Looking for a good portable MP3 player

[Ranger REG]

Hmm, I don't think it going too far for me to say you are acting like a drama queen with that statement.

Hey, I didn't exclamation marks (plural) on my statements... iPodder.

 

[Mycanid]

Come to the light, Myconid and John Crichton, come to the light! Cast off the iPod shackles!

Err ... :\ ... if you looked at the post I mentioned that I owned an iRiver H10. So there!

Seriously though ... the iPod that I had played my mp3 files equally well. But the interface was a pain at times. I also liked the idea of "drag and drop" onto the player, which the H10 and the free software I mentioned earlier does quite nicely.

I have NEVER used an online store (including iTunes, where, as Steel Wind pointed out the music itself is "iPod specific") and, to be honest, I do not foresee my using one in the future.

Techno ... I have used a Palm E2 to play mp3 files ... it basically plays off of an external card you insert into the top of the pda. The sound quality I got was not bad and I think I got almost 18 hours playback time! (Of course part of the whole "schtick" of the E2 is it's long battery life.) The biggest card the E2 can take is a 1gb card, I believe. But hey, I guess you could have a couple of them if you wanted. I didn't.

I went with an mp3 player because I have LOTS of audio files ... mostly books and lectures on tape, but a few of music as well. At present my 20gb H10 is almost 75% full.

As for pictures, I have found that the E2 is far easier to do pictures with, albeit a little slower than the H10.

I have no videos though. On a personal level to watch a movie on such a tiny screen holds no appeal. Plus, movies REALLY eat battery life. I have read good things about the Creative players for movie playback if you did not want to go with an iPod.

 

[John Crichton]

Come to the light, Myconid and John Crichton, come to the light! Cast off the iPod shackles!

Hey, if there was a 50+ gig iRiver out there I'd own it.

I loves my 80g iPod...

 

[Arnwyn]

I have a couple of questions to the iPod owners out there:

- Do iPods support id3 tags? (I hope I've got that terminology right)

- When importing mp3's to iTunes (or transferring them to the iPod), does any compression occur? For example, I rip my CDs to mp3 at 320 kbps and tag most of them with Album Art and the like, so they end up fairly large. Does iTunes/iPods do anything about that, or is a 12 MB mp3 file on my PC a 12 MB file on an iPod (ie. makes the "20,000 songs" claim laughably wrong)?

- What are the battery issues for iPods? Are the batteries easily replaceable, or are they a "send it back to Apple costing tons of $$$" or "toss it, because it's cheaper to spend $400 for a new iPod than it is to replace the battery" type of situation?


Thanks in advance!

 

[Rackhir]

I have a couple of questions to the iPod owners out there:

- Do iPods support id3 tags? (I hope I've got that terminology right)

Yes, not sure about importing them from other programs or what, but they are supported (not clear on the details as it's not something I muck about with much).

- When importing mp3's to iTunes (or transferring them to the iPod), does any compression occur? For example, I rip my CDs to mp3 at 320 kbps and tag most of them with Album Art and the like, so they end up fairly large. Does iTunes/iPods do anything about that, or is a 12 MB mp3 file on my PC a 12 MB file on an iPod (ie. makes the "20,000 songs" claim laughably wrong)?

MP3s are not recompressed if brought in from another program. If you ripped them at 320kbps they stay at 320kbps. Apple does offer a "lossless" AACC? setting for ripping cds as well, but I'm not sure how that affects the size. It shouldn't be much larger and might be slightly smaller since the compression is more advanced than that in MP3s. Your file size is going to stay the same basically (file sizes are affected slightly, more so for very small files, by the setting on the HD they are being copied to, but for meg+ files this really isn't an isssue).

- What are the battery issues for iPods? Are the batteries easily replaceable, or are they a "send it back to Apple costing tons of $$$" or "toss it, because it's cheaper to spend $400 for a new iPod than it is to replace the battery" type of situation?

iPods are somewhat infamous for batteries dying just out of the warentee period, however the replacement batteries are relatively cheap ($20-40) and generally offer a longer battery life than the OEM battery (as much as double for an older model). I have no experience with other brand players, but I can't imagine they're immune to the problem.

I've not replaced the battery on a current model iPod, but on the older iPods I've done this with, it was pretty simple. IF you have a reasonable level of comfort with cracking a computer to muck about.

I'm not sure about replacing the battery on the iPod Nano though. From what I've seen, they don't really look user accessible.

