Advice on MP3 Players?

[mi_guida]

I freely admit that I know nothing about MP3 players. Usually for technological things I don't understand I'd turn to my father, but given he's just bought himself a new record player, he knows less than I do.

Here's the situation:

I currently own a 64MB player, which will take around 15 tracks, or one album. It's a dear little thing, but pretty feeble really.

I would like to own a larger one that actually carries sensible amounts of music. I have 7.3GB on my computer; the question of how much I want to carry round is probably semi-answered by... What sizes of memory do these things come in? And for how much?

Also, which makes are good/bad/realiable/hold battery charge/anything else I ought to be asking?

You are all wise people, and if you can offer any advice, or point me towards any website offering advice, I would be very very grateful.

Comments

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

I have a 20GB iRiver, and love it dearly. Like half_of_monty's Samsung, there's no need for specialised software to take things on and off - you just use standard file-copying commands. As well as simplicity, this has the advantage that they can't tie you down with evil Digital Rights Management (spit!) restrictions. The interface isn't quite as shiny as an iPod (no clickwheel, but I think they have something similar on later models). Claimed battery life is 16 hours - I don't think it's that good in practice, but you may remember that I left it running overnight once and still had half the battery left in the morning. I see that this place are selling the 20GB model for £139 - you might be able to do better elsewhere, or on eBay.

As for capacity, big is definitely good, for all the reasons that neoanjou says. Frankly, I wish I had the 40GB model.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

Another point in the iRiver's favour is the unrivalled number of different formats it will play - mp3, ogg, wav, wma, and a couple of others, if memory serves. I don't think it will play DRMed tracks from iTunes, though.

I also like the built-in FM radio.

[half-of-monty.livejournal.com]

Not unrivalled - my Samsung plays those formats too! After all, the thing was chosen by Duncan. (Actually not sure about wma, never had one. Nor about itunes, ditto.) And it has a built in radio. And it's shiny and RED. So nerr!

I did actually have a point, though, which was the headphones that the things come with are typically shite. If you're spending 100 quid on the player, spend an extra tenner on some comfy headphones with decent quality sound. Big difference.

I keep logging on with the intention of updating my own LJ... I will now think about actually doing that.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

WMA is Windows Media Audio - it's the default ripping format for Windows Media Player. I've had occasional need for it, but I'm guessing you live in an entirely Linux-based computing environment now.

[mi-guida.livejournal.com]

I've always converted all my WMA tracks (And set WMP to rip as mp3) so that's not a problem, really.

[mi-guida.livejournal.com]

I think I'd probably get the 20GB one. One query: With an iRiver, does it come with charger? Or would I have to add the cost of buying that separately to the cost of case and decent headphones?

The other option is that I get a smaller one and just cycle my music onto it... it's semi-birthday present, so I suppose it depends on cost a bit.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

Yes, it comes with a charger and a leather case - well, mine did, at least. And the headphones that came with it were pretty decent, but your mileage may vary.

[mi-guida.livejournal.com]

Mother is in favour of the 20GB idea, so I'm going with that size (slowly making decisions, huzzah!). The place you linked to - does that look to you like it comes with charger and case? I couldn't make out that it did, but maybe I'm missing something...

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

I have no idea, I'm afraid - mine came from Hong Kong. You could email them and ask...

[mi-guida.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a plan. This is why I dislike internet shopping - I seem to lose all my logical faculties (all the more so when shopping for things I don't know much/anything about!).

[mi-guida.livejournal.com]

That website wouldn't let me email them to ask questions unless I had an account number or order number, gah.

However, this definitely comes with a case and computer charger - in technical llanguage, does "Power supply unit" mean a mains charger, or a battery?

Sorry about all the questions...