OT: So you have a portable player, but it isnt an iPod

[Kaux]

Wich one?

 

Why did you prefer it?

[Mark L]

Creative Zen Xtra 30GB

 

Quite simply, it sounds superb

[slight-return]

creative muvo

sandiskc150

 

Non-proprietary SW interfacing

Audible brand compatible

runs on AAA (not integrated battery...deal killer 4 me)

(the muvo has integrated USB connector...no cable needed)

 

FM tuner & voice recorder (actually use both of those features)

 

reasonable performance at the price

[spokenward]

sansa e280

 

ditto on the "Non-proprietary SW interfacing"

 

I use the FM and video playback. I thought that I would use the voice recording, but I haven't used it much.

 

I thought that I would install Rockbox software, but I haven't yet.

 

I paid 120 a year ago. It was a good value.

[blue2blue]

I've had a 1 GB Sandisk for years. Runs a long time on a single AAA. Came with good sounding earbuds, best I've had, much better than the Sony's I spent $20 on -- but a just-a-little-too-short earphone cable (even a 5'10" guy can't comfortably drop it into a jeans pocket... it reaches my belt with some to spare but won't reach the bottom of a pocket.)

 

Works fine. Sounds pretty good. No reason to buy anything new, for my purposes.

 

However, if I was going to get something, knowing that I don't have that much need for huge storage, I think I'd be sorely tempted by one of these, assuming this deal was still available: http://store.apple.com/us/product/FA623LL/B

 

[Or maybe not. I dunno. This seems to have all the charm of an iPhone without the phone -- which is the part of the iPhone that really doesn't excite me -- though the 3G connectivity is nice -- but it's the price of that that I balk at. And since I'm currently on T-Mobile, I'll be at least in a position to think about an Android-based phone when they finally arrive.]

[MikeRivers]

 

Wich one? Why did you prefer it?

 

I have a Toshiba Gigabeat, 2 GB, I think.

 

 

 

Unlike most people who use these things, I don't put my music collection on it. I record (music) radio programs and use the MP3 player to listen to them when I have several hours when I can't do anything else. So unlike people who have several hundred files on their player, I have five or six, each with 2-3 hours of mostly music played by intelligent DJs, mostly bluegrass, old time (pre-bluegrass) and jazz.

 

Oh, yeah, it also has an FM tuner and it sort of records, too. Before I got into this technology, I used to carry my Nomad Jukebox 3 when I traveled. Now that the Jukebox's primary function for me has been replaced by a Zoom H2 and Korg MR-1000 (big shoes to fill) I figured I'd get a small player, and on the second try, I seem to have something satisfactory.

[slight-return]

 

Unlike most people who use these things, I don't put my music collection on it.

 

 

 

same here

Seems like there's 2 major use models

a) folks that use the device as secondary (sometimes even primary) "cool" , mass storage

b) folks that use the device as "hot storage" (only what is in "current rotation")

 

not sure what the distibution between those 2 are or what they look like inside (use model, age, whatever)

 

I kind of suspect use model A gets a lot of play from the manufacturers (upping storage, etc), but anecdotally (and we all know how dangerous that is) I do run into a good amt of model B (now that I think abt it Bs are the majority in my little world)

 

I listen to a lot of spoken word (do abt 5 unabridged audiobooks a month ), audiodrama, some audio vers of periodical some longform music (ICM, etc)

some of that might have to do with growing up abt 3 blocks from the American Printing house for the blind...always been part of the community for me

 

I use AAA b/c I'm HPV a lot and the player lives on me so I keep my accessory power modular

[blue2blue]

Right, I have a huge amount of music on hard drives on my main systme -- so the tiny 1 GB player is used for basically just for driving. I'll dump a bunch of songs on and wear them out over a few weeks of short hops, typically swapping in new stuff when I know I'm going to be in the car for more than a half hour or so.

 

I also tried using it on the biketrail but I've never found any earphones that aren't way too noisy in the wind (I don't tend to lollygag on the trail, even though I'm usually on a mountain bike rather than my road bike). So, even though I love the idea of music while biking, the reality is typically way too offputting and I come in off the trail with jangled ears from the wind and/or turning the music up so I can hear it over the wind noise.

