I finally bit the bullet and bought an MP3 player

[phantasmagoria]

http://www.sainsburysentertainyou.co.uk ... &pty=12328

!! 130 quiddies

[Massive Quasars]

The ipod brand has gone to shit, and everyone and their dog has one now. I'd like to retain some identity thank you very much

I don't mean to offend, but that's a horrible reason not to buy an Ipod. Considering the merits of the device, the cost, longevity, etc. you may decide not to buy it anyway.

[brisk]

wow. i kinda wish i waited now

[Mat Linnett]

Believe it or not, I got mine for the bargain price of £150 from Sainsburys of all places, the Sony NW-HD3.

For a 20GB player, I think that's fantastic.
Granted, Sony's software's a bit wank, but it works, and the player itself supports MP3, WMA, WAV & ATRAC3plus.

Did you go solid state for any particular reason?

For weight reasons I guess, but I didn't want to risk dropping a HD-based MP3 player.

The player you got is great btw. I was actually considering buying that for the longest time, but I never found it cheaper than £200. The design is superb.

Yeah, I'm very happy with it; usually I hate Sony kit, but they got this just right.
ATRAC3plus is nice too, even though it's a proprietry format.
Very good compression whilst retaining a high sound quality. I was wary about using it at first, but once I found that the difference in sound quality between ATRAC3plus and MP3 was negligible, I used it exclusively.

[Mat Linnett]

http://www.sainsburysentertainyou.co.uk/mall/sainsburys/main.cfm?productid=SEY70&sti=54734&pty=12328

!! 130 quiddies

Crikey, bargain!!!

Anyone in the UK, if you've not got an MP3 player, buy this! NOW!!!

[saturn]

i've used a Minidisc player for 5 years, before I got fed up with carrying many discs around. Atrac was pretty good, but you could hear the loss of quality when converting from mp3 :/

[brisk]

The ipod brand has gone to shit, and everyone and their dog has one now. I'd like to retain some identity thank you very much

I don't mean to offend, but that's a horrible reason not to buy an Ipod. Considering the merits of the device, the cost, longevity, etc. you may decide not to buy it anyway.

A lot of people wear burberry caps in Britain. I hear they're very sturdy too, and can take quite a blast of wind, even when the cap is raised vertically.

Doesn't mean I want to buy one though

Face it, the ipod is a fashion accessory now. The ipod brand is so popular, that even my mother had heard of it. Regardless of any so-called benefits it may offer, your average person on the street is buying it simply because its an ipod. And keeping with the fashion analogy, there will be always be people who don't want to look like a sheep.

[Foo]

Are those NetMD players any good?

[brisk]

So a little review of it:

Firstly, its small. Very small. Roughly the same size as the AA battery addon for my old minidisc. Its also very light, but construction is strong and sturdy. It comes with a shitload of extras, including a belt strap, a protective PVC casing, and the usual necessities. More importantly, it actually comes with a battery (duracell no less) so you can use it straight away! A small feature, but one which many companies neglect.

Anyway, it supports all the formats listed above, and also plays .wav files in case you want to be completely lossless. VBR support too in case you were wondering. I've heard some models support .ogg too, though I still need to check this.

I love the GUI interface, and moving files over is as simple as plugging it into a USB slot, and using explorer to move files and create folders. No need to install additional programs, which is a great feature.

Sound quality is very good, with a nice volume range which is smooth, and allows sufficient gain to all earphones. I tried using it to drive my Sennheiser 650's for a laugh, and it did surprisingly well The EQ is decent, and there are a few "live 3d" effects which although interesting, are not something I would use.

The controls take some getting used to because everything is located on the control dial, with no additional buttons elsewhere on the unit. This means the design is kept minimal and tidy, which I prefer. It doesn't have a proper "stop" button though, which is somewhat disappointing.

I have only used my rechargable batteries so far, which are generally higher capacity than normal alkaline batteries. I have used it for around 10 hours so far, and the unit still displays maximum battery life, which is of course a good thing.

Its small, neat, attractive, and offers everything I need from an MP3 player. It gets the brisk seal of approval.

[plained]

yea i like small as well .

my new tiny digi cam takes mediocre pics but man, the video mode is all i use on it .

[Iccy (temp)]

I don't like the thought of having to pay apple to replace my battery when it eventually fails.

Why pay apple to replace the battery?

I understand how good it feels to break from the pack, but this time i think you shouldnt have, but since your happy brisk, what else matters? Bottom line from me is this, its a nice player, not my choice, but like i said, you dig it. Nuff said, enjoy.

[Iccy (temp)]

http://www.boingboing.net/2004/09/08/ip ... ap_su.html


more to the point thought ....





Its replacable, ive cracked open my ipod, its cake.

