AAARGH! too much mp3 info online, giving me a headache

[Diego42]

Hey guys, got a question for you. Got some cash for my b'day recently, and I'm
looking to get an mp3 player to play tunes around campus and to use when I
(hopefully) end up overseas. I was initially leaning towards an mp3/CD player,
since CD's are cheap and easy to burn, and since if I go abroad, I most likely
won't have a computer there (unless I procure a laptop between now and then).
The problem with these players is that they still tend to skip, one reviewer
wrote that they did so unless held perfectly horizontal and still.

So then I started thinking about those tiny solid-state ones, with around 128MB
onboard, and possibly with a SmartMedia or some such card to add more memory.
If you guys could find the time to write me back with a suggestion, I'm going
nuts looking at everything online, it's overwhelming. I've found a few links
for ones I'm leaning towards.

Rio 800 - 128MB

NexII

Iriver 350

nullRio Volt 250

Iomega 31311

The Iriver got really good reviews, as did the Rio. The NexII is cheap, but I
haven't found any reviews on it. The Iomega seems to resolve the skipping and
changeable media problems, but I don't know anything about it. And the 800 is there for the hell of it.

As usual, cheaper's better, I'm leaning towards less than $125 if at all possible, I'm still hunting around the hot deals section.


Thanks a lot,
Jeremy

 

[Keego]

I **LOVE** my Iriver, the batteries need to be burned in so to speak, but after that, it's great!

 

[iamwiz82]

if you dont have a PC how will you change the music? 128 isnt very much at all. That would keep my attention for maybe 3 hours.

 

[gopunk]

in my opinion there is no perfect mp3 player as of yet.

i have an iriver, love it... but... i'd rather have a mp3 player (smaller, easier to add files), with the great remote that the iriver has. for example, if the ipod came with a kickass remote, i'd get that. as it is, the only ones that have remotes are ones that are so big that there is no size advantage over the iriver.

 

[SgtBuddy]

I have one one those CD/MP3 players. It has not skipped once. I don't jog with it or anything, I walking through an airport with it my backpack never caused a skip. It is a cheaper Rio model. The Rio SP250 was in my "Amazon Golden Box" today for $125. It's a pretty nice one.

 

[Keego]

I also have an RCA K@zoo, it's good and the battery life is great (it's tiny!) but the interface software, musicmatch jukebox, sucks ass. It's such a pain to use.

 

[Howard]

MPIO DMG. 128MB onboard storage, with support for another 128 through Compact Flash. $200, I think.

 

[ElFenix]

ipod is great. a company called archos makes something similar. i had to argue with their rep that i saw the exact same product with a different brand on it on beast buy one day... creative makes a hard drive model too.

 

[datalink7]

Originally posted by: gopunk
in my opinion there is no perfect mp3 player as of yet.

i have an iriver, love it... but... i'd rather have a mp3 player (smaller, easier to add files), with the great remote that the iriver has. for example, if the ipod came with a kickass remote, i'd get that. as it is, the only ones that have remotes are ones that are so big that there is no size advantage over the iriver.

The new ipods have a rudimentary remote.

I would suggest an ipod.

 

[amnesiac]

Ipod vote ++

Beautiful little machines. Get one.

 

[nord1899]

I've had three mp3 players, one of each type (Flash, CD-R, Harddrive/Jukebox).

The flash one I have is the MPIO DMG. It comes with 128 megs internal with a SmartMedia (not CompactFlash) slot that can take upto 128 more megs. The thing is nice and small, runs for a long time on 1 AA battery, has good sound, good interface on the player and the transfer program. Very useful for situations where you don't want the music to skip regardless of what you do, like at the gym working out.

I had a RioVolt SP100. Not bad, but since I have over 20 gigs of music on my home computer, being limited by the 700 megs of a CD-R is extremely annoying. But if you have a car with a MP3 CD-R player, this would probably be the way to go.

I got rid of my RioVolt when I got a Nomad 3. 20 gigs of storage, great sound quality, good price ($150 cheaper than the same storage size iPod), and good battery life. It does have its problems, and if you are interested in this type, PM me and I'll give you my full review of it.

Hope that helps.

 

[Diego42]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, any knowledge on mp3/CD skips?

Thanks

 

[bizmark]

really there's no reason why an mp3/cd player should skip. Normal CD players have had buffers for a long time now.... some with like 45 seconds of buffer time, and that same buffer size should be more than enough space for one MP3.