Hey,
I'm curious if anyone has one of these? The full size ipods are too expensive for my taste. I've seen lots of complaints about it not having a screen and how it randomly plays songs. I dont mind that, I understand the concept of a small inexpensive device w/ limited capablities. Or are there any better MP3 players out there for the $150 price range?

-ash

yea i have the 128mb version of the san disk mp3 player. its sweet.  can fit more songs on it than i can listen to in one day.  has a voice recorder and a radio too.  small, compact, durable.  has a nice bright blue indigo screen that shows everything, including digital equalizer, scrolling thing that tells u name of song, etc...

I have a 512 thumb drive/mp3 player thingy i got off ebay. Works, great and holds MORE than enough music for me. and its VERY tiny, and easy to work, it also has a key lock so I dont press buttons in my jacket. I would recommend checking out Ebay for em.

i got a 5 gig rio player, for $250, they also have this one for $170 http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/shop/_templates/item_main_Rio.asp?model=262
They are very light weight and compact and lots of memory, im guessing on the 1.5 gig one you could hold about 30 or so hours.

You can go out there and get something different than an Apple iPod and you definitely will spend less, but I wouldn't suggest it. There's a good reason why Apple has a very large majority of the market share. It's the system as a whole. You will not be able to find a more perfectly integrated system of music player hardware and music organizing software (iTunes). I'm sure we can argue this until we're blue in the face, but there aren't a lot of people who have tested a large majority of these systems like I have. Trust me. Apple just makes it work and does it the best. Plus, their DRM system on the iTunes music store is by far the most free of the ones out there.

Apple just released a couple of new iPods yesterday, which is great news for you. Nothing really new about them. Just new capacities. I think the one you'd be interested in is the iPod mini. They introduced a new 6gb model at $250 and lowered the 4gb model to $200. That 4gb is only $50 more than the 1gb iPod shuffle. I bought a shuffle as soon as it came out, but had absolutely no use for it so I gave it to my brother. I already have the original 5gb iPod and a 20gb iPod so the shuffle was kind of an impulse buy. I do a lot of impulse buying. Go get the 4gb iPod mini.

iPods are great.... if you want to be a trendy mctrendster walking around all day. I looked into them when I decided I wanted a HD based mp3 player last year. For less money, you can get a Dell DJ that has a higher capacity, about 3x the battery life, and is just as easy to use unless you're absolutely braindead. You don't get the "cool guy" factor I guess, but it's the same thing and you have an extra $100 in your pocket...

trey

i have a RCA 64mb mp3 player...with a 512mb chip...total 576mb...about 100 songs...or about 7 hours...

1 AAA battery can last for 16 hrs and it cost close to nothing...

so total cost me less than $150CDN total...

and it's more convient too since i can use the 512 chip on other devices...


although i have to admit...the ipod shuffle looks very tempting...

Quote from: treybradabout 3x the battery life

A lie. Real world testing has shown them to be the same battery life. Go read the reports. I'll post some here if you can't find them.

Quote from: treybradand you have an extra $100 in your pocket...

20gb DJ is $249. 20gb iPod is $299. $50 difference.
30gb DJ is $299. 30gb iPod Photo is $349. $50 difference but not even comparable products as the iPod Photo has much more functionality with photo compatibility. Check your math.

The biggest thing people overlook is DRM (digital rights management). If you plan on buying a lot of music online, it's definitely something you want to look at. It dictates how you control "your" music. Compare iTunes DRM to anyone else's (especially Dell's Jukebox DRM) and see what you find. iTunes DRM is by far the more useful and open one out there. Subjectively, I do find iTunes to be a lot simpler. Objectively, iTunes is a lot more functional, a lot more feature-rich, and is completely cross-platform. I'll go find the comparison reports for this also.

lol, well i'm not too interested in the "cool" factor either. I've been doing some more research on the other options out there and heres what I've found. They have some that have more memory for more $$$ or better features for less $$$ but less memory. Over all the 1 gb shuffle seems like a good median between the all the features. To be honest a 20 gb ipod is insane to me. I only have like 250 songs on my computer as it is! So I'd just use a fraction of its massive memory. I like that the shuffle can be used as a memory stick and it lets you devote however much of its memory to music as you want. Plus the thing is tiny as can be. My store options are limited to anything on the Sharper Image website. Heres the deal, I used my discover card to pay my tution. In Jan. there was a 5% cash back bonus for educational stuff:books, tution, course fees. So you do the math! Oh so sweet! Then you can redeem these points online @ certain stores and they double them!!! EVEN better. So I can get a shuffle for 1/2 price basically. Sucky thing is it will take 6 weeks to get it all processed.  :x Oh well.

