Guest Jordan Posted September 9, 2005 Posted September 9, 2005 Jordan's Unbiased MP3 Player Guide Okay, so. You want to buy an MP3 player? And its pretty obvious that you want to buy something thats logical and you don't want to spend more than you have to. There are three main companies that make MP3 players, they are: Apple (with the iPod series) Creative (with the Zen series) and iRiver Part One - Apple Written by CVD Apple effectively revolutionized the mp3 world with the introduction of the original iPod. Since then, there have been newer, sleeker models for those wanting more (or less) from their mp3 player. The original has evolved 3 times with alternative models such as the mini and photo available depending on what you’re looking for. iPod: The original iPod is now in its third form and now comes solely in a 20GB version for a hefty price tag of £209. It comes in one basic colour of white/grey and boasts the ability to store up to 5,000 songs with a starting battery life of just 12 hours, which will deplete as time goes on. However the iPod can do much more than play music. It boasts 25 minutes of job protection (it will never ‘jump’), customized play lists ‘on-the-go’, audio book compatibility, feature to use iPod as a hard disk (where you can store any file you wish), games, alarm clock, sleep timer, calendar, to-do lists, contact cards etc. iPod U2 Special edition: All of the above, only it features a red and black design, has autographs of all members engraved on the back and comes with a money off voucher for the ‘Complete U2’: Over 400 U2 songs which can be legally purchased and downloaded via Apple’s own music store: iTunes. Oh, it’s 40 quid more too, at £249. iPod Mini: The mini comes in a vast selection of colours and is now available in 2 versions: 4GB (£139) and 6GB (£169). It has the same basic features as the iPod, but has a longer battery life of 18 hours and has some unique accessories such as armbands. iPod Shuffle: It’s the smallest (and cheapest) iPod of the whole range, coming in at £69 for the 512MB (max 120 songs) or £99 for the 1GB version. It doesn’t do much other than play music, although it only weighs 22g. Only for those wanting to play a few albums on the way to work and wanting nothing else but music playback and no display screen. iPod Photo: The daddy of the iPod family, the Photo boasts a colour screen, photo playback with customized slideshows accompanied with music and comes in at huge 30GB (£249) or 60GB (£309) versions. Does everything the iPod can do, and then some. You can view pictures on your TV, it has a longer battery life of 15 hours and can carry up to 15,000 songs or 25,000 photos on the move. Thoughts: I’ve only got the current iPod original, but in general, I love it, I can’t go anywhere without it. Sure, the battery life sucks, but a quick recharge when your going to bed (via mains adaptor or USB cable) and when you wake up it will be fully charged, waiting for you to use it for the day. The software, iTunes, is pretty decent too with a relatively expansive and cheap music store if that’s the way you like to download music. There’s literally hundred’s of accessories to choose from too, from additional battery power, in car cables to surround speaker systems for the home. The iPod is great for those wishing to spend that little bit more on something more stylish and mainstream than the average mp3 player. Part Two - Creative Written by Jordan Creative have been making MP3 players since the word go, back in '98. At the moment they have two main MP3 players. One that competes with the iPod Mini and the other competes with the iPod. They are: Zen Micro and Zen Touch. Zen Micro: This player has a 5GB capacity ideal if you only wish to store a small amount of music. However it has a hefty price tag of £135 (Checked 29th May 2005, Dabs.com) so is about £30 less than its 6GB iPod Mini rival. It comes in like 9 colours, so you can get whatever suits your taste. Its an extremly small player and very light. Zen Touch: The Zen Touch comes in 20GB (£150) and 40GB (£200) flavours. It only comes in one colour and is the same size as a standard iPod. Zen Neeon Yes its spelt right, it has two E's. I honestly don't see the point of this thing but: Neeon is all about customisation. It has a tonne of random clip on covers known as "Creative Stik-on"'s. Wow Creative really can't spell.Anyway it again has 5GB capacity like its older brother the micro. But has a longer battery life at a nuts 16 hours. Thoughts: I've tried/owned 3 Creative MP3 players. The old Jukebox 3, the Zen Xtra and the Zen Touch. I like Creative, they use small and light designs, coupled with great features, fantastic sound quality and functions for quite a small price tag. If you wish to spend a little less to get a little more, then Creative is the company for you! Part Three - iRiver Written by Piro RoadKill iRiver are a major MP3 player manufacturer, and have long been