Let's talk about MP3 players... - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

kevman · 01-09-2011, 11:34 AM

I'm in the market for a new MP3 player and am looking for suggestions. My needs are pretty simple; it should play MP3's and it should play them well. It will be primarily used while driving, while flying, in the office and from my pocket (ie, walking, snowboarding, etc.).

What do you use?
How do you like it?
Would you recomend it?

I get the feeling that in the age of tablets and smart phones a thread about MP3 players that specialize in playing MP3's might not get much traction. To make things interesting I'd like to free myself from the shackles and control of the Apple empire...

theonlywhiteout · 01-09-2011, 11:40 AM

really no need to look past the ipod and itunes. they work, they're sharp looking, and have just overall awesomeness

FlameOn · 01-09-2011, 11:41 AM

If you don't want to follow the crowd you can look at reviews from
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/
Some of the players are really good with a few thing active noise cancellation as well. Samsung and sony do make some good players.
Just do your research a bit.

I used to have a Samsung YP-P3 and I loved it, inherited an Ipod Touch for a little while before jumping to use my Samsung Galaxy S for my MP3s. With smart phones getting more and more tractions, you should see more functionality integration over the next few years. MP3 players will eventually die out when your phone does pretty much everything that the player ever will. I'm with you and the whole not wanting to go with the Apple crowd, Apples policies on what I can do with my own device have always been far too restrictive for my tastes. I've had friends that highly recommended the higher end sony players... active noise cancellation is great on long haul flights.

If you still want you can use iTunes and sync with Android based phones and soon PMPs. There are apps for that.

Northendzone · 01-09-2011, 11:42 AM

i had a sony mp3 that i used to love. for whatever reason it seems to hold about twice as much music as a similar sized ipod.

i bought another one last year and it seemed to be structed more like an ipod.

i used to be anti ipod but as we started accumulating more ipod's it became easier to cave.

my guess is that most untis at your local electronics retailerts will work fine.

CMPunk · 01-09-2011, 11:45 AM

I have a Sony Walkman. Plays videos as well. Everything is just drag and drop which I like

CRXguy · 01-09-2011, 11:45 AM

I have a Sony MP3 player and it works great, and I paid <$70 for 8GB.

RyZ · 01-09-2011, 11:53 AM

There are a number of great "non ipod" mp3 players out there that will cost you 1/3-1/4 of what an ipod costs. Both my brother and I have Creative mp3 players and they have worked great for a few years for far less than the $500+ my wife has spent on her ipods (and upgrading to the newest model everytime one comes out).

ricosuave · 01-09-2011, 11:53 AM

if youre looking around, see if the one you are interested in can use the rockbox firmware...

http://www.rockbox.org/

Jimmy Stang · 01-09-2011, 11:57 AM

About 3 years ago I did some research into non-Apple devices to see if I could start to cut the cord. At that time, at least, the iPods were actually the best value when you factored in capacity and price. So I settled on an 80GB iPod Classic. Works great for music, although it obviously isn't one of those fancy touch screen ones. But it holds my entire library of music.

Russic · 01-09-2011, 12:38 PM

Any MP3 player I've ever owned that wasn't an iPod didn't last long. I tried to save some money and it never worked out for me. This was a few years ago though, not sure what's out there now.

Nuje · 01-09-2011, 06:15 PM

Sucks that Creative isn't making the Zen's anymore. I had 2 and they were both fantastic. The first one went missing, and the second ended up lasting years. Cheaper than equivalent iPods. Unfortunately, I can't help. I just wanted to lament this fact.

Torture · 01-09-2011, 06:17 PM

What kind of phone do you have? Just put a micro-SD card in there.

Ark2 · 01-09-2011, 06:23 PM

I use a Zune. No complaints with it. Can sinc it up to my Xbox and listen to music while I play online. It also lets me sinc and send music to others wirelessly. Never cared for Apple and refuse to own one of their products so the Zune serves me fine.

Displaced Flames fan · 01-09-2011, 06:24 PM

iPod Classic 160 GB for $220. I can't imagine you can beat the value. If you don't need that much capacity, Nanos are pretty damn cheap.

theonlywhiteout · 01-09-2011, 06:28 PM

whats nice about ipod touch new gens is you can use them to skype, face time, etc etc. makes it far more useful than just a regular mp3 player

Rathji · 01-09-2011, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Russic

Any MP3 player I've ever owned that wasn't an iPod didn't last long. I tried to save some money and it never worked out for me. This was a few years ago though, not sure what's out there now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by theonlywhiteout

whats nice about ipod touch new gens is you can use them to skype, face time, etc etc. makes it far more useful than just a regular mp3 player

I agree with both of these.

I have tried many MP3 players over the years. I finally caved and bought a 3rd gen iPod and realized why they were dominating. Over the next few years there were many other quality options that came out but when I came to replace the aging iPod, I couldn't find anything that was cheaper for the capacity than the 3rd gen Nano I bought. I first bought an iPod in 2003 and I have only gone through 2 in that time (with the end not being in sight for my Nano). Before that, I had 3 in the previous 2 years.

If I was replacing my ipod again, I would probably either go with a smart phone built to play music (ie not a Blackberry) or an iPod touch, since I have found since owning the Nano that watching TV while on transit is an amazing use of time. Having a larger screen would make that even better.

theonlywhiteout · 01-09-2011, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rathji

If I was replacing my ipod again, I would probably either go with a smart phone built to play music (ie not a Blackberry) or an iPod touch, since I have found since owning the Nano that watching TV while on transit is an amazing use of time. Having a larger screen would make that even better.

ive often fantasized about having my own personal c train car. with a queen size bed, a bar, a sofa, and a nice tv. oh and carpeting. and lots of booze. and fotzes mom workin the pole.

MrMastodonFarm · 01-09-2011, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theonlywhiteout

ive often fantasized about having my own personal c train car. with a queen size bed, a bar, a sofa, and a nice tv. oh and carpeting. and lots of booze. and fotzes mom workin the pole.

Sounds like the Oasis Mobile Home Park most weekends.

HotHotHeat · 01-09-2011, 07:40 PM

Why do people buy MP3 players that aren't iPods just to be different?

MrMastodonFarm · 01-09-2011, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Why do people buy MP3 players that aren't iPods just to be different?

Yeah, I don't buy into the apple hype much, if at all, but when it comes to mp3 players the iPod is the Kraft Diner of these products.