Recommend MP3 players (NOT ipods)

[StreamOfTheSky]

I'm thinking of getting an mp3 player for the first time, I used to use a portable cd player and haven't had anything for half a decade now. Not sure at all what are good brands, a lot of people just recommend the ipod, which I have absolutely no interest in buying. I may use said player while running to keep my mind off of how miserably I'm doing at it, so anything sensitive to being bounced around / skipping would be a consideration.

Lower price is preferable, as long as sound quality and battery life isn't sacrificed. I only have a few GB of music and don't need everything on the player at all times, so I don't need a big hard drive. Do these things play MIDI files generally? Not necessary, but it'd be nice.

Should I look into Zune? Samsung?

Thanks for your help.

 

[IronWolf]

I'm thinking of getting an mp3 player for the first time, I used to use a portable cd player and haven't had anything for half a decade now. Not sure at all what are good brands, a lot of people just recommend the ipod, which I have absolutely no interest in buying. I may use said player while running to keep my mind off of how miserably I'm doing at it, so anything sensitive to being bounced around / skipping would be a consideration.

Lower price is preferable, as long as sound quality and battery life isn't sacrificed. I only have a few GB of music and don't need everything on the player at all times, so I don't need a big hard drive. Do these things play MIDI files generally? Not necessary, but it'd be nice.

Should I look into Zune? Samsung?

Thanks for your help.

If an iPod is out of the running, I would consider looking at one of the Sansa models:

Sansa Portable MP3 Player - Digital Music and Video Players I SanDisk

I would consciously avoid the Zune. I don't know much about the Samsung players.

 

[jonesy]

I bought my dad a Sony Walkman NWZ-B150. It's really easy to use, good sound quality, FM radio, very good battery life, and it's this small stick that fits anywhere. I would however recommend buying better headphones for it. Unless you like those that go into your ear. Also no Midi, just MP3 or WMA.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Oh yeah, I hate hate hate ear buds with a passion. They hurt my ears like hell and never stay in. But they probably come standard with any mp3 player, so I don't really care as long as headphones work.

 

[Umbran]

I went looking for my first MP3 player a few months ago. I came here with the same question, and I got some answers, and I am extremely pleased with what I got. So, let's break it down some...

I will assume, from what you've said, that video content and games aren't what you're after. Like me, you're after music. I was also after podcasts and audiobooks.

iPods will do all those. But honestly, the strength of the iPod isn't the actual iPod, but the iTunes store. I am not fond of iTunes as an application to manage your collection, but they do seem to make it easy to buy more music if you want it, and have a large collection to buy from.

iPods are also not particularly cheap. Neither are the Zunes. The Walkman lines is a little pricey, and Walkman dropped some features that supported podcasts and audiobooks, which seemed like a dumb thing to me.

The winner for me was the Sansa Fuze. It handles more audio file types than most players (if you care about not caring what format your music is in), and manages audio books and podcasts well. Gets FM radio, and can take a memory expansion card (and they sell cards with 1000 songs as "slotRadio" for $40). Sound quality is good. I use mine for five miles of walking each workday, and only need to charge it once a week, at most.

The other Sansa players are also supposed to be pretty darned good. Look through them, and pick and choose the features you want.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-Video-Player-Black/dp/B001GCQ3KM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290452788&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB Video MP3 Player (Black): Electronics[/ame]


I also dislike earbuds, by the way.

Koss makes some good, non-earbud headphones at darned good prices. The Porta-Pro, Sporta-Pro and KSC75's all use the same tech for sound reproduction - the design is decades old, and they keep it for very good reason.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Koss-PortaPro-Headphones-with-Case/dp/B00001P4ZH/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290452235&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Koss PortaPro Headphones with Case: Electronics[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Koss-KSC75-Portable-Stereophone-Headphones/dp/B0006B486K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1290452235&sr=8-3]Amazon.com: Koss KSC75 Portable Stereophone Headphones: Electronics[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Koss-155475-SportaPro-Stereo-Headphones/dp/B00001P505/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1290452235&sr=8-15]Amazon.com: Koss SportaPro Stereo Headphones: Electronics[/ame]

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Amazon.com: SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB Video MP3 Player (Black): Electronics

Wow, that is...ridiculously on sale... I'll have to look at the different Sansa's tonight, seems pretty good. Didn't really think I needed video, but the fact it can play video is certainly nice.

And yeah, I've had the same pair of Koss headphones for a decade now, still work fine (they're getting a little banged up, though, probably time for new ones). They were under $10 at the time, once spilled shampoo on them in a travel bag incident, STILL worked fine... They seem to make good products.

 

[Merkuri]

Another vote for the Sansa Fuze, here. I've had one for a few months now (six months, maybe?) and I love it.

I should note that I have dropped this thing several times. Most of the time it was caught by the headphones before it made contact with the ground so it didn't get the full impact, but once I dropped it from about four feet up with no headphones and it smacked full onto the floor. The casing popped open a bit, but I was able to snap it back shut, and it still plays perfectly fine (except now it has an annoying spec of dust under the glass that I keep trying to wipe off). I don't even think it stopped playing when that happened.

Just thought I'd pass along that story as evidence of the fact that it can be banged around a little and the playback doesn't care (though I wouldn't recommend dropping it on a regular basis).

I picked mine up for $40 (including shipping) from eBay as a refurbished model. It's a 2GB, but I stuck an SD card in it to expand it out to 4GB. With some of the sales going on this time of year you should probably be able to pick up a brand new one around the same price. (Though refurbished items are usually perfectly fine and usually cost much less. I've bought refurbished things before and aside from the packing you couldn't tell them from a new model.)

I'd recommend some sort of cover or skin for it. The case looks all shiny and new when you first get it, but the first time you stick it in your pocket with something else (like change or car keys) it'll pick up scratches like a dog finds fleas. I actually sewed a little cloth pouch for mine, but I'm a crafts nut.

 

[Tharian]

I ended up choosing the Cowon D2 as the player I chose for my birthday gift a couple years ago. Mine came with 8GB onboard and can be expanded by using an SDHC up to 64 GB in size. That particular player is not top of the line anymore these days, but I've had a really good experience with it. I'd look into getting another Cowon device when this one gives up.

For me, a big feature I had to keep in mind was the ability to play Ogg Vorbis file formats. At least half (at the time, now it's much more) of my audio library was in that format. It also handles video well enough (I've enjoyed it a lot) along with pictures, recording, and text files.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Alright, I ordered that Sansa 8 GB player with some skin and charger pack and a 3 year warranty (seems like fully 20% of them malfunction based on the reviews, but otherwise work great). Thanks for the help.

EDIT: Not sure what headphones to get yet, I'll wait a little longer on that. Probably will be some form of Koss headphones, though, they've yet to let me or my fiance down with our current pairs.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Just saw this...only a few hours to go...Sandisk 4GB Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player with Expandable Memory Slot 20$

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