[-spy-]

Heya. Im considering getting an mp3 player, but im really unsure what i should be looking for.

I'd prefer it to be fairly small, but not microscopic (although i do like the ones that hang round your neck, just $$ are a concern)

It needs a decent ammount of memory. 64meg might be ok, but i'd probably prefer 128.

Problem is i dont want to spend a huge ammount of $$ on it..
Im in australia, and that probably makes a difference =(

Any help you could offer would be great.

ta

 

[e-r0ck]

Well... I was looking at the Intel Pocket Concert earlier. It has a 128meg memory, its a nice small size and its got an FM tuner. NEver heard it first hand but its supposed to sound good. Unfortuanately Intel has discontinued all their personal audio devices so it may be difficult to find. I last saw it for 200 bucks (USD) so that might be a problem as well.

 

[shafu]

I have the Intel Pocket Concert. The sounds is probably the best out of all of the flash based players. It does suffer from hiss noise, however.

As far as really small players, there's this small Samsung player that looks pretty interesting (Samsung YP-30S Pendant YEPP ). Then there's the new creative MuVo...

It all depends on your needs and how you are planning on using it.

 

[fiddler]

For that kind of money, I would go for a Net MD recorder instead. How about the Sony MZ-N505? It gives you FAR more capacity (80 minutes in highest-quality SP mode, 160 in good-quality LP2 mode, 320 in not-so-good-quality LP4 mode) and FAR better battery life (42 hours on an AA alkaline in SP mode). And of course, ATRAC sounds much better than MP3's of similar bitrates. I.e. SP mode (~292 kbps) sounds as good or better than a 320 kbps MP3, LP2 mode (~160 kbps) sounds about as good as a 256 kbps MP3. And of course, the media is cheap: about 2 bucks a disc. Personally, the only type of "MP3 player" I would consider would be a high-capacity HDD player (like the iPod, and the similar ones that are coming out now), and I would use .wav in that case.

 

[hokiefritz]

I agree with fiddler; MD has greater capacity, very small unit, and much better battery life. Most of them sound very good too. I use mine every day and the only temptation for me is the high capacity Ipods for MP3s and wav files. The downside to using MD if you primarily have MP3 files is that the compressed files get compressed again by the Minidisc ATRAC format when you record them, but they're still very listenable. Copying directly from CD is where MD really shines and the quality is outstanding.

You can't hold many high or even medium quality MP3s on a cheap flash based player and if you want another card they're expensive. For MP3 the hard drive based players seem like the way to go, but of course they're more expensive.

 

[martioz]

Has anyone heard about MPIO micro player?
is really small "lipstick" size MP3.
If any Head-fier has it pls share your opinoin!

 

[e-r0ck]

Quote:

Originally posted by shafu Then there's the new creative MuVo...

That thing looks awesome. I like the whole 'as small as possible' idea to it. I really like the keychain idea. aw man, this thing should have good sound quality as well. Plus, due to lack of LCD and all, it gets 11 hours from a AAA battery. I can't wait for this man.