MP3 player recommendations

[Aspman]

SWMBO managed to drive over my bag this morning squashing my MP3 player.

Luckily she missed my tattie scones

Obviously a new on is in order so I'm after some recommendations.

Up to about £50-60

Not made by Steve Jobs or fruit branded in any way (I feckin hate Itunes). Other than that I'm brand agnostic.

Must work with MP3 and WMA

Hopefully should use Windows media playlists to save redoing a load of stuff.

I'd like a radio.

Not bothered about video playback.

Capacity in the region of 4Gb.

I had a SanDisk Sansa previously (well till an hour ago) which worked ok but did have a habit of not picking up all the songs that were on it and resetting the volume every time it was switched off.

TIA

[SnailUK]

If im honest, id say anyone that buys an MP3 player, and doesn't line Mr Jobs' pocket is a bit silly, as they are the industry leader for a reason, and while i dont like iTunes either, it has the best selection of digital music available, and at better quality than places like Amazon.

If you do need to stray, have a look at the Sony walkmans. I've heard a lot of good things about them. The Microsoft Zune is also quite good, but i dont think they are available in the UK yet.

As with anything like that, go into somewhere like Comet and have a play, see which unit has a UI that you like.

[Aspman]

First time I installed Itunes it fecked the PC and I had to do a full reformat and reinstall.

Next it corrupted the Ipod which took hours to sort out because Steve doesn't let you near the damn thing to do anything as simple as format the flash. Plus the feckin thing needs a 500Gb update every other day and all the feckin Apple services keep restarting themselves even when you set the feckers to manual.

No I feckin hate Apple and that offal thief Jobs ain't getting any of my cash.

Have ordered a Sony. Which is pretty much one step down in evilness from a fruit player but it was a good deal and got the best reviews by far. Also links with BBC Iplayer so I can load top gear onto it etc for a week.

There was a Samsung at the same price point with the same features but was flakier.

Sony Walkman NWZ-S638FS 8GB

NWZ-S638F (NWZS638F) : Overview : mp3 players and portable audio : Sony

[SnailUK]

Have ordered a Sony. Which is pretty much one step down in evilness from a fruit player but it was a good deal and got the best reviews by far. Also links with BBC Iplayer so I can load top gear onto it etc for a week.

I've read a lot of good things about the Sony MP3 players, and i know they walk all over the iPod for sound quality.

I have no doubt your going to really like it

[TorqueXIsXCheap]

Second hand iPod. And i have a tip for you as i also HATE itunes. Do what i do with mine and use WINAMP! I dont know about you but any music that *cough* is on my computer that i have not downloaded *cough* I want it off my harddrive, itunes will not allow you to do that. But winamp acts as a drag and drop, still does all of your album art etc.. Just with out apples stupid SOFTWARE!

[Terry G]

I own an iPod (got the big capacity classic on a dock) and a Sony.

With a decent pair of earphones the Sony spanks the iPod for sound quality.

Creative and Sandisk gets good reviews too (which may give you greater choice at your budget)

[TorqueXIsXCheap]

I own an iPod (got the big capacity classic on a dock) and a Sony.

With a decent pair of earphones the Sony spanks the iPod for sound quality.

Creative and Sandisk gets good reviews too (which may give you greater choice at your budget)

Just to add, i also had a creative zen to be diffrent. And it wasnt a patch on my ipod same with the sony know alot of people who have them. Again not a patch on the ipod. Truthfully i hated apples before until my dad braught one, and i got converted

[Paul007]

I've got my first mp3...a Sony with only 1gb. Holds over 150 tunes via drag and drop, dead easy to use and delete off your pc. Charges by USB too. Going to have to upgrade at some point though....

[GentleGiant]

I have a Zen Creative "Stone" that I am very happy with, I know they do 1&2 gig versions, but I am not sure about 4 gig. Battery life is about 10 hours, more if you do not use it all in one go, sound quality is good with the supplied earphones but sticking a £60 pair of B&O's on shows a big improvement. They are tough and mine has survived a dip in a hot, oily bath.

I also have the optional black elasticated armband holder, so there is no chance of dropping it when out and about.

[MAPGO]

I've found Sansa's MP3 players to be robust and with good sound quality

Amazon.co.uk: sansa - Electronics & Photo

[Aspman]

I've found Sansa's MP3 players to be robust and with good sound quality

Amazon.co.uk: sansa - Electronics & Photo

Not robust enough to cope with SWMBO reversing over it unfortunately

Other than that my Sansa S260 was pretty good but it did have several quirks that made me look at something else.

[Aspman]

Ooh I think I've been converted.

The little Sony is some bit of kit. I thought the Sansa had better sound quality over my old no-name MP3 player but the Sony really is miles better. On tracks I've ripped at 320 they don't sound like MP3s anymore.

The screen is a million miles better than the Sansa plus copying vids from Iplayer is a doddle. I think I might need to up the bandwidth at home. The screen really is good enough to watch clips on.

