MP3 players... Help me choose...

[bangraman]

I know this must have been posted lots before, but I'm in a quandary.
I'd like some opinions on an MP3 player, but it's a bit complicated because I'm looking at a lot of different options at the moment. I have 4 in mind right now:
1. A flash-based MP3 player, forgot what it was called!!! Has 256MB of RAM, able to record directly to MP3 via built in mic or line in, reasonable output, 10 hour battery life, same thickness as a Minidisc case (the media, not the player) but about a third smaller.
2. Apple iPod 20Gb
3. Archos FM Jukebox 20
4. Nomad Jukebox 3
I already have two minidisc recorders. One is a NetMD, and it's a a nightware to transfer MP3 files onto it (and thanks for the pointers to using Nero, I did figure it out for myself before the suggestions came in, but a workaround isn't a solution). It's good for ripping CD's but it does it at a lower quality which I don't like.
So, I'm looking for something which will let me transfer and play MP3 files without fuss.
I'd like something which doesn't encode the file (which is what seems to cause all the problems in OpenMG NetMD), or even if it does so do it in such a transparent and bug free way that I don't notice it happening. While all of my music is in MP3 format, only about half of those are on CD/MD.
If I'm going on a long trip, I like to take several minidiscs with me at the moment, it can be a pain and very bulky. It would be very nice to have all, or most, of my music in one place. The iPod is very tempting for that reason because it's so small but cavernous. The Flash player would be great for daily use, and it's really portable, which is nice... But it's very expensive (only £30 less than the Archos!). The Archos is much bigger than the iPod but it's more capable, even has a radio, and is more useful because I do record frequently, but it has no remote (which, being used to Minidiscs, I must have). The Nomad also records but is much bigger than the Archos and is HUGE compared to the iPod.
All tempt me immensely but I'm having a hard time deciding whether to choose the Flash player or iPod to supplement my Minidiscs, or to replace my minidiscs with the Archos or Nomad.
What would you do?

 

[MacDEF]

bangraman, like you, I'm a big MiniDisc fan, and held off on buying an MP3 player for a long time. But I eventually gave in and bought a 20GB iPod

The main reasons I got the iPod were 1) Size and design, 2) interface, and 3) sound quality. In these three areas I think it's the best on the market.

I still use my MD equipment, but I have to admit that it's great having a few thousand songs in such a tiny package

 

[Tachyon]

go buy yourself a MP3/CD player. In terms of media, CD-Rs are the cheapest by far. And with MP3 format, 700mb of MP3 to carry around is WAY more then enough.

If you can live with the Jukebox size, you will have no problems with the lighter MP3/CD. Most of them also have long battery life then 10+ hours.

with FM radio? should look into iRiver

 

[I 8 thesandbox]

Hey Bangraman, I was also in the same boat as the two of you but I've come to a decision. It was hard at first, but then after considering a couple of things, it was really easy.
I also have a MD unit..the Sharp MT 90 and it's great but like you, I get tired of having to wrestle with bulk and changing discs, not to mention the fact that no matter what, you're constrained with the 80 minute time limitation...there's no putting hours and hours worth of mp3's on one disc...

Things were moving in the i pods favor because of it's ultra portability, ease of use, great control functions and beautiful ass!
However, after reading a few things here, I decided that it's not at all worth the money they want for it.

I refuse to pay even the minimum $300 (5 gigs ? Pleeeeease) let alone the $500 for 20 gigs when no one is really sure of what is to happen to their unit when the battery finally dies. Perhaps some don't mind having to deal with apple and return it to wherever to "possibly" have a new battery for another 500 charges for what ever amount of money they may even charge you to do so...? There's no answer on that from them and I find that very irresponsible on their part. The Nomad Zen is supposedly suffering from the same retardation so I put that one out of my mind as well. I'm just supprised that apple, who usually are so clever in their design efforts would fluff this one...
Then there's the pending encoder issue, which I'm sure though, will eventually be worked out. Other than that, if the battery issue didn't exist, I'd probably bite....HOWEVER....

