Anything but Ipod!

[kyektulu]

Heya everyone,

Been 2 weeks since I got my new MP3 Player a Samsung YP-Z5 (in pink.... I know... no comments please ) and wow it rocks, well worth the initian payout.
Colour screen, pictures, album picture and info for every song, 20 hours of charge life and comes with an solid aluminium casing... what else could you ask for!
Mine was 4 GB for £169.00

I was just wondering what everyone else is listening to tunes on give everyone some info on what is availible out there as I dont know about you but im sick to death of hearing the word Ipod when there are so many great products on the market!

As the thread states, its got to be anything but Ipod!

[Aes]

My current mp3 player is so archaic. Bear in mind that I got it before mp3 players were all mainstream: iRock 128mb, very basic, shows track numbers and has only the most basic options. I really do need to get something new, but like you, I don't want to even touch an ipod, or even anything that supports all that DRM trash. :/

[Morpheus42]

Umm I'm also an iNot person.
And also Sony just lost me as customer.
Got a Sony Network Walkman as a present. The kidney shaped one.
Looks very good. Was very happy. Up until the moment
where I tried to put mp3's on it.
You need to convert the mp3's (like iNot).
Ofcourse the software from sony is Crap.
And they do not have conversion software for linux.
So on half the machines I connect to, I just can't put any songs on it.
And I always need the installation cd with me if I want to put mp3's on it if I'm somewhere else.
So I brought it back.
Beware of Sony stuff.

[Adasunshine]

I've just got a Sony Ericcson W810i, it's a phone and an MP3 player and it was FREE and I also got a FREE PSP with it so I'm a happy bunny.

Just need a larger memory card is all... my current one is full!

xx

[dwndrgn]

I'm currently thinking about splurging on an mp3 player, but know so little about them (green with envy I've mostly avoided even their mention). So, to continue the discussion, what are the positives and negatives of whatever player you have?

[kyektulu]

The player I have I bought from Argos (I dont know if you have the store in florida) the homepage for this model is

http://www.samsung.com/Products/MP3Player/MP3Player/YP_Z5ABXAA.asp?page=Specifications
Sadly you can only get it in pink at a Argos store, I think they have it exclusively but I bet you can order from them online and ship overseas.

I also knew nopthing about MP3 players when I bought mine, im not a very technical minded person.

Yet the model I have is so very straightforward and easy to use.

Basicly all you need is the USB plugged in (best directly to the tower, not through a hub) and Windows Media player and your away!

The only drawback I believe is that at the moment Samsung do not make plugs for them to be connected to the mains for charging.
Yet I found at my local HMV store the other day a company has seen this gap in the industry and made one, it also has 2 different adaptors for plugging into a shaver socket too!

I think this player is the best I have seen so far!

[Paige Turner]

Got my iPod one week ago, and it's already my best friend. In fact, I'm listening to it right now (Feed My Frankenstein-Alice Cooper) I love the looks and the ultra-compact size. The best part is that I can now listen to Marilyn Manson on the bus, instead of the dough-head with the obnoxious profanity-riddle cell phone conversation.

I love Apple products. They're the R&D for the whole world.

Join us.

[Trey Greyjoy]

I have a Creative Labs Nomad Zen Xtra 30gb

If I were transported back in time several years ago when I first bought it, I would have made the same decision. The comparable IClod was $200 more!!!

Overall Im very happy. The interface is touch inconvenient and it the firmware needs upgraded out of the box, but the sound is equal if not superior to the IWad.

There was a brief time several months ago that I thought I had broken my player. As it turns out all I needed to do was hit the reset button and it was fine. However, until that time I did some research on a replacement and..well...pretty much had decided the ISod was the only reasonable choice.
It kills me too because Im so rabidly anti-crApple. But Ise Needs Mine Tunes!!! Plus now Im listening to GRRM's aGoT on audible so my player is a necessity!!

[chrispenycate]

As a sound engineer I regularly have to translate decent audio files into mp3, and can compare the results on decent loudspeakers. Thus, what I think of mp3 would probably melt down the censor circuit, and the fact that many of the local radio stations are transmitting all their material from mp3 files makes me foam at the mouth. I willNOT be getting an mp3 portable player until my ears have degenerated considerably below their present standard!
I have a portable CD player that accepts rewritable discs, I can burn myself the requisite music for travelling and, with the right set of headphones, it'll sound like music.

[Trey Greyjoy]

Wow.

I distinctly notice a difference when I play cds on my home system and compare them to running my mp3 audio out to receiver. Certainly the cd's sound much much better.

In my car however (a Honda Element), its a different story. The cd player installed makes my cd's sound flat, with only controls for treble and bass. It happens to have a jack for an mp3 player though! And my player has a graphic equalizer. Songs played from my player in the car actually sound fuller and richer than the cds. I mean, certainly I could spend a lot more money on my car's stereo system, but I wont.

For me the convenience is a huge factor also. I have in the palm of my hand most of my music collection. I love the ability to create playlists and play songs at random also. Plus having all of an audible book in a wallet sized gizmo is far easier than toting around the 27 cds needed for an unabridged novel!

I agree there is a reduction of quality, but sometimes when youre travelling, its just easier to pop through McDonalds rather than stop and try to get a table at a restaurant!
know what I mean?

[sanityassassin]

I have a 512mb MP3 from Alba but the connection for the headphones is very dodgy and I've gave it up as it became annoying after buying another 2 pair of headphones thinking they were the problem

[Aes]

The reduction of quality comes from the fact that so many people use crappy sampling rates to rip their mp3s. I try to avoid anything lower than 192kbit if possible. 200k-300k is ideal, as the quality reduction is much less noticeable, and thanks to the large-capacity mp3 players they have out now, you can afford to go with those larger filesizes to preserve quality.

Ideally, I want to find an mp3 player that works like my digital camera--I just plug it into the USB port, and it acts just one of those USB drives while connected. I can drag/drop/delete whatever I please on it without any external software.

Research will be needed.

[mikeo]

Sorry, but I have an iPod. Ripped my CDs using VBR (averaging 275kbit), and using my iPod with some decent Sure headphones I'm getting better sound quality than any cheapo stereo I could afford. It's kind of amazing actually - listening to a song you love and realising that what you thought was a synth was actually a violin...

[Adasunshine]

I'm more than happy with my phone/MP3 player, it's got brilliant sound (Sony normally does though), it comes with 512MB memory card which you can upgrade if you choose, I have an excellent version of MahJong on there which I'm just addicted to and I just love it. The fact that it was free was a bonus.

If I was to buy a MP3 player, I would go with Sony, even though Morpheus hates them!

I hate iTunes therefore I hate iPods. I hate the fact that you can only download to and from Apple products, just a nightmare for me as generally, I just don't like them (sorry Paige).

xx

[KSeriphyn]

my ipod shuffle just died, the battery is imbedded so you have to practically by a new one. sneaky apple.

BIM: i've had the ipod for one year.