21 replies to this topic

[Richomundo]

I'm trying to decide on an MP3 player, and I'd rather not spend more than 250, which is about a week of work.

I like the Zen Xtra because you can replace the hard drive with any laptop drive, so it could theoretically hold as much as the highest capacity drive on the market.

The Zen Micro is cute.

The Dell DJ is... a lot of my friends have this.

I have about 25 gigs of music, but if I had a micro I would switch out playlists every month or so.

Are there any other "affordable" digital media players I should look into?

[greendragon]

Apple iPod nano 4Gb, $250.

[Lukeinator]

Sony, it has 20 GB. $350 Canadian.

[Beaver Vortex]

I personally have a dell dj, although it has a bit less than twenty gigs. I got it since I seem to have a nasty habit of breaking my nice things. I already practically threw the thing once, it was hooked on my belt and I yanked it off. It slipped out of my hand, flew off, and hit a wall. Nothing happend to it, the thing is like a chunk of metal that happens to play music. Meanwhile, ipods are known to break under a hard look.

I had thought Nano's might be a little better, since they apparently can take a lot more punishment before it is totally broken. However, I am assuming that Apple decided to make the screens out of some kind of transparent eggshell, since my brother managed to break his screen by dropping it waist height.

I'm pretty sure Apple is the man of mp3 players.

Honestly, I like the Zen Xtra, it just didn't suit my needs. I haven't even reached ten gigs of music yet, so I wouldn't need the hard drive thing and I considered that feature the main incentive of that player.

[Der Exilen]

i use a sony NW-HD1 with a custom paint job.

you can pick up a new nw-hd1 for about 170 on amazon.

do it,and then thank me.

[Team Slaya]

I have about 25 gigs of music

Apple iPod nano 4Gb, $250.

Hmmm, let's think. Go the media influenced way and get less storage and a less user friendly interface ( i think so, I just don't like it... at all ) or a Zen Xtra with more than enough space. Just a thought.

My friend has an Xtra, and has had it in working order for over two years. More times than I can count, he has dropped it on the bus, and the battery compartment flips open and the battery flies out. He calmly puts it back together each time, and keeps on going. More than 20 times, I estimate, has this happened. It still works like a charm.

On the other hand, if you're really gunning for music quality, go for the Zen Touch. It has really good music quality.

TS

[Nerferc]

The Zen Micro is good because it is small andhas 5/6 gigs of space, great sound, and a self replacing battery. The Touch 20 gig version is only 30 bucks more on amazon.com than the Micro ($170 for the Micro and $200 for the Touch). It really depends on how small you want your player to be. I would personally go for the Touch if i had 25 gigs of music.

[notorious oxide]

I have a zen touch with 20 gig. The battery on it is really kool, i use it for 3 or 4 weeks without charging and i listen to it to and from school every day, roughly 45 min - an hour one way and the same back. then it charges for a couple hours. t is fairly user friendly. The headfones that come with it are a little better quality than a goose with a penguin up its arse. But i have a set of $85 sony headphones that i have head for over 4 or 5 years and the sound quality is much much much much better than the 1 year old sony discman i had previously. I have dropped this many times before and the back and the sides of the case have heaps of scratches but the whole front panel is one pice with the screen and that has no scratches on it. they come with a pouch and mine came with the radio and voice recorder, which is fairly good quality.

I was originally looking to buy an ipod but when i went to the store they didnt have any but had a sale on the zen touch. I am glad i chose the zen over the ipod because i have heard so many bad comments about ipods and so many good about zens.

Edited by notorious_oxide, 16 October 2005 - 05:24 AM.

[Jakethesnake]

Go for a nano, I don't know who above said that some other mp3 player had a better gui, but I don't care how much you hate ipods, the gui on ipod's are amazing. I personally have a nano, and have had no problems with it, just buy a protective case for it, the screen scratches pretty easily.

[Doom]

I bought a Zen Xtra because I was poor and needed a lot of space. It plays music very well, but I haven't had good experiences with it. I'm already on my third MP3 player.

My first Zen Xtra broke after it fell from my pocket. Whatever the thing that reads from the plates was called smashed into the plates and pretty much destroyed the hard drive. Luckily it was under warranty, but the Staples guy sure was mad that I brought it in on the last week of the warranty! This sort of damage isn't supposed to happen, but I didn't mind. It's the only break I've heard of with one of these.

My second Zen Xtra was stolen. Nothing else can be said because I don't know much about what went on. However, whoever stole it sure isn't getting any use from it today because they don't have the cable to recharge it. What a waste! I'm fairly sure of who the kid was who stole it, and every month I've found a sex-toy catalog and signed him up for distribution... stupid bastard probably enjoys it.

My third (and final) Zen Xtra has been working fine since I got it. With FBR padding on top of the regular case, I don't think it can be damaged very easily.

All in all, keep this stuff safe and secure kids. Once you do so, your MP3 player should provide a lifetime of listening pleasure.

