Need help deciding the HD based MP3 player

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Caesar

Golden Member
Nov 5, 1999
1,686
178
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I need an MP3 player with capacity around 4-5 GB and the budget is around 180bucks. I need this for my brother in college with the following limitations:

1) Charging should be with a direct AC adapter (must be included and not like iPod)
2) Should allow drag and drop of the songs and not use any software like iTunes etc
3) Battery should be user replaceable
4) Should look nice (not like Rio)

Here is what I have in the list

iRiver H10 5GB for $186

Creative Zen Micro 5GB for $179

Toshiba Gigabeat 10GB for $189

I have an iPod mini but it does not comply with any of the requirements and I have no idea about these other players so please give me your input.

Also I don't care for the different formats it can play as he will only use mp3
thanks
 
B

broon

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2002
3,660
1
81
There's a site...dapyxreview.com...or something like that which should answer all your questions. Check with AT member austonia.
 
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Caesar

Golden Member
Nov 5, 1999
1,686
178
106
Ok so I found out that both H10 and Zen Micro have removable batteries and can be charged through an included AC adapter. I still couldn't find if they transfer of songs is simple drag and drop or through a software. I think H10 needs WMP.
Someone answer this drag and drop question for me please.
 
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Ornery

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
20,022
17
81
I could be wrong, but I think its just a given they all (except for one over-hyped brand) use drag & drop file transfer, which is why it's not mentioned.
 
C

Caesar

Golden Member
Nov 5, 1999
1,686
178
106
Originally posted by: Ornery
I could be wrong, but I think its just a given they all (except for one over-hyped brand) use drag & drop file transfer, which is why it's not mentioned.
Click to expand...

No as far as I know the H10 needs windows media 10 to setup playlists not sure about the others though.
 
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Ornery

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
20,022
17
81
Originally posted by: CaesaR

No as far as I know the H10 needs windows media 10 to setup playlists not sure about the others though.
Click to expand...

I still couldn't find if they transfer of songs is simple drag and drop or through a software.

I don't see any mention of "playlists" in that sentence.

H10 5GB User Manual
  • The Browser allows you to navigate all the files on the player.
    You can play titles, view images, or display text files with out switching modes.
    Several advanced features of each mode will not be available, such as the image slide show,
    Artist and Genre searching, etc.
Gah, pg. 37 reads:
  • "In order to copy music & playlists to your player, you must use Windows Media Player 10.
    The installation CD-ROM should include the proper version of Windows Media Player.
    Windows Media Player 10 can also be found online at :
    www.microsoft.com/windowsmedia/download/
    Please note, purchased music can only be copied to this player using Windows XP and the
    latest version of Windows Media Player."
I wouldn't buy the damn thing either, if it required special software to drag & drop files. That's BS!
 
M

MommysLittleMonster

Senior member
Nov 2, 2004
814
0
71
Originally posted by: CaesaR
I need an MP3 player with capacity around 4-5 GB and the budget is around 180bucks. I need this for my brother in college with the following limitations:

1) Charging should be with a direct AC adapter (must be included and not like iPod)
2) Should allow drag and drop of the songs and not use any software like iTunes etc
3) Battery should be user replaceable
4) Should look nice (not like Rio)

Here is what I have in the list

iRiver H10 5GB for $186

Creative Zen Micro 5GB for $179

Toshiba Gigabeat 10GB for $189

I have an iPod mini but it does not comply with any of the requirements and I have no idea about these other players so please give me your input.

Also I don't care for the different formats it can play as he will only use mp3
thanks
Click to expand...


I dont know much about the Toshiba. My friend bought the zen a while ago. It wasnt impressive and last I heard, in internally "broke" while he has it connected to his computer. My girlfriend just bought the iRiver H10 in red and it looks great. The picture quality isnt superb, but it is an impressive little thing. It came with a protective jacket for it. The earphones were not great, and it did not come with an armband clip (not sure if any mp3 players do) but I would reccomend the h10.
 