-ash

Quote from: roguegeek

Quote from: treybradabout 3x the battery life

A lie. Real world testing has shown them to be the same battery life. Go read the reports. I'll post some here if you can't find them.

No... not a lie. I have a DJ and most of my friends have iPods. It may not be 3x, but my battery lasts much longer than theirs, especially the "cute" minis. I would say ballpark that my battery lasts ~15-16hrs before I charge it, my friends charge their iPods every few days after ~6-8hrs.

As far as DRM stuff goes, I have yet to buy an mp3. I've been collecting them for the past 7 or 8 years and have 30+ gigs. I suppose if the RIAA wanted to get me they could, but I still don't have any problems finding most of the music I want... free. So, that really opens up a whole other can of worms, but depending on whose using it, the bells and whistles needed vary.

So yeah, to each their own. I didn't need any of the fancy-ness of the iPod or it's bundled software, so I saved some cash and got my DJ. It does what I want, plays music, goes forever on a charge, and didn't cost a million dollars.

trey

I bought a Lexar 1gig (16hrs of music) thumb drive for $65 after a $15 rebate. I then got their compatible MP3 player for $40 more. It uses 2 AAA batteries which last about  12 to 15 hours.

You can download their plug-in to add any ripped CD to your mix with Windows Media Player.

It is plenty loud to drown out most of my MC exhaust noise while riding.

Take it a step further with a pocket pc/phone....then you have Window Mobile 2003...which plays MP3s and WMV's, you can get sweet games, do some PDA action, and talk on your phone. Most take SD cards and they are up to 1.0Gb so heck the ultimate media machine, so you can watch movies(...or porn) while riding your GS, talk on it, and listen to Mp3's

....dont mind the whole not looking at the road...

At least there will be no problem with target fixation...

Now you're talking... I want to get one of those pocket PC PDAs where I can get the GPS receiver. Three birds w/ one stone.... Plus, they're flash memory... no HD to mess up.

trey

Do some research. Get one with a screen. The Creative Nomad MUVOs are pretty good. I have the 128 one but I could go for a bigger one now.

I don't really care for the ipods because they only play that funky apple format and maybe MP3s I think. They want you to spend a dollar a song in their store to use their products.

No thanks.

I just picked up an ipod shuffle 1gig last week and i love it. I've got a 40gig 4th generation Ipod too. I love the shuffle because it's so small and compact - works great. Especially on a motorcycle i'd rather have the shuffle than a hard drive based mp3 player. The vibration can be a killer to those hard drive based units.

so i spend a $ at itunes, but then there are ways to make it into an MP3 for your needs.

I like the one with battery powered (e.g. sandisk 1GB with FM radio and voice recording)...  1 AAA should last for 8hrs and then buy some rechargeable battery/charger.. hate the idea of ipod shuttle USB power charge.. always need computer around!   Imagine taking long flight to other side of world.. but no USB power...

If you're geeking out on the flight, then you're powering it from your laptop. If you still want to use batteries, then guess what? Apple has an iPod Shuffle battery pack.

Probably a really stupid question, but can I download from Itunes to ANY MP3 player, or am I limited to iPods?

A few months ago... i bought one of those rca LYRA players for 400 bucks. I thought it was a bargain considering it plays movies, pics and songs... and holds as much as an ipod.

I took it back ten days later. I now own an ipod and love it.

That thing was so big and bulky... and you had to power it up like a computer. Also, it lasted like two hours then it was dead. The videos rarely played, and it froze like a computer!

Apple has it down because its simple, has the macos interface which is really appealing.. and its small and it works!

Im not against the Dell or any other ones, but im happy with the ipod. It works wonderfully and all you do is plug it in to your comp and itunes automatically adjusts and syncs it. SIMPLE.

Also, Alpine now makes a head unit (cd player/tuner for you non-car audio people)  that will actually control it from the head!

Make your decision based on YOU and how you will use it. If you will never plug it into your car and you dont need 4 gigs at least... then maybe ipod isnt for you.

That dell one looks decent too though.