ipod vs mp3 player?

Hi, I'm interested in getting my first mp3 player. Not sure which is the right choice for me tho. I understand with an ipod, I can only download music thru the itunes website right? I do like the idea of buying prepaid download time, with the cards. Do these cards expire, after a certain amount of time?

I understand with certain mp3 players such as the Zune, you have to have a hi-speed internet connection. I don't use hi-speed and I wouldn't want to change just for the purpose of downloading music.

I'm not planning to spend more than $300 (preferably less) for a player. I would really like something in color (red, orange, green, blue, etc.) if possible. And I'm still new to downloading music, with the exception of using Limewire. So what would you recommend for a first-time owner like me? I wouldn't need anything with a storage capability in excess of 1000 songs. I appreciate your advice. Thanks, Greg

 

well, first off, even though you will be told other wise by lots of people, i am on my 2nd music player. My first was a mp3 player (i think it was a creative) and my current one is an ipod. I think the ipod is batter, especially for new people to mp3 players. Also, you can transfer music from cds or limewire to your ipod.
look at these http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...3587D037&node=home/shop_ipod/family/ipod_nano

 

you can also listen to music you currently have on your computer and ones on your CD (but they have to be ripped first). iTunes currently doesn't rent music but the music you buy, you get to keep forever. Due to DRM restrictions, they can only be played backed on iTunes and iPods

 

Check out Sandisks' offerings. Ipod, you'll always pay a lot more for a lot less memory.
I have the Sansa Clip, half the price of the Ipod shuffle, twice the memory, and with a screen. All in a similar size/shape.

 

It depends on the kind of features you want in a media player. Do you want to be able to play videos too? I have an iPod Nano that I like, but it was a present. If I bought an MP3 player today it would probably be Cowon because they offer the most features, they update their firmware regularly, sound quality is good, and many of their player work without specialized software for syncing. My favorite is the Cowon D2. You should check out the iriver Clix too. They probably make the most stylish MP3 players.

 

i second the sandisk.

i have a sansa that has lasted 2 years and love it.

 

Creative, Sandisk and Cowon all make players that are superior in just about every way to anything Apple makes. And better bang for the buck too.

Oh, and NO FRELLIN' itunes. ipods have hype, others have better hardware, better firmware, better audio, better batteries and better build quality.

Personally, I like Creatives. I have 2, I have given my Grandaughter 2 and my Daughter 1. They range from this past Christmas to more than 2 years old and all still work as good as new. And they work great with WMP11 and almost all formats. And if you want video, they all have far superior screens than any ipod.

Avoid the hype and buy a better player, which is also, BTW, far simpler and more intuitive to use.

 

i never have drm problems, i always conver to to mp3

 

That results in massive quality loss. Then again, the iTunes store doesn't offer great quality to begin with. I buy off Amazon now since it's cheaper, higher quality, and DRM free.

 

Wow, I think I'm "old school"! I have had the Creative MuVo TX 1GB MP3 Player in red for over a year now and just love it! It's work's well for me because of the ease/simplicity of the "drop and drag" music to the "removable USB".

I also like that because the Creative MuVo is small, it works great for me when I take it the gym (holds up well), and for general "carrying around". All around it's been a good MP3 player (and I just discovered it matches my new lappy)!!!

 

I would also go with a standard MP3 player (pretty much recommend the brands given above) and not an iPod, simply because there is more choice, in both the players themselves (some good, some bad) and the music store. Also, music stores other than iTunes also offer prepaid cards. Oh, BTW, the Zune doesn't require an high speed connection, ( Zune System Requirements) but (like all the music stores including iTunes) highly recommends that you have one. Trust me using dial-up to get songs works but is painfully slow.

 

You can rip CDs or buy downloads from Amazon MP3 no matter what player you get -- iPod, Zune, or anything else.

But yeah, you probably should stick to ripping CDs if you have just a dial-up connection.

 

If you want to go cheap, buy.com has this. $45 aint to shabby after Google Checkout. I had one and like it a lot. I only got rid of it because I got the iPhone. Then you'll have some money left over some decent cans. Most of the stock ones aren't that great.

