MP3 player

1_reaper

My Mp3 player has gone tits up and died. Do miss lightning to it on the rollers. Can anybody recommend a good MP3 player ? Ta much

Zendog1

This is my current player

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Sansa-P ... 607&sr=8-1

hard to beat for under £40

I will now stand back and wait for the flood of (oversized and overpriced) iPod recommendations.

UpTheWall

I like the zen stone with the arm band.

Tiny little thing, that I strap to my upper arm so I can easily reach the controls. It's basic and it does the job. Lasted me three years and still going strong.

Battery is internal and only lasts about 3-4 hours, but that's enough for me. And at 31 quid (from play.com) you can't really go wrong.

-spider-

I'd recommend the zen mosaic.

Excellent piece of kit with great sound reproduction.

plowmar

+3 for zen excellent machines.

EdHarris

I'm going to throw a spanner in the works and cloud the dreams of the other posters: don't touch Creative with a barge-pole.

I've had two that gave up on me within a year, and before claims of statistical insignificance are thrown my way, my brother went through several replacements before ditching his Zen, and have at least two friends who won't buy another Creative because of similar problems (namely headphone sockets coming loose, screen malfunctions, and software failures).

For the past year-and-a-half I have been using a Sony NWZ-E444 (catchy name!) which has work sublimely. It has radio, microphone recording functions, and even video and picture playback (although I don't see the point of the latter). Best of all it has clicky-buttons, rather than touch screen, which is my preference as IME touch screens are temperamental.

UpTheWall

Were any of the faulty ones the Zen Stone?

EdHarris

No, the first that I owned was a very old model, and was a brick. That had screen problems, and then died after the software gave up. My second was called just 'Zen'.

My brother's was a Zen micro (repeated headphone socket problems).

My friends were both Zen V Plus.

EdHarris

No, the first that I owned was a very old model, and was a brick. That had screen problems, and then died after the software gave up. My second was called just 'Zen'.

My brother's was a Zen micro (repeated headphone socket problems).

My friends were both Zen V Plus.

1_reaper

The Zen V Plus. is the very same one that died. Had it four year's ish and used every day so can't complain really .

timb64

Zendog1 wrote:

This is my current player

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Sansa-P ... 607&sr=8-1

hard to beat for under £40

I will now stand back and wait for the flood of (oversized and overpriced) iPod recommendations.

+1 Had mine 10 months now ,good battery life,great sound for the price,expandable...

Pokerface

If no one else will say it, I will:


iPod. There are so many to chose from to fit whatever budget you have.

Cheshire_Cat

I use a Sansa Sandisk - cheap & easy to use. Excellent sound reproduction & expandable memory.

rick_chasey

A good smartphone.

Dog Breath

I heartened to see only 1 fashion victim has suggested an iPod. There are plenty of others out there MUCH better than iPod.

I'll endorse the Sandisk Sansa Clip. Tiny, expandable, and superb sound for such a small player.

DB

pitchshifter

Dog Breath wrote:

I heartened to see only 1 fashion victim has suggested an iPod. There are plenty of others out there MUCH better than iPod.

Much better? or just cheaper imitations?

I wouldnt say an Ipod is a fashion item anymore, they are hardly unique? They are just brilliant pieces of kit.

simonaspinall

Sony basic range is the way forward. I wouldn't go down the good smartphone route because it just drains battery life much quicker, especially if you browse the net or watch iplayer etc.

I got my basic Sony player at just over 30 quid and it's very very good, simple drag and drop on the computer and is compact, light and you can get waterproof cases.

I'd put more emphasis on the headphones....i've owned sennheiser phones as there are pretty good in wet weather but they fall apart so quickly!

Anyone got any recommendations for some that are water resistant against sweat and wet weather and have an around ear hook or headband so they are a bit more fixed than simple in ear ones?

Ta

rick_chasey

simonaspinall wrote:

Sony basic range is the way forward. I wouldn't go down the good smartphone route because it just drains battery life much quicker, especially if you browse the net or watch iplayer etc.

I got my basic Sony player at just over 30 quid and it's very very good, simple drag and drop on the computer and is compact, light and you can get waterproof cases.

I'd put more emphasis on the headphones....i've owned sennheiser phones as there are pretty good in wet weather but they fall apart so quickly!

Anyone got any recommendations for some that are water resistant against sweat and wet weather and have an around ear hook or headband so they are a bit more fixed than simple in ear ones?

Ta

if you're sweating, I doubt you need excellent sound quality....

But my (slightly limted) experience is that the Denon headphones are a cut above for sound quality and price. Usually a little low in the mid range but very sensitive to EQ which helps.

simonaspinall

Rick Chasey wrote:

simonaspinall wrote:

Sony basic range is the way forward. I wouldn't go down the good smartphone route because it just drains battery life much quicker, especially if you browse the net or watch iplayer etc.

