Need Suggestions for Buying a Portable MP3 Player... (1 Viewer)

[Larry Talbot]

My girlfriend wants me to get her an MP3 player, so she can listen to music while she bikes to work. Only one problem: the whole MP3 thing has completely passed me by. I know nothing about it. I feel like my parents trying to learn how to use the internet.
Here's what she wants: an MP3 player she can use while biking to work, that also works as a radio. I need to buy one by Saturday, for Valentine's Day.
Any suggestions, advice, etc, most appreciated!

 

[Larry Talbot]

No one has any suggestions for me?

 

[Joe Hsu]

Price range? iPods, iPod-minis, the new Creative MuVo2 is really affordable, Dell DJ, Rio Nitrus/Karma, Creative Nomad (and the various varieties), iRiver iHP-100 (I think that's the model)...

There are lots of choices...and oh crap, you just said that you need an FM tuner. I'm not sure which one of those have that feature...and as for getting it before Saturday (good timing there ), the Dell and mini-iPod are definitely out of the question.

Happy hunting...I'd suggest the Rios or Creative MuVo2.

 

[Stephen Tu]

If you are getting a hard-drive based player, so that she has her entire CD collection at their disposal at any time, the FM tuner is usually expendable IMO. I'm partial to the Apple products; though a bit pricy I think they have the best user interface.

As for using while cycling - in most states this is illegal if using headphones rather than speakers, because of safety concerns about hearing approaching traffic, having a distraction etc.

 

[Larry Talbot]

Hey, thanks a lot for the responses, Joe and Stephen! Much appreciated.

I understand I should have been a little more specific in my first post instead of just asking for model suggestions, but I don't even know enough about MP3 players to specifiy features. I need something basic I can hook up through a USB port to my PC to download songs, radio shows, etc. I don't need to have more than two hours of material on the player at any one time.

Here are some general questions you might help me answer. What kind of standard/optional features do MP3 players have?
What features do you think I should look for?
What should I avoid?
I guess some sort of quick, basic primer on MP3 technology, or a link to something like that would be helpful. I'm really in the dark as to what to look for.

As for price, I'm broke, so I'm looking for something really low end, around $150, I guess. I don't know anything about MP3 players, not even their price ranges, or I would have listed one.

We live in Portland. She already listens to the radio on her way to work, and I don't know if this is illegal or not, but the headphones she has let you hear ambient sounds around you as well as whatever she is listening to.

Thanks again for responding!

 

[jeff peterson]

I've got a Yepp, my daughter has the Iriver 380T, which includes an FM tuner. Both are 128, I would recommend the Iriver highly with the only reservation being that, if you need one, the arm strap is an extra option. It's very easy to download songs to it, PLUS, you can copy songs from a portable CD walkman without a computer.

Do we really need two simultaneous MP3 player threads?