I really have been wanting to pick up a mp3 player. Mostly it will be used for walks to and from school. Now the main issue seems to be hard drive vs. flash-based. I won't be jogging or working out or anything like that with it, but I will be walking with it in my pants ot jacket pocket. Moreso, it will be winter soon which means lots of snow and 0 degree and colder weather is possible. So I'm not sure if that would wreck a hard-drive based player or not, but obviously I'm not going to beat on it as I take good care of my belongings.
The Ipod refurb store seems to have excellent prices. But again, its drive vs. flash card. Considering I could get a 5th gen 30gb Ipod video refurb for a little cheaper than a Sansa E280 8GB player, seems like flash based is too expensive. But hard drive failure has me worrying enough, much less throwing a refurb into the equation.
So, do I get a hard drive based one and have to deal with the expense of replacing a dead drive, or go flash based and deal with MUCH less space as well as the additional cost of extra SD cards if I do want more space?
I'm primarily looking at:
Ipod refurbs - 30gb video $180, 2GB Nano $100, 4GB Mini $100
Sandisk Sansa - 2,4,6,8gb
What worries me about the Sansa besides the price for so little space, is that they are reported to have terrible sound quality. Is this true?
Does anyone even use the video/picture functions? Seems like a huge waste to me. Yet the non-video Sansas for example, the M series, are just very slightly cheaper than the E series which pack video and more features. So though I think video is a huge waste (the screen is TINY!), it seems like it'd be stuck with it either way.
Please comment on what I'm looking at, or recommend other ones in the price range. I'm open to Creative and other types, just I don't know of particular ones. It doesn't need to be small like a Nano (in fact, I kind of want to avoid the Nano so I'm not paying a bunch of money just to have a tiny player).
Also, do I NEED iTunes for Ipods? isn't there 3rd party software/hacks so that Ipods show up as a removable drive like any other player would? No way in hell am I ever putting iTunes on my computer.
The Ipod refurb store seems to have excellent prices. But again, its drive vs. flash card. Considering I could get a 5th gen 30gb Ipod video refurb for a little cheaper than a Sansa E280 8GB player, seems like flash based is too expensive. But hard drive failure has me worrying enough, much less throwing a refurb into the equation.
So, do I get a hard drive based one and have to deal with the expense of replacing a dead drive, or go flash based and deal with MUCH less space as well as the additional cost of extra SD cards if I do want more space?
I'm primarily looking at:
Ipod refurbs - 30gb video $180, 2GB Nano $100, 4GB Mini $100
Sandisk Sansa - 2,4,6,8gb
What worries me about the Sansa besides the price for so little space, is that they are reported to have terrible sound quality. Is this true?
Does anyone even use the video/picture functions? Seems like a huge waste to me. Yet the non-video Sansas for example, the M series, are just very slightly cheaper than the E series which pack video and more features. So though I think video is a huge waste (the screen is TINY!), it seems like it'd be stuck with it either way.
Please comment on what I'm looking at, or recommend other ones in the price range. I'm open to Creative and other types, just I don't know of particular ones. It doesn't need to be small like a Nano (in fact, I kind of want to avoid the Nano so I'm not paying a bunch of money just to have a tiny player).
Also, do I NEED iTunes for Ipods? isn't there 3rd party software/hacks so that Ipods show up as a removable drive like any other player would? No way in hell am I ever putting iTunes on my computer.
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