Best PMP with a voice recorder?

December 13, 2010 3:58 PM

Can you recommend a portable music/media player that has a built in sound recorder as well? Must be really easy to use.

I got my mother an iPod nano for Christmas last year, but she went back to her 4 year old SanDisk player because it had a recorder in it (also, she liked that it took regular batteries, but I think I've disabused her of the notion that that's an advantage). That player has now conked out. What should I get her to replace it? My mother still has a lot of CDs, so it should be really simple to get music from CD to player. She's fairly familiar with Windows Media Player and iTunes, so something that works with either of those without a lot of configuration would be best (she uses Windows 7 if that matters). It needs to be small enough to fit in her pocket (the iPod Touch is too big for that). I've never used a portable player that wasn't an iPod, so I'm at a loss of what to get her. I'd like to keep it less than $120.

posted by bluefly to shopping (8 answers total)

I've got no idea what they'd cost in the US, but my Sony Walkman MP3 player is simple and easy to use, recharges via the USB thingy while you're transferring music to it (I use Windows Media Player), it's the size of my thumb if I have a long thumbnail, and it has a recorder.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 4:09 PM on December 13, 2010

You need to find her a 5th Gen iPod nano. It has a voice recorder, and is easy to use - of course, they discontinued it in favor of the crappy, tiny, touchscreen square which doesn't have a voice recorder, or tactile controls, but, well, Father Steve knows best.
posted by jferg at 5:00 PM on December 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

Anything but iPod has you covered, and it includes old players. If that is overwhelming, just start at the top and look at reviews. You can set iTunes to import CDs as MP3s instead of the Apple-prefered AAC format.
posted by filthy light thief at 5:09 PM on December 13, 2010

Yep you don't say specifically what Nano you have, but if you bought it new last Christmas it was probably the 5th gen model, which as jferg says already has a sound recorder built in. From the main menu, it's under Extras -> Voice Memos. Click to start, click to stop, doesn't get any easier than that.

Good equipment for sound recording in one environment is not necessarily the greatest in another though, so you might have to try it to see if it works for you.
posted by trialex at 5:25 PM on December 13, 2010

The current edition of the iPod Touch has a voice recorder.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:00 PM on December 13, 2010

Sorry - post read fail.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:00 PM on December 13, 2010

You might also want to check out the Sandisk Sansa line. I'd go with the 5th gen ipod nano though.
posted by smokingmonkey at 8:32 PM on December 13, 2010

Unfortunately, I'm a "gift closet" person, and I actually bought a 4th gen Nano when they were on sale earlier in 2009 (prob because the 5th gen were coming out) and saved it until the holidays. Even refurbished 5th gen nanos are $150 which is out of my price range. I'll check out the that Anything But iPod site.
posted by bluefly at 3:50 AM on December 14, 2010