[optimus_prime]

I am currently in the process of deciding to buy my first-ever mp3 player. I have never owned an Mp3 player before, but it seems they are becoming more commonplace in todays realm.

So, here I am asking for YOUR help and advice..what Mp3 player should I get?

A little info about me:

In some aspects, I am a bit behind the times. Im usually not the type of individual who rushes out to buy anything new. I take a step back, and wait and see how the device fairs out on the market. I also wait to for the price to come down a little bit as well.

This was the case with me getting my first cell phone, DVD player, internet-ready PC, among other items.

I think the time has come for me to get an MP3 player. I have about a 30 minute drive to work each way, and when I drive to work, I love to listen to my music in my car's CD player. I find myself constantly changing out the CDs, because I want a bit of variety sometimes, rather than listening to the same CD over and over, etc. I understand that there are FM radio transmitters that are available for MP3 players so that I can listen to my MP3 player in my car.

sometimes, Im not able to change out the CDs as I am driving. sometimes the CDs will be laying in the passenger seat at my ready access, and then some car decides to cut in front of me..i slam on my brakes, and my cds land in the floorboard,.and sometimes suffer some scratches (dont worry..i am smart enough to copy my music onto blank cds, so that the original albums are left at home,.unscathed.)

My girlfriend has an Mp3 player, its a Creative Labs-Zen microphoto 8 GB. she said it can hold up to about 4,000 songs. it can also store photos too.
I tried playing around with her MP3 player,.and while I am impressed at the fact it can hold so much data,..I simply hate the interface..I cant use the damn thing..i barely touch some of the buttons on it..and it wants to scroll frantically..to me it just plain sucks.

I have a fairly big music collection. I havent taken exact inventory,.but Id guesstimate that I have about 1,000 albums. it would be nice to put the majority of these albums onto an mp3 player.

I want an mp3 player that has a pretty easy to use interface. It has to be somewhat lightweight, cause I want to take it to the gym when I workout. As far as extras, like photos & videos..that would be nice,..but to me, isnt a dire necessity. Id prefer an easy interface and large memory capacity over that.

I saw a design I liked a lot. It was made by Samsung and retailed at $99.99. But I was dismayed that it only had a 2gb capacity. I am being told that at least 4gb is what you would want.

the samsung i saw and liked was this one:

http://www.bestbuy.c...d=1155070316629


i also like this one

http://www.bestbuy.c...d=1156607400225

i think, dollar for dollar,.this may be the best one for me..it has 8gb, and doesnt cost too much more than a lot of 4 gb players...

http://www.bestbuy.c...d=1156607400598


I dont really care much for the mp3 players that looks like a PC component. to me, an mp3 player should look more sleek and give off a more "portable stereo" look and feel to it. so, with that being said, i dont care much for the apple ipod, even though a lot of people rave and praise it. i think its one of the most overpriced mp3 players out there.

then i also heard that there are even 30 gb mp3 players..wow! 30gb!!..damn..how many songs is that anyways?..anyone care to answer that question?

if anyone can provide me with a chart or link that shows me about how many songs a gb can hold, that would be really helpful to me to make an informed decision. ..for example..how many songs can 2gbs hold? 4gbs? 8 gbs? etc.

i also dont care much for the "sleek button" design, where the buttons have absolutely zero-protrusion. i like to know and be able to feel a difference when i am pressing a button. i also believe that having a button protrusion type of design makes for easier navigation of finding the buttons with my fingers, when i am not able to look down at it, when i am driving, for example.

furthermore..i dont like the mp3 players that dont have an lcd display on them. how the hell am i supposed to search and locate certain songs and albums that i want to listen to? ..am i missing something here??...apple calls one of their smallest mp3 players an "ipod shuffle"..i believe it alright.cause without a display to show you where youre files are,..how are you supposed to locate them?

also, some of the other mp3 players,.the small ones that look like butane lighters...like this one..

http://www.bestbuy.c...d=1174693782271
.ha ha...well,.they just look weird to me..i dont know..are they any good as well?

anyways..i pretty gave you all the info as far as what im looking for...so what do you suggest?

This post has been edited by optimus_prime: 22 August 2007 - 02:02 AM

[Spann]

To be entirely honest, the majority of MP3 Players nowadays are all identical innards in different cases.

Just don't get ripped off buying an iPod, or spend any less than £10-15 ($20-25?) on one, as it will almost definitely suck.

Other than that, most players are the same as each other.

An album of 128kb/s MP3s is usually somewhere in the region of 40-60MB, so (presuming each is 50), you could fit approximately 20 albums per GB (roughly 240 songs, depending on quality and length). However, you have to take into consideration things like natural deviation in HD size, and the fact that the player will take up some of this space for firmware.

However, my 20GB player holds the vast majority of my music collection, which is 300+ CDs, so you get the idea.

Those Samsung players are nifty bits of kit, just don't be surprised if when it arrives it's alot smaller than you'd imagine. I nearly died when I saw how small the last one I bought was.

[Chefelf]

Just don't get ripped off buying an iPod, or spend any less than £10-15 ($20-25?) on one, as it will almost definitely suck.

