Mp3 Player Help?

[Piggle_humsy]

Hello all :)
I need your help and advice...

It is going to be my birthday aug 30th and I am hoping to get an MP3 Player... but which one to get?
I have read many reviews online but all of them are too contradicting.. so I was hoping someone could help me on here..

Here's what I'm looking for:


Under or close to 100
Screen to scroll through music
About 1GB




I don't want to get an Ipod.
I don't want to have to scroll through my music song by song to play one as I've heard that's what you have to do on most little ones the size of a pack of gum with a small lcd screen..
It can't be too expensive because even with my sis, dad and brother all putting money towards it they can only afford about £100

Also I keep reading things about "protected files" or something like that... and I was worrying that some Mp3 players wont accept music that was d/l illegally..(meaning not paid for) ?? Is that a possibility? :S or am I being stupid? :zip:

Um.. thats about all I can think of... but yeh so if anyone has any ideas, would be much appreciated!

Piggle :roll:
x x x x

[IcyMourdor]

Well, for about $100, you are only going to get about 512mb worth of space. If you want a 1gb, it will be about $150+.

This is the player that I own. Sony Psyc (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start;sid=wUXgiskX2XzgnYvLwt3qgYYGU7gv4HqNWiE=?Cat egoryName=pa_flashMemory&ProductSKU=NWE105PSWHI&Dept=audio&INT=sstyle-audio-deptfeature-NWE105PSWHI|sstyle:sy_dept_content_b:audio)

[happy_doughnut]

Well, Piggle... that's kind of a toughy. First off, I'm not sure what 100 euros would convert to here in the states, but given that the euro is worth a little more (since I last heard, anyway) than the dollar, I'm guessing it would be somewhere between $120-130 dollars or so. No?

Let's go with 120 and under just to be on the safe side. :D

Personally, I bought myself a Nomad Jukebox Zen Xtra from creative. Like you, I didn't want to buy and iPod either because of the tedious scrolling on many of its products. Plus, when it comes time to transfer your .mp3 or .wmas files from your computer to the player, the iPod program is horrible! It's confusing and long and eesh. Stray away from that nasty franchise, Piggle!

Anyway, I find that the line Creative is great. The one I have holds 60 gigs and also has the capability to store/save documents and other files that can be viewed/played on your PC. It just gives you that little amount of free disc space we all tend to need because of the small harddrive inside. All in all, this is a great product. It's amazing how it can store so many things without being overly bulky (they are about the size of a regular PDA). Of course, if you want to take it jogging or something, it may be too big to carry, and not a good idea in the first place because of the HD inside. But, if you're like me, you'll carry it inside your purse and just have the earphones hanging out. No sweat. :D

Plus, this player comes with a CD installation kit, making it super easy to learn about all of the functions (and many customization possibilities) of the player. Nice thing.

The only problem is the price. :S The one I got was 60 gigs and was worth 300 dollars, which would be presumably about 250 euros. However, there is another version with the exact same things but with only 30 gigs. This one costs $150, which would be about 125 euros. I'm not sure if its too much off the mark for what you're looking for.

Others I'd recommend are:
Creative Zen Nano Plus: They come in either 512 mgs or 1gb; it plays both mp3 and wma files; Flash Memory holds up to 32 hours of music at 68Kbps or 16 hours of music at 128Kbps; has a built-in microphone (so you can sing :)) that holds approx. 128 hours of mono voice recordings; comes in a variety of colors; weighs only about 1lb and is around $120 or around 100 euros.
JetAudio iAudio U2 MP3 Player: They comes in either 256 mgs, 512 mgs, or 1 gb; it plays both mp3 and wma files; plays up to 16 hours of music at 192Kbps (or 20 hours at less); uses USB 2.0 to copy music files onto it (fast, fast... at a neat 20Mbps); has a voice recorder; has built-in FM radio; rechargeable lithion-polymer batery, which charges directly through your USB port (note that while hooked to the USB port, you can't use it as an MP3, however, your PC recognizes it as a player, so you can still listen to music on it through your PC, not the player itself), negating the need for an AC adapter; light weight and three different colors :red, blue, and black; cost about $126 or 105 euros.


Yeah, that's it. If you can get your hands on the Nomad jukebox, then I for sure suggest that one. With its lion-lythium battery, it'll last you forever without any need for replacements. Plus, the high storage can have you playing music free of repeats for days and days. Great thing. BUT, if that one is a no go, then the other two are my best recommendations. They are small products loaded with features and good versatility. Oh, and I believe that all music, when being transfered from PC to player, is sorted into folders, so that under the Menu of the players, you can select Music, then Artist, then Album, then you manually scroll to the song of your choice or play the whole album or whatever.