The only real problem I have with it is that is is so small and light I'm having a bit of bother holding on to it and pressing the buttons with my manly sausage fingers. I don't know where they have put the battery it's so thin.

I'm shocked how good it is I really am.

[mannyo]

At last, someone else who hates Ipods. The gadget show did a review of small MP3 players the other week, and the new Nano came bottom of the pile due to its fiddly controls and poor sound quality. It was good to see some other brand players get better reviews for a change.

['daiking']

I had an ipod mini many years ago which was so rubbish, I didn't bother replacing it when it inevitably broke.

About 2 years ago, some time after the abortive mini, my wife bought me a Sony 4gb A816 which has served me admirably since. The sounds quality of the unit and the quality of the earphones knock spots off the Apple offerings of the time. Sonicstage is a bit of a PITA but I'd previously used it for a Minidisc player and I never found earlier itunes to be much simpler to use and the screen quality was fantastic - never watched video on it though. I wouldn't hesitate to get another Sony if and when this one expires.

[vRS G60]

I had an ipod mini many years ago which was so rubbish, I didn't bother replacing it when it inevitably broke.

What was wrong with the ipod mini?

I have a 4th gen 20gb ipod and am looking for something cheap to keep in the car.

Preferably something with the same connection on the top as my existing ipod, thus allowing me to use my itrip. A mini fits the bill (but they're going for too much money at the moment on E-Bay).

Other than that, it's an MP3/ipod interface and whatever MP3 player/ipod I can get cheap to fit it.

['daiking']

What was wrong with the ipod mini?

Too big, too slow, poor audio, awful battery life and susceptible to shock load damage

[Xavier]

I also hate ipods. To be fair, I haven't used one in ages, but the last time I did, the sound quality was awful. The old HDD-based Sony player I had at the time was just sooooo much better. However, you had to use Sonicstage and then later Connect to use it. And, well, that software was even more abysmal than itunes

Fortunately, Sony and other brands have recognised this and also realise that some people such as a few here and myself have allergic reactions to itunes and so have developped their players to act as mass storage devices. Nothing better than just having a drive appear where you can drag and drop your music. With the latest gen Sony walkmans, you still have the choice of synching with WMP too, so best of both worlds

I'm glad to see that sound quality is still pants :P Now I have my new Sony, I just love it to bits. The interface is maybe not as good as the jog wheel on the ipod, but I spend more time listening and appreciating the quality of the music than I do spinning the frikkin jog wheel

I find it interesting that the "inferior" product has the market share...

[vRS G60]

Too big, too slow, poor audio, awful battery life and susceptible to shock load damage

But apart from that

I do like the iPod interface though. It's easy to find just what you want and I've no problem at all with iTunes.

So really I'm not looking beyond another iPod. ( shortsighted maybe).

[Aspman]

I wouldn't have bought it if the SonicStage was still required. I'm not getting locked into anything like that if I can help it.

It sync'd up with WMP quickly enough so I didn't have to bother reloading it from scratch. Ended up chucking in a load of stuff since it's now got double the capacity of my old Sansa.

The Sansa couldn't sync audio and video but no bother with the Sony. It's easier to download videos from the beeb with IE as the licence gets brought across automatically. With firefox you need to fiddle to get the licence.

Don't know about battery life yet. I do wish they'd use a standard mini-usb charger/connector for the damn things. I've about 4 of them from various phones but they all have their own feckin propitiatory connectors.

I need to get one of those UK-3pin > USB plugs.

The interface is a doddle to use even without reading the manual. Buttons are a little small but not a major problem.

[GentleGiant]

I haven't listened to a recent iPod, but a 2004 one a friend bought sounded like it was playing a cassette!! The cheap and nasty mp3 player/usb key I bought for my son for £28 sounded far better; although it was limited to only 512Mb.

I think that, just like the "Jesus" phone, iPods are wildly over hyped.

[TorqueXIsXCheap]

I love all the haters. Who try to be diffrent and choose something thats not an apple. Sadly if you want the best the iPod is the king, not heard one in awhile?? go and have a listen, but like with any mp3 player make sure its played through a good set of speakers

['daiking']

But apart from that

I do like the iPod interface though. It's easy to find just what you want and I've no problem at all with iTunes.

So really I'm not looking beyond another iPod. ( shortsighted maybe).

I found the mini and the first gen nano crap but the touch is an impressive piece of kit. Its just that when you have a piece of kit that does what you need it to, why change it? :confused:

[XLBaconDoubleCheese]

i got me iPhone lovely

[Paul007]

I've got my first mp3...a Sony with only 1gb. Holds over 150 tunes via drag and drop, dead easy to use and delete off your pc. Charges by USB too. Going to have to upgrade at some point though....

So my £20 odd Sony was a good buy then. Just wish it had more storage space and didn't charge via USB...unless someone knows a way of charging it via a mains instead of a computer ?

[SnailUK]

unless someone knows a way of charging it via a mains instead of a computer ?

Just look on ebay, you can find loads of USB Chargers that plug into the wall really cheaply.

Either that, or have you got a sky/virgin box? as these have USB ports that will charge it too.