what mp3 player?

October 30, 2006 3:59 PM

iFilter - What MP3 player to get?

I have a 4th gen monochrome 20g ipod that I use about 5g of space on. I have about 120 gigs of music, but for some reason I find that I never at any time want to listen to more than 5g. That being said, I rarely use my ipod other than in my car as its just so annoying to carry. I would especially like something better suited to the gym.

My problem is feature creep. I think I would find the new shuffle too limiting without a LCD (I want to listen to song X now). I dont care for custom playlists, and often listen to entire albums.

I thought it would be neat to look at photos, and videos, but I am not sure if I *really* need that. Am I going to really watch youtube at the gym?

So meta--What mp3 player for a gymbound guy? FM transmitter for in my car would be neat, but not a requirement. I think I need a basic LCD and a decent UI, but maybe I dont. I absolutely dont want vendor lockin on the management app (ie, can only use Sony's app to make custom files like I had to with my minidisk). I dont consider ipod's to have vendor lockin (I use ephpod).

posted by SirStan to technology (21 comments total)

Sounds like you want an iPod nano. Like an iPod, but smaller and arm-bandable.
posted by raf at 4:09 PM on October 30, 2006

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posted by raf at 4:11 PM on October 30, 2006

So why not a Nano? It's about the right size, and got a screen. I know you can show pics on the screen but frankly that's just a gimmick. I don't believe they can do movies.

And there a quite a few accessories for gym use and car use.

Since ephpod works with your shuffle, I'd assume that it works with the nano also.

Since you don't mention price, I assume that it's not even an issue for you.
posted by Cog at 4:12 PM on October 30, 2006

Any reason for new, compared with used?
posted by SirStan at 4:12 PM on October 30, 2006

i just got gifted a great little SanDisk e140, which i particularly prize for the digital FM tuner. here's one. the UI is dirt simple, the LCD is b/w, it weighs nothing, and it runs on a single AAA battery.

it comes as a 1GB flash player, but there's a slot for an SD card (which I think can get up to 3GB these days?). oh, and it does straight mp3s, which is nice. the ear-pods aren't the greatest, but i'm not a stickler for 15hz-23khz precision audio whenst listening to NPR on a run. i'd rate it as a good FM recieving flash player right above the Shuffle. YMMV, of course...
posted by garfy3 at 4:13 PM on October 30, 2006

This is what I've got and highly recommend, not only because it's served me better than any other mp3 player I've had but because it fits all of your criteria. They do a 6gig version now as well.

As far as transferring files onto it goes - you can hook the iriver up to your computer and copy the files you want across just as you would with any usb drive, and then run a tiny, self contained little app called easyh10 to build the database inside the iriver. Job done.

More info/tips/hax etc here.
posted by chrissyboy at 4:14 PM on October 30, 2006

Any reason for new, compared with used?

They've been redesigned. The old ones have plastic fronts and had a scratching problem (though not as bad with the white ones), and the new ones are metal. The new ones also claim 24 hours battery vs. 14 on the old. OTOH, lots of people love the old one, and they paid $200 for it instead of $99.
posted by smackfu at 4:31 PM on October 30, 2006

Second for the iPod Nano, although it is almost too small.

If you use it for the gym, you might want to do the Nike thing.
posted by KimG at 4:31 PM on October 30, 2006

i <3 my Nano.
posted by gnutron at 4:46 PM on October 30, 2006

Nano will be great!
posted by k8t at 5:05 PM on October 30, 2006

Everybody keeps throwing "Nano" at you, yet you specified you did not want to be locked into a single vendor for music management. And with all iPods, you are locked into iTunes for music management.

Yes, I'm aware that there are some freeware apps out there that try to get around this issue, but OP seemed to be looking for "not locked in by design", vs "not locked in because somebody hacked it."
posted by Dunwitty at 5:47 PM on October 30, 2006

Or, I could have read the last line in your post. So far down there!

I withdraw my objections.
posted by Dunwitty at 5:48 PM on October 30, 2006

Dunwitty: "I dont consider ipod's to have vendor lockin (I use ephpod)."
posted by MadamM at 5:49 PM on October 30, 2006

oops, sorry Dunwitty.
posted by MadamM at 5:49 PM on October 30, 2006

I've been happy with the iriver products.
posted by edgeways at 6:08 PM on October 30, 2006

My only hesitation with iRiver is I was having an IDv3 tag issue with one (mp3 cd player), and iRiver support said to upgrade the firmware. It booted back up, acted fine, but hasn't read a cd since. iRiver support blames me, or a bad disk, and refuses to offer any 'software' support.

On the other hand, a friend had a bad Shuffle that somehow became currupted and wouldn't work no matter what he tried (the lights would just flash, and it wouldnt format and work). Apple said send it back, and send him a new one, or his fixed.

I don't want to have to buy AAA batteries, so any non-AAA/AA powered units are preferable.

Thanks for all the feedback!
posted by SirStan at 6:27 PM on October 30, 2006

Just bought an iRiver T10, and I'm sad to say they've Gone To The Dark Side - The unit was completely locked down with "PlaysForSure" DRM - I dug around long enough to find a tool to turn it into a standard flash-drive player, but if you don't have access to a PC to install it, that could be a sticky point. The UI is reasonable, and that it uses an AA battery (I get about a week out of one) is ++good.
posted by Orb2069 at 6:38 PM on October 30, 2006

Check out the latest mobile phones. If you are on a plan you may find that you can get something that you can put SD or micro SD cards into.

The Nano is a wonderful device, but I'll be ditching mine in the next year or two for a phone that holds as much and means that I will have one less device to carry. I really don't know if I would buy one now, it's a tough call.

Having to use itunes and not being able to move things around is a right pain.
posted by sien at 7:48 PM on October 30, 2006

Wait for the iPhone. It's coming, really.
posted by justgary at 8:21 PM on October 30, 2006

If I were spending money on a flash-based mp3 player right now, I'd probably go for an iRiver Clix. It'll hold 4 GB, and you should be able to browse by folder, and it's hella pretty.
posted by claudius at 4:44 AM on October 31, 2006

with all iPods, you are locked into iTunes for music management.

My wife and I use Media Center to manage and sync files between our ipods, irivers, archoses, PSP, and phones. These days there really are very few "locked in" devices (as long as you avoid such nasty things as Apple's AACs, etc).

As regards a good small player - I recommend the Sansa. Assuming you don't lose it, the memory expansion slot will let you upgrade it or expand it pretty much indefinitely. My original flash player (with expansion slot) is reaching its fourth birthday and has gone from 128MB to 4Gb quite happily. Expanding rather than replacing makes Gaia happy.
posted by meehawl at 8:32 AM on October 31, 2006