Reccomend me an MP3 Player

In My Humble Opinion
1

My beloved CD player is on it’s last legs, and I’m getting sick of carting around tons of CDs everywhere I go. I think it’s about time for an MP3 player.

I’ve been looking at one of those players that can play MP3s coded on to CDs. I can fit a lot of songs on a few CDs, and that would make my life easier. People are telling me that I’d be happier with a solid state player though, and I’m cool with that, too, if I can find something that fits both my needs and my budget.

First off, I don’t have much money. I’m hopeing for the $100-$150 range, although I can swing up to $200 if it’s a really spectacular deal. I’m willing to buy from shady online dealers, but I want something that isn’t used.

Durability is a big thing. This thing is going to be flung into my backpack and dragged around almost everywhere I go. My backpack can be a scary place, and so I need something that can stand being my constant companion. Hopefully this thing will last me a couple years.

Obviously I’d like as much storage space as I can get. I really don’t want to be in a situation where I am picking and choosing what I want to have with me for the day. I think I want to be able to easily carry at least a gig. A 32 Mg media card isn’t going to cut it. The ability to easily carry my entire MP3 library seems to be a major advantage to a CD/MP3 combo.

Size isn’t too much of an issue because it is going in a backpack, not a pocket, and anything has got to be more portable than the big cases of CDs that I am currently lugging around. And while I would like sound quality that isn’t noticeably bad, I don’t need anything all that special. Most of the music I listen to was recorded at low-budget studios with low-budget equiptment, so a lot of it is going to sound bad no matter what I do. I don’t need anything all that user friendly, either. If I’m spending a hundred bucks on something, I can take the time to figure out how to use it.

Finally, I would really really really like some kind of remote, prefereably not attached to the headphone because headphones tend to break on me. Wired is fine. This thing is going to be in my backpack and I get sick of having to dig around there if I want to turn down the volume or skip a song.

So what do you guys think? Any hope?

2

Hmm. I dunno if there are any solid state players with that much memory in that range. I’ve been poking around looking at these things too, because I really want one for work. The consensus seems to be that the iPod is far and away the best, but someone in another thread pointed me to this little gem, which is now my drool-fodder of choice. Sadly, both of them are way outside your (and my) price range. My only hope is that someone in my family is feeling really generous on my birthday.

3

Sounds to me like the Rio Volt fits your criteria.

www.sonicblue.com

I myself own the SP100, and I like it a lot.

4

Have you considered getting a MiniDisc player?

With the introduction of the new NetMD series, the older ones are going pretty cheap. The only drawback with the more dated models is that you’re stuck with realtime recording… no USB transfers for you.

The major plus, for MDs in general, is the cost of the media; a single disc, which will give you between 80 minutes and five hours, depending on compression, will run you less than two bucks. And I get about 12 hours outta a single AA battery.

I’ve got an MZ-R500, and I like it a lot. They’re going for 70-80 bucks on ebay right now. I know you said that size isn’t an issue, but being able to stick the thing in my shirt pocket is a wonder indeed. I scored an mp3-cd palyer awhile back for about 50 bucks, and I just found the thing too bulky. It also ate batteries like a mofo. Right now I’ve got it hooked up to my stereo as my primary CD player.

5

I own one of the devices to which you refer (in fact, I’m listening to it now); it’s made by Phillips, and the model number is AZ1155 (I think). Tell you what; since I threw away the box, I’ll just tell you what it says on the top:

AZ1155
CD Radio Soundmachine
MP3 CD Playback
Expanium

It’s really cool-looking too; mostly silver, with cream and metallic-orange accents. Works great, too. I paid about $130 for it (no sales tax, though; I live in Montana) about 3 months ago.

Hold on, there’s a picture of it here. It’s the one at the top left. Of course, that site has a bunch of different ones, so enjoy!

6

I don’t believe there’s a solid-state solution that has any worthwhile amount of storage yet. The hard-drive based players are nice, though, and getting increasingly affordable. I’ve got the Archos Jukebox Recorder 20 gig geegaw (not their latest multimedia thingamabob linked to above, this is a pure audio device), which you can get nowadays for not much more than 250, and less than 300 in any case.

It doesn’t have a remote that I know of, and I’d be leery of freely knocking it about (though it is built pretty solid, and hard drives are more robust than people give them credit for). I regularly get at least ~8-10 hours of play on a full charge. And you can record mp3’s on it, via the line-in, or use the microphone built into it to treat it like a tape recorder (I can see that being pretty handy for college students into recording lectures as they nap through them, f’r’instance). No proprietary software to copy files over to it–when it’s plugged in, it’s just recognized as another hard drive on your pc, which you can drag-and-drop to at your heart’s content. USB2.0 port on it, which I understand is speedy enough (equivalent to current Firewire speeds) if you’ve got that, otherwise it just uses plain old USB–so if you’re concerned about needing to get umpty gig of your music copied to it RIGHT NOW, that’s probably a larger negative. (Me, I just started it copying then left it to chug away while I went and watched a movie.)

Good gadget. I like it.

7

I echo black455’s comment on the MiniDisc players: I’ve got the MR-70 (I think. It’s sitting in the car, so I can’t check the model #). They’re light weight, and the disc’s are a heck of a lot more durable than CD’s. The local Wally-Marts are even carrying them now! I belive the Sony’s have ‘remotes’ for most, if not all of theirs: mine does, at least. (wired: plugs into special jack, headphones plug into the end of the remote’s cord, so it also doubles as an extension for your headphone cord.) Take a peek here if you’d like more info on MD’s than you can shake a stick at. :wink:
The disadvantages I see to one of those for you is:

a) unless your collection is really small, you simply can’t fit all of it onto one MD. (But, it’s easy to carry two or three of 'em around: or if you’re willing, there is a hardshell carrier you can get that holds a dozen discs, kinda like those CD folders you can get. The one I have is about the size/shape of a reallllllly thick paperback book.)

b) Durability: they do tend to be durable, but the finish will scratch, etc., etc., etc. It won’t look pretty after bouncing around in your backpack, but it’ll still work. However, since it’s small enough, it can slip into your pocket or a small pocket in your backpack.

And there’s one advantage if you get a MD player/recorder: pick up a mic to plug in, and you can use it to record lectures, etc., etc. Try that with a CD player. :wink:

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8

Oh. Hm. Well, there are some portable ones at the site I gave you earlier. For my money, I’ve gotta second the iPod as the best thing going. Unfortunately, even for the 5GB model, it’s running about $300 at this point. I do love my 10GB iPod, though; it’s totally awesome. Any chance the relatives might be feeling generous anytime soon? :wink:

9

I have the Rio Volt SP250, and I love it…it’s never given me a single bit of trouble, and it sounds fantastic.

Jman