1GB or so MP3 Player Reccomendations

Corvus

I'm in the market for an MP3 player, since my portable music appliances are decidedly old. I want something relatively inexpensive, and I don't really care about having more than a 1GB or so of storage, as I don't have any desire to store all my music on the player. I've got a 250GB external hard drive I use for storage.

The contenders seem to be the ubiquitous Ipod and some offerings from Creative and Sansa. Any recommendations? I'm a little iffy about the Shuffle as its so damn small I could see myself losing it very easily. The Creative Zen Stone seems like a nice alternative, being the same capacity, slightly bigger physically, and significantly cheaper. Anyone own one and have input?

HolyHesus

I looooove my creative zen 4 gb i got from target. They have a 1 gb out there. I would recommend sony or samsung. Those are reliable products.

HadjiQuest

psst

I'm looking for a 2gig, myself. Actually, a super cheap 2 gig.

Can somebody post the cheapest 2gig they can find?

harvest

Ars Technica just did a review on some small players and the Zen Stone seems to be pretty awesome. The reviewer is usually right on with his videogame reviews, I expect a hardware review is no less accurate.

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/in-search-of-an-ipod-shuffle-killer.ars/3

Does it kill the Shuffle? Yes. It's cheaper and has better navigation; the negligible size increase is easy to forgive.

Hewn

I've got a Shuffle and I adore it. The size and clip make it perfect to exercise with or take music on the go. You don't even notice it is there.

There are other options, but for me, already having an ipod video, this was an easy and enjoyable addition. I find iTunes pretty painless and an excellent way to manage my music. The Shuffle is great, no doubt.

But in this category of MP3 player, the differences between the players get smaller and smaller. You could likely pick any of the recommendations here and be pleased. The Zen Stone looks particularly interesting.

EDIT: Oh, wait, the clip for the Zen Stone costs $10 extra. Still cheaper than the Shuffle, though. But a clip for a music player this size is essential, in my opinion, so factor that into the price.

marty_0001

The exact name of what I've got is called the Creative Zen Microphoto 8GB. I bought it because a) I didn't want to be an ipod person and b) I'd already had a creative mp3 player which had been good to me.

It's not a bad little device. It's small, but heavy for its size. It does all the usual mp3 stuff as well as playing radio, unlike the ipod. And it came full of music! My only problem with it is that every time you're navigating the menu it makes this hissing noise. This isn't really an issue if you're listening to some loud music, but anything that's slower-paced or quiet it can be annoying. I've gotten used to it I guess.

My brother got an ipod video for christmas. It is very swish compared to my poor zen. He's fillled it with about 5GB of music and then 35GB of Family Guy, American Dad, Seinfeld and other junk.

If you can spring for more storage space, go for it. You might think you're happy storing all your music on your computer, but if you've got everything stored on your mp3 player, it's just all there together. Whenever you buy a new cd, you just chuck it on there with everything else. Swapping and choosing which albums you want to take on a holiday can be a little annoying.

For the love of God don't get an ipod shuffle! I don't know how people can stand those things. At 1GB you've got about 300 odd songs. If you're in the mood for a specific song, you're clicking and clicking and... ugh. It would take forever.

Hewn

marty_0001 wrote: »

For the love of God don't get an ipod shuffle! I don't know how people can stand those things. At 1GB you've got about 300 odd songs. If you're in the mood for a specific song, you're clicking and clicking and... ugh. It would take forever.

While that's an excellent point, most people in the Shuffle market are using it for sorting through specific albums. It's an "on the go" option. And I use mine in, of all things, shuffle mode! I throw on my favorite 200 some songs and shuffle away.

Basically, the Shuffle is ideal for working out and mobile trips around town. Times I find my iPod video cumbersome. Road trips and general activities, I have my daddy iPod with my whole music library.

God, I'm such an Apple whore now. When did that happen?

In closing, the OP probably shouldn't get a Shuffle despite my attachment.

Janson

Creative Zen Micro 2 GB - very small and very light, and the colour screen isn't necessary but is a nice touch. Was pretty cheap, too - bought it online for £60.

Been using it every day for six months with no problems so far. It's really easy to transfer songs, which I like. Also does images/video although naturally you aren't going to store huge files on 2GB.

The Cat

Look on ebay, you can get decent ipod knockoffs for very cheap. My bro sells them actually, but doesn't ship overseas. 4GB for like AU$40 plus shipping, so you should be able to get a similar one for not-much-more. The firmware is garish as all hell, but it works and that's what matters.

Alternatively, I have an older model Creative Muvo N200 512MB, which serves me very well. I'm sure there's much larger-capacity models out now for a similar price - it worked out to around AU$140 a couple of years ago, got it from Amazon.

Odinious

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=50001404+40000023&Description=sansa&name=MP3+Players

Check out the SanDisk line, I'm sure you can find something on there. They're no iPod killers, but they are a suitable replacement.

tsmvengy

harvest wrote: »

Ars Technica just did a review on some small players and the Zen Stone seems to be pretty awesome. The reviewer is usually right on with his videogame reviews, I expect a hardware review is no less accurate.

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/in-search-of-an-ipod-shuffle-killer.ars/3

Does it kill the Shuffle? Yes. It's cheaper and has better navigation; the negligible size increase is easy to forgive.

Yeah, seeing that review I kinda wish I had gotten that for my girlfriend - super easy to use. DRAG AND DROP IN WINDOWS! Waaaay better than the Sony player I got her from Woot - that thing has awful software.

The Zen Stone Plus looks cool if you want something with a display.

The Cat

I can't say I've ever used the provided software for file transfer. Most players show up in Windows Explorer as a generic storage device...

CyberJackal

I have the 256mb model of an earlier Sandisk player line, and it still works like a champ after 2 years of fairly rough usage. Navigation is good, it has a built in radio and recorder (never used it, but hey it doesn't hurt), and it runs on AAA batteries (this could be good or bad, depending on the individual). It is somewhat awkwardly shaped due to the battery, but it's still tiny.

Corvus

Thanks for the recommendations guys.