What's wrong with an iPod? I got my iPod almost 2 years ago and it's been one of the best electronic purchases I've ever made. I think the iPods are extremely reasonably priced as well as being solid. When I ever decide to upgrade I'm definitely sticking with an iPod. I haven't had a single problem or complaint with mine.

Plus you could practically afford to get an 8GB iPod mini for the price of that 2GB Samsung you linked to.

[Spoon Poetic]

Yeah, that Samsung was a ripoff - but lately iPods are way overcharging, too. Other brands can give you the same features, space, and quality for less than an iPod. But iPod certainly isn't the worst out there.

All I can DEFINITELY recommend is do NOT get a used one unless it's from someone you trust. So much can go wrong with that; from water damage to a battery that's close to dead (dead-dead, not dead-time-to-recharge-dead).

[Spann]

Maybe it's just the UK that apple shits all over then.

In my opinion, iPods are very much a case of style over usability, and in the UK they're bloody expensive. But then so's the PS3 compared to the US, as is EVERY OTHER PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY EVER.

This post has been edited by Spann: 22 August 2007 - 11:15 AM

[Chefelf]

In the US iPods are completely in line (and in many cases cheaper) than any competing mp3 players. Personally I find the iPods to be very usable. I'm not a huge Apple fan (the iPod is the only Apple product that I currently own) but I love my iPod.

I do, however, hate iTunes.

[optimus_prime]

I do, however, hate iTunes.

whats wrong with iTunes?

[Spann]

In my experience, iTunes is the only virus that people knowingly install to their computer. It's hard to use, and has an annoying habit of associating itself with just about every media file you have.

I presume that's what Chefelf is talking about.

There's more, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

[Chefelf]

As far as file associations I have not problem with that, every program does that. I just hate the way it works.

I hate the update process the most. I hate that every time I want to update this stupid bloated mp3 player I have to go to the apple site, login with my email address, opt out of their stupid emails, download the installer, run the installer, go into MSCONFIG and disable the auto-startup of both iTunes AND stupid Quicktime (which I never asked for in the first place).

Mostly every other program simply tells you upon startup when an update is available, then you simply have to click 'ok' and it downloads and installs automatically. Then all you have to do is restart the program.

There's no excuse for the iTunes update process to be as cumbersome as it is.

[Spann]

The issue I have with it is every time my Girlfriend plugs her iPod into my machine, iTunes opens and makes itself the automatic player for mp3s and other media files, which pisses me off as I'd far rather use zoom player - it's quicker to load up and doesn't have alot of the stupid functions that I don't use in itunes.

[TheOrator]

I have a Zune, which is nice and has big giant screen, was a little expensive, but seems like your best bet for something on par with a Video iPod if you are staunchly anti-Mac like myself. There are a few problems in the control (as in the control scheme, not as in bugs), but my friend says iPods are the same in that respect.

As for music playery things, the Zune version of iTunes (also called Zune) is pretty much Windows Media Player with a different logo on top, and I rather like Windows Media Player, so that's not really a problem.

So I'd recommend a Zune just so you don't have to buy something from Apple, further continuing the illusion they create better products...

But get an iPhone if you want.

Those things are positively badass.

[Spann]

Apart from a touch screen, what does the iPhone do that i couldn't achieve by taping my mobile to an iPod?

http://www.thebestpa.../c.cgi?u=iphone

Well Maddox certainly doesn't like them.

[TheOrator]

Apart from a touch screen, what does the iPhone do that i couldn't achieve by taping my mobile to an iPod?

http://www.thebestpa.../c.cgi?u=iphone

Well Maddox certainly doesn't like them.

You're right, I want that phone now.

I won't use it ever because I do very few of the things it is capable of, but it's still kick awesome.

I retract my previous statement, don't get an iPhone. Don't get anything made by Apple. At all.







^BAD^

EDIT: Formatting changed to make it less sucky.

EDIT2: Forgot the first EDIT tag.

EDIT3: I've decided this version is slightly funnier.

EDIT4: MOAR ¶!

This post has been edited by TheOrator: 22 August 2007 - 02:55 PM

[Spann]

I'm with TheOrator, I absolutely fucking hate Apple and everything they stand for.

I find it a little cheap that a phone that's made such a big deal about being such an mp3 player won't let you use those MP3s as ringtones.

But I think I know why.

Apple will open 'iphonetunes' soon, and charge you all the money in the world for a 30 second long 32kb/s mp3 of the song you WANT.

Bet you.

[optimus_prime]

I'm with TheOrator, I absolutely fucking hate Apple and everything they stand for.

I find it a little cheap that a phone that's made such a big deal about being such an mp3 player won't let you use those MP3s as ringtones.

But I think I know why.

Apple will open 'iphonetunes' soon, and charge you all the money in the world for a 30 second long 32kb/s mp3 of the song you WANT.

Bet you.

steve jobs is still pissed off at bill gates,..and he's been jealous ever since. so yeah, he's look to make bucks to catch up anyway he can to save face.