MP3 players: iPod, iRiver H120, Rio Karma, Dell DJ

[misle]

I'm looking for a sub-$300 MP3 player. Size really isn't an issue. Sound quality & Battery life are my main concerns.

Options:
iPod
iRiver H120
Rio Karma
Dell DJ

Looking for Pros & Cons of each player.

Thanks!

Poll edited to add Creative option.

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

Size matters :thumbsup:

 

[dighn]

if size doesn't matter maybe you sould consider the creative zen?

 

[Mr N8]

Originally posted by: dighn
if size doesn't matter maybe you sould consider the creative zen?

Creative has the best sound quality of its class, and the battery life is excellent. My old Zen NX has over an 8 hour life, and the new Zen Touch is supposed to be much better than that.

 

[misle]

I've heard bad things about the Creative Zen, plus I really dislike Creative as a company. I've had lots of trouble with their products and they (their customer service) have always been sh!tty to me.

 

[WolverineGator]

Rio Karma www.riovolution.com - lots of reviews there for this player. I have this and it's great. Good sound, great features... but the reviews all cover this. Needs some kind of case though.

 

[Atomicus]

I think the new Ipods have them all beat except in looks

 

[Czar]

dell dj I think would be perfect, just about the same hardware as the creative only a bit smaller and doesnt have a replaceable battery (though it can be taken a part and replaced that way) because of the integrated battery it lasts much much longer

 

[yukichigai]

Meh, I extracted all my stuff to Ogg so until someone makes a portable with Ogg support I have no opinions.

 

[Gurck]

iRiver > *. On top of its polish in terms of quality, looks, and features, it doubles as a hdd by following the universal mass storage standard. Afaik the iPod is the only other one that does that, but the iPod suffers in other areas, most notably battery life and price. Also you can't just copy mp3s to it and play them, you have to use their proprietary software to do that (though as I said, it does function as a hard drive in other respects). Further it doesn't support all music formats. The only things the iPod has going for it are connect speed - it's firewire vs. usb2 for the iRiver and other players, and fashion; if you're into trends (ie. low IQ) it's the player to have.

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: Gurck
iRiver > *. On top of its polish in terms of quality, looks, and features, it doubles as a hdd by following the universal mass storage standard. Afaik the iPod is the only other one that does that, but the iPod suffers in other areas, most notably battery life and price. Also you can't just copy mp3s to it and play them, you have to use their proprietary software to do that (though as I said, it does function as a hard drive in other respects). Further it doesn't support all music formats. The only things the iPod has going for it are connect speed - it's firewire vs. usb2 for the iRiver and other players, and fashion; if you're into trends (ie. low IQ) it's the player to have.

the iriver looks really nice. too bad it's hella more expensive than the ipod here :| (dont want to order online)

 

[Doggiedog]

Originally posted by: WolverineGator
Rio Karma www.riovolution.com - lots of reviews there for this player. I have this and it's great. Good sound, great features... but the reviews all cover this. Needs some kind of case though.

You also forgot to mention it crashes alot.

I don't know about the other MP3 players but my Karma crashes a heck of alot. In fact, this morning I ran down some stairs to catch a train and the Karma began skipping, rebooting and just acting erratic. I had to do a hard reset to get it working again.

 

[welst10]

Does ipod have FM tuner?

 

[Atomicus]

Originally posted by: welst10
Does ipod have FM tuner?

wow.... people and their obsession with listening to the radio when you have a freakin MP3 player at your disposal.

When a nuclear war begins, just hide in a cave! Why listen to the radio for updates?

 

iPod. 20G for $299. Better battery life in the 4G.

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: Atomicus

Originally posted by: welst10
Does ipod have FM tuner?

wow.... people and their obsession with listening to the radio when you have a freakin MP3 player at your disposal.

When a nuclear war begins, just hide in a cave! Why listen to the radio for updates?

So does that freaking MP3 player at my disposal come with free music 24/7?

 

[brtspears2]

Originally posted by: welst10
Does ipod have FM tuner?

Who cares about FM. FM reception is horrible on these small players that use the headphones as the antenna.

 

[welst10]

Originally posted by: brtspears2

Originally posted by: welst10
Does ipod have FM tuner?

Who cares about FM. FM reception is horrible on these small players that use the headphones as the antenna.

I care. I had a MP3 player 5 yrs ago (also the only MP3 I've ever owned). It's a creative 64MB. And it did FM very well.

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: Atomicus

Originally posted by: welst10
Does ipod have FM tuner?

wow.... people and their obsession with listening to the radio when you have a freakin MP3 player at your disposal.

When a nuclear war begins, just hide in a cave! Why listen to the radio for updates?

I can't listen to live Howard Stern without one.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: yukichigai
Meh, I extracted all my stuff to Ogg so until someone makes a portable with Ogg support I have no opinions.

The Rio Karma supports Ogg, FLAC, WMA, and MP3.

Originally posted by: Doggiedog

Originally posted by: WolverineGator
Rio Karma www.riovolution.com - lots of reviews there for this player. I have this and it's great. Good sound, great features... but the reviews all cover this. Needs some kind of case though.

You also forgot to mention it crashes alot.

I don't know about the other MP3 players but my Karma crashes a heck of alot. In fact, this morning I ran down some stairs to catch a train and the Karma began skipping, rebooting and just acting erratic. I had to do a hard reset to get it working again.

That's a shame. It's not indicative of all Karma's though. I'm not going to say mine has never hung, but it has been several months since it happened. I also had a corrupt music database the other day, but that was attributed to RioRad Explorer hanging while transferring then resuming. Overall though, the couple hangs I've had have not been more than minor annoyances that haven't detracted from the other great features of my Karma. I still highly recommend it. Just wish it had a longer warranty.

 

[Davegod75]

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: yukichigai
Meh, I extracted all my stuff to Ogg so until someone makes a portable with Ogg support I have no opinions.

The Rio Karma supports Ogg, FLAC, WMA, and MP3.

so does the iriver

 

[Anubis]

Rio, or the unlisted Creative

the Rio was rated the best MP3 Player of teh year by PC World

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: Atomicus

Originally posted by: welst10
Does ipod have FM tuner?

wow.... people and their obsession with listening to the radio when you have a freakin MP3 player at your disposal.

When a nuclear war begins, just hide in a cave! Why listen to the radio for updates?

I can't listen to live Howard Stern without one.

FM radio is sh*t, same 3 songs over, and over, and over, and over, and... *shudders*. I'd like one with an AM radio, but of course none have one :|

 

[nitsuj3580]

a happy Dell DJ owner here so I'll vote for that

 

[misle]

Updated Poll with Creative option.

I may be swayed towards the Zen