The Nomad has a small wheel type of button that allows you to scroll down through menus and push the wheel in for selection. The Nano uses buttons, and the iAudio uses a joystick. Here it's just a matter of personal taste.

I don't think you have to worry about protected files. On the manual of my player it also states that I can only copy protected files, or files from music I already own. Of course, they aren't gonna say you can go on the net and d/l whatever without actually paying for it, are they? The only thing to worry about is that some players are nasty and that they only allow you to use songs d/l'ed from a strict source such as MSN music is Napster.

But yeah, good luck with the purchase. ^^

[Piggle_humsy]

ok Firstly to Mourdor..I said £ not $... I have seen 1gb Players for under £100 so I know it's possible. but thanks for your input. :)

And to HD, I'm not on Euros...I'm british! :D We're still on pounds sterling.
But your knowledge is wide and extremely helpful..
Yes I don't want it for jogging..mainly just for when I go out on drives with the family and my sis is playing her awful music and I wanna listen to mine.. at the moment I use the radio on my mobile but I'm sick of flicking thru stations for good songs and losing reception when I'm in the middle of nowhere but I'll also use it when I'm in bed or on the comp and ppl are sleeping and well just everywhere I go! :happy:

I will look into your suggestions, your post is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for. You really have been most helpful! Thanks so much! :love:

Of course if anyone else still wants to add their input I will take it on board!

Piggle :roll:
x x x x

[Piggle_humsy]

ok well unfortunatly HD the ones you suggested were too exspensive here... :(
but thanks for introducing me to Zen as that's what I'm going with...
I'm getting the 'Creative Zen Micro SE- 5GB' :D
I can't wait to get it... It's £133.90... (was more but I found it cheaper somewhere else and they lowered it.. mwuahahahahahaha! :P )
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000A42UJ0.02.MZZZZZZZ.jpg

I'm so excited....

so yeh....

Piggle :roll:
x x x x

[dan da man]

Ok let's get one thing straight, British dont have Euros we have Pounds, £.


This is a pretty good deal. http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=9501 Bang on £100 though.

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=8612

Thats a sweet deal, you'll have plenty of money left over to have a few birthday drinks :D.

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=10034 that's alright too.

And for putting downloaded songs on your mp3 I know you can do it on I Pods, so that shouldn't be a problem.

[happy_doughnut]

Oh, that's excellent, Piggle! I'm happy you found a player to best suit your needs. :)

I must say I'm surprised, though. The only reason I didn't mention that player was because they are really expensive here. They are about 300 dollars, so I figured that was going to be too much off target from what you were looking for. I can't believe the cost they have for them over there!

Whatever the case, I'm glad you found one you like. The one you picked has actually become very popular around here. And plus, Creative is a rather reliable company. They make good products and give them some pretty reasonable prices.

I've had mine for a few months and it has been working perfectly. Some days I even go hours on end without charging the batteries. I even comit the crime to take it to the gym. Poor thing. *hugs it*

But anyways, congrat on the purchase, Piggle! I hope you have fun with it and enjoy it plenty. I'm glad I was able to be of some help, too. : )

Oh, and: Good choice!

BTW: Sorry bout the confusion of pounds and euros. I honestly have no idea. :heh: All I know is that I'm on dollars... well, coins most of the time, actually... :P Sorry!

[Piggle_humsy]

Bad luck Dan.. sorry but your recommendations come a little too late.. But thanks for your advice. ;)
I can't believe they are so exspensive there HD... weird! :S
I am so excited..I can't wait to get it. I've read nothing but great reviews about it and even had a few previous iPod owners who said that this Micro kicks ipods a$$! :smirk:

Thanks again for your help.

Piggle :roll:
x x x x

[Redpyramidhead]

Aaahhhhh yeeeeeeahhhh piggle getting hooked up wit mad technology!!! Yeah boooyyyyyyyyyyy!!! :cool:

_RED_ stuff

[Piggle_humsy]

Um Yeh thanks for your amazing response there red... :laugh: ;)

I went to amazon to buy it today with my sis (she's getting it on her card) and the black one was out of stock :( so I had to choose another colour so I went with purple.. and it was cheaper too!! :D It had gone down to £129 yay! woohoo!

Here's what the purple one looks like if anyone cares....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v254/PiggleHumsy/Piggle%20Pics/PurpleZen.jpg

Mmmm lovely zen....
and I can't believe how small they are... Just over 3 inches tall and 2 inches wide!! So tiny!!
Can't wait to get it!!