Posted by 5nak3
Hi all, with Christmas just round the corner i've been looking at what i need, and i noticed there isn't much i need or want for that matter except an mp3 player.
I already have a creative zen nano plus but alas it is only 1gb. So i was thinking of treating myself to a new player, my requirements are:
Must have external battery (i dont like the idea of rechargable internal batteries because if they die when you are on the move you cannot just buy a new battery and get going again)
Must have a simple drag and drop function dont want extra PC software, that way i can use the player as a USB stick as well, i dont mind if i need a cable to attach to the PC but i really dont want additional software.
Obviously over 1gb, ideally over 2gb as well.
Flash memory (duh!)
Compact, dont really want a tall and slim player i prefer the boxy shape of the zen or the creative pebble or whatever their new small mp3 player is called.
Oh and voice recording is a must.
I know that these requirements do not leave me much wiggle room considering the trend is to do away with the AA or AAA powered mp3 players and bring in recharagble battery players, but if anyone can help me / advise me on a good player that meets these requirements it would help a lot.
Price range, I'm not sure, to be fair i'm open to anything, although come closer to Christmas i'm guessing i'm looking at around £100. Oh well thanks in advance folks, hope you can help me
Posted by Sammy_boy
This is a bit of an off the wall suggestion but how about a Minidisc player?
I have an NH700 Hi-MD unit, takes 1Gb discs, uses 1 'AA' battery, and you can buy stereo mics and record to MDs! Bit more bulky than an MP3, also tied to the proprietary SonicStage software but excellent sound quality and very flexible pieces of kit
Posted by 5nak3
I had thought about looking at other forms of digital music but i think the mp3 player is indeed what i want to stick with, because over the past 3 years, my little zen has come everywhere with me always in my pocket taking up almost no space whatsoever and it allows me to listen to my music as well as make voice recordings when needed. However its main use has been for my morning runs and trips to the gym.
I am not too sure about the mini disc player but i have found HDD players are not as durable as i would like them to be, to feel safe with them while running.
Also i would like everything to be included in one package...currently i am looking at some of sony's and creatives offerings available through Argos, but none of them have a seperate battery which has been the only reason i have avoided them.
Thanks for the suggestion anyhow.
Posted by fatreg
depeneds how serious you are about music..
if you love music and want a reference sound you really can not beat an MD player.. proper DACs for both channels and a proper warm sound... and if you use a PC, Hi-MD is a doddle to do. very much like using an MP3 player..
Posted by 5nak3
I'll be honest music quality is not a major issue for me for 2 reasons first main use is when i am out running or at the gym this means a load of barking from the dogs and grunting and general smashing of metal against metal / floor...
Secondly the secondary reason for the player is on the daily commute to the hell hole i call work therefore i get the lovely backround noise of the London tube system, in addition to the random shoutings of many commuters.
So yeah i'm not really in an environment to actually enjoy quality music lol, and i'm sure the headphones dont help matters as i have invested in a pair of sport headphones so not the best on the market, but so far as far as abuse goes, they've taken a lot and keep coming back for more.
What i find most interesting where many headphones would have given up a long time ago from the sweat that my ones have seen over the past 2 years these ones keep coming back for more.
And on a side not i currently i have my songs encoded at 128kbps so not the best quality to start off with in the first place.
Posted by mo-00786
the sandisk sansa e250 has a removable battery i think you just slide the back cover off.am i right? if i am then im sure you can carry an extra sandisk sansa e250 battery pack with you
Posted by Muhammad-Oli
Yeeeeah... That need of replaceable/removeable batteries is gonna slim it down to almost nothing new, especially with that kind of memory, unless you go for a super cheap (and likely super crap) brand.
I think the only option is to find an MP3 player with a battery that can be taken out (mobile phone style) and then get another battery pack to carry, as the above user mentioned.
Posted by 5nak3
Yeah, i've been doing some searching and found that the removable AA or AAA battery mp3 players are brands like itronics, goodmans, and alba...
I did see a Sony Mp3 player usb stick style, no extra software with a rechargable battery the thing is it is USB charging only and i dont know if it has a voice recorder...
Sucks to be fair because i can remember a number of times when i'm going out or to the gym or anything where i turn on the player and see i have no battery left, then i just insert a new one and i'm good to go.
Posted by paul101
why not just get a music phone?
Posted by 5nak3
well i've always looked at things if i want a camera i get a camera not a camera phone, if i want music on the go i get a mp3/cd player etc...
