Portable MP3 player advice.. (1 Viewer)

I'm sort of looking this winter to buy an MP3 player, though probably not an iPod itself. I briefly looked at a couple at Circuit City when i was there this weekend with my sister... Anything to recommend in looking for one? It seems Zune and iPod both have their proprietary software and or their own "itunes" like music site.

I think though, mostly I'll be burning my CDs to it so I can use it in my car that only has a single CD player. And I may be using it for my bike commute.

Video is not important but an FM radio would be nice when feeling like listing to OTA music or NPR... Looked at reviews for the Zune, the basic ipod, and some of the ones there... Heard rec about Creative Zen and stuff. Not looking for anything more than either 4g or 8gigs max...

Jay

You might want to take a look at the SanDisk offerings...and since you stated that FM radio would be nice--that would eliminate any of the iPod choices since (IIRC) none of them include a built-in FM tuner.

The Sandisk ones seem to be the "Sansa" brand, at least that's what I've seen around.

I typically try to stay away from the name-brands to save some money, so iPods would be out of the question already, unless there is some serious reliability issues with the lesser known ones. I've heard some good things about the Creative Zen ones but it would be some of the cheaper ones.. Would like to keep this $100 or less.. I don't need a lot of memory, I just want songs on it, not videos...

Jay

Er ... safety?

I know this is going to sound dumb, but make sure the attachment devices are fit for purpose and don't make the mistake I did. I have a wonderful sleek player that looks great and plays great - but has no way of clipping onto clothing. So on the move, it's only usable if I'm wearing something with a breast pocket.

Other than that, I'd say go for one of the known but cheaper brands, and then invest in a better pair of headphones than the ones that come with it. I have some Sennheiser ear bud 'phones that are superb and only cost about 20 pounds in the UK, so I guess you should be able to buy them for at least half that price in the USA.

hmm, didn't see this reply til now.

I wear a typical bike jersey in my commute so it has three or two rear pockets, which I put my cell phone (for 911/emergencies), my company ID, my banana if I bring one which gets destroyed in my pannier.

As far as safety, I don't use earphones but around the neck headphones and at a low volume. I also commute on some dirt roads free from motor vehicle traffic.

So, since I'm probably will reuse my headphones that I have already. Although more than likely, it'll mostly be used for driving...

Jay

I have 3 mp3 players I use and a 4th. A scandisk that sits in a old cup, my junk cup.

I started with the scandisk and thought it was awesome.

I keep my eye open for better ones on ebay and scored a 4gb Ipod nano for 35 bucks that needed a battery and the screen was frozen.

I took it to school and gave it to the resident nerd and he had replaced the battery and fixed what ever was wrong with it.

I don't use the Itunes that came with the player!
I use mediafour's XPlay so all I have to do is rip to mp3/mp4 and drag and drop. XPlay will also transfer any mp3 or mp4 and windows audio formats over to your Ipod.

I haven't spent full price on a Apple Ipod yet. But I would after playing around with a few different technology's like the Sony MD and the scandisk units.

All 3 of my Ipod come from second hand sources and from ebay.

Just a different consideration on mp3 players.