 

[Enforcer]

I have a couple of questions to the iPod owners out there:

- Do iPods support id3 tags? (I hope I've got that terminology right)

Rackhir answered your questions, but I'll chime in as well: Yes, iTunes and iPods support ID3. All your tag info will be there the moment you put your music files into iTunes.

- When importing mp3's to iTunes (or transferring them to the iPod), does any compression occur? For example, I rip my CDs to mp3 at 320 kbps and tag most of them with Album Art and the like, so they end up fairly large. Does iTunes/iPods do anything about that, or is a 12 MB mp3 file on my PC a 12 MB file on an iPod (ie. makes the "20,000 songs" claim laughably wrong)?

If you already have a hard drive full of 320kbps mp3s, all you have to do is drag-and-drop 'em onto the iTunes library and you're done. It won't affect the files or the sound quality in any way. Importing new CDs can also be done at 320kbps mp3s, but you have to set this up in options as the default encoder is 128kbps AAC files. iTunes also does Apple Lossless codec, but that'll only play on iPod and is substantially bigger than 320kbps mp3.

The number of songs Apple claims will fit on an iPod is based on a song that's 4 min. in length encoded at 128kbps.

- What are the battery issues for iPods? Are the batteries easily replaceable, or are they a "send it back to Apple costing tons of $$$" or "toss it, because it's cheaper to spend $400 for a new iPod than it is to replace the battery" type of situation?

The batteries are not easily replacable (you need to take the iPod apart), and some owners have had issues. I've had mine for over two years and have a perfectly good battery. The odds are highly in your favor of getting a good battery, you just never hear from people who've had zero problems. Apple will replace the battery for you for free within the first year, or within two years if you buy the AppleCare warranty, or for I think $99.95 out of warranty.

 

[ssampier]

I have a couple of questions to the iPod owners out there:

- Do iPods support id3 tags? (I hope I've got that terminology right)

- When importing mp3's to iTunes (or transferring them to the iPod), does any compression occur? For example, I rip my CDs to mp3 at 320 kbps and tag most of them with Album Art and the like, so they end up fairly large. Does iTunes/iPods do anything about that, or is a 12 MB mp3 file on my PC a 12 MB file on an iPod (ie. makes the "20,000 songs" claim laughably wrong)?

- What are the battery issues for iPods? Are the batteries easily replaceable, or are they a "send it back to Apple costing tons of $$$" or "toss it, because it's cheaper to spend $400 for a new iPod than it is to replace the battery" type of situation?


Thanks in advance!

It does support id3 tags (I think). I ripped my music in MusicMatch original, imported into Apple iTunes to iPod without losing the song title, album cover, or anything else that I can remember.

First, 20,000 songs is right, but only at the default encryption of 64 kbps encryption of AAC (which is equivalent to a 128 kbps Mp3). I do not see any reason why a 12 MB file would be any smaller on the iPod -- unless you want to convert to aac first, you may see some improvements there. It's a marketing game, sure, but they all play it.

Batteries are non replacable. You can send it to Apple for a replacement iPod for $59 plus s&h.

http://www.apple.com/support/ipod/service/battery/

 

[Enforcer]

First, 20,000 songs is right, but only at the default encryption of 64 kbps encryption of AAC (which is equivalent to a 128 kbps Mp3). I do not see any reason why a 12 MB file would be any smaller on the iPod -- unless you want to convert to aac first, you may see some improvements there. It's a marketing game, sure, but they all play it.

This is incorrect. The number of songs Apple claims is based on a 128kbps AAC, not 64kbps, which is a slightly smaller file than a 128 kbps mp3, but otherwise identical in sound quality.

 

[3catcircus]

Lexar MPC-231

For the price (they are going for as little as $15), it can't be beat. As easy as copying mp3's to a USB thumbdrive and plugging it into the player. Nice big LCD screen, use-able menus, intuitive controls. The only downside is the proprietary storage. You *must* use Lexar Jumpdrive Sport USB thumbdrives. Uses two AAAs. The amount of music you can store is limited only by how many thumbe drives you want to buy. No fancy on-the-fly playlists or any other shiny-but-worthless features found on overpriced crappy mp3 players (like the ipod). Best of all - it doesn't matter what the source is, if it is in mp3, WMA or DRM-crippled WMA format, this player'll play it.

 

[Welverin]

I have NEVER used an online store (including iTunes, where, as Steel Wind pointed out the music itself is "iPod specific") and, to be honest, I do not foresee my using one in the future.

It would be a gigantic pain, but songs purchased from iTunes can be made into an audio cd, which can then be copied to your computer.