

Mine was Amazon too. The earphones were quite nice, but broke quickly. Replaced with in-ear Sennheisers.
Agreed on the sock front too- I wouldn't say they scratch easily, but it's better to be safe.

buzzmong · Post by **buzzmong** » October 20th, 2009, 14:35

I got mine from Ebuyer or Amazon.

I didn't get a case, but with mine being a standard non touchscreen 8 gig Zen, I just stuck some clear sticky back plastic on it (bought from Jessops, it's meant to be used on camera screens, but I use it on mp3 players, mobile phones and the like) just so I don't scratch the screen.

Only gripe I've had with mine is that when you fully run out of battery (when it won't even pop up the "low battery" warning before turning off) you have to plug it in to charge then hit the reset button using a pin or paperclip before it'll do anything. Not a major issue and I suspect probably fixed on the current models.

Post by **Grimmie** » October 20th, 2009, 17:04

Yeah, the X-Fi comes up with a low battery warning, and the power-light goes from green to orange.

Post by **deject** » October 20th, 2009, 17:06

My Zen has been nice, to be sure, but hot damn I want one of those Zune HDs. Those things are so awesome.

I don't know, I just don't use my Zen that much anymore. I've actually got some stereo bluetooth headphones that I use with my phone to listen to musics. It works brilliantly and I don't have to deal with any cords coming out of my pocket or anything.

Stoat · Post by **Stoat** » October 20th, 2009, 17:20

deject wrote:My Zen has been nice, to be sure, but hot damn I want one of those Zune HDs. Those things are so awesome.

Oh god this, but they're not available here for the forseeable future. Also I hear it lacks a decent web browser, which is my ipod's main use.

Post by **ProfHawking** » October 20th, 2009, 18:51

I indeed have a zen, 32gb one.
I like its simplicity and small size, and decent battery.

I have however busted the SD card slot, scuffed up the screen a bit and occasioally i have to reset it.
But on the whole, I'd reccomend it - they've got all the important stuff right with it.

The x-fi one looks like overkill to me. Who wants msn on something with 9 keys to type on? Wireless syncronisation with a music library would be nice, but it looks like its only there to stream music.

Post by **Grimmie** » October 20th, 2009, 19:26

Don't get the X-Fi Wi-Fi. The regular one is fine.

Mr. Johnson · Post by **Mr. Johnson** » October 20th, 2009, 21:47

I went with this in the end, it was cheaper than the regular zen but neither me nor Grimmie can tell the difference. Very odd.
I hope it's just as good though.

Stoat · Post by **Stoat** » October 20th, 2009, 22:12

A good choice. What's the 'MX' bit about?

Post by **FatherJack** » October 20th, 2009, 23:04

Stoat wrote:A good choice. What's the 'MX' bit about?

Moar eXtra

buzzmong · Post by **buzzmong** » October 21st, 2009, 0:22

The MX appears to be a newer version with an extra 5 hours battery life according to Play (where I got my 8 gig), also appears to do slightly less audio and video formats but that's neither here or there and could just be an error in the descriptions, not that it matters as it'll still play mp3's.

Looks like a very good buy from Amazon.