Need recommendation for mp3 player

[IdiotTech]

Hope you people dont mind helping out. Its been a while since ive been on here. I was trying to save my wallet but oh well.

Im going to purchase an mp3 player soon and have been reading the forums to try and see whats out. So I want a player that has a big capacity to store my music, at least 40 gigs and has a decent battery life. Of course i would like one that has good sound quality. Any extras would be cool but not necessary.

So the only thing ive seen that fits the bill is the ipod 80 gig hd, nice battery life and as a plus it can play videos. I was wondering if there are any other players out there that you could recommend besides the ipod. Or would you say that the ipod would be the way to go.

 

[blessingx]

The iPod is definitely one of your options. Personally I'm a fan, but you should take a look at the Zen Vision:M too. There's a 60GB model.

 

[pds6]

IdiotTech says:
Quote:

Need recommendation for mp3 player . . . at least 40 gigs and has a decent battery life. Of course i would like one that has good sound quality. Any extras would be cool but not necessary.

In life, timing is everything!

You just missed-out on refurbished 60gb 5 gen iPods. They were $229.00. The 30 gb's are still available for $179.00 at Apple. FYI: 30 gb's can store 3,000 songs ripped at 320 bit MP3 lame cpr. That's a lot of music.

You said you wanted at least 40 gbs. I would infer that you have a collection of at least 400 albums. Once you reach a certain point in your collection, a good music browser becomes more and more important. The software taking care of your collection is as import as the dap. I like iTunes very much.

I have played with other browser for very short periods of time. I could be wrong, but iTunes seems to be the gold standard for music browsers. They all talk about how good their dap sounds, but I never heard a non-iPod person bragging about their music browser. Must be a reason.

 

[xinzhitan14]

if you were getting a HDD mp3player.. DONT get the 30GB ipod or the toshiba S30. they both have VERY poor battery lives. however the 60GB (discontinued) and 80gb ipod G5/G5.5's have better battery life.. (rated up to 20hours iirc). i would get those as video playback is around 4hours now as the 30GB's only do around 1.5-2hours for videos and around 7-8hours for audio on a good day.

my brothers Toshiba S30 does around 8hours playback for audio on a good day and averages around 7hours each time. The video is even worse, i was watching a soccer video on there (about 6mins) and the battery was starting to depreciate. after about 30mins the battery was alomst down to half. and it ended up doing only around 90mins (not even enough for some movies) and when it decided to kick out on me.

 

[3X0]

Your options seem to be:

Apple iPod 5G 80GB
Cowon iAudio X5 60GB
Creative Zen Vision:M 60GB (I have not seen these for sale yet)
Toshiba Gigabeat S60
iRiver H140 (Good luck finding one)
iRiver H340 (Good luck finding one)

Out of those options, I'd probably go for the iPod. It has the best battery life of the bunch while still being Rockbox-compatible (of course I'm being a bit unfair; I'll never purchase anything that isn't capable of Rockbox).

The X5 isn't really that great without the L's expanded battery. It's only some fourteen hours.

The Zen Vision:M is quite good but I have not seen the 60GB version for sale anywhere (except a $300 pre-order at J&R, which I feel is a very competitive price).

The Toshiba Gigabeat is a real looker, but I think its battery is a real detriment against its decent performance.

The iRivers will be very difficult, if not impossible, to find within a reasonable price bracket.

That said, I'd just go with the iPod. It seems to be a best option for a DAP with that kind of capacity and battery life in that small of a shell.

 

[gsansite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pds6 IdiotTech says: I have played with other browser for very short periods of time. I could be wrong, but iTunes seems to be the gold standard for music browsers. They all talk about how good their dap sounds, but I never heard a non-iPod person bragging about their music browser. Must be a reason.

I would really have to disagree with this statement (unless you have a mac, in which case I can see your point). Itunes for PC is a horrible program for a number of reasons. I suggest you try foobar, it has a learning curve but it's probably the most powerful and customisable music manager software available, and it sounds great to boot!

 

[pds6]

gsansite says:
Quote:

I would really have to disagree with this statement (unless you have a mac, in which case I can see your point).

I do own a Mac and sometimes I forget that most of your have gone over to the dark side.

Point well taken!

ps: I was reading a thread on the computer as source section and they were talking about using foobar with iTunes ???

 

[gsansite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pds6 ps: I was reading a thread on the computer as source section and they were talking about using foobar with iTunes ???

Yes, seems to be a good fix if you like the itunes interface but want better sound quality. I still prefer a nice customised foobar, never got on with the itunes interface myself. I'm also not sure if you can use the extra features of foobar while running it through itunes, masstagger is a great way to manage and sort tags, very usefull with a large collection.

 

[grantman54]

well I have an Iriver h320 (20 gig) They make an h340 and it sells for under 200$ new on ebay. It has to be the coolest player they make its just a little old. (its thick). But if your looking for features it has: radio, video, games, even doom and half life, gapless playback, playlists on the fly, usb on the go, etc etc etc etc.
There is too much to continue on, but its all capable because of rockbox. Check out this site
http://www.misticriver.net/forumdisplay.php?f=137

 

[IdiotTech]

Thanks Guys! I really appreciate the comments. Im still thinking, but you have given me some things to think about.