# MP3 Player recommendations **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mp3-player-recommendations/280002 "2004-12-15T17:59:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mp3-player-recommendations/280002/1 "2004-12-15T17:59:40Z")
I’ve just started looking around for tiny MP3 players to use while working out or travelling but don’t know the relative benefits or downsides of the features. My first thought was a solid state unit (no disk) for lower cost, longer battery life, and the fact that I don’t really see myself keeping my entire CD collection with me at all times. So, questions:[ol] [li]Do they still offer MP3 players with SmartMedia? I have several cards lying around.[/li][li]It looks like most that do offer memory card usage are SD/MMC, which will work OK because my new digital camera will have SD. Any formatting problems between devices?[/li][li]Do disk systems have short battery life times between recharging?[/li][li]I assume they all use USB connections to upload music, right?[/li][li]Any brands that are more robust than others?[/li][/ol] I’ve just looked on the Circuit City website for ideas, so that’s all the choices I’ve been exposed to. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mp3-player-recommendations/280002/2 "2004-12-15T22:59:46Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I’ve just started looking around for tiny MP3 players to use while working out or travelling but don’t know the relative benefits or downsides of the features. My first thought was a solid state unit (no disk) for lower cost, longer battery life, and the fact that I don’t really see myself keeping my entire CD collection with me at all times. So, questions:[ol] > [li]Do they still offer MP3 players with SmartMedia? I have several cards lying around.[/li][li]It looks like most that do offer memory card usage are SD/MMC, which will work OK because my new digital camera will have SD. Any formatting problems between devices?[/li][li]Do disk systems have short battery life times between recharging?[/li][li]I assume they all use USB connections to upload music, right?[/li][li]Any brands that are more robust than others?[/li][/ol] > I’ve just looked on the Circuit City website for ideas, so that’s all the choices I’ve been exposed to. I’ve been using an RCA lyra (the 128meg model with no special features) for about a year and a half now and I love it. The thing’s tiny enough to close my palm around it… it runs on AAA batteries, I use a radio shack nickel-metal hydride rechargeable and it last for… hmm, well several hours at least. I can’t really remember if I need to switch the battery more often than I reload it with tunes. It’s SD and I use a 256 meg card with it. Don’t see too many around with smartMedia because those cards are a little bigger, or at least wider and taller, though thinner. I ran through a bunch of smartMedia players before getting the lyra (All on one Futureshop service plan - they had full exchange and never had the same model when the old one broke.) I wasn’t too impressed with that. USB is what I’ve pretty much always used, it seems a great way of connecting to a flash player. Some new ones might have firewire or USB2 , but that would really only save you a few minutes every time you’re refilling it. Oh, the lyra works great as far as formatting, haven’t had any problems and I occasionally switch cards between it, my palmpilot, pocketPC and flash drive. What exactly do you mean by robustness?? The lyra has pretty good audio decoding software… great sound quality in headphones with 160 meg MP3’s, support for DRM WMA’s, and does well with a bunch of less common formats. There are also models with features like FM-radio and voice recording - you need to decide what you want and are willing to pay for. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mp3-player-recommendations/280002/3 "2004-12-15T23:15:22Z")
Anyone who saw my recent public spanking by a mod for flaming Apple Computer knows my stance on that company, but regardless I must say that I consider the iPod to be a fine instrument. AFAIK its the only mp3 player with firewire connectivity, wide range of storage space, and also I like its seamless integration with iTunes. Obviously this only benefits you if you have Firewire/IEE1391 capability and use iTunes, but its ok in my book. I also like the wide range of accessories available for the iPod, such as a boombox attachment, etc. If I had the $, this is what I would buy. Also, I AM aware that some of these accessories are available for other players, but iPod is by far the most widely known. just my $0.02 ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mp3-player-recommendations/280002/4 "2004-12-15T23:35:02Z")
Is there an MP3 player that functions like a thumbdrive, and also recharges while it’s plugged into the USB port? 'Cause that’d be perfect for me. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mp3-player-recommendations/280002/5 "2004-12-15T23:43:59Z")
> [@Lightnin'](#): > > Is there an MP3 player that functions like a thumbdrive, and also recharges while it’s plugged into the USB port? 'Cause that’d be perfect for me. I know there are ones that operate as a thumbdrive. I don’t know about recharging while plugged into the USB port. By robustness I mean solid enough to deal with being dropped, tossed around in a backpack, etc. I’m pretty rough on electronics, which is why I don’t want one with a disk drive. Plus I’ll already have SD cards lying around for expandability. The AAA would be a plus too, since I have AA NiMH batteries already and can charge the AAA in my charger. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mp3-player-recommendations/280002/6 "2004-12-16T00:31:28Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > By robustness I mean solid enough to deal with being dropped, tossed around in a backpack, etc. I’m pretty rough on electronics, which is why I don’t want one with a disk drive. The hard drive in your typical hard-drive-based player have been designed with tolerances up to several hundred G’s. Tossing an iPod or somesuch around in a backpack [won’t faze 'em.](http://www.macintouch.com/ipod3.html) > [@Timothy Titcomb](#): > > Just came back from a visit to the Northshore Apple Store. Was looking at the iPods, and asked the sales person how fragile they were. He told me that they had dropped the stores iPod “several times” (he said because of all the handling it had become slippery) and that consequently it had been flying around the store “like a hockey puck” with no discernable problems. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mp3-player-recommendations/280002/7 "2004-12-16T01:46:17Z")
> [@Lightnin'](#): > > Is there an MP3 player that functions like a thumbdrive, and also recharges while it’s plugged into the USB port? 'Cause that’d be perfect for me. The Rio Carbon. I use it as a thumbdrive (you do mean a harddrive you can carry around and use on other computers right?) all the time, and it charges while you have it plugged into the computer. I love my Rio Carbon. If I could, I would have its mp3 babies. ---
**Author:** ![praxim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@praxim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/praxim)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mp3-player-recommendations/280002/8 "2004-12-16T01:54:02Z")
> [@Lightnin'](#): > > Is there an MP3 player that functions like a thumbdrive, and also recharges while it’s plugged into the USB port? 'Cause that’d be perfect for me. Sounds good to me, too. I think the iAudio U2 is like this. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mp3-player-recommendations/280002/9 "2004-12-16T02:04:17Z")
I got mine off eBay. There’s oodles. If you want one that charges from the USB port, just search. And even if you pay well over the eBay average, you’re doing well - I saw the _identical_ player that I bought there, in a high street store a month later (I asked for the specs to be sure! yeah I’m pathetic). They’d got a 400% markup on what I’d paid. And yes, they all function as USB memory sticks as well. And without a rechargeable, I get through an AAA battery for about every 10 hours of listening. Oh, and for memory cards - I got a 6-card reader for £3. Don’t spend a fortune to make it all backward-compatible at once. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mp3-player-recommendations/280002/10 "2004-12-16T14:59:59Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > The Rio Carbon. I use it as a thumbdrive (you do mean a harddrive you can carry around and use on other computers right?) all the time, and it charges while you have it plugged into the computer. > > I love my Rio Carbon. If I could, I would have its mp3 babies. What she said! Although I also carry around a thumb drive. Ms. D\_Odds didn’t want an MP3 player that big, and is getting a 512K Creative model with FM tuner for XMas, which also functions as a thumb drive.