[geekchic]

Hi, this is a query on behalf of a friend. She has just lost her brand new Nano and in a fit of penitence she wants to buy a really cheap player

one that she won't regret to lose.

She dislikes the I-tunes interface after using it, so wants a simple drag and drop player. (This also rules out pure MTP devices). Usage would be purely for music, not video. Decent battery life (20 hrs+) would be a positive.

She would prefer a no-fuss/ no problems player (no firmware glitches). She would be using her sennheiser PX 200 with this.

What would you recommend?

 

[dazzer1975]

clip, only trouble is after hearing it, she will be heartbroken if she loses it

 

[geekchic]

thanks dazzer. I thought that the clip was 1)MTP based 2) has only ID3 tag browsing? I would be happy to recommend it to her execpt for these 2 things

 

[pata2001]

Does she need gapless? If not, any of the Sony NWZ walkman will do just fine. They're drag-n-drop, will work with any OS, Mac or linux. They can do ID3 browsing or folder browsing.

 

[tds101]

never mind

 

[geekchic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pata2001 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does she need gapless? If not, any of the Sony NWZ walkman will do just fine. They're drag-n-drop, will work with any OS, Mac or linux. They can do ID3 browsing or folder browsing.

Nope..she will not need gapless..is the entire NWZ series ATRAC free though? I know that 6x upwards will be - are there any earlier versions that should be avoided?

 

[dazzer1975]

clip is ums and mtp I believe

no idea about id3 tag browsing, I simply drag n drop what I want to listen onto it, and my music collection on my pc is the least organised ive ever seen

 

[HipHopScribe]

The Clip can switch between UMS & MTP, so it is simple drag and drop, no software required to get music onto it. It does only have ID3 browsing though, plus the battery life isn't 20+ hours. You could go for the Sansa Fuze for better battery life, and the benefit of expandable memory, it also switches between UMS & MTP, but again only has ID3 Browsing.

 

[geekchic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HipHopScribe /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Clip can switch between UMS & MTP, so it is simple drag and drop, no software required to get music onto it. It does only have ID3 browsing though, plus the battery life isn't 20+ hours. You could go for the Sansa Fuze for better battery life, and the benefit of expandable memory, it also switches between UMS & MTP, but again only has ID3 Browsing.

Thanks. I guess I would have to rule it out in that case. Unless it would be possible for her to export her current ITunes library onto the device, 'cos I doubt if she would want to tag her files herself..

 

[dir_d]

Toshiba Gigabeat, you can get the 40 gig player online for about $70. It runs rockbox beautifully and you can make a custom LOD for it. The sound quality isnt too bad eithier its better than the ipod LOD. It has about 15h battery life but you can swap in a 4G ipod battery and have 20+ hours on the player.

 

[pata2001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geekchic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nope..she will not need gapless..is the entire NWZ series ATRAC free though? I know that 6x upwards will be - are there any earlier versions that should be avoided?

Yes, the entire NWZ series is Atrac free. They're all UMS drag-n-drop (can be MTP too is preferred). Battery life is excellent. They support WAV, MP3, WMA, and AAC (including iTunes .m4a files). There are models with noise cancellation and FM tuner built-in. Some models come with premium stock buds too.

 

[geekchic]

Pata, thanks! Will tip her off on the Sony series..

Don't know about elsewhere but Sony tends to be fairly premium priced in India..in case she wants a budget alternative, would anyone recommend anything off the Creative range??

Or any of the older Cowon models? (IRiver not easily available here). She needs a max. of 8 GB flash, but even 4 GB would be fine.

 

[HipHopScribe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geekchic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks. I guess I would have to rule it out in that case. Unless it would be possible for her to export her current ITunes library onto the device, 'cos I doubt if she would want to tag her files herself..

If the files are all organized in iTunes, the tags should be fine, iTunes uses ID3 tags for organization also. If the info shows up correctly in iTunes, it should be the same when you copy the files over to the player.

 

[synaesthetic]

iTunes tags files like anything else.

If she has a significant amount of music in AAC the Sony players will be a better choice, since they play AAC and the Clip does not.

 

[GadFly]

I am really enjoying the Fuze. The SQ seems to be equal to the Clip. I like the size and screen as well. I think I paid eighty bucks for it.

I use the Fuze with M-Audio IE-30s and it sounds great.