considered the viable alternative to the likes of Apple's iPod. iriver iFP8xx: The small, f|ash based player from iriver. Comes in capacities up to 1GB, which is likely plenty for casual users. Like it's bigger brothers, it supports MP3, WMA, ASF, OGG, and has an FM tuner, which you can even record from. It also has voice recording and playback. They claim 40 hours of battery life from a single AA battery! iriver H10: I haven't got one of these, but they are the new, cute version of the bigger brother, the H3xx series. They've got a colour screen, and 5GB of HDD space. As with the iPod, it uses a touch sensitive scroll as it's primary interface (although this is vertical, whereas the iPod is a circle). It's similar in size and can also show photos and text on the screen whilst playing music. It also has an FM Radio tuner which you can record from, and voice recording too. They claim 12 hours of battery life from a full charge. iriver H3xx: I also don't own one of these, but as far as I understand, they are very similar in function to the player I do currently own, the iHP-140. They are slightly chunky, and the interface is not the most intuitive, so a definite RTFM is in order. But look at the functionality: MPEG 1/2/2.5 Layer 3, WMA, ASF, OGG, JPEG, BMP, TXT, FM radio. I read on the iRiver site that it can even connect to a digital camera to display and store photos directly from it -- if you have a low capacity camera, this may be a very useful feature indeed. As the others, it has voice recording. Thoughts: I personally have had two iriver iHP-140's, and if you can get it, don't be put off by it's slightly chubbier design than the über sleek iPod, it comes extremely feature packed. The main things about the irivers are that they usually come with many features and although not a great deal cheaper, usually have support for many codecs. They all also have upgradeable firmware (so you can download the newest OS for your player off the internet and update it yourself!). One feature about the older, iHP-1xx series that I did love was the inline remote. You can control EVERY function on the player using the remote, which has a small screen which can show all the information necessary. A nice touch. I also like the fact I didn't need any special software to be able to transfer files to my iriver. Plug it in, drag the files across, and you can play them straight up, don't need to install anything. If you do want to use the iRiver software on your PC, all it does is scan all the MP3s you put on the player, and makes a database so you can go through the menus and find things a little easier. However; it is far from essential. As long as you have a pretty neat music collection, you'll have no problems.
Bren Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 iRiver H10 5GB Review Looks : It looks sleek , and is a tiny bit smaller than the ipod mini. I have the gray version, and it looks very nice, i wanted the blue but couldnt find it for as cheap as i got the gray one. The paint on it scratches easy, i dropped it from about 5 cms and it scratched on concrete. but i suppose this is to be expected. I use the rubbery clear case that comes with it, and it keeps it safe and doesnt add too much bulk too the H10. 7/10 Memory : It comes with 5GB of memory, or you can pay a bit more for a 6GB version. This may seem a bit shit. but for a mini mp3 its very good, considering Ipod Mini's are a standard of 4GB and this is cheaper. 9/10 Features : Scroll Pad: Much like the Ipod clickwheel, except this is a line than u rub up or down to scroll. Its gud, and u can change the speed of it to suit your own needs. Radio: The radio is very good quality, and i think the receiver is in the headphones. You can also record straight off the radio. and set a timer to record your fav radio shows. Colour Screen: The screen is very nice to look at, its very bright and the colours are nice and strong. You can view photos and text on it aswell, and it shows up very nicely. Only thing i am warey of is scratching the plastic cover that protects it as the rubber case dusnt cover the screen, but i guess i wont drop it again. Alarm: Your basic beep beep beep wen u need it. Software : It comes with Windows Media Player 10, which you can use to sync your music/photos onto the H10. Or you can use it as a normal hard drive, to drag on text and music into the folders BUT you cant add pictures in this way, windows media has to sync pictures to get them onto the H10. 8/10 Well, i hope this has helped, i personally would recommend this over the ipod mini, iv tryed both, and this is so much nicer to use. It retails for about 150 but i managed to find it for 130 at http://www.digitalelectro.co.uk/catalog/ . Hope it helped
Guest Jordan Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 Wow! Thanks man thats excellent I'll be adding new MP3 players in the coming weeks. Which shall include new Apple and (alot) of new Creative players!
