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Advice please want new mp3 player

post #1 of 12
Thread Starter 
Currently I have a 4gig Creative Zen. I like it okay. Sound is good enough for me, battery life is adequate for me, and it is easy to use. My only real complaint is the memory card is not integrated with the rest of the player.

With that being said I want a new player to use for recording. I go to conventions that are broadcast on an fm signal. I want to record them for listening to later. I can only take notes so fast. I would like one that will record fm and in addition have a line in for recording. That way if I cannot pick up a good fm signal, I can use my small fm radio. But could live with only fm recording or line in recording. I have looked and these are what I have found that could work for me:

Iaudio7
Cowon D2
IRiver E100
Cowon S9

Any others I have overlooked? Can anyone give me pros and cons of these players. It seems the touchscreen is an issure for some people, but I think I would be fine with that. My phone is touch screen. I doubt I will ever use it for video playback, but might put still pictures on it. I will use it for music at work and in the car.

What matters to me:

I want to keep it under $200.00 and less is better.
Record fm
record line in
expansion slot
expansion to be integrated with library
sound quality matters but keep in mind my Zen sounds fine to me
durability also factors in
recording to expansion slot would be nice
battery life to record 6-8 hours without recharging.

I appreciate any feedback I get. I have looked so much my head is spinning. Thank you for you comments and suggestions.
post #2 of 12
You know the IA7 doesn't have an expansion slot, right?
post #3 of 12
The D2/D2+ is probably the best choice, it has a integrated SDHC slot, FM recording, Line in recording via line in cable and you can also hook up a external microphone to the line in cable.
The D2 has long battery life and sounds better than the Zens
post #4 of 12
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies. I did not realize that the IA7 has no expansion slot. And the D2 is kind of the way I was leaning. Thanks again.
post #5 of 12
Thread Starter 
One more question please. Can you edit the recorded files on your computer. Just snip them basically. I had a voice recorder, but it would not let you edit the files. They transferred easily enough. But you could not do anything with them.
post #6 of 12
I don't think I've come across an "mp3 player" that record in a format other than .wav or .mp3 by default. rockbox will record in a bunch of formats, of course.

Should be able to do whatever you want with audacity.

A friend of mine has a sony voice recorder that uses a proprietary format, so, I do know where you're coming from.
post #7 of 12
Thread Starter 
Great. My MIL has an RCA voice recorder. You can convert it to wav format, but then it denies you the ability to edit or sopy the files.
post #8 of 12
Everyone forgets the Samsung P3 for some reason...Samsung needs to step up their marketing...
post #9 of 12
AFAIK the D2+ records in WMA, as long as you can get a good piece of software it should be able to edit the recording. Don't quote me though
post #10 of 12
cowon D2 has the best cost-effective with decent sound quality.
post #11 of 12
Seriously, try the P3. Good recording, too.
post #12 of 12
As far as you don't need voice recording, which isn't that great on Cowon D2/D2+, you're good to go. There's something in the hardware or firmware (probably the first) which adds a high pitched noise to the recordings made through the built-in mic. I've checked my D2 and D2+, and both have this issue. It's also mentioned in ABI's Cowon D2 review.

If you need to record from the mic as well, consider the Cowon S9; it has good recording capabilities and doesn't have the problem described above.
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