MP3 Player (Need to buy one, need recommendations)

[Mosquito]

My iPod died, which I only had for a year and a half, and Apple wanted 30 dollars to talk to me about my problem. I said fuck you apple, and have decided to never buy from them again unless I am forced to. Therefore, I am on the market for a new mp3 player. I need recommendations. I'm looking closely at the Creative Zen W right now. Thoughts?

 

[DAVETHEMETALGUY]

that's weird, i have a 2nd generation ipod..like 6 years old and havent had a bit of problem with it...now that i jinxed myself, hope you find a replacement

 

[Angrafan]

Yeah man.. my iPod died too after about 1 year... I am seriously considering buying another brand.. I don't do any fancy stuff with it (videos, etc).. I just need it to play songs and organize it the same way the iPod does (by artist, album, songs, playlists, etc)....

 

[mëtålspëd]

I cant wait to dump this ipod. I dont know much about the other brands, but I havent met anyone who tried the Zune, that didnt like it.

 

[Jibrille]

I cant wait to dump this ipod. I dont know much about the other brands, but I havent met anyone who tried the Zune, that didnt like it.

I'm amazed you've even met anyone with a Zune.

 

[rms]

Im just replacing my 20GB video Zen Portable Media Center-if your interested But I just bought(waiting on delivery) Creative zen vision:M and if your interested ill let you know how it runs. Its the 30gig version

 

[mëtålspëd]

Yeah, they certainly are not moving great numbers... but they have all been quite happy with them (most ex-ipod owners). I would like to at least check one out (this 80gb ipod doesnt cut the mustard for me). As a side note, it was nice meeting up at the AF show. A shame the turnout wasnt better.

 

[Creeps]

My best bud has a Zune, he loves it. I'm with the original poster though. I'm not into playing videos, etc..

So I have a Nomad. I bought this thing YEARS ago and it still works like a charm. 30 gig version. My only problem is the older Nomads are no longer in production and I can't find any accessories for it whatsoever, even from Creative Labs. The new ones have caught my eye though.

Creative Labs as a whole has never disappointed me. My 5.1 PC surround, Web Cam, Nomad, soundcard are all from them. No one charges you for support either which I've used many times over the years. I've had a creative labs soundacrd in my PCs since the first soundblaster came out.

 

[King_of_Loss]

I cant wait to dump this ipod. I dont know much about the other brands, but I havent met anyone who tried the Zune, that didnt like it.

Love my Zune. I've had it about 6 months now. No, problems at all, except when I dropped it a week after purchasing. Just took it back to Best Buy and they swapped it out, no questions asked.

I can't compare it to Ipod or any other MP3's, as this is my first. No regrets on my part though.

Danny

 

[King_of_Loss]

Side note, I haven't used it much for video. The only video I have on it, is the video from PPVII of Mercenary's cover with Glenn on stage. Couldn't pass that video up.

 

[Cheiron]

M-Audio is the one I want most. Seems to be of the highest quality, but still decently priced. Creative Zen is my second choice. But support Rhapsody mobile (or whatever its called).

 

[Kenneth R.]

My iPod died, which I only had for a year and a half, and Apple wanted 30 dollars to talk to me about my problem. I said fuck you apple, and have decided to never buy from them again unless I am forced to. Therefore, I am on the market for a new mp3 player. I need recommendations. I'm looking closely at the Creative Zen W right now. Thoughts?

I own a Creative Zen Vision:M 30GB. I've had it for over a year and it's taken a severe beating from my use-

Dropped multiple times on multiple kinds of hard surface, concrete, ice, etc. Dropped clattering down stairs. Dropped while skateboarding. Landed on while wiping out snowboarding.

Survived subzero temperatures for periods exceeding 8 hours, snowboarding again. Survived accidentally being left in the car in the hot sun, approximately 90F plus the greenhouse effect in the car, for again, 12+ hours. Survived an accidental poking with a compass point (that math tool for making circles) straight to the screen. Survived being tossed in pockets with other metal angular objects such as change, keys, beach sand, pocketknife.

And it's still in perfect working condition. Needless to say, I'd recommend it to anyone. Decent storage size, plus it's basically a big USB drive, so it works in just about any device. Drag & Drop. No iTunes necessary.

