Recommend a portable music player?

KingMob · Post by **KingMob** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 8:21 pm

Other than an iPod?
although I suppose you can say iPod if you want

Needing a new music player and don't know a huge deal about them thar mod-ern things the young people flash about on the subway.
Any particular models/brands that are good? Pros and cons of the main types, that kind of thing?
Or a good review site for this carry-on?

Any help appreciated lots and lots and lots, ta.

Post by **Kaylee** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 8:27 pm

A gramaphone attached to a small barrow with three dwarvs to carry your priceless antique 78RPM record collection and Mervyn the Monkey of a Thousand Smells to crank the handle.

For the uber-chique look, you can buy a pair of special iKarlyboo headphones, which include sparkly light-up antennae and a pair of googly-eye glasses.

The iKarlyboo, available wherever money is made.

Warning: iKarlyboo should not be used by the elderly, incontinent or by pregnant orangutans. Mervyn the Monkey of a Thousand Smells is prone to rabies. 2 - 3 DOES equal negative fun and finally ground control to Major Tom, your circuit's dead there's something wrong!

To conclude with the Duelling Banjos in full chorus.

iKarlyboo is a trademark of Evil Inc., a subsidiary of Monstrous Ltd.

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 8:32 pm

j-pod!
the sequal to ipod...

Post by **Kaylee** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 8:42 pm

Impactor returns 2.0 wrote:j-pod!
the sequal to ipod...

Jpod?

KingMob · Post by **KingMob** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 8:44 pm

Can't fit a wheelbarrow into the tube, can I? Not exactly modern, either.
Bah! to your suggestion.

I'm considering just going for the shiniest one...

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:11 pm

Can I suggest the Sony HD3 walkman - its MP3 or ADAC and has a 20GB HD in somthing casset tape sized. typical Sony style. as good as an i-pod but different.

Sony HD3 MP3 Player

Post by **Kaylee** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:27 pm

KingMob wrote:Can't fit a wheelbarrow into the tube, can I? Not exactly modern, either.
Bah! to your suggestion.

I'm considering just going for the shiniest one...

We use only the most modern dwarves!

And a wheelbarrow will fit on a tube. Long as you upgrade to the iTube... it's pulled by a team of 1000 bunny wabbits!

KingMob · Post by **KingMob** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:39 pm

You really should take a look at the Glasgow Underground. A wheelbarrow is wider than the carriages and even dwarves have to stoop to get on. And we catch, kill and deep-fry bunnies up here, especially Evil ones.
So I say nay to the mysteriously named iKarlyboo products, they're clearly designed to be operated in Soft Southern Climes only and are therefore discriminatory against decent, bunny-frying Scotsmen.

I was thinking about the Sony HD3, actually (as it's the shiniest), cheers for suggesting it, but some form of iRiver product is starting to appeal more now. Something like the iHP-140 seems to tickle all my boxes. Shame it appears to look like a brick, tho.

Post by **Kaylee** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:41 pm

Have you actually considered a brick? Could be quite a time and money saver!

[/is being no help whatsoever]

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:42 pm

maybe read some reviews on these players. the quality can very massivly. with the ipod and sony new device being head and shoulders above most in quality (and price!)

Post by **Denyer** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:52 pm

Three real strands...

1) Hard-drive based player. eg, iPod. Lots of capacity. Battery life likely to be an issue. Quite fragile and expensive to replace/insure. Usable as a removable hard drive, usually.

2) CD based player. Available cheaply, disposable media with around ten albums per CDR. More prone to skipping if shaken, larger than other options.

3) Flash based player. Low capacity, usually double as a small removable drive and/or a voice recorder. Expensive, but won't skip.

Leatherneck · Post by **Leatherneck** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 10:30 pm

I know you said no iPod, but from what I've looked at, it can't be beat. Nowadays, anything worth buying holds 3245876238562834658 songs as well as plays for 2 years nonstop.. but the thing that puts the iPod above the rest is how easy it is to navigate the files and such. Sounds like a small detail, but with a few thousand songs, when you want to find one it's good to be able to get to it, ya know?