Mike_C Posted September 18, 2005 Posted September 18, 2005 I'm thinking about getting a ipod nano.... but not sure yet... but i read that the sexy black model scatches like a biiiaaatch.. lol
Jon Posted September 18, 2005 Posted September 18, 2005 A small summary on the ipod shuffle. Basically what CVD said, one thing I have noticed about it is that for some reason when on shuffle mode and you keep skipping songs, it will freeze after a while and you reset it. Also it never shuffle songs that well it always comes back to songs ive already heard instead of ones that havent been played.
DaOne Posted September 18, 2005 Posted September 18, 2005 Nice Reviews. Thats a great post right there. I have the zen touch, got it second hand for £80 in perfect condition. Suits me just fine. 20gb is alot of music .
Haden Posted September 19, 2005 Posted September 19, 2005 Just got my ipod nano today. And wow is it pretty and very very small. Looks : Is sleek and looks brilliant in black, makes the white writing really stand out and of course adds to its petite nature. And I can't overstate how small this thing is, I thought it was a joke when I first opened it or some sort of demo model. Oh and plus points go to the superb packaging, Apple really know how to make you feel special. 9/10 Memory : 4GB memory version for me, which is small but then again I only want it for a few albums and the occasional audio book. Wierdly though like many memory formats, 4GB doesn't really end up being that it is slightly less. 6/10 Features : Hmm I haven't really looked into this. It has a clanender a colour screen an alarm I think of course the scroll wheel and the headphones are on the bottom not the top of the ipod. Oh and you can get it personalised with some text on the back. 8/10 Software : Newest ITunes which seems very nifty so far. Has various cool stuff like top 25 and decade specific tracks. Also converts files for you into an ipod friendly format. 8/10 So far I am very pleased with my purchase the headphones are more powerful than I thought and don't pop out either. However I have a problem, Itunes and quicktime has for a while not being playing sound back properly. It is very jittery, as in a pattern rather than the occasional jitter. It is hard to explain but if anyone has any advice on how to solve this it would be much appreciated. Anyway I am back to playing with my new ipod
Raining_again Posted September 19, 2005 Posted September 19, 2005 Memory : 4GB memory version for me, which is small but then again I only want it for a few albums and the occasional audio book. Wierdly though like many memory formats, 4GB doesn't really end up being that it is slightly less. 6/10 my 20gb ipod is the same! im gettin 18.56 gb...thats over a gig short! Has anyone ever noticed with the Apple earphones....that after time, (not a lot of time either) they go very fuzzy when played loud?
shaq365 Posted September 19, 2005 Posted September 19, 2005 Just got my ipod nano today. And wow is it pretty and very very small. Looks : Is sleek and looks brilliant in black, makes the white writing really stand out and of course adds to its petite nature. And I can't overstate how small this thing is, I thought it was a joke when I first opened it or some sort of demo model. Oh and plus points go to the superb packaging, Apple really know how to make you feel special. 9/10 Memory : 4GB memory version for me, which is small but then again I only want it for a few albums and the occasional audio book. Wierdly though like many memory formats, 4GB doesn't really end up being that it is slightly less. 6/10 Features : Hmm I haven't really looked into this. It has a clanender a colour screen an alarm I think of course the scroll wheel and the headphones are on the bottom not the top of the ipod. Oh and you can get it personalised with some text on the back. 8/10 Software : Newest ITunes which seems very nifty so far. Has various cool stuff like top 25 and decade specific tracks. Also converts files for you into an ipod friendly format. 8/10 So far I am very pleased with my purchase the headphones are more powerful than I thought and don't pop out either. However I have a problem, Itunes and quicktime has for a while not being playing sound back properly. It is very jittery, as in a pattern rather than the occasional jitter. It is hard to explain but if anyone has any advice on how to solve this it would be much appreciated. Anyway I am back to playing with my new ipod Uh, what about rating the small matter of sound...?