[WratH]

I also have a Zen Xtra 30gb, It's a great player. The easy to read backlit screen is great, and I have dropped a few times and it hasn't broken.

[DTReaper]

I bought a Zen Xtra because I was poor and needed a lot of space. It plays music very well, but I haven't had good experiences with it. I'm already on my third MP3 player.

My first Zen Xtra broke after it fell from my pocket. Whatever the thing that reads from the plates was called smashed into the plates and pretty much destroyed the hard drive. Luckily it was under warranty, but the Staples guy sure was mad that I brought it in on the last week of the warranty! This sort of damage isn't supposed to happen, but I didn't mind. It's the only break I've heard of with one of these.

My second Zen Xtra was stolen. Nothing else can be said because I don't know much about what went on. However, whoever stole it sure isn't getting any use from it today because they don't have the cable to recharge it. What a waste! I'm fairly sure of who the kid was who stole it, and every month I've found a sex-toy catalog and signed him up for distribution... stupid bastard probably enjoys it.

My third (and final) Zen Xtra has been working fine since I got it. With FBR padding on top of the regular case, I don't think it can be damaged very easily.

All in all, keep this stuff safe and secure kids. Once you do so, your MP3 player should provide a lifetime of listening pleasure.

Dude that has to be one of the best ways to get someone back I mean it's soo funny but you could have done one better and if hes a guy send him a gay pornagraphy every month now that would be the best way to get back at someone... without injuring them in anyway... expecaly if that person still lives with their parents/wife/girlfriend/in a army barracks.

-DTR

[tenesee23]

The whole "What mp3 player is the best" Topic comes up a lot on Nerfhaven. I say the same thing every time. I-River-Cheaper than an iPod.FM tuner, and you can mod it to play videos as well.

If you only are selecting from that list, get the the Xtra then. The micro looks nice, but you'll find yourself getting really annoyed having to swap songs, when you could have fit almost, if not all of your songs onto one player for $50 more.

Also-you say you have 25GB of music. Convert them all into WMA. The compression rate is bigger, The i-River supports .wma, and I beleive the Xtra does as well. That way you can fit all 25gb of music on your 20gb mP3 player, and don't have to spend extra money for a 40gb player.

[SirTofu]

none.... RIO KARM FOR LIFE..... yea.

Rio Karma Is probably my favorite DAP. It conforms to your hand, has a 5-band eq, a dock, you can make playlists on the fly, not too shabby battery life, nice audio quality, etc. That, and when I bought it, it was 180$. Now its discontinued.

But Ipods are terrible, terrible, daps. Im not gonna discuss them. As I have posted this discussion in multiple forums.

Edited by SirTofu, 16 October 2005 - 08:18 PM.

[Gamefreak]

Well I have a Zen Xtra and it's great for what it is. but I have one problem with it, in the past 5 months I've had it it's has died three times, one was addmitedly my fault, I fell off my bike and landed on it, so I took it in and returned it. The time after that I was walking my dog and it just stopped playing music, I reset it and there was a hard drive problem, and now the third time it has happen I was working in the back yard and it did the same thing, just stopped playing music. Although even though they're warrenty is short they're service is quite good.

Edited by Gamefreak, 16 October 2005 - 08:25 PM.

[Richomundo]

Go for a nano

2 gigs is not worth 200+ tax. I dont care if it is smaller than a pencil.

Edited by Richomundo, 17 October 2005 - 01:56 AM.

[notorious oxide]

Whenever i am thinking about buyin something and not sure what to get i usually google for reviews. Just in case you havent read any reaviews i suggest it.

[quasar]

I voted for the Zen Micro because although I love my Zen Xtra, I do wish it was a little bit smaller.

I bought my Xtra about a year and a half ago because it was $100 cheaper and had more space than an iPod. Since then, I have never dropped it and I've only had to reset it once. I was afraid of jarring it too much when I run on the treadmill so I used to sit it on a table beside me, but now I just put it in one of the holders and jog away. It's still a pretty reliable device that sounds great.

[MysticFalcon182]

An iRiver beats any product Apple could come out with, hands down. Better quality product. iPods aren't even actual MP3 players.

Besides, why be the same?

Mine:

Edited by MysticFalcon182, 17 October 2005 - 04:31 PM.

[Stalin05]

Go for any zen
I have a micro and its great, the zen xtra is good because of the EAX software built in, nothing else has it, you can speed music up, slow it down, put it in environments, etc, etc, also, creative software is easy to use, i like it better than the itunes software

[Nerferc]

Check out cnet.com for reveiws on mp3 players. They have price listings and ratings and everything. It might help you out.

[ompa]

iRiver H-series. Reason I got a nano was because it's flash-based, and I just like flash-based memory (for an mp3 player) better than hard-drive based.

Yes, I own a Nano.

I only have 800mb of music.

~ompa