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hellfire88

Diamond Member
Nov 29, 2003
7,797
3
81
Sorry if I'm bumping a few-days old topic, but just wanted to offer my $0.02

The Iriver H10 requires WMP10 I believe (98% sure), the Zen Micro required creative drivers, but with a new firmware download, you can just use WMP10, so both the H10 and the Zen Micro require WMP10. I don't know anything about the Toshiba though, so perhaps another member could shed some light on that product

When I was looking for an MP3 player, I had the same requirements as you and your brothers (except for looks, I don't personally care about aesthetics, as long as it works well). I narrowed it down to either the Zen Micro and the Creative Muvo2 FM. Why? Because both were 5GB, supposedly had great sound-quality (98SNB or something like that, I'm no audiophile), and yet very reasonably-priced. I ended up with the Muvo2 FM since it was the only one that was truely plug-and-play (I have WMP9, and my Muvo2 was recognized in Windows Explorer as a removeable drive, I run Windows XP Pro SP2). I don't have many MP3's, maybe 2GB worth? So the true-plug-and-play aspect is very important to me, since I wanted to use the remaining 3GB as a removeable HDD so I can run around campus (I'm a college student) plugging my Muvo2 into my friends' PCs and downloading random stuff from them. The Muvo2 FM is pretty nice, good feature-set (FM radio, voice and FM recording, removeable battery, etc.) but the only gripe I have about it is the tiny screen, Creative had tons of more space in the front of the unit, but yet they elected to put such a tiny LCD on it! Its like a 2-line LCD so you can imagine how constricting it is, especially when having to navigate through 5GBs worth of MP3/WMA's. Oh, and you can't make playlists on the Muvo2 FM itself, you have to do it on your PC. I think you can make them in WMP, but I personally use Winamp to do so. Anyways, good luck with your search!
 
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SirChadwick

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2001
4,595
1
81
I'm considering getting a Zen Micro, but I'm a little discouraged by the volume feature on it. It seems as though you can not adjust the volume externally, but only within the program itself. Any thoughts on this Zen owners?
 
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SofaKing

Banned
Nov 29, 2004
5,315
0
0
Originally posted by: CaesaR
Ok so I found out that both H10 and Zen Micro have removable batteries and can be charged through an included AC adapter. I still couldn't find if they transfer of songs is simple drag and drop or through a software. I think H10 needs WMP.
Someone answer this drag and drop question for me please.
Click to expand...

I have an h10. Your system automatically detects the iriver as a removable HD and you can drag and drop songs.. but it's easier to do it through synchronization with WMP
 
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Oscar1613

Golden Member
Jan 31, 2001
1,424
0
0
Originally posted by: SirChadwick
I'm considering getting a Zen Micro, but I'm a little discouraged by the volume feature on it. It seems as though you can not adjust the volume externally, but only within the program itself. Any thoughts on this Zen owners?
Click to expand...

this isnt as bad as it sounds because its always at the now playing screen (which is where you can adjust the volume) unless you are navigating the menus, in which case the now playing is only about 2 or 3 clicks of the back button away. the only annoying "feature" i noticed was the implementation of the resume feature. to remember the exact position in the song that was playing when it was turned off, the micro needs power, so it is put in sleep mode for a certain amount of time after it is turned off.

the original setting was 24 hours, and after that it would go into "deep sleep" where it would completely turn off and only remember the last song played, not the position in the last song. if you only listened to your micro for an hour a day, you would only get 6 hours of battery life as opposed to the advertised 12 hours (which you actually do get if you listen to it all in one sitting. they "fixed" this issue by lowering the sleep time to 4 hours instead of 24 hours, but even with that, you only get 9 of the 12 hours of battery life:frown:
 
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SirChadwick

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2001
4,595
1
81
What about the complaints about the Zen constantly freezing up and the faulty headphone jack issue? Experienced this?
 
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KarenMarie

Elite Member
Sep 20, 2003
14,372
6
81
Let me say, right off the bat, that I am biased.

Every computer I have ever built... I have used creative sound cards. I love them. So, when it came time to get a hard drive based mp3 player, I decided that going with the top maker of sound cards made sense. So, I listened to them all... I even bought an iPOD from a fellow board member and resold it within a week. I thought it was kinda overpriced and over hyped. In the end, I bought the Creative Zen Touch. Once I got used to the sensitivity of the wheel, it was easy to use.

The sound is incredible, imho. The iRiver sounded awesome, too... but my loyalty to Creative as well as the $$$ led me to the Zen over everything else.

:)
 
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SirChadwick

Diamond Member
Jul 27, 2001
4,595
1
81
Thanks for your input Karen. I'm definately steering away from the Ipod Nano right now b/c of its lack of features for the $... the Zen looks nice, but the cNet reviews were discouraging.
 
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