I want to buy an mp3 player. Know any good ones?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

This looks like a pretty sweet deal.

Mirage - MP4 Player 1.5 inch LCD Display with Speaker 2GB - Silver

Market Price: AU$162.96
Our Price: AU$85.23

http://www.uxcell.com/uxcell/retail/item/showItemLayout.php?action=showItem&id=mv0wht2048mp029¤cy=AUD

Anyone know if it's legit? (It says they ship from Hong Kong - avoiding the middle man and everyone inbetween) How do you tell? And has anyone ever heard of this mp3 player?

Thanks

[Radical Dreamer]

I'm not liking the idea of it only being able to be used with the host computer (that's a real turn off).

I'm not sure if that's really even much of an issue anymore. I forgot to mention in my post yesterday that I've also hooked up my iPod to my G3 Mac (which doesn't have iTunes) and one of my school's laptops for charging purposes, and it never had any problems at all.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

This looks like a pretty sweet deal.

Mirage - MP4 Player 1.5 inch LCD Display with Speaker 2GB - Silver

Market Price: AU$162.96
Our Price: AU$85.23

http://www.uxcell.com/uxcell/retail/item/showItemLayout.php?action=showItem&id=mv0wht2048mp029¤cy=AUD

Anyone know if it's legit? (It says they ship from Hong Kong - avoiding the middle man and everyone inbetween) How do you tell? And has anyone ever heard of this mp3 player?

Thanks

I've never heard of it. Though I would assume it's also a video player. Though if you needed technical assistant, I doubt it would be very good.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I'm leaning heavily towards the iPod 2GB Nano again.
Sorry about this guys!

[K. Ayato]

That actually is not a bad choice.

[Puritan]

Holy Smokes!

The Samsung YP-Z5 isn't $192AUD at all, but $299.00AUD!
Ouch!

Yipes, they must really jack the price up in Australia, sorry about that....

However, I would second Snoring Frog's recommendation of Creative as well, I've had good experiences with their mp3 players, they usually have solid construction and good prices. Hopefully their stuff won't be horrendously expensive in Australia, though....

[Kaligraphic]

I have an iPod nano, and, other than redecorating my living spaces, replacing my nice, sober wardrobe with some hip new threads, and causing me to inexplicably dance in silhouette, I haven't had any issues with it.

[Rogie]

To answer your earlier question, an iPod shuffle is a Flash-based iPod that shuffles whatever songs you have on it, and there's no screen. It's basically a blind iPod, but it's great for exercise, or so I hear. But the nano is also good for exercise and it has more features, so I think you're leaning the right way there.

[Bobtheduck]

Since the extra 100 dollars gets you over 10x as much music, why would anyone go for a Nano instead of a full video iPod? They play music, afterall... If I got an MP3 player simply for music, it'd be one of the video iPods... I'd just save a little longer for that extra 100 USD... I guess that'd be 200 Aussie dollars, or somewhere about that? You'll have to wait a bit, but it will be worth it...

Video iPod = Filet mignon
iPod Nano = 2 week old hamburger meat
Shuffle = insect farm

There is no such thing as a good cheap MP3 player... If you want it you gotta wait for the money. Hence why I have none.

Of course, there is the fact that while you're saving for the better ones, you can't save for anything else, but while you're doing that, a better one may come out again! There are pluses and minuses to waiting for the money to get the best.

If a company that isn't Apple or Microsoft puts out a comparable product to the video iPods at a comparable or cheaper price, though... I may give them a shot...Even if it won't be able to play iTunes downloads (m4a)

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Hmmm...

What's the deal with everything being so expensive here? Think I'll move to the States. Or not. (lol)

Decisions, decisions. You guys aren't making it easy. (lol)

[Bobtheduck]

Hmmm...

What's the deal with everything being so expensive here? Think I'll move to the States. Or not. (lol)

Decisions, decisions. You guys aren't making it easy. (lol)

I said that because 1 aussie dollars was about 50 us cents when I was there last, though that was almost 6 years ago... I'm sure it's changed since then... Do McDonald's there still have 30 cent soft serve? I know that's off topic...

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Now they're 50 cent serves. (It's about 73 US cents to the Aussie dollar I think).
Did you enjoy Australia Bob?

