MP3 players, buy now or wait for 2005 lineup?

[phyrefly]

I've been wanting a HDD mp3 player for quite a while and I was hoping that prices would fall during the boxing week sale... but it didn't.

I've narrowed down my choices to the Creative Zen Touch and iRiver IHP-120 (the iRiver is nowhere to be found though), but both players have a lot of missing features or features that could be improved.

Now, I won't have much time to enjoy music until my second semester starts (early Feb.), so I'm willing to wait until then for new releases. However, if I have to wait until May or June, I'd rather buy a mp3 player now.

So, my question is, when will the companies release info about their 2005 lineup? I've seen the photos of iRiver's lineup, but no details have surfaced yet.

Should I wait or buy now?

 

[Sphinx89]

Iriver IHP-120 can be found Here

if you live in the UK

 

[Krishna]

I say wait. The players will just keep on getting better and better. The new generation of players from Iaudio and Rio will most likely launch from the end of January to the end of April. I am pretty sure that the Iaudio M5 (X5) will launch at end of January or early Febuary. Iriver usually releases new products to the U.S anywhere from January to June. Ye never know though.

 

[fr4c]

i would wait in your situation, since you wont have time to enjoy your music till early February. by that time, CES in Las Vegas should unveil some new players from companies like Apple.

 

[bangraman]

I'd wait. As others have said, competition's really starting to hot up and a lot of the older products which were introduced after the 3G iPod launch are up for replacement.

 

[meithkiller]

I'd say buy now. There will always be something newer and better on the horizon, and you could be waiting indefinitely if you keep holding out for the next and greatest thing. Some models that are announced never make it to market or are delayed for one reason or another. Whatever you buy will be old news within 6-12 months anyways.

-Keith

 

[KenW]

Personally, I've been waiting for a good while and grew frustrated over the delays. Got the Karma, sold the Jukebox and when or if a new player hits that I think I'd like better, I'll sell the Karma and move on. Til then, I'm gonna enjoy the Karma and the music.

 

[jpelg]

Tough question. You really have to identify your needs and wants when it comes to a portable player. The problem is that you really need to try one for an extended time to find out the things you didn't think of initially. Small things may become very important (or annoying) to you, and therefore specific feature-sets take on a whole new meaning.

Things like capacity size, physical size, headphone-jack quality, software interface, PC interface, supported formats, controller buttons/wheels/levers, etc. are all things you have to weigh. No one player has it all, or is the best for everyone.

If you are lucky you may be satisfied with your first try. But probably not

.

 

[Charlie87]

iRiver has some exciting things on the horizon.. H10 and H20
Apple will surely release the new mini in a couple of weeks, at their semi-annual show

IMHO, by mid Janruary there will be better players than there is out right now, bottom line.

 

[Sphinx89]

the thing is, you wait and wait, technology is always improving, by the time you wait for something you were waiting for, something better has come out, so you wait for that to come down in price, then some thing even better comes out. tis just a circle.

if that makes sense

 

[donunus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sphinx89 the thing is, you wait and wait, technology is always improving, by the time you wait for something you were waiting for, something better has come out, so you wait for that to come down in price, then some thing even better comes out. tis just a circle. if that makes sense

I TOTALLY AGREE!!! Wait only if the features you want is currently unavailable with the products out now. Or if the price isn't right. Otherwise... BUY NOW

 

[blessingx]

Wait at least 11 days till Macworld.

 

[Sphinx89]

to be honest, if you are looking for something which just plays music, then the current technology is more than suitable, so i would buy now

if you want pictures, video, and radio etc, i would hold on.

for example, i used to want this Iriver, because it had colour screen and video etc. But i found out it was very slow, and video was only 10 frames a second. thats why i decided to get an NW-HD3, purely for music

 

[Mr Iriver]

I would wait. Iriver is releasing new HDD players, and RIO may release the promised chroma. From the current players I would get one of Irivers H300 series, they are feature packed and have excellent sound.

 

[Bill Ward]

Incidentally, the week after Christmas isn't the Mecca for bargain-hunting it's made out to be. Merchandisers know that gift cards and certificates are burning the proverbial hole in people's pockets. They wait until after the first of the year before taking the major markdowns.

As to the topic, go with the plaer that offers the features you want. Tomorrow's model will likely be bigger/smaller/faster/glitzier, but you'll miss out on a lot of quality listening time by waiting for the perfect product.

BW