 

 

I will say one thing -- I've had this 1GB thing long enough that seeing Mike mention buying his 2 GB for $20 was like a kick in the gut. I paid so very, very much more... In fact, I could have bought a gen-u-wine iPod (1 GB Shuffle) for a little less. (Hey, but mine has a display, an FM radio, and a voice recorder, so, you know... still... 20 bucks. Damn. Well, I got a lot of use over the years, so, I dunno. )

[rasputin1963]

My expensive video IPOD crapped out on me... before a year had even expired... and I'd treated that dam thing like a baby's behind. Never dropped it, even once.

 

So I bought a little $70 SIREN. It has a groovy sort of "Elroy Jetson" asymmetrical interface that I like...

 

[ggm1960]

The only one I have is a little USB like stick Creative Labs one that I've had for quite some time holds like 50 songs, I never use these things.

 

My daughter's Bday in June we're standing at Best Buy. I've alloted her $100 and she wants an iPod. It's up to her to select from the different models there while I go look at other stuff.

When I return she's decided on the SansDisk unit. Smart kid, it's got all the same features as the iPod but with twice the memory space at the same price.

[Frantag]

Sandisk Sansa Rhapsody 8GB.

 

I use it mostly to listen to new music. Rhapsody has a deal where you can download music to the player for 15.00 a month. I use the create channels function of Rhapsody to find new music and load the channels on the mp3 player. When I go for a walk I get to check out what's new or what's similar to some of the artists I've liked before.

[slight-return]

 

I also tried using it on the biketrail but I've never found any earphones that aren't way too noisy in the wind (I don't tend to lollygag on the trail, even though I'm usually on a mountain bike rather than my road bike).

 

 

try the old sytle "walkman" earphones (not earbuds) you have to get your helmet strap adjusted right, but if your device is decent enough output you're jamming into the 40s (though I will say, back in my mad-bomber days of the Nederland-Gunbarrel commute I prob did run the vol a little [ok lot] too high, but would sometimes run the phones slightly off-ear if it got too much - but if you are cranking flatland miles you should be OK at lower vols)

 

if you are "headsup" (as opposed to tuck) good profile (eye) shields also help

 

some guys don't like it, but I found I would start programming my route into a playlist

[MikeRivers]

I've had this 1GB thing long enough that seeing Mike mention buying his 2 GB for $20 was like a kick in the gut.

I looked it up, and actually I paid $30 for it. At the time I bought it, I found very little info on the web about it, but nothing negative. A quick search with Google this morning shows it on about 10 pages of web sites, but many duplications, and most just sales. It seems to be running in the $70-99 range now, assuming that the places with a web price actually have it. As I mentioned, mine was a closeout deal, and it was the last one in stock, without a box, so I talked them down by $5. Most on-line places now report this one as "discontinued" but that happens about 15 minutes after most gadgets of this ilk are released.

 

I had tried a couple of Sandisk models between the Jukebox and the Raven, but ended up returning them. They just felt too flimsy and the display, what there was of it, was too hard to read. That's when I bought the Raven, figuring that if I wasn't going to have a usable display, having only three solid-feeling buttons was the next best thing. The problem with that, though, was that I'd have five radio shows on it and I'd never be sure which one would come up when I started it. I'd get through half an hour before realizing that I'd heard that one before. It did seem to remember where it left off if I stopped it in the middle of a show, but the next one was a gamble. Just too much of a distraction when I was driving.

 

[Guitzilla]

I have a creative Zen 30 that is at least 6 years old(?) It sounds OK. It is still running and I've only had to reset it a couple of times. It is on a car charger and I always forget to turn it off so it has a lot of use even if I'm not listening to it. however, I received an Ipod as a gift, and it sounds immenesly better.

