Best mp3 player?

db

db

#chaplife
so, now i have a new car, i need an mp3 player to go with it.. i've never really been interested in them until now, cos i'm a lazy bugger and never walk anywhere, and my previous car stereo (sony minidisc) didn't have aux-in/mp3 functionality.. as such, i don't really know much about what's hot and what's not in the world of mp3..

i'm tempted to get an ipod, cos then i could use it with my gf's sexy Bose SoundDock, but that would also mean using itunes (:gonk:) and all the other proprietary nonsense that that entails.. pc pro recommends the Archos 605 WiFi, which certainly looks like a sexy bit of kit but might be a bit cumbersome to mount in the car..

so, what are everyone else's recommendations? this will be used almost exclusively in the car, so my primary requirements are that it can be mounted/sat in a drink holder easily, and it is easy to use whilst driving (i.e. no convoluted menus, etc.)..

thanks geeks :D
 
Moley

Moley

Well-Known Forumite
I vowed I would never get an IPOD but I bought Curly Sue an 8g nano for b'day. I ended up buying the new IPOD nano video (video function never used) for myself and I have one of those Belko FM transmitters for my car as I have no jack for IPOD. IPODS are just the easiest and compatible with nearly everything.......I would recommend them
 
db

db

#chaplife
Moley said:
IPODS are just the easiest and compatible with nearly everything.......I would recommend them
Click to expand...
er, surely the exact opposite is true?? one of the constant gripes consumers have of ipods is that fact they are tied so aggresively to itunes, and you don't have simple drag-n-drop functionality, etc?

i have to admit, i felt the same as you about ipods, but soon warmed to them once i bought ms. dirtybobby one, much like yourself.. still, i'm reluctant to install itunes on my PC, and can't help but feel i should at least explore the options!
 
Wookie

Wookie

Official Forum Linker
Not a personal recommendation; but if I were thinking of buying an iPod, I would check out RockBox: http://www.rockbox.org/

From http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/IpodFAQ:
"Out of the box, the iPod acts as a standard UMS device - meaning that without any special drivers you can plug your iPod into your PC's USB port and it appears as a hard drive."

Who needs iTunes?
 
db

db

#chaplife
Wookie said:
Not a personal recommendation; but if I were thinking of buying an iPod, I would check out RockBox: http://www.rockbox.org/

From http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/IpodFAQ:
"Out of the box, the iPod acts as a standard UMS device - meaning that without any special drivers you can plug your iPod into your PC's USB port and it appears as a hard drive."

Who needs iTunes?
Click to expand...
unless they've changed the design, you can use the ipod as a USB storage device, and drag n drop files, but the ipod won't recognise these files and certainly won't attempt to play them.. it will literally just use the space as storage, and the contents are only viewable when connected to a PC..
 
Moley

Moley

Well-Known Forumite
dirtybobby said:
Moley said:
IPODS are just the easiest and compatible with nearly everything.......I would recommend them
Click to expand...
er, surely the exact opposite is true?? one of the constant gripes consumers have of ipods is that fact they are tied so aggresively to itunes, and you don't have simple drag-n-drop functionality, etc?

i have to admit, i felt the same as you about ipods, but soon warmed to them once i bought ms. dirtybobby one, much like yourself.. still, i'm reluctant to install itunes on my PC, and can't help but feel i should at least explore the options!
Click to expand...
I was referring to peripherals i.e. docking stations and the like (sorry wasn't clearer). I think there is a way around itunes, someone mentioned it in a thread last year
 
Wookie

Wookie

Official Forum Linker
Sorry db, didn't make it clear. From http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/WhyRockbox :
"What is Rockbox? Why should I use it?

Rockbox is an open source firmware replacement for a growing number of digital audio players. It has been in development since 2001 and receives new features, tweaks and fixes every day to provide you with the best possible music listening experience. Rockbox aims to be considerably more functional and efficient than your device's stock firmware while remaining easy to use and customizable. We believe that you should never need to go through a series of menus for an action you perform frequently. We also believe that you should be able to configure almost anything about Rockbox you could want, pertaining to functionality. It is written by users, for users.

