Best Mp3 player for the value/battery life under $250?

[Kirbytherat]

I am going to Taiwan/China this summer and i would like an MP3 player to take along
What is the best one for under $250?
best : lightweight/compact/long battery life/ mb per dollar

i saw the creative muvo line and its pretty cool, but are there any other better ones out there?

also, what are the most comfortable and best sound quality earbud kind of earphones that you guys use? my friend thinks the stock ones with the muvo are really uncomfortable and the only ones i have are really bulky and coming apart

thanks

ive found these that also look good on newegg: Samsung iriver

 

[imported_rod]

I dont have one, but the "iPod", "iRiver", "Nomad/MuVo/Zen" and "Sony range" are all meant to be good.

As far as price goes, a cd player (discman or whatever) with MP3 is the cheapest to buy, and a 40cent CD provides upto 700MB of storage. A MiniDisc player is also fairly cheap, and much smaller than standard CDs.

But if you want an MP3 player, the iPod is compact and reliable. Make sure you get a newer model, as they have much better battery life.

Also, flash based players generally have longer battery life than HD based players. Problem is that the maximum capicty i have seen for these is 1GB (iPod shuffle). They're also hellishly expensive for their storage capacity when compared to HD based alternatives.

RoD

 

[IThinkImAEngineer]

Keep in mind that you're going to be overseas and plugging into a foreign country's power grid. Mp3 players that use standard AA or AAA batteries would be more convienent for you since you won't have to carry around plug adaptors or converters.

 

[glorygunk]

get an ipod mini 4gb ($200) and use the leftover for a pair of sony mdr-ex71sl or mdr-ex51lp earbuds (~$30).

however, you're gonna need either a usb port to charge it or buy their charger for an extra $30.

 

[BW86]

Rio Karma - 20gb
$159.99
FLAC baby!

 

[Gurck]

I'd avoid Sony & Apple. Which player is best for you depends on a bunch of things. Rio, Iriver, Creative and Iaudio (Jetaudio) all make quality, high value players with proven track records. If budget's a concern the Creative Zen Xtra and Rio Karma are good choices.

 

[Kirbytherat]

what's FLAC?

that one looks very good

and so basically what i choose of rio/iriver/creative/iaudio is more based on aesthetic appearance and controls because they all should be pretty good in reliability and other departments, unlike the ipod battery issue?

 

[Gurck]

FLAC = free lossless audio codec. Unlike lossy codecs such as mp3, ogg, wma, aac and m4a, which discard data to achieve compression, it's an exact copy of the CD but compressed. Files in flac are typically 50-70% of CD size, vs. 15-20% for typical lossy codecs, but they sound better and make a good reference copy if you ever decide you want your music in a different format or bitrate you can reencode from them. Reencoding from lossy formats will result in a loss of sound quality.

 

[Kirbytherat]

so if the ipod is out of the question for you gurck, what is the best mp3 player for a basic listener in terms of sound quality and battery life?

zen micro? rio karma (20gb) [read some problems with this one, how is battery life on it?]

thanks

 

[corkyg]

If you are going to Taiwan - why not wait until you get there and get the latest and greatest there? That's where most of them come from regardless of brand.

 

[1ManArmY]

Whats the best mp3player that allows you portability and flexibility to do whatever you want with your CD collection converted to mp3 or your downloaded mps from kazzaa,winmx or ..........? How are the mp3 with fm tuner's built in is the reception good?


Looking to spend 200-300 bucks (5GB)

 

[jaedaliu]

Originally posted by: corkyg
If you are going to Taiwan - why not wait until you get there and get the latest and greatest there? That's where most of them come from regardless of brand.

that's not a bad idea. Standard of living is lower, things have a good chance of being cheaper. Another good thing about Taiwan is that they use the same power that we do (in the U.S.) charging something there should be nice and easy.