MP3 Players

[Joeiss]

Hey everybody. I will be purchasing an MP3 player sometime this week, hopefully within the next couple of days. I was hoping to get the Sony S2 256MB MP3 player. It looks awesome, and apparently the software that comes with it is really easy to use. This costs 229.99 CDN.

Anybody know anything about the S2? Good? Bad? Any better MP3 players out there for cheaper price?

[Null]

Hey everybody. I will be purchasing an MP3 player sometime this week, hopefully within the next couple of days. I was hoping to get the Sony S2 256MB MP3 player. It looks awesome, and apparently the software that comes with it is really easy to use. This costs 229.99 CDN.

Anybody know anything about the S2? Good? Bad? Any better MP3 players out there for cheaper price?

i sure hope you mean 256mb on some sort of flash or memory card thats removable. because at such a tiny amount of space, that price is a total rip off.

[GT News]

Hey everybody. I will be purchasing an MP3 player sometime this week, hopefully within the next couple of days. I was hoping to get the Sony S2 256MB MP3 player. It looks awesome, and apparently the software that comes with it is really easy to use. This costs 229.99 CDN.

Anybody know anything about the S2? Good? Bad? Any better MP3 players out there for cheaper price?

i sure hope you mean 256mb on some sort of flash or memory card thats removable. because at such a tiny amount of space, that price is a total rip off.

Don't worry about it, .That makes sense to me.
Do you often use a computer there?

[Jason1]

i sure hope you mean 256mb on some sort of flash or memory card thats removable. because at such a tiny amount of space, that price is a total rip off.

Ya I agree. Sounds like a pretty big rip off to me. That and its a Sony. Your best bet on MP3 players would probably be an Ipod, although ive noticed this one made by DELL that is 5Gb's for only $199. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, im sure you'll find it on Dell's website, if your interested...

[Null]

Ya I agree. Sounds like a pretty big rip off to me. That and its a Sony. Your best bet on MP3 players would probably be an Ipod, although ive noticed this one made by DELL that is 5Gb's for only $199. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, im sure you'll find it on Dell's website, if your interested...


i think the ipod mini's are about 5gig at $250 of course thats not canadian tho.



Do i need to bring up my chart on a 40gig ipod at $500 vs 128mb mp3 player at $100 ?
Basically with out doing the math again... with a $100 mp3 player at 128mb, you'd be payin like $14,000 to equal a 40gig ipod.
While with the 40gig ipod your payin like 4cents for every 128mb


i do hate low storage mp3 players :p

[KillerGremlin]

I had a low storage MP3 player (128mb), and my portable CD player eventually won it over. But that is because I have over 500+ albums on actual CD, and I didn't feel like ripping album after album onto the PC just to temporarily keep it on my MP3 player. Personally, I think any flash-based MP3 player that does not store more then 5gigs of music is a complete waste of money. You are going to be constantly moving music around, and it's going to be a hassle. But, if you're the type of person that has hundreds of CDs on your computer, and you don't mind using your MP3 player as a CD player, getting a 256mb MP3 player might be the right choice for you. Albeit, the math that Null did is scarily accurate, 400 dollars is considerably higher then however much you will be spending on a 256mb MP3 player.

What I advice you to keep in mind is: Apple is already facing competition. There are MP3 players that are coming out, and already on the market, like the Iriver, that have more features and are of higher quality then the Ipod - and many of them cost less then the Ipod. Grant it, the Ipod still has a very slick design, but it comes with a hefty price tag and I've heard more then my fair share of mediocre reviews for the Ipods software.

I have personally been holding out on purchasing an MP3 player, just because I think by the end of next year the price of a high-space model will be considerably down from what it is now. Paying 400 dollars for 40gigs of space is expensive. I have over 500cds that I will be ripping to my PC to put onto my next MP3 player, and that's not even taking into account the 10+ gigs of music on my computer right now.

If I was you, I'd put together another one or two hundred dollars and consider buying a 10 or 20gig MP3 player. But if you don't mind constantly having to move your music around....then I guess the 256mb MP3 player might work for you.

[Null]

What I advice you to keep in mind is: Apple is already facing competition. There are MP3 players that are coming out, and already on the market, like the Iriver, that have more features and are of higher quality then the Ipod - and many of them cost less then the Ipod. Grant it, the Ipod still has a very slick design, but it comes with a hefty price tag and I've heard more then my fair share of mediocre reviews for the Ipods software.