I got my basic Sony player at just over 30 quid and it's very very good, simple drag and drop on the computer and is compact, light and you can get waterproof cases.

I'd put more emphasis on the headphones....i've owned sennheiser phones as there are pretty good in wet weather but they fall apart so quickly!

Anyone got any recommendations for some that are water resistant against sweat and wet weather and have an around ear hook or headband so they are a bit more fixed than simple in ear ones?

Ta

if you're sweating, I doubt you need excellent sound quality....

But my (slightly limted) experience is that the Denon headphones are a cut above for sound quality and price. Usually a little low in the mid range but very sensitive to EQ which helps.

Ta!

Rooner

Top little player, had mine for about 3 years or so, absolutely no problems and its been used and abused extensively. You can get a little rubbery case skin thing that will help with sweat ingress, and they are so small you won't know its there. Can't rate it high enough, holds plenty of tracks and plenty of juice (someone said around 3-4 hours, I'd say its probably a bit more than that). Headphones that come with it are certainly adequate for use whilst 'active'.

verylonglegs

pitchshifter wrote:

Dog Breath wrote:

I heartened to see only 1 fashion victim has suggested an iPod. There are plenty of others out there MUCH better than iPod.

Much better? or just cheaper imitations?

I wouldnt say an Ipod is a fashion item anymore, they are hardly unique? They are just brilliant pieces of kit.

They are good but are often twice the price of the competition..so maybe the question is are they twice as good? I went for a Sony, can't make any claims it is much better than an ipod but I'm a satisfied customer.

mingmong

I've had a Zen die on me also. Got Apple now

desweller

Another extremely satisfied Sansa Clip+ owner here, small, good battery life, easy to use, well made, can be expanded up to 40Gb (!) so what's not to like for <£40?

Pokerface

Dog Breath wrote:

I heartened to see only 1 fashion victim has suggested an iPod. There are plenty of others out there MUCH better than iPod.

I'll endorse the Sandisk Sansa Clip. Tiny, expandable, and superb sound for such a small player.

DB

Much better? Really? What makes anything better than an Ipod? Sure you can buy something cheaper - but if it doesn't last and you have to buy ANOTHER one - what's the point!? (The OP already stated his current MP3 player died).

Ipods start at low prices and go up depending on what you want. I have several - and none of them has ever died on my after years of use.

The 'sound' of a device mostly comes from the earphones anyway.

Wheelspinner

iPod here, because I also use Mac anyway. Having said that, the iTunes software is irritating beyond words some days... :x

I have the 160 GB version, because I only load things in .WAV file format. Ican't listen to MP3, makes my ears bleed (figuratively anyway.) That means I need LOTS of data capacity.

I m n w y w uld yo lis en to s meth ng tha le ves out so m ch dat ?

Valy

The Sansa Clip is regarded pretty well by those into sound quality - audiophiles if you will. As above, it is cheap, simple, small and a lot of storage space is on offer for the price.

iPods are fine and dandy, but there is no doubt, that per basic spec they are a fair amount more expensive. Value would be a personal choice.

fluff.

Have gone through a fair few of these in the past 3 years.

Zen Stone: Neat and light, sounds pretty good. Mine is only 1gb, and USB1 so transfer rates are terrible. I tend to use it as a memory stick more than a mp3 player these days.

Ipod Shuffle: Sounds very good, better than the more expensive ipods. Clip good for use in gyms and the like. Although, don't do what I did and forget its clipped to your clothes, then wash them. It still worked after a trip though the washing machine, but battery life was reduced to minutes... ah well.

iphone: Sound isn't great, too big for use while exercising (unless you're one of those folks who like having a brick strapped to your arm), and sucks too much battery to use as a main player. Good for downloading/ listening to podcasts though, and for bluetooth playback in the car.

Sony NWZ-S series. Best Sound of any I've tried, screen is small and fiddly to navigate with and radio was a bit rubbish in use, but otherwise great.

Headphones: Not sure, be interested in some decent hardwearing headphones that don't fall out too. Tried some green Sennheiser things c/w band, but they didn't get on with my ear shape. Shure SE102s sounded good but had to be fitted just so or you'd lose alot of the sound, plus the cable started playing up after only a few months. Currently using some Creative EP-630s, which sound ok for the money (around about a fiver I think I paid), until I spy a deal on some better ones.

Mastineo

Been using a Sansa Clip + for a couple of weeks now. So impressed I've ordered 3 more (for 2 daughters and Dad). Also own iPod Touch, Shuffle, iPhone, Sony thing that only uses propriety SW thats 'kin'orrible - even worse than iTunes. Like the Clip best.