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I finally bit the bullet and bought an MP3 player

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:12 pm
by brisk
I've been putting it off forever, and since my minidisc is positively battered from overuse, i've decided it was the right time to purchase a portable MP3 player.

I've been looking about on the web for a few hours comparing models from sony, apple, etc. In the end, I decided to settle with this:

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Aesthetically, it is exactly what I wanted, and the 1gb flash memory should be more than suitable. I deliberately wanted to avoid going the apple route, as the reports of screen wear/battery life issues with the ipod were too big to ignore. Not only that, it seems everyone has an ipod now, and I wanted something a little different.

I also bought a neat uniross 15 minute NIMH charger for AA/AAA batteries which I can use for this. My sister stole my old uniross charger, which was equally superb. Its incredible to think people still buy non-rechargable batteries.

Anyway, I managed to find this MP3 player for £109 on Amazon (cheapest I found it elsewhere was about £140-150), and I can't wait to hook it up to my Shure earphones :)

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:15 pm
by brisk
Oh, and product info here

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:17 pm
by +JuggerNaut+
surprising only .mp3 and .wma support. give a review when you get it.

i can't seem to find if it supports vbr or not? did you see that anywhere?

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:21 pm
by Don Carlos
Good call man
Get off that bus ;)

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:23 pm
by brisk
.asf too, though I would only ever use it for MP3 anyway. Saying that, I do still have a few .ogg rips on my HDD, as well as a few .flac's, but since 99.9% of my collection is in MP3, its not a biggie.

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:27 pm
by +JuggerNaut+
some of these obscure DAP's usually support the "odd" formats like .ogg

lol playing .flac on a DAP

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:34 pm
by brisk
Oh and regarding VBR, i'm pretty sure it will do. If it doesn't, it'll be sent straight back to them, thats for sure.

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:37 pm
by +JuggerNaut+
cool that. again, i'd like to hear your comments after a couple of days of use.

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:40 pm
by Mr.Magnetichead
I want the new walkman.

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:52 pm
by Tsakali_
Don Carlos wrote:Good call man
Get off that bus ;)
he was never on it :icon30:

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 5:56 pm
by plained
glad you found sommin to suit your needs.

unlike my serch for portable vid :(

hows your lappy did you bust a closing clip off yet?

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:02 pm
by brisk
Laptop is fine, though I haven't really used it that much as of yet. I need to buy a big laptop bag for it so I can take it out of the house with less risk of getting mugged.

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:09 pm
by saturn
109 quid is expensive for 1 gb player

139 quid and you have 2gb nano with the same 14 hours of playback. Ok, soft screen, but not all the Nanos have that problem.

Who cares if everybody else has got one, you carry it in your pocket with your Shure earphones. Nobodies knows. (same with me and my 4G iPod/Sony EX-71sl)

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:14 pm
by brisk
It was a conscious decision. ALL my friends have an ipod, and I don't like the thought of having to pay apple to replace my battery when it eventually fails. With this setup, I can just charge my batteries in 15 minutes, and keep spares in my pocket in case the battery fails whilst i'm on the bus/train (and no, not the apple bus!).

Its nice to be different.

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:17 pm
by saturn
yay, AAA battery. I never listen 14 hours continuously, I don't see the problem. You're really concerned about the battery life, which is a normal concern. By the time it's worn out, you'll buy a new spanky new mp3 player.

Join the chavclub. Get an iPod!

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:31 pm
by brisk
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 :)

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:41 pm
by plained
yea on board battery has cused me hassle.

i busted a closeing clip off mine its np tho.

if your concerned about getting muugerd, doent get a fancy "steal me" bag, put it in a "nobody wants me" garbage bag :p

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:45 pm
by 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?

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:46 pm
by phantasmagoria
Confess, you got the pink one, didn't you...

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:47 pm
by phantasmagoria
Mat Linnett wrote: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?
Was that on special offer?

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:48 pm
by plained
i can garentee the pink will be more duable.

i remember the balck n64 controler dies 1st, then grey 2nd, then green then old blue last.

all had same conditions and use

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:50 pm
by Mat Linnett
phantasmagoria wrote:
Mat Linnett wrote: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?
Was that on special offer?
Nope, standard price.
Couldn't quite believe it myself, and a quick Google reveals most places still selling it for £185+. And I bought it 3 months ago.

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:52 pm
by brisk
Mat Linnett wrote: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.

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:52 pm
by saturn
brisk wrote: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

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:52 pm
by brisk
phantasmagoria wrote:Confess, you got the pink one, didn't you...
The 1gb model only comes in titan gray. I'd have prefered silver, but this isn't bad.