While this is true, the ipod has some very HUGE advantages over any of the competition. namily the accessories for it.
all the adapters, Things like speakers, voice recorders, stands, remotes, etc. all made for the ipod while others get barly a precentage of the amount ipods get. Not to mention ipod is the only mp3 player they've ever designed car systems around. like the BMW that comes with ipod support as a manufacter option.
as other mp3 players keep changing and changing, apples ipod has already set itself up as the standard.

and ipods software argument is moot because it doesnt even require that you use that software. theres many alternatives. i mean i use Winamp for my ipod software. lol, loading and unloading songs off my ipod.

But if your not really worried about the accessories. then yea there are mp3 players at better prices. i just always like seeing the gizmos they come up with for the ipod. hehe.

[Joeiss]

"The NW-S23 digital music player comes with 256MB of embedded memory that lets you store more than 170 songs* or drag an drop data files. Super long battery life, the unit provides up to 70 hours of continuous playback with one AAA battery. The NW-S23 plays back ATRAC3plus™ audio that lets you drag and drop MP3s and the supplied SonicStage II software supports WMA and WAV digital files."

That is from the website. The asterisk is :
*Calculated based on 4 minutes per song @ 48kbps.

SO basically, 170 songs (or 11 hours of music) and 70 hours of battery life.


Sounds pretty good to me. I'd rather spend LESS than 250 CDN, so IPOD is out of the question. And this will be mostly for running and hitting the gym. It is cool because it is small, and can go on my arm.

[Null]

my friend, They're trying to put one over on you with that.

if your planning on putting songs on there at 48kbps you will be VERY dissapointed. thats not even radio quality.
you need at LEAST 128kpbs

[GameMaster]

I'd advise saving just a bit more for the iPod Mini. Or save even a little more the 20G iPod. I'm not blindly praising, it's a good product. If you don't have tons of music and your not going to store other things on our iPod, get a Mini. I haven't filled my 5G yet. And the Mini comes with an arm band too! :) How's that for convincing?

[Jason1]

70 hours? Somehow I doubt that....

[Null]

no, i dont think that'll be anywhere near that. and i have no faith in anything they say about it when they try and trick people saying it can hold such and such number of hours by putting it at 48kbps. people who dont know mp3's would have no clue on how bad that would sound.

[Joeiss]

I looked more into the HD mp3 players... And I can't seem to find any that have skip-protection.

I will most likely only be using this MP3 player for jogging, weight lifting, and other active stuff. All of the smaller ones, though more expensive, seem to fit my active needs for an MP3 player.

Now realistically, how many songs would a 256MB fit? At 128kbps or whatever?

[Null]

I looked more into the HD mp3 players... And I can't seem to find any that have skip-protection.

I will most likely only be using this MP3 player for jogging, weight lifting, and other active stuff. All of the smaller ones, though more expensive, seem to fit my active needs for an MP3 player.

Now realistically, how many songs would a 256MB fit? At 128kbps or whatever?


Realistically...... i'd say roughtly 60 songs, give or take a few.

and i dont know if there is any hard drive mp3 player that will say skip protection on them. because they just dont skip. i run, jog, ride my bike with my ipod all the time. i've driped it a few times. (altho on carpet) and i really dont think they'll skip

Because i THINK they load the song off the HD into memory, and then play it. i dont think the actual drive spins as it plays. but i could be wrong on that.

it doesnt skip however for me.


And im not tryin to get you to buy one with more space, im just saying i think you can do a lot better then the price on that one you listed. I mean, you could find a CD player that plays MP3's and fit around 150 songs on a CD at 128kbps. and i garentee its a lot cheaper.

[Stonecutter]

Seriously dude. Don't buy an MP3 player with the space measured in Megabytes. Every time you do that an Angel gets kicked in the balls.

If you're not going to buy a real MP3 player, get a MiniDisc player. You can get them for under 200 American (you can get cheap ones for like 150 USD.) They're as good or better than a Harddrive MP3player when it comes to how much you can move and how little they'll skip and with the new MD Hi discs you can put up to a Gig of raw data on the discs.

Just about every commercial you hear played on the radio is coming from a MD, it's a small, but legit format that's not going away any time soon.

[KillerGremlin]

Well, if you do some memory musical magical math mayhem:

1 minute of music in .wav form = 10mbs

So if you have a 5 minute song, it is going to be 50mbs before compression.

If you compress the song at 128kbps, you're going to get a file size that is roughly around 5mb - which means you will be averaging a megabyte a minute if you encode at 128kbps, give or take.

So, you're talking roughtly 256 minutes of GOOD quality songs on the MP3 player model you're talking about. That is roughlty 4 and a half hours of music - which easily beats out a CD player.

HOWEVER, how many people have songs only encoded at 128kbps? I have songs at 320kbps, a TON at 192kbps, and a decent amount at 160kbps. Chances are you won't fit 4 hours worth of music on that thing, unless you're the opposite of me, and you encode small.