 

First and most important, don't buy any music that has DRM, its a waste of money. From there it just depends on what you want. If you only want music, great sound quality, and no video then go with the Sansa Clip. Its the only player of Sansa that has good soundquality. If you want music with the option of video, then go with the Cowon D2, its got good sound quality, very nice screen, SDHC expandable, and a very good battery life(52 by manufactures test, isn't to far off IRL). If you want all out video(PMP) then I personally would go with the Cowon A2/A3.

I've tried pretty much all of the DAP's(ipod, Creative, Sansa, Sony, Cowon, iRiver, Rio, Samsung) and I've been by far the happiest with Cowon.

 

Go for either an iPod or a Zune they have the best hardware and the best library of songs to download.

 

go to bestbuy and try them out.

 

Best suggestion yet. I agree that you will probably want to buy new headphones for whatever you get.

 

For 1000 songs, you'll want a 4 gb player if you're using low-medium quality encoding or an 8 gb player if you're using high-quality encoding. Seeing as it's in the budget and you may want some breathing room, I'd get at least an 8 gb player.

So... 8gb+, colors, under $300... the only ones I can think of are iPod nano and Zune 8gb. If you either go down to 4gb or drop the colors then there are some other good choices (Sony, Samsung).

 

thanks for the replies. I never ripped music before, so I'll have to learn how to do that. What is DRM? Recently a friend of mine recommended the Ipod touch, so will have to look at that I guess. Can I really go to Best Buy and try out the different mp3 players?

I think that I do want an mp3 player that has video. So, what about audio-books - can i play them on mp3 players as well? Yes, I know I'm a little technologically illiterate, lol. but oh well.

 

DRM is basically restrictions and such in music tracks that prevent you from doing this and that. So for example, you can't put normal iTunes-bought tracks on non-iPods, as its encoded with DRM that doesn't allow that. DRM is this crazy idea brought in by the recording companies thinking it'll help them.

DRM-free tracks are starting to become more and more popular, as they don't have these silly restrictions. Amazon has a DRM-free MP3 store, and iTunes also has DRM-free tracks too, called iTunes Plus.

You can read a little bit more about DRM here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management#Internet_music

 

Or the new Zen, or the Cowon D2. the zen doesn't have colors but the D2 does.

 

I always like Cowon for their sound quality. Also, they can play more formats than others. This one is red and has 16GB storage at relatively low price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16855228012

Newest Sony also is supposed to have great sound quality. It is relatively more expensive than Cowon I linked above, but probably is easier to use. It comes with decent earplugs, so it may be better choice if you don't have good headphones and don't plan to get ones.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665203467

Ipods are never known for their sound quality, I would not recommend it if you plan to use it for listening music.

 

for sound quality go for a samsung or a cowon

 

I use a Creative Zen 8GB. Its small and has a 2.5 16-bit in screen. I absolutely love it, its awsome! Also plays AAC and DRM free music and plays DIVX! Also has an expandable SD card slot.

I dont like Ipods as you are limited to just one media player and one music store. So much for choice huh?

 

woodgypsy, I looked at the link for Cowon. It looks ok, but most of the reviews say that it isn't good for playing video. So any recommendations for players that work equally good for both music and video playing? I can skip on the color of the player - seems like a lot of manufacturers have the colored sleeves. thanks, Greg

 

I watch family guy episodes on my Zen on the train. Once again, highly recommended.

 

I have a 2½ year old Sandisk Sansa E-1xx serie. I bought it to play music and nothing else. It's small, lightweight, works on a single rechargeable AAA battery wich means that when it's dead I just swap it while it recharges. I didn't install the Sandisk software so I just "click and drag" songs on it like I would do for any USB flash device. After 2 years it still has no damage or problem whatsoever. Since it only plays music, 1GB memory is more than I'll ever need.

I either download music from P2P/Torrent sources or I just rip my own CDs.

