MP3 player recomendation

[Zac Naloen]

My mate got a Creative Zen 20GB the other day. It looks good however we needed to install the software before we could swap files; the installation did not work first time on his laptop; several mp3 transfers failed inexplicably and, the killer, it does NOT show up as a HDD on either of our laptops.

But apart from that the sound quality was ace and it's quite cool looking.

did you try just plugging in the usb and letting windows handle the drivers?

thats how i got it to show as a hard drive on my pc

Windows would not install it automatically on either of our XP home editions, sadly. I have a generic MP3 player that did what you describe, however, and I find that very appealing.

possibly an age factor then, my zen is reaching two years in age now. I have a zen touch 40gig btw. Best mp3 i've ever bought.

Ipods seem to break, a lot i really can't recommend ipods to anyone.

[Soontir C'boath]

Also fitting your requirments is the Creative Zen Micro aviable from four to six gigs. It boosts longer batterylife and cheaper price. But is balanced by the fact it does not have the massive amount of accessorys that the Ipod's enjoy, if you want that stuff.

I've been looking for a player myself after my Panasonic CD player sort of broke on me and Zen Micro seems to be the best bet. They even have a voice recorder and an FM tuner which is much more awesome than the iPod Nano for the price.

The 6GB Bean posted after the one quoted above is from Amazon and I think it is a very good deal.

[Praxis]

As a bonus, color screen and photo display capabilities.

You're seriously calling that a bonus ? A feature he doesn't need, on a player that fails to meet two of his three criteria ? Why the hell would you recommend an iPod when he can get a Zen with five times the storage capacity for $30 less ?

That's why it's called a BONUS, not an important feature. Duh. What are you going to call it, a downside?

We're talking about miniature players (Zen Micro, iPod Nano- the Nano is VASTLY smaller than the Micro), not the big ones. If he goes for $300, he can get the video iPod with 30 GB or a big Zen,but he doesn't need that much storage.

Anyway, it's a choice between the Zen (vastly fatter, more space than he needs), Zen Micro (slightly more space than he needs, slightly fatter), and iPod Nano (thinnest, best/easiest interface, has compatability with best music store, but most expensive).

The one that fits his requirements best is the Nano being the easiest to use in terms of interface (a monkey can operate an iPod), fitting his space requirements, and being the smallest and most portable of them all. However, he can save $30 by going with the other that have more space but are larger and don't have the iPod interface or iTunes. It's his choice.

But seriously, the iPod Nano is the thinnest thing I've ever seen. Go hold one. It's paper thin. I've seen a few people with them, even I want one as (but certainly don't listen to enough music to justify the purchase, and if I got it as primarily a portable drive space would be more important than size).


Oh, wait two weeks for the Macworld Expo to see if we get anything new, new iPod Shuffles are rumored as Apple is phasing out the current 1 GB iPod Shuffle (it's out of stock everywhere and ThinkSecret claims new ones are coming). Who knows, they might get a 2 GB model.

[Bounty]

That's why it's called a BONUS, not an important feature. Duh. What are you going to call it, a downside?

bo·nus
n. pl. bo·nus·es

1. Something given or paid in addition to what is usual or expected.

Since an iPod isn't even close to "what's expected" by Alyeska or "what's given" by a Zen, you can't honestly call it a bonus. "A bit less of a drawback", perhaps, if we're being generous.

We're talking about miniature players (Zen Micro, iPod Nano- the Nano is VASTLY smaller than the Micro), not the big ones.

I'm looking for a nice and simple MP3 player to put my music on. Something that can hold my entire collection, a pitiful 2.4 gigs.

Basic requirements that I need.

It has to be able to hold at least 3 gigs so that I can load up my entire collection.

It needs to be relatively simple to use.

File transfering should be easy. I know some MP3 players are simple drag and drop. Plug the MP3 player in and it shows up as a external HD and you simply load the files on and the MP3 player plays them.

Any recomendations here?

Did he say anything about "small" ? No. Did he ask for a player that's easy to use and doesn't require an intrusive program to transfer music ? Yes.

If he goes for $300, he can get the video iPod with 30 GB or a big Zen,but he doesn't need that much storage.

Or a Zen Micro that perfectly fits his needs for half that amount. This one also has innovations like "a replaceable battery" and "ability to function after three weeks of use".

[Praxis]

That's why it's called a BONUS, not an important feature. Duh. What are you going to call it, a downside?

bo·nus
n. pl. bo·nus·es

1. Something given or paid in addition to what is usual or expected.

Since an iPod isn't even close to "what's expected" by Alyeska or "what's given" by a Zen, you can't honestly call it a bonus. "A bit less of a drawback", perhaps, if we're being generous.