[Joeiss]

Lol. I don't even know how to encode small or big, haha.


Geeze, it looks like I won't be making this decision for a while, then. I gotta get my facts straight on MP3 players.

[jeepnut]

I've been intrigued by mp3 players as of late. As far as cheaper alternatives to the ipod go, the ones from Creative seem to impress me the most. They also make smaller flash memory players like the one you're looking at.

Zen Micro
http://www.creative.com/zenmicro/images/color_all1.jpg
http://www.creative.com/zenmicro/images/color_all2.jpg

5GB of space 2,500 songs at 64kbps or 1,250 songs at 128kbps. (ipod mini is 4GB)
Built-in radio tuner (Not standard on the ipod or the ipod mini)
Offered in 10 different colors (ipod mini has 5 available colors)
Removable and rechargable battery with 12 hours of playback to each one. (Comes with 2 batteries in the box. That's like 24 hours of continuous playback.) If you believe companies when they quote battery life of course. ipods do not have removable batteries and they last 8 hours.
Highest audio quality of any mp3 player according to Creative with a signal to noise ratio of up to 98dB.
Some come with a wired remote control, belt clip, and a stand.
Weighs 3.8 ounces. (ipod mini is less here at about 3 ounces)
List price is the same as an ipod mini at 249.99 USD but can be found cheaper.

Their flash memory players include the Creative Labs NOMAD MuVo TX FM 256 MB MP3 Player which has the same memory as the one you're looking at, has a built in FM radio tuner, and is priced at 90 USD on amazon.com.

Back to hard-drive players, you can find the creative zen xtra on amazon in 30GB for 197 USD, 40GB for 220 USD, and 60GB for 278 USD. The ipod may still be the standard, but it has some strong competition and it's getting harder and harder to justify the extra cost to get an ipod.

[GameMaster]

Lol. I don't even know how to encode small or big, haha.

You don't really have to worry about that. If you're downloading songs off the internet, most of them are at a good, standard size. And if you're not sure, let your ears be the judge, if it sounds good, then just keep it. And if you end up ripping songs off your CDs to your computer to put on your MP3 player, the computer program should already be set to rip the stuff at good, standard size too. So you don't really have to do any encoding.

Later when you become more familiar with it or you turn into an audiophile, you might want to have all your songs encoded very high. It's kind of silly in my opinion though. I just think it wastes space.

[Stonecutter]

it's getting harder and harder to justify the extra cost to get an ipod.

Scroll Wheel.

That's all you need to justify the extra cost.

[Joeiss]

Those Zen Micros look awesome! I just have to find a place where they sell them in Canada! lol.

I think it is now a battle between an iPod Mini, or a Zen Micros... still not too sure though.

[Acebot44]

Thanks for discussing this stuff guy's! I hadnt read this thread till now and, as luck would have it, I'm planning on getting an MP3 player for christmas too. Ordering a black Zen Micro from amazon right now :D

[Joeiss]

Did you order it yet? There is a HUGE con to it...

Thereis no volume control on the main unit... you have to go into the menu and change the volume... Which, in my opinion, is absolutely horrible, lol.

[Null]

I've been intrigued by mp3 players as of late. As far as cheaper alternatives to the ipod go, the ones from Creative seem to impress me the most. They also make smaller flash memory players like the one you're looking at.

Zen Micro
http://www.creative.com/zenmicro/images/color_all1.jpg
http://www.creative.com/zenmicro/images/color_all2.jpg

5GB of space 2,500 songs at 64kbps or 1,250 songs at 128kbps. (ipod mini is 4GB)
Built-in radio tuner (Not standard on the ipod or the ipod mini)
Offered in 10 different colors (ipod mini has 5 available colors)
Removable and rechargable battery with 12 hours of playback to each one. (Comes with 2 batteries in the box. That's like 24 hours of continuous playback.) If you believe companies when they quote battery life of course. ipods do not have removable batteries and they last 8 hours.
Highest audio quality of any mp3 player according to Creative with a signal to noise ratio of up to 98dB.
Some come with a wired remote control, belt clip, and a stand.
Weighs 3.8 ounces. (ipod mini is less here at about 3 ounces)
List price is the same as an ipod mini at 249.99 USD but can be found cheaper.

Their flash memory players include the Creative Labs NOMAD MuVo TX FM 256 MB MP3 Player which has the same memory as the one you're looking at, has a built in FM radio tuner, and is priced at 90 USD on amazon.com.