Infact, if you want to SEE someone do it ..

http://revision3.com/systm/subsystm/ipodnano/

[plained]

that battery alone is bigger than the whole kit he got ey.

plus they are two totally differant products man geez.

actually brislk you made a terrible pick man i would have bought a pair of roller blades , but eeehhh

what can you do

[brisk]

I guess removing the ipod case yourself also voids the warrenty?

[Iccy (temp)]

that battery alone is bigger than the whole kit he got ey.

plus they are two totally differant products man geez.

actually brislk you made a terrible pick man i would have bought a pair of roller blades , but eeehhh

what can you do

The point was, how to open a ipod case, which works the same no matter the product.

[Iccy (temp)]

I guess removing the ipod case yourself also voids the warrenty?

Im sure it does, but me personaly i never use warrenties cause they are usualy a head ache to try to call the company on. Plus by the time the batteries die and you need it, its over. I would be concerned with a warranty on a 1000+ purchase, but not a 100-200.

[brisk]

A quick shot for size comparison. Excuse the low quality, its near midnight here, and there is no decent lighting in my bedroom (and a flash would kill it)

[Iccy (temp)]

oh wow that thing is tiny. Well thats definelty a plus for it. Really the only thing i cant get past is the batteries that ill have to feed it cause i listen to probably 8 hours of music a day and the fact its only mp3 basicly. Im into podcasting and audiobooks as well as music, so for me persoanly it would hinder me.

But like i said,your diggin it and what else matters? I wouldnt be complaining, i would just buy some rechargable batteries. Plus, i guess im a bit of a ipod fanboi cause of all the podcasting im into atm.

But yea man, use it and enjoy it, if nothing else its got my vote for looking cool.

[brisk]

Oh, I forgot to mention it also includes a neat FM radio, and a SUPERB voice recorder. Seriously, the quality is comparable to some high-grade microphones I have used for my minidisc haha.

[brisk]

oh wow that thing is tiny. Well thats definelty a plus for it. Really the only thing i cant get past is the batteries that ill have to feed it cause i listen to probably 8 hours of music a day and the fact its only mp3 basicly. Im into podcasting and audiobooks as well as music, so for me persoanly it would hinder me.

But like i said,your diggin it and what else matters? I wouldnt be complaining, i would just buy some rechargable batteries. Plus, i guess im a bit of a ipod fanboi cause of all the podcasting im into atm.

But yea man, use it and enjoy it, if nothing else its got my vote for looking cool.

Yep, thats why I got the recharger+batteries. Interestingly, it doesn't use the battery when you move tracks over as it relies on USB power, so I guess they could have included an internal battery if they wanted. But personally, i'm glad they didn't as it would only increase size/cost.

[Dave]

Battery is a concern. I probably will upgrade to the latest whizz-bang technology in a few years, but that shouldn't influence my decision now. On-board battery is a HORRIBLE decision, which you apple fanboys just can't seem to grasp! It means more work for apple (though admitably, more cash), and more work for the consumer. How long does it take to fully charge a nano from flat-to-full? I'd hazard a guess it takes a lot longer than 15 minutes which will charge FOUR of my NIMH batteries, and give me 60 hours of music life. And when these batteries finally do fail after 1000 or so charges, I can simply just buy more (and not pay apple $50 or however much they skank you for)

I can also just connect this MP3 player to my USB slot and drag/drop files/folders straight from explorer. I don't know how apple goes about it, but I assume they use their crappy itunes software to do it.

But worst of all - schemes are in place in the UK to offer ipods to bratty chav teens to encourage them to stay in education. The ipod brand has gone to shit, and everyone and their dog has one now. I'd like to retain some identity thank you very much

if in loss of words, call someone an apple fanboy....

don't wonder why people like their players, just moan about battery life, call them fanboys and buy an obscure brand

lol... I guess I'm a fanboy. I probably sold out, too.

[brisk]

If I didn't use a mac every day at university, i'd be inclined to say that apple users are the most defensive, paranoid individuals i've ever come across on the entire interweb

[plained]

hehe 30fps progscan

[Dave]

I guess removing the ipod case yourself also voids the warrenty?

Im sure it does, but me personaly i never use warrenties cause they are usualy a head ache to try to call the company on. Plus by the time the batteries die and you need it, its over. I would be concerned with a warranty on a 1000+ purchase, but not a 100-200.

this is true.. by the time anyone should need to replace their battery in their ipod, the warranty will probably have long expired anyway unless they have a bad battery to begin with. I have one of the first 1G minis that still does fairly well. It was only advertised to last 4 or 5 hours and I still get about 3 ever after doing a terrible job of keeping the battery properly charged.

[Dave]

If I didn't use a mac every day at university, i'd be inclined to say that apple users are the most defensive, paranoid individuals i've ever come across on the entire interweb

I'm a .net programmer. I'm a renaissance man.