Mike_C Posted September 19, 2005 Posted September 19, 2005 hey HADEN! Do you have a pc or mac... i got a pc and winxp but i don't have the service packs and was wondering if that would cause problems with the nano?
RoadKill Posted September 19, 2005 Posted September 19, 2005 my 20gb ipod is the same! im gettin 18.56 gb...thats over a gig short! That's because drive manufacturers rate their drives in decimal, so 1000MB = 1GB, whereas computers and data is measured to powers of 2, so 1024MB = 1GB. Don't get your knickers in a twist, you haven't been sold short.
Shmotz Posted September 20, 2005 Posted September 20, 2005 Has anyone ever noticed with the Apple earphones....that after time, (not a lot of time either) they go very fuzzy when played loud? I'm on my 3rd pair of earphones in a year. One pair of Apples, one pair of Sennheisers (which I was gutted about) and now I'm onto Sony. And even they are beginning to fuzz a bit. Bitch.
Luigi Posted September 20, 2005 Posted September 20, 2005 I just recently got the iPod Nano, and I have to say that it's great. The design is VERY sleek and hawt. The quality of the music is very good, and the LCD screen is fun to stare at while listening to some tunes. I love the way things are organized on it, as well. There are plenty of extras, like games and clocks, etc., which are kinda fun. The only problems I have are that the ear pieces are, for some reason, a tad uncomfortable. I'm either not wearing them right (I'm almost sure I am), I have mis-shapen ears (I hope I don't ), or they're just shaped kind of weird. The other problem is the space. Although it's not much of a problem for me, and I have the 2gb one, the really avid music listeners pretty much won't be able to own this or they'd run out of space quickly. The thing I'm worried about is that I'd eventually run out of room over time...but hopefully they'll have a much larger one to purchase by then. Overall, I'd rate this MP3 player about an 8.5/10.
Sabre Posted September 20, 2005 Posted September 20, 2005 I have a Sony NW-HD3 20Gb which cost me £150, it's pretty good although the software is diabolical you have to use (SonicStage), and I had to convert pretty much all my WMAs to MP3s to use the thing (Doesn't take WMA only MP3/Atrac). But now all the music's on there its a great player. I would get the NW-HD5 now though if you were going for a Sony one.
faz99 Posted September 20, 2005 Posted September 20, 2005 I have a Creative Zen Sleek 20GB. It's brilliant, it has the same kind of software as far as im aware of the Zen Touch except its a bit smaller, has FM radio you can record from with a mic. Also you can tap the touch pad to click, but on the Zen Touch you have to push the OK button.
Haden Posted September 20, 2005 Posted September 20, 2005 The only problems I have are that the ear pieces are, for some reason, a tad uncomfortable. My ears seem to ache a bit after using them sometimes which is annoying. I haven't put the softner things on though. Oh also those minigames are to hard for me as I am still a newbie at using the wheel so brick is quite frustrating.
|Laguna| Posted September 20, 2005 Posted September 20, 2005 Are the Rio players gonna get reviewed? They look mighty interesting. http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/Product+Details.htm?quicklinx=3tff&searchphrase=rio Carbon Pearl brings premium sophistication to digital music with 5GB of storage in an ultra-slim design Key Features 5GB of memory stores up to 1250 songs** Built-in mic for voice record Drag & drop data and music files Rechargeable battery - up to 20 hours USB 2.0 for faster downloads Charge from USB or Power Adapter Plays MP3, WMA & Audible® 1 Year Warranty Sporting an ultra-thin and tapered design, and with 25 percent more memory than iPod® mini, this tiny MP3 player, about the size of a business card, will slide into any pocket virtually unnoticeable. The Rio Carbon Pearl is capable of holding up to 80 hours of MP3 (160 hours WMA) music**, and with up to 20 hours of battery life on a single charge, music lovers need not worry about running out of juice. Supporting USB 2.0 and a host of file formats; users can download music efficiently and easily from most of their favorite online music sites. The Rio Carbon Pearl also includes voice recording and provides seamless integration and support of the Microsoft Windows® platform.