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 10:35 pm

I love my ipod to bits

The newest models have 15 hour + battery life, which is plenty really!

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 11:43 pm

the Sony Device holds as many tracks as an i-pod roughly with a 20GB drive - and its interface is just as good as the i-pod. dont doubt its ablity.
dont confuse it with last years model tho.

oh an extra thing ppl forgot.

new Sony Mini-Disc players which are very cool. now have 1GB discs. plenty of room for all your music, and you can edit on the fly...

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 11:44 pm

I just got a Creative Nomad 3 Jukebox - 22 hours battery life and 20Gb. £70 off of ebay. Trouble is the battery packs are really hard to find and Creative don't sell them any more, so each one is another ebay £45...

Post by **Denyer** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 2:11 am

Hound wrote:The newest models have 15 hour + battery life, which is plenty really!

I was thinking more about the fact that hardwired rechargeable batteries tend to die, and are a pain to replace.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ipod+battery+life

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 2:28 am

The Creative batteries are replaceable individually - you can have just one for an 11 hour play or two for 22 hours, and are totally user-replaceable. It's just that they don't seem to make the bastards any more.

KingMob · Post by **KingMob** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 2:50 am

I've been reading a bunch of reviews for most of the night and they vary massively as well.

Particularly in the case of the Sony. It gets slated in some reviews; notably for the software and the (apparently} tedious/restrictive playlist options. That worries me, as one of the main things I want a modern player is because I'm one of those types that makes dozens of playlists all the time.
Oh yeah, and no remote and some stuff about how it has to be plugged into a power supply in order to transfer files. Seems a bit pointless, if true.
It is supposed to have far and away the best quality, though. And a great design.

The potential dodginess of rechargable bats is one of those niggly worries, but the flash ones don't seem to come with very much gubbins. I like me gubbins. I figure, if I'm gonna splash the cash I may as well get one with as much extra shiny bits as I can, and I do like listening to the radio....

I'm torn. I just know it'll end up being the most shiny one when I go in the shop. Or more realistically, whichever one comes in matte black.

I tried a brick, it was crap. Earphones kept falling out.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 3:06 am

Just as an aside, check out one of the all-in-ones, like the xda - I have an xda from work and though the basic set only has space for about 10 mp3s on the hard drive, it's Flash memory, easily upgradeable and a phone and pocket PC as well. With Windows CE and stuff like Word and IE to hand I find it really useful. Plus, when I'm listening to music on it and someone phones me, it pauses the music while I answer the call (through headphones and throat mike) and resumes it afterwards. Kicks ass. Besides, the xda2 has been out for ages now and they're supposed to be much better...

Impactor returns 2.0 · Post by **Impactor returns 2.0** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 3:26 am

the Sony reviews do vary dont they, some slate it some praise it. im confused.

hmm if u want black, what about the 'U2' special edtion i-pod, its shiny and black with a red dial

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:24 pm

I've got the iHP-140 and I'd heartily recommend it to anybody.

Yeah, it's a bit on the blocky side, but when it's stashed away in my inside coat pocket that stops being an issue.

Pro's
- 16 hour battery. And that's actually 16 hours. Obviously goes down depending on what types of file you're playing / how many buttons you press. I've got about 14 hours out of it so far.
- Plays mp3, wav, wma and ogg. Nya ha!
- Microphone for recording
- FM radio
- Easy drag-and-drop file system (meaning it also works for data files)

Cons
- You need WinAmp to do any playlist stuff
- It takes a while to boot up when you first turn it on
- Can't play protected WMAs. Though I guess few players can...

I've heard people slating the controls. These people are idiots. It's piss easy to work once you've figured out that it's basically "light press does one thing / hard press does another."

And it's black.