We're talking about miniature players (Zen Micro, iPod Nano- the Nano is VASTLY smaller than the Micro), not the big ones.

I'm looking for a nice and simple MP3 player to put my music on. Something that can hold my entire collection, a pitiful 2.4 gigs.

Basic requirements that I need.

It has to be able to hold at least 3 gigs so that I can load up my entire collection.

It needs to be relatively simple to use.

File transfering should be easy. I know some MP3 players are simple drag and drop. Plug the MP3 player in and it shows up as a external HD and you simply load the files on and the MP3 player plays them.

Any recomendations here?

Did he say anything about "small" ? No. Did he ask for a player that's easy to use and doesn't require an intrusive program to transfer music ? Yes.

If he goes for $300, he can get the video iPod with 30 GB or a big Zen,but he doesn't need that much storage.

Or a Zen Micro that perfectly fits his needs for half that amount. This one also has innovations like "a replaceable battery" and "ability to function after three weeks of use".

Wow, talk about a serious Zen fanboy. You're actually stating the iPod doesn't function as "what's expected" and thus the screen is not a minor bonus? ROFL. IT'S A MINIATURE MUSIC PLAYER! What expectations- you want it to clean your room? What's given by the Zen that it doesn't? The Zen Micro fits 50% more and is much larger. I used the older Zen the other day, the thing was huge and clunky compared to the iPod.

Gah, I'm not even going to bother arguing with you. "ability to function after three weeks of use". Gee, I guess my sister doesn't have a three year old iPod that works perfectly and charges fully.


I presented the options. He can choose which he wants (the more expensive, best form factor, best interface, longer battery life one, or the cheaper, fatter, slightly higher capacity one) based on what he wants, I'm not forcing his decision or anything. You don't have to run around proclaiming "OMG IF YOU BUY AN iPOD IT WILL EXPLODE AFTER THREE WEEKS!" or trying to call everything a downside.

Personally, I would go with the Nano. If he wants the Micro, fine. I simply recommended the Nano as it fits his requirements, has the easiest/simplest interface (this is based on having used the Zen interface and iPod interface), and is smaller than the rest.

[Praxis]

I won a Ipod mini, nice player and all, BUT the battery only lasts ~4-6h so I cannot recomend a ipod to anyone, nor will I buy one.

Note that Apple no longer sells the iPod Mini- the line has been replaced with the Nano, which is much, much thinner, slightly lower capacity, and much longer battery life.

[Praxis]

Quick question for you Creative fans, I've got some friends (they don't have a lot of money, still on dialup and a Pentium 3) who were given a 20 GB Creative JukeBox Zen by relatives. I have to get it to work. I downloaded the drivers (small download) at their house and installed them (it noted that they didn't have high speed USB but said it would work slowly anyway).

I plug it in, and nothing happens. What other software do they need for it? We didn't get the disks with it.

[Darth Quorthon]

Creative MediaSource is the program that Creative uses. You can download it from their site.

[Bounty]

Wow, talk about a serious Zen fanboy.

I do not own a Zen, have never owned a Zen, and don't give a flying monkey's if he buys a Zen, and iPod, a Rio or a tambourine.

You're actually stating the iPod doesn't function as "what's expected" and thus the screen is not a minor bonus?

Alyeska can get a player for half the price which isn't crippled by iTunes. His OP states what kind of player he wants, and from the description, a Nano isn't it.

But hey, don't let me stop your infomercial.

[Zac Naloen]

Wow, talk about a serious Zen fanboy.

show me an ipod thats 2 years old and still works then i'll stop recommending zens over ipods.

And creative originally went on the market with the idea that better technology = better sales. were proven wrong and are now looking at style as well as technology. Personally i couldn't careless what my Mp3 device looks like... it goes in my freaking pocket.

[Bounty]

You don't have to run around proclaiming "OMG IF YOU BUY AN iPOD IT WILL EXPLODE AFTER THREE WEEKS!" or trying to call everything a downside.

Explode ? No. But the screen is just a tad suicidal.

[Praxis]

Wow, talk about a serious Zen fanboy.

show me an ipod thats 2 years old and still works then i'll stop recommending zens over ipods.

And creative originally went on the market with the idea that better technology = better sales. were proven wrong and are now looking at style as well as technology. Personally i couldn't careless what my Mp3 device looks like... it goes in my freaking pocket.

My sister's 3 year old iPod. My friends' 2 year old iPod. I know a LOT of people with iPods over two years old.

This is very similar to the 360 situation. The news and forums will have you believe that every XBox 360 on the market is failing, yet not one person at my GameStop has returned one yet, nor at the local Best Buy, and in fact the percentage of them failing is actually fairly low- just some disgruntled people in the internet are freaking out.

The only person I know whose iPod had failed had a first gen iPod and dropped it hard and broke it, not a part failure.