Back to hard-drive players, you can find the creative zen xtra on amazon in 30GB for 197 USD, 40GB for 220 USD, and 60GB for 278 USD. The ipod may still be the standard, but it has some strong competition and it's getting harder and harder to justify the extra cost to get an ipod.

as always, it still depends on what you want to use em for. but i find it quite easy to justifity the price of an ipod. IMO they have the best sound quality, and its really the only mp3 player with all the addons... www.everythingipod.com just some of the addons and things you can get for em.
A radio feature is nice, however i have like 2000 - 3000 songs, i'd never use the radio part. (and theres an addon you can buy for that anyway.) i mean theres even an addon that turns the ipod into a camera i believe.


and ipod MINI has 8 hours of playback. Normal ipod has 12 hours of playback, and Ipod Photo has 15 hours of playback.

also, from reading reviews i hear that the Zen scroll touch is extremly too touchy. its hard to scroll up or down one song at a time. but that might of been an older version and they might of fixed that.

[Blackmane]

I have wanted an Ipod for a while now, but I don't have the cash for it. I might get it over the summer when I have some extra money working at my internship. I don't think I want to get any of the competitors either. I like Itunes and Apple seems to be the standard for the time being.

[DimHalo]

What about the Dell Jukebox? Is it a good one?

[Joeiss]

Apparently the Dell Jukebox is good, but still not quite up to the iPod level.

[Acebot44]

Did you order it yet? There is a HUGE con to it...

Thereis no volume control on the main unit... you have to go into the menu and change the volume... Which, in my opinion, is absolutely horrible, lol.

Yeah, but I knew about it and it doesnt bother me. I'll be quick with the menu after a day or two :)

[Null]

Yeah, but I knew about it and it doesnt bother me. I'll be quick with the menu after a day or two :)


just get a headset that has a volume control on the wire, and you just always leave the player as high as it goes. adjust volume with the headset :p

[Joeiss]

just get a headset that has a volume control on the wire, and you just always leave the player as high as it goes. adjust volume with the headset :p

Really? That is interesting... Could you perhaps provide me a link with such a headphone please?

[Acebot44]

Heh, I already have an extension for my headset with volume control...but it's totally fudged up. It's old as jesus though, so I wouldnt know where to get a new one.

[Null]

Really? That is interesting... Could you perhaps provide me a link with such a headphone please?

Why i absolutly could...

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=MDRW24V&Dept=pa&CategoryName=pa_PADepartmentAccessories_Headphones_Lightweight%2fSport%2fVertical
http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vModelDetail?displayTab=O&storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&itemId=62390&catGroupId=11144&modelNo=RP-HT65-S&surfModel=RP-HT65-S
http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vModelDetail?displayTab=O&storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&itemId=69648&catGroupId=11144&modelNo=RP-HG50&surfModel=RP-HG50
http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vModelDetail?displayTab=O&storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&itemId=62068&catGroupId=11144&modelNo=RP-HT65-Y&surfModel=RP-HT65-Y

...just to name a few. its actually quite a common feature to have on headphones

[Joeiss]

I think I'll probably pick up a Zen Micro tomorrow if they have them available at Best Buy. I thought that all its accesories came extra, but it turns out majority of them come out of the box. SIIIIICK.

[Joeiss]

I got my Zen Micro today! It came with everything I need, plus an extra battery! So now I can go 24 straight hours of music! haha.

I'm so pumped, I'm setting up everything as we speak. Its really small.. I can't wait to hit the gym with it!

[jeepnut]

I got my Zen Micro today! It came with everything I need, plus an extra battery! So now I can go 24 straight hours of music! haha.

I'm so pumped, I'm setting up everything as we speak. Its really small.. I can't wait to hit the gym with it!

Congrats, let us know how it works out for you. What color did you get?

[Null]

I got my Zen Micro today! It came with everything I need, plus an extra battery! So now I can go 24 straight hours of music! haha.

I'm so pumped, I'm setting up everything as we speak. Its really small.. I can't wait to hit the gym with it!


gunna pick up headphones with volume control or just use the volume on the player?

[GameMaster]

Congratulations Joeiss. I hope you look good when you're working out.

[DimHalo]

And if he doesn't while he's working he sure will when he's done ;)

[Joeiss]

Ya, I bought a pair of headphones with volume control at Best Buy today too! I got the silver one, because that is the only version out in Canada so far (I think). The touch pad took a bit of time to get used to... But after about 15-20 minutes, I am pro at it, haha.

Overall, so far it is sweet. I transfered about 300 songs in like 4-5 mins... very good.

And if he doesn't while he's working he sure will when he's done ;)

Haha... Gimme 11 more weeks, I'm cutting right now!