Deeper consideration took THIS...into account. Ultra portability is nice, but to tell the truth, if it clips onto a belt or can be stashed in a backpack because the remote would take care of everything...then size is a little less important (to me) The Archos was immediately put out of my mind because....It only supports MP3's in recording and in playback. No .wav or wma...even though wma sucks, still it's there if you want it. Also, for recording, it will only do VBR. What if I want to play and record with CBR? And, for that..it's a bit pricey.

Flash memory based players: I don't know why one would bother really. You fill your card and don't want to erase your previous mix..so now you have to spend more money on another card. Totally redundant to me.....but only because they cost so much money. If they were like $40 for the largest version..then sure..great for the local walk/workout etc....

So then I finally looked at the creative Nomad Jukebox 3. This is the one for me. It records Mp3 and .wav and supports playback of both those and wma. It does both CBR and VBR. Now get this....there's an extra port for an extra battery which gives you a total of 22 hrs playback ! Then....and unfortunately,(I say that because It would have been nicer if they included it) you can buy the remote control which is Backlit AND is an FM tuner....PLUS...the remote has a built in mic for voice recording ! I'm sure it's not good enough to record anything but voice but what the hell ?! It also offers some DSP stuff, which I could really care less about but they're there. Lastly, the 40 gig is $400 compared to the i pods $500 20 gig. You do the math.

I believe that I'll actually be auditioning the nomad 3 this week, thanks to williamgoody on this board. so If you want further info let me know. Hope this helped.

 

[bangraman]

Nomad has backlit remote??? Very interesting. I only saw it in the shop, they wouldn't let me touchit (I'm not buying from there) so I don't know how heavy it is. Can you tell me how/if it fits into a jacket pocket? But it was huge in comparsion to the Archos and iPod...MacDEF, you're a Macer, right? In which case the iPod makes perfect sense (heard about the guy who walked into a bureau with an iPod, plugged it in and nicked all the bureau's software?) but I've heard the Musicmatch <-> iPod match is less than perfect. Any other comments welcome!!!

 

[myself, aka me]

You do realise NetMD SP is 132k, for compatibility with older units, right?

 

[MacDEF]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman MacDEF, you're a Macer, right? In which case the iPod makes perfect sense (heard about the guy who walked into a bureau with an iPod, plugged it in and nicked all the bureau's software?) but I've heard the Musicmatch <-> iPod match is less than perfect. Any other comments welcome!!!

There are a number of Windows users here on Head-Fi that have iPods, and their comments have been pretty positive. Supposedly ephPod is a bit better than MusicMatch.

 

[I 8 thesandbox]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman Nomad has backlit remote??? Very interesting. I only saw it in the shop, they wouldn't let me touchit (I'm not buying from there) so I don't know how heavy it is. Can you tell me how/if it fits into a jacket pocket? But it was huge in comparsion to the Archos and iPod...

Are you talking about the player or the remote ? I' guessing you mean the player. First off, I believe that It comes with a portable case which has a belt clip...Personally, I wouldn't venture to try and fit it in any pocket unless it was a jacket...outer jacket pocket. Secondly, for me, I'm always carrying a small backpack...the old navy one which actually has a dedicated inside pocket for a media player and a hole on the side of the bag to push a remote or headphones through..but any shoulder bag would do. So , considering that it's got a remote and I'd be stuffing it with 20 gigs of music..I'd never need to touch it..so what do I care if it's in a bag right ? Right. Do a google search for "creative nomad" and you'll be taken straight to the Creative site where you'll see the nomad 3 and all the accessories which you can buy for it. There, you'll find the remote....EDIT: I was just looking for it so I could link you up but they seemed to have modified the site because the remote is not available YET. But I'm guessing it will be very soon. There IS a picture of it though. The other day I saw a whole bio on it, but it's been removed. Oh well. Still, my money is on this one.