Looking for good (probably flash) mp3 player

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m in the market for an mp3 player. While it seems like a cool convenience to have a nice 60gb mp3 player you can put an entire music collection on, it makes me nervous to invest in a portable device with a hard drive. Seems like I’d have to coddle it to ensure I didn’t wreck the thing.

Most of the time I’m probably going to use it at poker tables, but I’d also like something durable enough to go to the gym with, or simply throw in my pocket and not worry about, and so a flash player seems like a better idea.

Since I can’t keep all that much music on a flash player, though, it has to be something with painless/fast data transfers. A coworker has a creative muvo TX that I played around with, and it seems really cool - breaks apart into a battery compartment and a USB jump drive… you just plug the jump drive into any usb port, and then drag and drop whatever files you want to put on or take off. Seems much more convenient than any software-based transfer, and no need to keep a cable handy.

But I tend to over research just about anything before I buy, and I figured I’d get some opinions here. The creative muvo N200/zen nano (same product) 1gb at $100 seems like the best value, but it lacks the jump drive aspect of the muvo tx, and there are a scary number of reports on review sites of DOA players.

The IPOD nano probably has the best interface, lcd, and possibly best sound (would like to hear back on that on creative vs ipod sound quality), but just seems delicate… it’s long and thin, whereas the muvo is compact - it’s like carrying around a notepad vs a zippo. Seems like the muvo would be more convenient for workout out (even comes with an arm strap) or putting in your pocket and forgetting about it.

There’s a muvo TX 1 gb, which seems like probably the best fit for me, but for some odd reason it’s 40% more expensive than the muvo n200/zen nano for the same capacity, and I can’t find it at any local stores - I may have to order online to get it.

I haven’t even looked in to other brands.

Anyway, any info/experiences/recommendations welcome.

2

Also, recommendations for headphones would be good, because I’ll probably buy a new set. I’m usually a fan of big, ear covering headphones… but for the poker table, I’m going to want something I can play at low volume and still hear what’s going on around me, so I’m leaning towards earbud types. I’m not an audiophile, so I don’t need anything in the $100+ range, but I would like good quality ones.

3

Ars Technica reviews an iPod Nano – by driving over it with a car. :smiley:

4

I can’t really tell the difference between different models, but I have a nano, and love it (even though I swore I’d never get one, they’re just too damn awesome). If you get a tube for it, it helps with the whole feeling too fragile thing.

5

I have a Creative MuVo FM 256 MB. It’s awesome, I love it. I, by mistake, put it through the washer and dryer, and it came out just fine, so bonus points for crazy durability. The only thing I don’t like about it is that it sometimes turns on in my bag and drains the battery.

6

think your iPod is fragile?
Stick it in one of these
I use one of these for my Nano, works great.

7

Earbuds tend not to sound that great. The Ipod earbuds are pretty good as far as earbuds go. In-ear phones can be much better, but they’ll block out external noise.

You can get full-size open-backed headphones that will let sound in, but they’ll also let others hear what you’re listening to. Open phones actually give you the best sound for the money. There are also compact, portable open phones. I haven’t tried any myself, but the Sennheiser PX-100 are supposed to be good, as well as the Koss Porta Pro. The Senns should be $40-50.

The Ipod Nano is nice. It’ll fit in the little change pocket of a pair of pants. You do have to use Itunes, but it gives you some extra options. You can set up playlists that will automatically load new songs to replace ones you’ve just played, and things like that. The main problem is if you want to use it with more than one computer.

8

Ended up getting the Muvo TX 1gb - last week, I checked amazon, and it was $130 - today it was $70. No idea why there was such a huge drop, and I was suspicious that something had gone wrong, but their automated phone system was buggy/broken, so I just ordered one and hopefully everything is alright.