[K. Ayato]

When I purchased my iPod video, I paid almost $300. Prices may have dropped some, but with Apple, products will always be expensive.

I'd go with the Creative Zen, since it's gotten a bit cheaper.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Since the extra 100 dollars gets you over 10x as much music, why would anyone go for a Nano instead of a full video iPod?

That's a good argument. However you have to take into account that 1) It's not flash-memory, thus more prone to damage. 2) Some people just don't have that much music.

[Puritan]

Flash players also generally have longer battery lives and don't skip when jogged. It's all what you want the player for.

[samuraidragon]

I don't know if anybody's mentioned this, but the nano is indeed flash based, so it does get good battery life, and it is good for exersise and the like, since jogging it around won't hurt it.

Also, it is much more scratch resistant then the regular iPod, due to it's aluminum case and smaller size.

I checked the current conversion rate and it is:

1 AUD = 0.783 USD

1 USD = 1.27713920817369 AUD

Not quite sure how that works out, but there it is.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Okay, I've finally decided on the Creative Zen V Plus 2 GB model. It's $209 (Aussie) and has several things the iPod does not: FM radio, built-in microphone and supports WMA format. I know its not a whole lot but I think in many ways I'll prefer it to the iPod besides the higher resolution and slightly faster download rate it has.

I really appreciate the help guys.
Thank you all!

[K. Ayato]

Good choice. Enjoy!

[Dante]

I know one person with an I Pod they did actually complain that the service was cruddy, it froze up all the time and when they sent it in the people that dealt with such things sent it back as the outside casing was lightly dented from use, but not enough to damage any equipment. He was particularly peeved about it, but he still uses it... As for me, I never quite got into iPods, they're on the more expensive end of the market from what I can tell. I purchased a Sansa 512 MB last year, but that decided to freeze up on me and stopped playing or turning on all together for no reason what so ever (It was just sitting on my desk one day when it decided to go into permanent retirement). After that, I have the luxury of a Fry's electronics and so I went and picked up a refurb Zen Nano 1 GB for about 60 bucks over Christmas... They have other odd brands like something called Truly which can give you 2 GBs for less then a hundred US dollars, but I have no idea how they are... In fact I just got this Zen Nano, so I still don't know how well it will work (I fear for the skip function as the button is plastic and overuse may or may not snap it off... which could be bad). Overall though, if you don't like the idea of an MP3 player you can still go with an MP3 compatible CD player, those can hold about 700 MBs and you can always carry CDs with you. But so far I've noticed that my MP3 players seem to last longer on battery life and I enjoy the slight quality enhancement...

Hmm... according to outpost.com, which is sort of like Fry Electronics on the web... but I wouldn't trust them over the internet because they're pathetic about faulty products and I wouldn’t want to deal with returns over the net… You have to have a degree to know how to take junk back to Fry’s, but they’ve tended towards the lower prices in my area. In the end, it should give a nice idea what the rates are currently if you look.

Transcend (2 GB)=$70 US Dollars
RCA (6GB)=$97 US Dollars
Panasonic (2 GB)= $99 US Dollars
SanDisk (Sansa but a different model, maybe it’s better) (2 GB) $140 US Dollars
Philips (30 GB)= $150 US Dollars

Why one can pick up a 30 GB player for $150 and a 2GB one for $140 I can’t tell you… But if one looks around, I suppose one has a rather good chance of finding a good MP3 Player out there. For me, I’m just happy if it keeps on playing music … HOORAY FOR OCREMIX!!!

Edit: Err... just realized that I was too late, well at least we both came to the same decision on MP3 player types. My is also a Zen Nano Plus, but the 1 GB edition. With some luck we're both right and it's a good player, mind that I didn't see the 30 GB one out here at Frys during Christmas time (when the sales are generally the best) but I had a limit of roughly 60 US dollars so I wasn't about to shell out 150 for an MP3 player... as I generally don't have 30 GBs of music... but it would have worked nice as a portable hard drive I guess .

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

What? No funny post from Pascal? Thanks anyway mate.
Oh and I'm an Aussie so likely Fry's and other places won't be accesible to me, unless I swim there. (lol)

[Warrior4Christ]

If you'd made this thread while I was around, I would have recommended the Creative Zen straight away!

(Although I personally would have just saved pennies for a hard disk model, as a portable hard disk could be useful.)