zatoichi Posted September 22, 2005 Posted September 22, 2005 I have an iRiver H300. I think it cost around £230. It has a full colour LCD which is clear as fcuk, and yes, as Steve rightly pointed out, it is able to connect directly to digital cameras, as well as other mp3 devices, and transfer data. Yes, that's right, you can link your H300 with certain types of mp3 player and transfer files directly from one machine to another. It has a line in, so you can either insert a external microphone to record stuff at up to 320kbps and 44.1Khz. You can also record things like Vinyl and tape on to the mp3 through the line in. It's a great machine. Thoroughly recommend it. Has really great EQ settings, and lots of adjustable options.
Guest Jordan Posted September 25, 2005 Posted September 25, 2005 Not good news about the Nano. Apparently the screen is super easy to scratch and on Apple's forums people are already demanding recalls. As if Apple's customer service wasn't bad enough.
soag Posted September 26, 2005 Posted September 26, 2005 I got the Zen Touch 40 gig version last week, and I am so very pleased with my purchase. Its all I wanted and more . I can now rock and roll everywhere I go tis great it is
1upking Posted September 26, 2005 Posted September 26, 2005 I have an Ipod shuffle, and its a great bit of kit. Firstly its so incredible small you have to wonder if it will actually work! (it does) Obviously there is no screen, and to be honest why would you need one? It's your music playing - you must know what its called?! Its also very light, maybe the weight of a gamecube memory card or something similiar, and when you wear the neck strap you almost forget its there! The 1gb model holds around 240 songs, which I feel is more than enough - its 16 hours of music! and with autofil you can change your tunes everyday if you wanted The shuffle mode pretty good and only occasionally do you hear the same song twice Overall I find it a very good player for me as you never no whats coming next and its great for me as I can listen to songs that otherwise I wouldnt.
Twozzok Posted September 26, 2005 Posted September 26, 2005 I have a Creative Zen Sleek 20GB.It's brilliant, it has the same kind of software as far as im aware of the Zen Touch except its a bit smaller, has FM radio you can record from with a mic. Also you can tap the touch pad to click, but on the Zen Touch you have to push the OK button. I'm hopefully getting this player for Christmas, is the sound quality good, and does it come with headphones, if so, are they good quality?
Kurtle Squad Posted October 2, 2005 Posted October 2, 2005 The iPod nano is stupid. You might aswell get a PSP!!
faz99 Posted October 5, 2005 Posted October 5, 2005 I'm hopefully getting this player for Christmas, is the sound quality good, and does it come with headphones, if so, are they good quality? Whoops, didn't spot your post. Anyway, yeah, the quality is like, unreal. I think its 97 in that spectrum or way of rating sound quality or whatever. Unlike the Zen touch, i found that the headphones that came with the Sleek are alot better and are actually quite good, but they are a little big. As in the round part is big. My right one can't handle bass anymore, i am quite sure it's because i exposed it to rain, tut tut listening to music in the rain! I feel the menu is better than that of a Touch, because you have to click the scroller with your finger rather than move you finger up to push the ok button like on the touch. But i have to say, it takes some getting used to, well about a day before you are able to controll it without clicking by accident. For a personal radio, this is the best reception i have EVER seen. Perfect. I have only used the mic.. Once. Ever. Actually after i write this i think i might fiddle around with, even though i have had it ages now. In that pic of it i posted, the screen looks crappy, but it isn't. Also, unlike the Touch, the menu's have cool things like how many times a track has been played and album of the day, but on the touch this may have been changed because of firmware updates and the such. So anything else?
#1cubeplayer Posted October 12, 2005 Posted October 12, 2005 It's a shame the iPod Nano is so fragile. It's awesomely small. I'm desperate for an mp3 player, but I'm low on cash as always and I don't want to settle for mediocrity. Hmph.
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