While this maybe an outdated POV i still feel that mp3 players beat music phones left, right and centre. But the main reason i have not opted for a music phone is the fact that i dont use my mp3 player just for the daily commute. I use it almost everyday during a workout, now on my runs i sweat as can be expected, and while i do wear my mp3 player in an armband it does get exposed to sweat every now and again, also i dont quit if it starts to rain, i like to finish off the run so it has also been drenched more than enough times.
At the gym i've had it take a few falls and what not, if it was a music phone i feel that it would have broken a long time ago.
And while you could argue take more care and nothing will happen and for the most part i agree, the main reason i've never considered a music phone is that i get around 18hrs continuous use out of the mp3 player, considering it use it about 3 hours for the commute to and from work, plus whenever i'm alone at work say another hour per day, and i also use the voice recording features when needed this comes to a couple of hours a day, you are looking at around 5-6hours per day of normal use.
If i also add in the use of the player on a workout another hour or so i guess on a busy day i easily get through about 7 hours use.
If this were a phone after 7 hours use, plus doing all the phone things i.e. messages, calls, games whatever you can see i'd be hard pressed to actually have a phone that will keep running all day.
So really i prefer a dedicated device to allow me some flexibility in as far as if the battery does die, i normally carry a couple of AAA in my bag anyways, which means i can easily get the thing up an running at a moments notice.
Posted by Muhammad-Oli
Any modern Sony MP3 player probably won't have a voice recording feature. I have a Sony myself and before that I had another and my brother has one. So I've been around Sony players for a while. I only bought my one recently too, so that means I know whats on the market... and I never saw voice recording as a feature.
So I guess that cuts any Sony player out. Although, they are excellent players... I don't think you'd be disappointed with one if you bought it.
In regards to battery, I feel that what you could do to eliminate the need for a player with removable batteries, is to get into the habit of checking your battery often... Like every night. That way you can charge it overnight if needed and its good to go for the morning. Its pretty easy as most players have a pretty obvious battery indicator to go by. You'll probably keep checking it anyway!
If you did this, then you can almost buy any player out there as many have a voice recorder (not Sony or iPod as far as I know though). Many have very long battery lives anyway. Eg. My Sony is quoted to 33 hours I think and I believe it gets pretty close to reaching that figure.
Posted by >500
i dont know of any mp3 player at the top of my head that has voice recording. very few, if any, actually offer this. I know some MD players do....
Get a Sony mp3 player or MD player. You wont regret it!
Posted by 5nak3
Thanks for the replies
just one question i have in regards to the sony players (was never going to buy an ipod in the first place even if it met every single one of my requirements...just dont like them), anyways the sony player, do you need to have a program installed on the PC to upload music?
I heard of some sony product for their players and i also heard it was very bad and bloated. Ideally i'd like to use windows explorer so i can just drag and drop the files i want. Could someone confirm that please?
Posted by Sammy_boy
The latest Sony players don't need any additional software, earlier ones needed SonicStage, which was a bugger to use and restricted what you could do with your music.
Check on the Sony website whether it's a drag and drop compatible model before buying
Posted by fatreg
the latest MD players even work with macs!!
woooooo
Posted by 5nak3
lol MD, MD, MD is all i'm hearing haha, probably a bit cheaper, does what i want it to do...size may not be as small as an mp3 player but if it does what is needed.
Well i'm going away on holiday in a couple of days for 10 days might see if i can pick up anything there.
If not i might try the sales after xmas see what happens. And if anyone sees or knows of anything in the mean time let us know thanks
Posted by fatreg
an Md player does all you need and more...
all have a mic in socket... all have changeable batteries (not sure if they are AA though) but a standard charge will last you for a good 30 hours or so.. and a 1gb disc will get you a good few hours on it
Posted by 5nak3
well like i said consiering my current player is 1gb i'd be good to go with a couple of discs. One thing i do want to know however is how would i get the songs from a cd or from my pc to the disc?
Posted by fatreg
afaik you just drag and drop now....
I know you used to have to use sonicstage and it was less than desirable in terms of use, but I've never used Hi-MD (as they don't make a Hi-MD separate for my Hi-Fi) I'll see what i can find out
Posted by 5nak3
ah if you dont know it is ok will do a bit of reading myself once i get this financial crisis paper finished. Just thought you or someone else may have the knowledge at hand.
Posted by Muhammad-Oli
Just wondering, whats so great about MD over an MP3 player? With a MD player, you're buying out of date technology. MP3 is the worldwide standard and MD never was.