The word here is "simplicity"

 

I once again recommend the Cowon D2. It plays video, and you can buy SD (or SDHC) memory cards to increase the storage capacity. The current largest SDHC cards at Newegg are 16 GB and under $100, so you could easily get a player that will hold 20 GB of media and play videos for around $250.

You can also purchase the D2 from jetmall.net

 

That's an excellent MP3 player. I had a Creative Zen, Samsung T9, 30GB 5G iPod and that player has the best sound quality to date IMO. Unless you're a hardcore audiophile, the earphones that comes with that unit is actually quite good.

 

thanks again - I recently came across a site for the iriver clix gen 2. This is the site I looked at: http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/ultra/clix/index.aspx.
It looks pretty nice, so any iriver clix oweners out there? Greg

 

I had an iAudio X5L for awhile and couldn't have been happier with it. Someone broke it and now I'm working with a Zune. The Zune is still good though, I'd just rather have my other player back.

 

It gets good reviews:

pocketables
c|net
Trusted Reviews
PC Magazine

 

I'm not sure that I can answer your question exactly, but I have an Archos 605wifi.

As the name suggests, it has wifi capability (for web-surfing) though that's rather weak. It was essentially an itouch or whatever competitor.

Mine has 80GB, was $300, and touchscreen. Touchscreen is not as good as itouch's, but video is waaaay better.

Also, I don't have to use itunes. Otherwise, I probably would have stuck with the itouch but I really couldn't compromise video quality and I'd be paying too much for too little memory.

 

Ive got the 8gb one and I love it. It really is a great player - I couldn't recommend it more

-Great audio quality
-The AMOLED screen is amazing and blows away any other player that doesnt have a AMOLED screen. It gets compliments all the time about how clear and bright it is
-Lots of customization of themes and display if thats important to you


Head over to clixhere.net for some more info

 

Does anyone here own a Creative Zen (newest model)? I like that it can play video on a 2.5" screen, and comes in a 16GB size for $200.

 

ipods are good, but really they suck. i hate all the digital rights on them and how you have to use itunes to get music on it, plus the lack of features. personally i prefer a mp3 player that lets you drag and drop, one that shows up as a external hard drive. I have used creative, iriver, ipods, sandisk sansa and archos. archos is simple to use and has the best biggest screen, also supports tons of formats and has tons of great features. i also really like the new sandisk sansas, they have a tiny 16gb ssd mp3 player. Ipods win for easiest interface, but sansa and creative are not far behind

 

That sounds hilarious. Couldn't agree with you more though. I have a first generation zune which is not as bad as an ipod perhaps (I have a deep seeded hatred for itunes), and the almost 30gb of storage space is nice. I do miss using my little < 1GB iriver though for the same reasons you mention. I could actually change the files on it without it being a huge (okay small) headache. I liked that I could keep whatever files on it too, not just encoded music, video and whatever else.

 

Ipod are overpriced while a Sandisk will do the same thing, even more! I have a Sandisk e260, its only 4GB, but the e280 is 8GB. Ive been completely satisfyed. The screen is bright and sharp, the sound quality is great, it has an FM tuner and recording which ipod doesnt have, and a stronger and more durable build quality. It has a metal back casing. Ive dropped it once, no damage. My friend dropped his ipod and got a scratch. second time, it cracked. mine had no damage at all the first time. That was a Ipod Nano i think G2.

 

i have a zen m vision for a year and it's a tank and has a good price. I used everyday in school and it goes almost everywhere i do and it's still alive iot's kick ass unlike the ipod.

 

I have an iRiver X20. It has a great screen and lots of features. But I don't think the sound is anything special and its very plasticy. The firmware is a little clunky to. I also have a SanDisk Sansa e260 (The e280 which is the 8Gb would be equivilant to the iRiver X20), I like it better than the iRiver. The firmware on the e200 is very simple and its built a little better. The titanium back on the e200 series makes them pretty solid. The player is even more indistructable software wise.

