I figured this was more of an IMHO thread then a GQ thread. I know that I want one of those new MP3/CD players, but I have a limited budget (it’s going to be a Christmas gift.) I’ve looked at the TDK MOJO and the Rio Volt, and the Philips eXpanium EXP201. Any recommendations, horror stories, etc.? Thanks in advance, folks.
-brianjedi
I have the Rio Volt, and I like it a lot.
I read some reviews about it in another forum where people complained about it skipping a lot. I only have skipping problems when I bang it against things (and fortunately, I’m not in the habit of doing that 
). If anything, if you wear it when you exercise, it’ll skip. But then again, so will most personal mp3/CD players.
If I have any complaints about it, it’s that I wish you could get more than 10 hours of battery life out of it. I go through that in about a week.
I got mine for $139 plus shipping from MacMall. Other (online) places had it for as much as $20 more. I recommend you shop around; it’s close to Christmas-time, so you likely will find a better deal.
Sonicblue Rio Volt. I chose it based on Cnet’s Editor’s Pick recommendation. The TDK Molo which was their top pick was a bit pricy for me. That and it didn’t look as cool as the Sonicblue (I’m a sucker for cool design).
It’s been terrific. No skips, comes with a nice little in-line remote and some decent headphones. It can also use rechargeable batteries.
Why not get a dvd/mp3/cd player? They can be hooked up to a sound sysyem and are relatively cheap.
Well, I’m going to be getting a TDK Mojo for Christmas (hopefully…if not, I’ll have to buy it myself!). That or the Volt are both great choices. Whatever you do…do NOT get the RCA MP3 player…I bought one this summer and it SUCKED. It wouldn’t even turn on half the time. When it did, it didn’t read the disc right half the time…the other half, it read it just fine, and had no problems playing any of the tracks. Ughh…took it back.
Jman
I have the Phillips and it works fine. However I think that one like the TDK that has a display giving you some info about folder names would be very convenient. The Phillips only displays the folder number and if you want to go to a specific song or collection, you have to take along a print-out unless you can remember where everything is.
The ads I saw for the TDK seem to suggest that it will display at least the folder names.