MP3 player choices?

[duragezic]

So I do a lot of walking back and forth to campus and I've been thinking about getting a mp3 player before all of my money is gone to gd bills. Now I don't get a hardon over Ipods like everyone and I loathe Itunes, but I was checking out the Apple Refurb store on the Ipods and there is some pretty good prices.

1) Are the refurbs any good? Reliable? They have a 1yr warranty at least..

2) If I get a refurb Ipod, should I be worried about the hard drive? I'm sort of leaning towards a flash-based one like the Nano since the storage would probably be more reliable. But I don't need the ultra-small Nano package (the standard Ipod size is small enough for me) so I'm paying more for that aspect yet with much less storage. Or possibly the shuffle, but 512mb or 1GB seems pretty limited for my mp3s which on average are 192kbps VBR. I can switch them out from time to time by a really small one would be annoying to switch them a lot. The mini might be a good in-between of a Nano and regular, but then still I'm getting a microdrive as opposed to flash memory AFAIK. A 5th gen 30gb or so would be nice, but I don't think I wanna pay the premium for video and picture capability with a color screen. I mean I really can't think of where I'd catch 30 minutes of a movie on a little screen between classes. Seems like a lot of people with video ones is just something neat for the first week or two then its just a mp3 player anyway (plus my friend had his own and a roommate's hard drives fail on their 20-30gb-ish ones).

3) Any other good alternatives to the Ipod? Again, flash or microdrive, depending the comments on each, but it needs to be pretty cheap and doesn't need many features. The thing I REALLY really like about the Ipod is the circular movement button. It doesn't seem like a standard up and down button would be any good for browsing through thousands of songs.

4) How is the durability on most mp3s players? I take good care of my electronics like my phone and do my best not to drop it, but mostly I'm concerned if a litlte bit of water/snow and extreme cold is gonna wreck it. I go to Michigan Tech which for those who know means many months of cold weather and snow. My biggest use for now is using it to walk to and from campus.

Or any other comments and suggestions are welcome!

 

[Staples]

1) I just bought a refurb Nano off Apple.com a few weeks ago. It seems to work fine but it has this problem that sounds like a personal CD player when it skips for a second. It does this every few minutes. Hardly much of a bother so I won't waste the money to send it back.

2) I bought a Nano because they don't have a hard drive. Lot less stuff that can break.

3) Get an ipod if you want to be able to scroll through a directory or through a song.

4) I doubt little water will hurt anything unless you get it in the battery compartment.

 

[loup garou]

Sandisk Sansa e200 series. I just got an e270 (6GB) for $160 AC/AR. There have been much better deals for them as well, but I'm impatient and really wanted a new DAP for running now instead of waiting for the next insane deal.

 

[lokiju]

Zune?

 

[duragezic]

The circular spin wheel is patented by Apple, right?

So you guys gotta press the button to to browse to the next time? So 100 songs = 100 button presses??

That Nano skipping doesn't sound good! I thought they weren't suppose to skip!!

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: duragezic
The circular spin wheel is patented by Apple, right?

So you guys gotta press the button to to browse to the next time? So 100 songs = 100 button presses??

That Nano skipping doesn't sound good! I thought they weren't suppose to skip!!

The sansa has a mechanical scroll wheel. And for other players, you just hold down the up/down/whatever button or they have a touch strip that you glide your finger up/down/across. It's not that big of a deal.

 

[Staples]

In that Sansa, can you scroll through a 2 hour track in seconds like an ipod can?

This is by far the most important feature of the ipod and I have not heard of any other player that can do it.

As far as the skipping, they are not supposed to but that is probably why the previous owner took it back. Apple probably turned it on, saw that it worked and recertified it for sale. Most refurb things I have bought are fine though.

 

[Homerboy]

screw the nano
Meizu miniplayer
get out of the bush-leagues

 

[MustISO]

I have a nano and I think I would rather have the sandisk. All I want is a player that is flash based, shows up as a hard drive and lets me delete files on the fly. WTF, I can't believe you can't delete a file on the nano without hooking it to a PC.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Staples
In that Sansa, can you scroll through a 2 hour track in seconds like an ipod can?

This is by far the most important feature of the ipod and I have not heard of any other player that can do it.

As far as the skipping, they are not supposed to but that is probably why the previous owner took it back. Apple probably turned it on, saw that it worked and recertified it for sale. Most refurb things I have bought are fine though.

Don't know, don't have any 2 hour tracks.

 

[mwmorph]

I have a zen vision m and I like it better than a ipod

pros:
Costs less
mucho longer battery life(espically for videos)
262k color screen(compared to 64k color screen for ipods) 1 2
more format support(espically for videos)
smaller gaps between songs
microphone
more eq options
on the go playlisting

cons:
thicker/heavier than ipod(much bigger battery)
Windows XP only
like the ipod, ac adapter is sold seperately
Controls are pretty good but not as perfectly executed as the ipod scroll wheel(though changing the volume is much easier since you can change the volume in any screen unlike the ipod)

Also remember if you get a ipod or a vision m, they scratch very easily, get a case or a transparent skin from best skins ever to keep the hairline scratches off the screen.