Need help on buying an MP3 player

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Vich

Platinum Member
Apr 11, 2000
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Well the time has come for me to start searching for a birthday gift for my girlfriend, she mentioned she wanted an MP3 player and i have no clue where to begin to look. Does anyone know any webpages that give good unbiased reviews of mp3 players? I am looking to spend no more then 150$ since im a college student, but want a really good MP3 player aswell...


Thanks!

-Rich
 
BlueWeasel

BlueWeasel

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
15,944
475
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I got the iRiver 380T a few weeks ago at BB when they had it on sale for $99 after rebate.

So far, I love it. Simple design, but efficient and the sound coming out of this thing is amazing. Been running for three weeks now on a single AA battery and I still have over 50% capacity left on the battery.
 
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lilFajita

Golden Member
Aug 2, 2002
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I have the Rio cali (sport edition) i like it alot and its in that price range. great if you want an MP3 player you can workout wtih.
 
V

Vich

Platinum Member
Apr 11, 2000
2,849
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BlueWeasel how many songs can you store on average on a 128mb player?

-Rich
 
V

Vich

Platinum Member
Apr 11, 2000
2,849
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Cheaparse i cant find any coupon for that... help please that player looks sweet!
 
yukichigai

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
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I have a smaller mp3 player (64mb) that ran me about $80. Why so much for so little? Because it's shaped like an audio cassette. It will run in your tape deck, even responds to commands. I usually listen to mp3s in the car, in my old cassette stereo system, so that's why I bought it. It sounds pretty good and it can handle mp3s and wmas. It can only take MMC cards though. There's a newer 128mb version out as well. It may handle other flash cards. I can't remember the name unfortunately; I'll look at it when I get home.
 
V

Vich

Platinum Member
Apr 11, 2000
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The Creative Labs MUVO NX 256 MB MP3 Player really sounds good but reviews complain it isnt loud enough.... any opinions on that?
 
BlueWeasel

BlueWeasel

Lifer
Jun 2, 2000
15,944
475
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Originally posted by: Vich
BlueWeasel how many songs can you store on average on a 128mb player?

-Rich
Click to expand...

Well, it depends on the format and bitrate of the songs on the player. The majority of my MP3's are ripped with a CBR of 192 or a VBR of 128/192, so they can take up. However, I usually convert the MP3's to 96 or 128kbps WMA files to be able to fit as many as possible on the iRiver player.

Currently, I can get about 40 songs on it ripped as WMA files. If I were to use the MP3's at the original bitrate, I could probably get about 25 songs on it.
 
Cerb

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
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Unless you go with the big ones, flash-based players have too little room, and for the outrageous cost, why not go CD/MP3? If you can get a HDD-based player for under $200, go for it.
 
V

Vich

Platinum Member
Apr 11, 2000
2,849
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Other than price difference are there pro/cons of flash and HDD players.

I mean HDD players have tons of room, while flash usually have 128mb or 256mb. But as far as anything else like quaility, speed, sound does the storage type really make a difference?

Thanks
-Rich
 
Cerb

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
33
86
Quality: 256MB is around 50 good quality very short songs, or maybe 100 crappy songs. I wouldn't get a player w/o moving parts unless I was listening to voice only.
With 700MB, I typically have 100-200 songs on a CD. That's a good few albums, no quality sacrifice (same MP3s I normally listen to, --alt-preset extreme), it costs ~$.17, and takes 5 minutes to burn. Doesn't fit in small pockets. Good players now boast insane battery lives.
With a hard drive, you've got plenty more room, and it fits in nearly any pocket.
Speed: CD-writers are nice and speedy, as is USB 2.
 
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CKDragon

Diamond Member
Jan 22, 2001
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Originally posted by: Vich
Other than price difference are there pro/cons of flash and HDD players.

I mean HDD players have tons of room, while flash usually have 128mb or 256mb. But as far as anything else like quaility, speed, sound does the storage type really make a difference?

Thanks
-Rich
Click to expand...

Does your girlfriend intend to either run or be in situations where the player bumps around much? I'm in the gym 4 days a week. In my gym alone in the last 2 months I've heard from 3 people about their hard drive players (2 were iPods, the third was some crappy no-namer) crapping out on them because their cardio regiment was too hard for a moving hard drive. I got an iRiver 390T (256MB) for $170 and it can keep up with me. I love it.

If your girlfriend doesn't intend to put the player in bumpy situations, I'd go with a hard drive player.

CK
 
V

Vich

Platinum Member
Apr 11, 2000
2,849
1
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She might use it while excercising so flash would be the way to go?

She doesnt have that much music to need a huge HDD...

-Rich
 
M

MaxDSP

Lifer
May 15, 2001
10,056
0
71
You might also consider a Minidsic player, like the MZ-N505 or MZ-NE410. Both can be had for under $100, and each disc can hold several hours of music. Downsides are that the software that comes with it isn't all that great, but it can be dealt with.

Amazingly, my N505 gets about 35-45 hours playback, from 1 AA battery, considering that there are moving parts inside. Also, I've been using it at the gym while working out (not too much cardio though) for about 6 months, and it still works like the day I bought it.
 
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