I'm looking at buying a Sony mp3 player

[Gravitykillr]

I'm looking at buying this mp3 player, but I don't know how hard Sony mp3 players are my only experience has been with an Iriver which was dead easy to operate anyone have on of these particular mp3 players or have any suggetions for something in a very similar price range that may be just as good. SRP is $159.99 at London Drugs

http://www.londondrugs.com/Cultures/...7&ProductTab=1

[Buff]

I won that one, but the 1GB model. It is pretty easy to operate and figure out how to use.

[Canada 02]

It may be different now, but it use to be that Sony MP3 players don't actually play MP3's. You had to convert your MP3's into Sony's own format, ATRAC. Ususally, converting between compressed file formats leads to loss of sound quality. I've also heard that some MP3 files cannot be converted to Atrac for reasons unknown

From your link, that model requires conversion to the Atrac format

[Buff]

Yeah, there is software that converts the songs when it transfers them to the "MP3" player. You just pick the songs you want on and it'll do the deed for you. I haven't noticed any loss of quality, I also haven't had a problem with converting an MP3 file yet.

[Gravitykillr]

as long as it will do it for me I'm ok with that, some nice colors for it too, they had to ship the color I wanted in from another store I'll have the blue one tomorrow or Wednesday, thx for the info.

I'll post up my thoughts once I get it home and get a good look at it.

on impressive thing is if you recharge it for 3 minutes you get 3 hours of play time out of it

[RatherDashing]

I have this exact model. I've been very happy with it, although I haven't really tried out any other mp3 player. The only negative is that the software is a bit dicky to deal around with, but thats not a big deal. The charging through the USB cord is very nice, you never have to worry about running out of juice because it charges a lot faster than the songs transfer.

[Buff]

I've not had a problem figuring out the software. Then again I'm in IT and it is my job to learn new software all the time.

[Gravitykillr]

I've only ever used the Iriver software so if it's any harder to deal with than that I figure I'll end up reading the manual

[Hack&Lube]

Newer models don't require ATRAC as Sony has finally acknowledged it was dead - only to start up the same minidisc problem with UMDs.

I love ATRAC though.

[Mango]

I work part time at LD in the P/E department. The model you have mentioned and the Sony Bean are our best selling MP3 players. There are very few problems with the product. I prefer the LCD screen on your model, but I dislike the shifting knobs. The Bean is more of a push button, rather than a dial. In addition, the Bean has a built in USB port that retracts from the MP3 player. That proves to be slightly more convenient.

PM me if you have any more questions! I'd be more than happy to help you.

[SaskaBushFire]

I haven't seen any big difference between Sony and Creative MP3 players besides price, Creative being much cheaper. The only key difference that I have noticed is battery life, Creative MP3 players seem to last 15-20 hours per battery, while most Sony MP3 players will go 40+, which is significant enough to mention.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Newer models don't require ATRAC as Sony has finally acknowledged it was dead - only to start up the same minidisc problem with UMDs.

I love ATRAC though.

And now the rumour is that the UMD is dead. link

[Buff]

Originally Posted by SaskaBushFire

I haven't seen any big difference between Sony and Creative MP3 players besides price, Creative being much cheaper. The only key difference that I have noticed is battery life, Creative MP3 players seem to last 15-20 hours per battery, while most Sony MP3 players will go 40+, which is significant enough to mention.

I'm not a fan of the Creative brand name. I see it to be a cheaper alternative and when I buy electronics I don't like to go with the cheaper names.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by Buff

I'm not a fan of the Creative brand name. I see it to be a cheaper alternative and when I buy electronics I don't like to go with the cheaper names.

Well creative pioneered the mp3 player market and pioneered digital sound with Soundblaster audio cards..they definitely know what they're doing. I've owned a few of their products and have been extremely happy with them.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I love ATRAC though.

I think the first mistake was somebody at Sony decided to give it a name that sounded very much like 8-Track.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by RatherDashing

I have this exact model. I've been very happy with it, although I haven't really tried out any other mp3 player. The only negative is that the software is a bit dicky to deal around with, but thats not a big deal. The charging through the USB cord is very nice, you never have to worry about running out of juice because it charges a lot faster than the songs transfer.

Sounds like you need a USB 2.0 port!

[Gravitykillr]

my computer has a few so I'm not overly worried about the usb 2.0. It's quite the impressive looking thing, it's really small the controls might be a little annoying at first but I was impressed with the overall look, I'd be more impressed if they create an mp3 player with an AM tuner so I can listen to the radio while i'm out but I guess it means I buy a seperate am tuner

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by Gravitykillr

I'd be more impressed if they create an mp3 player with an AM tuner so I can listen to the radio while i'm out but I guess it means I buy a seperate am tuner

That's more to do with the properties of AM radio. You need a longer antenna to get a decent reception, something that you can't really do on a tiny MP3 player. FM isn't a problem though.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Igottago

Well creative pioneered the mp3 player market and pioneered digital sound with Soundblaster audio cards..they definitely know what they're doing. I've owned a few of their products and have been extremely happy with them.

Actually, Diamind Audio came out with Rio players and they were the first to get any sales. There was one sold in North America before Rio, but I never heard of them.

I've been very leery of Creative, simply because they seem to like to send out huge driver bloatware, and have questionable business practices. I have heard that their recent MP3 players are getting very good.

[Gravitykillr]

Originally Posted by kermitology

That's more to do with the properties of AM radio. You need a longer antenna to get a decent reception, something that you can't really do on a tiny MP3 player. FM isn't a problem though.

they were selling the model with the Fm Tuner for $20 more but I don't really listen to Fm radio anymore (Cjay has become stagnant) so my radio listening is confined to Fan960 and that's it, just means I'll be carrying around my Misakai mini radio I bought at Zellers for $8 more often