I have several Mp3 players and my two favorites are my Sansa Clip which makes a great companion player to my larger and more expensive Zune. My Zune is still my absolute favorite, awesome screen and so awesomely built. But I use the Clip in rough situations because I don't care about it since it was cheap.

So there you have my favorites in different parts of the market.

Harddrive based, high capacity video and music player
- 30Gb Zune

Flashbased player
-Sansa E200 series

Micro MP3 player
-Sansa Clip

 

i have to say that if it's quality you want then don't go with the ipod
they randomly break without any reason like all of my friends; their ipods just stopped one day out of the blue. iriver, cowon iaudio and creative are far superior players. i've used an iriver h120. if you ask anyone who has used the 120 before, you will get a positive review. i currently use an iriver h10. it's so awesome especially with rockbox installed; multiple codec support and ums and mtp support. furthermore, the sound quality is far superior in these players compared to ipod. ipods have like the worst sound ever. one thing is for sure, if you ever get an ipod make sure you get some super high quality headphones, because it will sound like s*it. i think most people just like ipods because they look good (and they do).

also, make sure to check out ROCKBOX

 

the only reason i went with ipod is size....80gb (gen 5.5) in my pocket comes in very handy. with ipod wizard or rockbox you can completely mod your ipod to look and function as you want. winamp now makes it so you never have to use itunes again (unless you actually pay for music), plus it moves stuff from ipods to local drives....which is totally dope.

more i like about my ipod: sick battery life (goes for days w/o charging); gets super bright so you can read it in the sun; tv-out option; can use the back to check for boogers during winter.

ive seen almost all of them in action, and truth be told, all modern mp3 players are completely awesome. just get the one thats right for your budget and storage needs.

 

I am looking for my 3rd MP3 player atm as I have outgrown the previous 2 I own. My 1st one is a Conia 512MB MP3 with fm stereo and a built in mic! At the time I though those features were pretty good and it was around the time that the iPod was coming out too! LOL My 2nd one is an iPod Nano 2nd Gen 2GB and I found that the user interface was awesome to use unlike my 1st one where u have to flick a switch to one side or another to change songs! The battery life on the 1st depended on 1 AAA battery so that was cool, very easy to change. Now with the iPod, the battery life is awesome as it lasts for 24hrs of continual play, so in real life that works out to be a few days without recharging/replacing, but now mine is totally dead! So with that I had a look at my need for wanting more storage space and wanting video playback also and for CAN$260 the iPod Classic 80G sounds great to fit that need and I'm already familiar with the user interface. Also looking at the price for memory I dont get a logic where others are saying u lose out by buying an iPod! Thats total RUBBISH!! Here is the PROOF!

www.Bestbuy.ca
Hard Disk MP3 Players
1) Archos 605 80GB = $379.99,
2) Archos 705 80GB = $429.99, &
3 Creative Zen Vision 60G = $379.99

www.Bestbuy.ca
Apple iPod
iPod Classis 80GB = $259.99

SAVINGS
$379.99 - $259.99 = $120!!
$429.99 - $259.99 = $170!!

So the proof is out there for everyone to see and verify for yourself... if u dont have the facts to back up your claim then dont say it at all! Be fair and unbiased in your opinion that way you can show yourself to be an objective person when it comes to giving an opinion on something that someone else is asking for help on

Also if the players have extra features like an FM Stereo and/or built in mic then good for it, but just going on the music and video playback as the minimum standard features then iPod wins hands down! Even if you were to add on the 2 extra features I spoke about, are u willing to pay an extra $120 to $170 for those?? Just something to think about!

 

It's simple... if you can afford it, and if you would fancy a luxury MP 4 player, and if you really need that space for your possible large music collection (which you can always use for data backups as a disk other than just music), go with the iPod. Else go with some other player. I personally am very happy with my now old 30GB iPod Video. The clickwheel is fantastic and worth spending the extra $$$ on! I would in my personal opinion however recommend the iPod classic over iPod touch. You DONT really want a touch screen MP3 player. That just makes it fancy, not easier to use. A touch screen mobile is fine for browsing the net and the like. But a touch screen MP3, NO! Also the classic with the click wheel is really nice to use. You can comfortably place it in your pant's pocket and use your finger(s) to increase decrease volume or change songs by simply rolling em' over the clickwheel. This way you don't even have to remove the iPod to operate it

 

I do have apologise for my lil rant back there, because I did make a small mistake with the money for memory worh with the iPod... Yes I can admit when I'm wrong! But at the same time I'm pointing out where I went wrong it by saying what information I didnt include.