 

[TBJ]

My iPod died, which I only had for a year and a half, and Apple wanted 30 dollars to talk to me about my problem. I said fuck you apple, and have decided to never buy from them again unless I am forced to. Therefore, I am on the market for a new mp3 player. I need recommendations. I'm looking closely at the Creative Zen W right now. Thoughts?

where did u get it? i paid like an additional $50 at best buy and got a 3 year warranty, they'll replace it for almost any reason

 

[sccaldwell]

My iPod died, which I only had for a year and a half, and Apple wanted 30 dollars to talk to me about my problem.

That's really weird...was it a hard-drive based model (ie. Mini or full-size), or a flash-based one? Also, you said it "died"...symptoms? Did you drop it a lot, etc?

I'm just curious, because I have 3 iPod's, including an original, first-generation 10GB that still works flawlessly (and yes, the battery still lasts for around 3 hours after 6 years of use). I also have a 30GB 5th-gen video iPod (bought purely for more storage than the 10GB) and an original 512MB Shuffle (for the gym), none of which have never given me an ounce of trouble. All have been dropped several times, too and used a lot.

I also have an iPhone, which the wife bought for me, which is by far the best-designed, most-intuitive, most-delightful-to-use piece of electronics I've ever owned (and I've had it for over 2 months now, so this isn't just the "new" factor talking). It and now the iPod Touch make every other MP3 player (including other iPods) look absolutely archaic by comparison.

As far as the Zune, the easiest way to summarize what I've heard about it is "it does the job well enough, but Apple has nothing to worry about." I've heard they've had serious quality issues with the Zune, though. If you're hell-bent on a non-iPod, I've *heard* good things about the Creative Zen.

Craig

 

[Kenneth R.]

wow... you actually like the iPhone?

 

[shaq]

is it showing the sad iPod face on the screen when you turn it on? if so, dropping it on the floor a few times and smack it around a bit. seriously, it might fix it.

 

[sh0kr0k]

My iPod Nano works great for me. Organized by Song, Album, Artist, Genre, and even playlists. Volume limiter, nice easy scrolling, hold button, and nice headphones. It's a little delicate so I would recommend getting a case or a cover for it.

 

[Pellaz]

No problems so far with my 80Gb iPod *knock on fiberboard* Originally purchased as a metal repository to replace my CDs when going down to do the WREKage show, I scrapped that plan and now use it for the car, and as a backup for the show.

That said, I pretty much detest iTunes.

 

[Dominick_7]

If you want the highest capacity Archos AV500 or the newer one 504 are fantastic! They come between 100-160GBs (can;t remember if it may even be 180Gbs) I believe, as more so a PVP/MP3 player. Archos is the best THEN Creative. I had a Creative Zen Jukebox a while back and it was great for 30GBs, but there are newer ones that have come out with more capacity as well. Look on cnet.com and they have some pretty good reviews. I hear that the newest Cowon is supposed to be great..but for me I cant deal with a device without a replaceable battery and huge capacity. Zen mp3 players are typically great. I was going to get one of those BEFORE Archos' ones came out. While I love Apple Desktops, I can't stand iPods and don't understand why SO many people get them..As far as I have researched they don't have replaceable batteries, so when they die in a year you have to get a brand new, they don't sound as good as Creative or Archos players, the video isnt as good, the capacity isnt usually as big, and they aren't meant to last very long. Just a few of many complaints and reasons I have for not getting an ipod. Archos I think is the best if you really value quality, high capacity, and great accessories (TIVO like attachment, audio/video, mini camera recorders, codecs etc..Whichever you do get let us know and report what you find.

 

[Magius]

I love Creative players. I received an 80GB iPod last Christmas, and I really wish I hadn't. It frequently doesn't get detected by iTunes when I connect it to my PC. That means I can't 'eject' it, and have to physically disconnect it while the "do not disconnect" message is displayed. It stays that way until the battery runs completely dead.
I had a 256 Zen Nano for years and had no trouble with it, but it's clearly too small. I bought a 4GB Zen V Plus as a backup for when the iPod acts retarded, and have no problems with it.

Zen's reads MP3 and rips/writes to .wma formats, so you can send, play, and transfer files without iTunes or an iPod. Another great feature of Zen's "Smartfit" software is that it will compress a file as it transfers it to the player. That means you can rip a CD to hard drive at any quality you want for other uses, but still make it as big or small as you want on the player.