Which mp3 player- Ipod, Iaudio, Zen, or other?

[lepixz]

Help choose!

 

[Christobevii3]

If you want something small I got my sister a lexar ldp 600 with support for 1GB SD cards. Has 14 hour li ion battery and has great sound and a good menu, just a thought.

If not get the iriver with photo viewing.

 

[bjc112]

I love my Ipod, but the Zen Micro is awesome too.

 

[LordPhoenix]

iPod

 

[Hyperlite]

1 for zen, my friend has one, its freakin awesome....great battery life, features, and it just looks so darn cool.

 

[Dennis Travis]

IPod.

Where is Gurck?

 

[Corporate Thug]

ipod

 

[lockmac]

ipod rocks. i initially had problems with the battery, but sent it in and got a brand new one out of it, so i was happy. They are great!

 

[AmphibSailor]

Didn't do a whole lot of research but am happy with the Iaudio 4 256 mB player I picked up. It doubles as a flash drive, has an FM radio and voice recorder on it. It is able to record off the air or straight from output of a CD or mini disc player. Its great! :thumbsup:

 

[Lonyo]

iRiver > *
Photo or not.
Long battery life (def. > 10 hours under fairly constant use, haven't tried to run it down yet though, probably close to the 16 they claim though)

 

[Gurck]

Hard to vote, since it depends on your priorities. My picks are the Creative Zen Xtra for value (40gb for $200), Creative Nomad Jukebox or Rio Karma for sound quality, Iaudio m3 or Iriver H320 for features. Personally I'd probably go with the 40gb m3, so I'll vote Iaudio.

 

[Goosemaster]

I say try the software for each first. Then come back to use and we will help you make a decision based on that.

I still don;t get why people judge JUST the player. The software is jsut as important.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
I say try the software for each first. Then come back to use and we will help you make a decision based on that.

I still don;t get why people judge JUST the player. The software is jsut as important.

I certainly take this into account, and consider it a feature. Iaudios and Irivers give you the benefit of choice. No proprietary software needed, just plug them into a USB port and they're recognized as a hard drive. Put music on them with any file manager and they play it. :thumbsup:

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: Gurck

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
I say try the software for each first. Then come back to use and we will help you make a decision based on that.

I still don;t get why people judge JUST the player. The software is jsut as important.

I certainly take this into account, and consider it a feature. Iaudios and Irivers give you the benefit of choice. No proprietary software needed, just plug them into a USB port and they're recognized as a hard drive. Put music on them with any file manager and they play it. :thumbsup:

What they should do is try as much softwre as they can, find the one they like best, and then ask for advice.

To the OP:


Try out Windows media player, itunes, napster, rhapsody, music match, anapod, and anything else you can find. you will find that there are two distinct categories: Programs that work with mp4a (aac) basedcopyright protection and others that work with WMA based copyright protection.

When you ind the one you like, come back and post it.

 

[zainali]

ipods are good as long as you want to play music.

if you want more get the iriver h320. it can play videos with hacked firmware. has tons of features. can be used as a portable drive, etc, etc.

 

[Sid59]

dunno .. all i have is an ipod of that list. my other was a flash based RCA 192MB mp3 player.

 

[halfadder]

Most of my friends have iPods and are very happy with them. I'm impressed by the iPod's fit and finish. You'll be happy with an iPod and the mountain of accessories available for it.

But if you're intersted in the most features for the buck, look at iRiver and the Creative Zen.

If you're a U2 fan, check out the iPod Special U2 Edition.

 

[DragonFire]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
iRiver > *
Photo or not.
Long battery life (def. > 10 hours under fairly constant use, haven't tried to run it down yet though, probably close to the 16 they claim though)

iRiver all the way! I had there 20GB model when I was working 10HR 3rd shit. I can say for certain that it played from the time I started to the time I stopped 10 hours later.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
What they should do is try as much softwre as they can, find the one they like best, and then ask for advice.

Disagree, seeing as it's a portable player, I'd say its own characteristics are more important than those of any & all PC software to manage music and/or interact with the player. Not that it isn't a factor, but certainly not the deciding one, as the quote implies.

Originally posted by: halfadder
Most of my friends have iPods and are very happy with them. I'm impressed by the iPod's fit and finish. You'll be happy with an iPod and the mountain of accessories available for it.

But if you're intersted in the most features for the buck, look at iRiver and the Creative Zen.

If you're a U2 fan, check out the iPod Special U2 Edition.

So? Most AOLers are happy with the service... People who haven't done their research & have no experience with the competition are no great judges of a product or service. Most of the accessories for the ipod are overpriced and do nothing but make it look even gaudier than it does out of the box, which is no inconsiderable feat. You don't need to buy an aftermarket case with most other players, since they come with one. I'd comment on U2... but Maddox did it for me, and did a better job than I could have - Text :laugh:

 

[slackerinabox]

Woaw.. Gurck is pretty biased! I've owned the following mp3 players:
-archos jukebox recorder - piece of crap.. 2 broke on me before I gave up
-iRiver slimX - nice mp3 player. served me well for a few years. Sound was a little tinny and my friend's iRiver hd based player still sounds a little tinny on decent headphones (grados)
-apple iPod (2nd gen) - wonderful device that lasted me years. It still works, just I was a little rough with the headphone jack and the contact is loose. My fault for not being careful. Sound quality is decent (not great - very clear but not as organic as the zen touch) but the build quality is superb and it's small and very light
-Creative labs zen touch - my current mp3 player. I like it.. great sound quality but the build quality is questionable. It's also noticeable heavier than an iPod. i've had it for about 3 months now but had to reset it 5 or six times now. not a huge deal and it's a great value, just doesn't seem as stable as my ipod was. Navigation is also kinda annoying - the touch pad on it is pretty crappy and no substitute for the iPod's wonderful touch wheel...

 

[Sqube]

Depends on what you're looking for, really. If you're looking for something that just plays mp3s like I was, then I think the iPod is the way to go. Battery life is vastly improved over previous generations.

If you're looking for the extra bells and whistles though, you'll probably want to get some first-hand impressions and maybe read some reviews... I would suggest cNet, as I find their reviews to generally coincide with how I feel about a product.

Naturally, your mileage may vary. Look around though, hit message boards, read reviews, talk to people who own the products. That's the best way to form an opinion on it, short of using each of the products yourself for a couple days.

 

[live2game]

Zen

 

[imported_Nacelle]

PDA. It plays music and movies.