If you get an iPod shuffle 1GB u pay $45 more because it costs $84.99 while the range of the 1GB MP3's sit between $39.99 and $84.99. With the 4GB range the prices sit between $69.99 to $199.99 with the iPod Nano 4GB sitting around the middle of pack @ $ 154.99. With the 8GB range the prices sit between $169.99 to $269.99 with the iPod Nano 8GB sitting near the cheap end at $199.99.

Do remember that I'm quoting Canadian prices and they are from BestBuy.ca, but you can clearly see that I'm been very objective with my findings so that no one can say that I'm biased for Apple when I'm not, I'm just simply expressing my opinion.

 

And you also give up a screen if you go with Apple.
The iPod Shuffle is now about the worst value I know of in mp3 players.

Which 4 gb is more expensive than the Nano? I've seen a Samsung that costs more I think... but that's about it. (Maybe it's different in Canada, I don't know....)

You're forgetting the iPod Touch 8gb at around $300. (I'm too lazy to check bestbuy.ca for the exact price.)

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the Shuffle gets scrapped completely, with Apple then lowering the price of their 4GB Nano considerably. It is far too expensive at the moment.
The 8GB is right, but I'd like to see bigger storage capacities with the Nano hardware.

 

buying iPodtouch would be stupidity if u just want mp3 player... it is damn expensive & very little storage (obviously the 32GB model recently launched will blow a hole in your pocket)..


When u have 4000 songs in your library...the additional features such as Radio or Ultra high quality (iRiver) ceases to matter... what matters is how easily u are able to listen to the Song AT THE MOMENT U WANT. iPod is definitely the best mp3 player in the world. no one can argue.

for example... i feel like listening to a song called 'Stoned in Love by Chicane feat. Tom Jones'..with iPod it ll take 5 seconds to reach 'S' lettered songs.... but with Sony Walkman my Thumb will start aching. and Sony Walkman Mp3's Audio Fidelity is the Best...but does the slightly Better Quality matter? when i have 4000 songs in my library? (i have Sony mp3 also)

without a great interface (interface is what allows User to communicate with the Machine) the additional features such as radio, alarm clock, Tempo adjustment, Graphic equalizer & all that DONT EVEN matter.


Now some people will tell me Creative is better, iRiver is better... but i dont even need to reply... and 'made in china' generic mp3 players have more features than an iPod.. but your Thumb will get fractured by the time u reach a song u wanna listen to.


Buy an iPod nano or 5th gen iPod video.. you ll never regret buying an iPod.

 

True.

On the Sony Walkman, press RIGHT a few times to go down the list faster and skip down to the S songs. (Or just navigate by artist.)

Sony does have a great interface IMO... I do wish they'd implement title sorting (ignore "the", etc.) though.

iPods are 'made in china' too. So is my Sony for that matter.

Not a Classic?

Anyway, iPods are nice... I don't like the touch wheels in the new gen much though... they just don't have as nice a feel as the older ones. But anyway I'm glad I got my Sony.

 

That price comparison doesnt compare any other features on those players besides size - and all of those players you listed not only have superior sound quality than any iPod but also more features. The Archos 605 for example has widescreen, wifi music purchases, wifi interent browser and much more. If size is your only concern, then you shouldnt even being considering players like the Archos anyways

One example you have of the iPod Nano 8gb being a bargain. I bought my iRiver Clix 8gb for $225 and for that price I got all what the nano offers plus:
-better audio quality
-radio
-AMOLED screen
-more format support
-voice recorder
-customizable interface

I think you just get more for your money with other players than iPod