[slight-return]

had a RIO 500 whne they came out (abt 98-99 I think so the mem is a bit small by today's standards,even for "warm" storage)

really liked it -- study, kinda liked the heft of the unit

AA power, expandable with SM card

only problem was the USB cable was proprietary (they swapped two of the pins IIRC) -- the cable finally retired the unit, it was still functional (but no cable) when I gave it away 2 years ago

 

 

I kinda had high hopes for tao/soniqcast but that kinda seemed stillborn

[UMT]

Sansa C250 loaded with 'Rockbox' open source freeware.

[Anderton]

Creative Labs Zen Xtra, 40GB (Hi Saul!)

 

Why?

 

* User-replaceable battery. BUT - my Zen can still play for about 8 hours straight, even though the battery was the original one that came with it. The battery in my wife's iPod bought around the same time won't hold a charge any more, and the battery in my daughter's 4th generation iPod can't hold a change for much more than about 30 minutes.

* It was a lot less expensive.

* It can use WMA format files, which to my ears sound way better than MP3. I rip at 96kbps, which sounds better than MP3s at 128kbps, so I can fit more stuff on the hard drive.

* I like the Creative software better than iTunes, given that I use Windows to store my music library.

 

I also have the Sony 1GB RAM player with the OLED display. It's really sexy and cute.

[Mark L]

Creative Labs Zen Xtra, 40GB (Hi Saul!) Why? * User-replaceable battery. BUT - my Zen can still play for about 8 hours straight, even though the battery was the original one that came with it. The battery in my wife's iPod bought around the same time won't hold a charge any more, and the battery in my daughter's 4th generation iPod can't hold a change for much more than about 30 minutes. * It was a lot less expensive. * It can use WMA format files, which to my ears sound way better than MP3. I rip at 96kbps, which sounds better than MP3s at 128kbps, so I can fit more stuff on the hard drive. * I like the Creative software better than iTunes, given that I use Windows to store my music library. I also have the Sony 1GB RAM player with the OLED display. It's really sexy and cute.

 

Hi Craig!

 

You're obviously a man of taste

 

I used a pair of Sennheiser headphones with mine. 'Used' because I inadvertantly snapped the cord quite recently. Can't remember the model either, but I seem to recall the word 'Pro' in there somewhere

 

Anyway, the combination of that mp3 player and those headphones was a match made in heaven. The sound was just wonderful

[Jerry_L]

Creative Zen 60 GB, for same reasons as Craig.

 

Also, I don't trust Apple, they're greedy monopolists in hipster garb.

[Kaux]

Creative Zen 60 GB, for same reasons as Craig. Also, I don't trust Apple, they're greedy monopolists in hipster garb.

 

Its great to drag and drop files and have standard usb conections. Having to carry special cables, and i tunse installer is a pain I have a 1GB shuffle

[whurly]

I've only joined the MP3 brigade in the last year. I've got a 6G Creative Zen Micro which sounds good and doesn't have the control freak disadvantages of the iPod (which my girlfriend has).

 

Sadly it's become redundant because I now have a Blackberry with a 4G card.

[T-Pot]

I have a couple of mp3 players, none of which are made by Apple

 

-Sony HD5 20 GB. Proprietary software which is a drag, but the sound & build quality and battery life are exquisite.

 

-Sony A818 8GB- no proprietary software, drag and drop music directly on to the player. Very good sound quality (better than any iPod IMO), long battery life, very good supplied headphones.

 

- iRiver T10 2GB- drag and drop. Good sound quality, runs on normal AA battery. Super rugged build. This this the one for trips beyond civilization or skiing in a blizzard.

 

-Meizu M6. Very good, natural sounding audio quality but slightly buggy firmware and user interface.

[meccajay]

T-Pot, I like the iRiver products from reading a little about them. Do you (or anyone else) have any experience with the E-100 model?

 

 

 

Also, I need(prefer) something compatible with Mac & PC. Can anyone recommend anything?

[Gus Lozada]

... an iPhone 3G

[c10]

Cowon iAudio X5 (now running Rockbox).

It looks like another drive when plugged in via USB (I can use normal window-based file moves, not iTunes or Windows Media Player to load/unload songs and software).

Holds 60 GB

FM tuner, voice recorder (not using those as much as I thought).

Dislikes: needs a 'subpack' connector to access the USB and line in/line out. Accessories/adapters are hard to find.