Best non-iPod MP3 player
I've got a friend who is looking for an MP3 player. I know (and he knows) that the iPod is the best one out there, but he doesn't have a firewire mac and doesn't want to shell out the $400 for the iPod + whatever it's going to cost for XPlay. So, what's the best MP3 out there? He wants more than 64mgs of memory and rechargeable batteries, but those (and price) are his only requirements. What do you recommend?
Comments
Depends. Personally I think that flashram MP3 players are a joke, its too expensive for the damn memory. CD-MP3 players are too big, and use too much power, and Minidisc takes too long to record. Basically the iPod is the only good one out there, but for $400...
<a href="http://www.nomadworld.com/products/nomad2mg/" target="_blank">web page</a>
[ 03-01-2002: Message edited by: thegelding ]</p>
There's two I'm looking at reallly, there's the Archos Recorder thingy 20Gb and the Rio Riot 20Gb. Neither are as good as the iPod but they have capacity. The Rio Riot looks ok, it even has a dial and some special navigation system. The Archos also looks ok but is slightly older and has some quality issues. I don't know, neither seem perfect to me but the PC websites like <a href="http://www.zdnet.com" target="_blank">www.zdnet.com</a> and <a href="http://www.ign.com" target="_blank">www.ign.com</a> (gear section) say they're good though. I don't know about the quality issues as well though, with Apple you know you're gonna get a perfect (usually!!!) item all well made and stuff but some people have complained about these items.
Also they only have USB connection with is also a problem but I really only need it because I'll be travelling for a while and need to take a suitable amount to music and so don't really need to update it regularly. I only really need to transfer my mp3 in one monster session perhaps overnight or something. But then again it is a bit annoying.
try this: <a href="http://www.nomadworld.com/products/Jukebox_20GB/" target="_blank">web page</a>
[ 03-01-2002: Message edited by: thegelding ]</p>
David
there are a lot of POS discmen out there; I have a couple of them. These pieces of **** have like 4 hour battery life, skip even though they have 120 sec of antishock, chop the end off of songs, and just generally suck.
The Samsung discman is one such POS, Koss makes another. If a discman doesn't advertise it's battery life on the package, it must suck, so don't buy it.
Personally, I have my eye on a Panasonic discman that plays MP3s and get 20-30 hours off of 2 AAs. Sweet. I also know for a fact Panasonics have phenomenal, flawless skip protection / error correction.