I will attest to that apple has some of the BEST customer support in the world.

I've heard other stories, so perhaps it varies...

Do McDonald's there still have 30 cent soft serve? I know that's off topic...

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Into the equation steps SanDisk Sansa e250 (2GB) for $175AUD ($35 less than Creative Zen V Plus).
It look really good also and a little cheaper.

Here's a review.
http://reviews.cnet.com/SanDisk_Sansa_e250_2GB/4505-6490_7-31644065.html

And a review of the Creative Zen V Plus (2GB) for comparison:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Creative_Zen_V_Plus_2GB_black/4505-6490_7-31960036.html

For those who understand this kind of thing, which one would you buy (of the two options) taking into consideration quality, price etc?

Thanks

It's down to these last two. Then we are done.

[K. Ayato]

Go for the Zen, hands down! Ask Sirthinks2Much if you're still in doubt.

[Kawaiikneko]

Just a few more things to offer to help your decision... even though the iPod is expensive, alot of things (at least in America) in the music industry is starting to gravitate towards the iPod. The iTunes music store is nice to have if you want to pick up a few songs legally but not the whole cd, and whole movies are now becoming available. I don't know about Australia, but in America there's also A LOT of accessories for the iPod. For instance, I have a converter so that I can play it in my car. I'm not sure if other mp3 players get that sort of thing.

[Puritan]

Fortunately, most MP3 players are similar enough that you can find accessories for any of them. Car converters and whatnot are often usable by all music players, and you can find a car adapter for just about anything. As for Zen or Sandisk, I'm familiar with Creative and have had good results, so that is what I would recommend, but I am not familiar with Sandisk's MP3 players.

[Maledicte]

What I have is the Creative Zen Vision: M, 30g version. My first player, and I like it very much. Lots of extras, and can hold videos and photos too. It's also spiffy because it can hold lots of different file types like WMA/WMV, DivX and so on with no problem. Some people whine about the touch-pad but play around with it for a little while, it becomes second nature.

It's a little on the thick/heavy side but since I've grown up with cassette Walkmans it's hardly a problem. Also I've dropped my Zen many times on linoleum, and while there are some scratches, the player hasn't acted up because of it at all. (I guess the extra thickness helps somehow).

There's a 60g version out now, not sure how much it costs. I will warn you on the 30g version: it tends to freeze, usually sometime after you've uploaded several albums worth of stuff. If this happens, just let the battery drain (it takes about a whole day for a full battery to drain), plug it back in, and the player will reboot itself. You won't lose anything in the process.

I know someone who owns a Zen Micro Photo and they give it a thumbs-up.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Thanks Rachel! Alas, I only have enough for a 2GB Creative Zen V Plus.
Okay, I've decided on the Creative mp3 player.

Thanks to all!

[Godly Paladin]

I was in the same boat as Warrior 4 Jesus a few months back. I wanted a small flash-based player that wasn't an iPod. Through various reviews I narrowed it down to either the SanDisk Sansa e200 series or Creative's Zen V series. I ended up going with the SanDisk mainly because the Zen's battery is not user-replaceable, while the e200 models run off a lithium-ion battery that can be replaced by myself with $20 and a screwdriver. Through a SanDisk rebate and a special Google Checkout coupon I was able to get the 4 GB version for $109. (All prices US.)

I've had it for about four months now, and I'm very happy. The battery life is superb, the video playback is perfect for showing off trailers and music videos to your friends, and the photo slideshow capability is handy as well. Add in a voice recorder, great FM tuner, and intuitive menus? Got a winner here.

I'd definitely have to recommend a 2GB Sansa. Better yet, you can upgrade it to a 4 GB capacity any time thanks to a Micro SD chip slot. And did I mention that the unit is sturdy and quite stylish?

Anyway, I'd recommend you check out some CNET and Amazon reviews to get a better idea of what you want. But I hope my little minireview helped out.

(Whoops: just saw you decided on the Creative Zen V. I guess we go our separate ways, Warrior. )

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Still, thank you for the suggestion. It is a stylish little number.

I have one question concerning the Creative Zen V Plus. Since it has a battery that is non-replacable, does that mean the vermin producers can sell you another one?
Or do you just send it to them with some money and they do it?

[K. Ayato]

You mean it doesn't come with a battery charger? O_o