You don't have to run around proclaiming "OMG IF YOU BUY AN iPOD IT WILL EXPLODE AFTER THREE WEEKS!" or trying to call everything a downside.

Explode ? No. But the screen is just a tad suicidal.

Again, that I am aware of this is a low percentage. If you wish, I can start a survey over at Macrumors and see how common. Last I heard, Anandtech ran the thing over with a car twice- THAT succeeded in breaking the screen, but not the player The people I met with nanos didn't have scratched screens.

Honestly, my hands on experience and that of my friends that own them has been far better than the media tends to portray.



EDIT:



Alright, I'm just going to start over now. Look, I'm not trying to be an Apple fanboy that worships iPods. It was a bit over the top to call you a Creative fanboy, and I'm sorry about that, I'm just a little bit sick of the constant iPod bashing on a few forums- I'll get to that in a sec.

I'm simply basing my opinion off my experience. Honestly, if everyone I knew had iPods failing on them, I would prefer Creative. However, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. I know not one person who has had an iPod fail on them (other than the guy that dropped it), nor had to replace the battery.

My experience with Apple's warranty has been overwhelmingly positive- my PowerBook's case had warped a little bit from the heat (a common minor defect) so it was slightly unbalanced, then I dropped it later on, twice, out of stupidity and messed up the case and broke the power connector. Apple completely replaced the entire case free of charge because they determined that case that warped just a little bit and fixed the power connector I broke. They gave me a free replacement on the battery on my first iBook.

I've also noticed that the relatively few people who's iPods break down tend to be incredibly vocal (just like the XBox 360 people). And on another board I got really fed up with a small group of people who never owned an iPod and would bash it like nuts so I have admittedly become overly hostile towards the "iPods all break and suck, buy a creative!" crowd, so I'm sorry for the quick reaction.

That's my experience. If you don't want an iPod, fine. But I have seen none of the mass problems everyone proclaims the iPod has.

[Praxis]

Creative MediaSource is the program that Creative uses. You can download it from their site.

Thanks

[Glocksman]

The reason I bought my 1 gig Sansa is that I got it for $69 from Circuit City on Black Friday.
Except for the capacity, it'll do everything he wants, and if you buy the e140 Sansa with the card slot and buy a 2GB card, it'll hold 3GB.

But you can get the MuVo² in a five gig version but it costs fourty dollers more but is flash based.

The MuVo² has a Hitachi MicroDrive, not flash memory.

The 4GB version of the Nomad Muvo2 is currently the largest of the Muvo2 line up and Creative's ultraportable MP3 player family. The other Muvo2 models have lower capacities, starting off with 1.5GB, since they utilize CompactFlash cards. The Muvo2 4GB takes a bit of a different approach with a Hitachi 4GB MicroDrive. Since the CompactFlash technology uses NAND memory, it benefits from 100% skip protection. MicroDrive storage cards, on the other hand, have moving parts, so there is a certain limit to the amount of force that it they can take before a drive breaks.

[Mr Bean]

My mistake I was under the impression the entire MuVo 2 line was flash based.

[Soontir C'boath]

If anyone is still interested in an MP3 player, Amazon has a good deal on a Zen Micro 6GB for $180. Zen Micro 6GB at Amazon
5GB versions normally sell at this price and it's pretty good.

Edit: Looks like they changed it. Must have ran out of stock or something.

[SylasGaunt]

did you try just plugging in the usb and letting windows handle the drivers?

thats how i got it to show as a hard drive on my pc

And did he run the software updates check? My Zen jukebox didn't show up like that when I first got it but one I got the Zen Explorer update it's just drag and drop now.

[Ypoknons]

For your information, my Nomad Zen died in two years. I'll have to back Praxis up here - early Creative products were definately not ipod level and though they seem to be better now, the forum hype about them being tougher than ipods is just that - hype. If you are terribly in need of an FM tuner, or in the case of the Vision:m are willing to trade MSC for Divx and XviD codecs (it seems like a big deal, but I don't watch that much video on small players so I prefer MSC) I suppose you can go Creative.

But generally go ipod nano 4G - they're tiny, flash, and unlike a Zen you can plug them into both PC's and Mac's and have them function as a hard drive (some Zen's do this too, but microdrive Zen's tend to make you parition some space away so that it can't be used for music.).

Failing that, go Sandisk 4GB Sanza. They usually lack the color screen - useful if you want to stop carrying 16 sticker photos of your girlfriend - but they do the trick. The new E200 will have color, pricing unconfirmed.

I have to admit I've been a bit out of the DAP scene ever since DAPreview became another anything-but-ipod site, but this is what I know. I'm an Apple ipod with video owner but I've had Creative, JNC and Olympus players before.