Another top priority of Rockbox is audio playback quality. Rockbox, for most models, includes a wider range of sound settings than that device's original firmware. A lot of work has been put into making Rockbox sound the best it can, and improvements are constantly being made. All models have access to a large number of plugins, including many games, applications, and graphical demos.

You can load different configurations quickly for different purposes (e.g. a large font for in your car, different sound settings for at home). You can even customize your While Playing screen to display only and exactly what you want to see when your music is playing. In addition, Rockbox features a wide range of languages, and all supported models also have the ability to talk to you - menus can be voiced and filenames spelled out or spoken."

So the iPod won't, but RockBox will :)

**EDIT** Added a space to unbreak the link :)
 
db

db

#chaplife
Moley said:
I was referring to peripherals i.e. docking stations and the like (sorry wasn't clearer). I think there is a way around itunes, someone mentioned it in a thread last year
Click to expand...
ah right, see what you mean.. yes, there are undoubtedly a plethora of peripherals for ipods.. i'm not sure i'd need any, though - although as i say my missus has a nice audio dock in the form of a Bose SoundDock, so it would be nice to have the option to use that..

i think i may end up settling for an ipod classic, at this rate!
 
db

db

#chaplife
Wookie said:
So the iPod won't, but RockBox will :)
Click to expand...
ah right.. yeah, to be honest this is one of those things i don't want to dick about with.. i want it to work out of the box..

i do like the look of that archos, though.. nice big screen; should be easier to navigate the menus while driving than the ipods Scroll-O-Vision!
 
K

Kharis

Kharis
The creative zen range I cannot fault, I have at least 1 of every model...cause I'm a geek at heart :D, great players, not as sleek as IPOD but who wants to keep accidentally altering volume controls etc? Anyway, about to ge tmy hands on the creative zen vision M which looks fab.....i'd always recommend the zens, afdter all, I am a Buddhist :D
 
tek-monkey

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Had the 20Gb Zen Touch for about 2 1/2 years, bit of a brick by todays standards but great sound and easy to use.
 
db

db

#chaplife
well, i have to say i'm a bit underwhelmed by the response to this thread.. i thought you geeks would be all over it like mac fanboys on a press release!

if anyone's interested, i think i've narrowed it down to ipod nano vs. sony nwz-a818..

the sony is a damn sight cheaper (£74.99 for the 8gb model in some places), and reportedly has much better sound quality, as well as pretty amazing battery life.. however, the ipod nano has a trump card in the form of gapless playback, which apparently the sony doesn't offer..

at the moment i'm erring towards the sony - that price point, along with the fact that it's all drag n drop and i won't have to install i-bloody-tunes, is very convincing.. i have to admit though, it will be very annoying having to put up with little gaps 'tween all the tracks when listening to mixtapes :|
 
tek-monkey

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
I hate itunes, but I also hate gaps between songs. Live albums just sound cack with it, can't believe people release players like that still :(
 
J

jimbob23

Official 1000th poster
tek-monkey said:
Had the 20Gb Zen Touch for about 2 1/2 years, bit of a brick by todays standards but great sound and easy to use.
Click to expand...
Coincidentally I've had the same model for about the same time. Was initially very happy with it but am now finding that many of the buttons sometimes do the wrong thing when pressed. The controls have always been overly sensitive, too, even on the lowest sensitivity settings. Basically a sound player though, and the software's pretty good. Don't know what their more recent offerings are like.

I'm thinking about getting a new player, as my old one's getting a bit full, and I'd like video playback. I read a review in .Net magazine that says Sansa players are the badger's nadgers. Might be worth a look.

www.sandisk.com

As far as peripherals go, there's plenty of decent speakers etc you can get for use with headphone jacks etc so you don't need docks, although I admit the range of i-Pod compatibles does almost make it tempting to say sod it and bung Steve Jobs a few more quid. I got Anders Panders some of those JBL Creature II speakers a couple of years back. Pretty good, but they do push a lot of the base out through the bottom, so if you have them on something like a chest of drawers, like we did, everything tends to rattle a bit.
 
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