What's the best bang for buck mp3 player?

[cmf21]

I'm looking for a mp3 player for my brother's birthday. Too many to choose from plus I don't know a thing about them. He would like an Ipod or something but I think it's too much $$$. He doesn't really care about viewing video, just wants to listen to music when biking and stuff. I don't know a thing about these so does anyone have a suggestion on what the best player for the money?

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

I'm a fan of the Samsung players. I have a YP-T9B which is a wonderful little player but it has been replaced by the YP-T10 which I don't know a lot about. It has FM radio too.

 

[DayLaPaul]

The refurb Ipod Nanos at the Apple Store are a pretty good deal right now. You can get the previous generation (which I prefer current gen) for $79 (4gb) or $99(8gb). You can't tell the difference between and Apple Store refurb and a new model.

 

[dbk]

sansa?

 

[Jimmah]

I picked up a refurb Creative Zen Stone for 20$ inc shipping off Tigerdirect. Great battery life and easy to use.

 

[cmf21]

On the Apple players, can you download music from anywhere or do you have to purchase from them?

 

[TheVrolok]

Just watch W00t, they sell Sansa players every few days.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: cmf21
On the Apple players, can you download music from anywhere or do you have to purchase from them?

You can use any MP3 you want. You can also buy music from iTunes, but you don't have to.

 

[Elderly Newt]

Originally posted by: cmf21
On the Apple players, can you download music from anywhere or do you have to purchase from them?

It doesn't matter where the music comes from as long as it's in a supported format.

Also, I picked up a Sansa Clip 2GB for $25 shipped from woot. Excellent deal.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: cmf21
On the Apple players, can you download music from anywhere or do you have to purchase from them?

You can use any MP3 you want. You can also buy music from iTunes, but you don't have to.

Let's be clear - if you do buy your music on itunes you can't move it to another player. You are locked into the Apple "ecosystem". Don't support such ominous closed systems, please don't buy and iPod. Not only are they below-average devices, they are priced near the top of the market,

 

[Freshgeardude]

WRONG FORUM!!


BAN!!!!!

 

[Minjin]

From everything I've read, the Sansa Clip is the best deal by far if you don't want to watch video. It also has superb sound quality, supposedly better than anything under 100-150 bucks. If you want expandability and videos, look at the Sansa Fuze.

 

[imported_Section8]

ZEN

 

[ed21x]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: cmf21
On the Apple players, can you download music from anywhere or do you have to purchase from them?

You can use any MP3 you want. You can also buy music from iTunes, but you don't have to.

problem is, iPods require iTunes to do the indexing work when you upload MP3s, so you'll pretty much be forced to download iTunes on every computer you expect to upload MP3s with. On the otherhand, Sansa/Creative/Samsung players allow you to add songs via USB mass storage.

 

[StevenYoo]

i love my Zune.

Nice big 320 x 240 screen, FM radio, latest firmware has some fun games!

 

[Ultralight]

Got a Sansa Clip for 4 GB and they have excellent reviews and really good sound quality.

Also seriously look into COWON's iAudio i7.

 

[frostedflakes]

Originally posted by: DayLaPaul
The refurb Ipod Nanos at the Apple Store are a pretty good deal right now. You can get the previous generation (which I prefer current gen) for $79 (4gb) or $99(8gb). You can't tell the difference between and Apple Store refurb and a new model.

I'll second the Apple refurbs if OP wants an iPod. They basically are like-new, and prices are decent.

I don't use iTunes, though. You can rip your own CDs or buy music from wherever you want (as long as it's DRM-free) and sync using Winamp or a number of other programs.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: StevenYoo
i love my Zune.

Nice big 320 x 240 screen, FM radio, latest firmware has some fun games!

I desperately want a Zune but they're still not available internationally. Come on MS!

 

[The_Dude8]

Sony A810 is on sale @ circuit city for $79.99:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd...248t1042776f0fp0c0s520

I paid $130 for mine last year @ the sony store, great sound with excellent battery life.

or you can get the sansa clip 4 gb @ bestbuy for 34.99:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...oduct&id=1218010613780

 

[speg]

Shuffle is what, $70?

 

[venkman]

Just get an ipod. I've tried a ton of different bads (Apple, Sandisk, Creative, iRiver, Zune, Generic Chinese, Generic Chinese Ipod Rip offs, and more) and apple is consistently THE BEST player out there.

<--- Not an apple fanboy but wuvs my touch

 

[BrokenVisage]

Sansa + Rockbox + 16GB MicoSD card = Pretty damn good bang/buck

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: speg
Shuffle is what, a featureless piece of shit that locks you into Apple's evil and draconian ecosystem?

Fixed.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Get a Zune or one of the lower priced Cowons.

 

[potato28]

Samsung YP-P2. $200 CAD for me, touch screen, good amount of codec support and a very large screen for the actual size of the player.