[jeepnut]

Hey slave! Don't you have something to add to this conversation?

[Perfect Stu]

I've added 250 songs to my 20GB iPod, and there is TONS of space left. I'm gonna have to start borrowing CDs from people and just upload the whole damn album onto it. I love it...the scroll wheel is sexy. I got these reeeally amazing headphones for XMas, too...the kind that cover your entire ear. Some really sweet bass...I'm loving it. Helps me get to sleep, too.

+1, iPod. Apple made a hell of a product there...

http://i.timeinc.net/time/gadget/images/photo_ipod4.jpg

Hope you're loving your MP3 player as much as I am, Joe

[Typhoid]

I have an RCA Lyra.

I think it has 280 MB on it already, and I have about 93 songs on it. Maybe it was 94.


Im not too big on ipods anymore, Because I have all the music I listen to at this moment on my MP3 player.

[thatmariolover]

I got a 20GB iPod for Christmas. Very nice. I've got 16GB of it used up so far. But I'm sure I can find a lot more I want to squeeze on there. Right now I'm really enjoying listening to audiobooks of the Harry Potter and Wheel of Time series.

[Seth]

I'd really like an iriver.

They just beat the spunkjuice out of apple's mp3er.


Hey, if anyone has won an ipod that's still not opened and you want to sell it, give me a ring-a-ding and I just might buy it:)

[Stonecutter]

If anyone is looking for some decent cheap earbuds, I can't imagine anything giving you better bang for your buck than these.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004Z0BO/qid=1106142265/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-8673999-5127029?v=glance&s=pc&n=507846

[DimHalo]

I purchased a Creative Zen Micro Black last night. Should be here before the end of the month. I'm excited... and I think jeepnut is too.

[Null]

I've added 250 songs to my 20GB iPod, and there is TONS of space left. I'm gonna have to start borrowing CDs from people and just upload the whole damn album onto it. I love it...the scroll wheel is sexy. I got these reeeally amazing headphones for XMas, too...the kind that cover your entire ear. Some really sweet bass...I'm loving it. Helps me get to sleep, too.

+1, iPod. Apple made a hell of a product there...


yea, i do that same thing, my friend and his brothers have like over 500 cd's each. they have walls covered with cd's. its like going into a music store over there, taking the cd's i want and putting them on my ipod.

i got half my 30gig filled up now.

nothing beats an ipod man. :) now they even have a solar power adapter for it. lol. crazy thing you put out in the sun, connect it to ipod, and it powers and charges the thing. i wouldnt want it. but its crazy the things they come up with to make for the ipod.


I'd really like an iriver.

They just beat the spunkjuice out of apple's mp3er.


lol. good one. :p

[jeepnut]

I purchased a Creative Zen Micro Black last night. Should be here before the end of the month. I'm excited... and I think jeepnut is too.

Yeah, I can't wait to steal it.

[GameMaster]

Have Jeepnut and JS ever fought over the same possession? If so, did it result in hurt feelings and a broken friendship?

[DimHalo]

Have Jeepnut and JS ever fought over the same possession? If so, did it result in hurt feelings and a broken friendship?


We pretend to fight sometimes, but I don't remember a time when we have ever had a real fight over possessions... thus, no hurt feelings and certainly no broken friendship.


Update: mp3 player shipped today

[jeepnut]

Have Jeepnut and JS ever fought over the same possession? If so, did it result in hurt feelings and a broken friendship?

No, more often when get into a fight when I beat her in a game.

[Perfect Stu]

No, more often when get into a fight when I beat her in a game.


good to hear you guys never fight, then :)

[DimHalo]

good to hear you guys never fight, then :)
oh, that's a low blow...





I liked it

[DimHalo]

Did you order it yet? There is a HUGE con to it...

Thereis no volume control on the main unit... you have to go into the menu and change the volume... Which, in my opinion, is absolutely horrible, lol.


My product manual for the Zen Micro says this:

When you see the Now Playing screen, move your finger up and down the Touch Pad to adjust the volume.


May or may not be of any interest to you, but it pleases me.




UPDATE: Zen Micro is in St Louis as we speak!!!!

[dropCGCF]

If anyone is looking for some decent cheap earbuds, I can't imagine anything giving you better bang for your buck than these.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004Z0BO/qid=1106142265/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-8673999-5127029?v=glance&s=pc&n=507846


Earbuds never fit in my left ear.

I recently got a Cruzer Micro 512MB drive with an MP3 player. 100 songs is all I need.

[DimHalo]

I got my mp3 player last night and it is great. I love it. I haven't tested the fm transmitter that I bought. I'm still trying to get my music organized on it.