Need Music Player - Looking for Advice

[shawnc]

I'm thinking of getting a dedicated music player and my needs are pretty simple. First of all, very small and lightweight. Next, must play MP3's and WMA's. Third, also accepts my 1G SD card (and possibly a 2G card).

I would prefer a flash memory unit because of the size, though with the size of hard drives I may be willing to consider a 5 or 10GB hard drive unit if it were small enough. Also, color is not necessary since that drains the battery.

Price is not a major consideration since I'm surprised at how inexpensive these units are. I guess after years of PPC's I just assumed that the music players were quite expensive.

So that's it. Just looking for some advice from the community. Any opinions, recommendations are appreciated. Direct links are GREATLY appreciated 8) .

Thanx in advance for the help.

Update - I've been looking at the Zen 6GB hard drive unit. Maybe a Hard drive unit won't be too bad so any suggestions in this direction are also appreciated.

Last Update - The Rio Carbon 6G hard drive unit has moved to the top of the list. Seems simpler (i.e. less features) and more designed for a non-techie. Downfall, no on-the-fly playlists. Now, I don't know what that means yet, but it does sound like something I'd be interested in.

[Janak Parekh]

(Apple iPods aside, which I presume you skipped because they don't natively play WMA, although iTunes can convert non-DRMed ones...) both Creative and Rio's units are nice -- but a vendor you might want to check out is iRiver (www.iriver.com) -- they've got some sleek hard drive and flash players. One of the catchier-looking ones is the H10. I don't own an iRiver, but my officemate has a (now-outdated) H140 and loves it.

As for on-the-fly playlists: that means you can create a playlist straight on the device, as opposed to on the desktop. So, for example, if you want to listen to 3 tracks from one album and 3 tracks from another, you can set up a custom playlist to do so while you're on the road so that you don't need to switch after a few song(s) complete. I do this all the time with my iPod, and I consider it a necessary feature, but YMMV.

--janak

[Fishie]

Hmmm, price is of no concern you said rigt?

Here ya go: http://www.bang-olufsen.com/web2/systems/product.asp?section=systems&sub=ms&prodid=402

:devilboy: :devilboy: :devilboy: :devilboy: :devilboy: :devilboy: :devilboy: :devilboy: :devilboy: :devilboy: :devilboy: :devilboy: :devilboy:

[shawnc]

Janak,

Thanx for the tips. It's hard to get a real feel for the iriver 6GB model since they don't give the dimensions. Also, while it looks like a nice unit, I'm wondering if things like color, picture viewer, etc. will simply add weight/cost to the unit. While price is not a big issue, I don't want to pay for features I will likely never use.

Yes, I did eliminate the Ipod primarily because of the lack of WMA support though I didn't realize that files could be converted. I think my wife is real close to picking up an Ipod and I was trying to hold out until she got hers to see if I liked it but I've run out of space on my 1G sd card and keep getting outbid on ebay for the 2G cards.

Also, thanx for the explanation of playlist-on-the-go. That's unfortunate because I was really leaning towards the Rio but have a hunch that I may not want to forego this feature.

Fishie - believe it or not, I did look at the Bose you provided the link for but I can't get any pricing information on the site. That alone likely tells me all I need to know regarding affordability. So, I stand corrected. Price is a factor :wink:

Another question I have is regarding the sturdiness (yeah, I just made that word up, but you know what I'm saying) of the hard drive units. I'm assuming that jogging and working out with them is not a problem.

[Janak Parekh]

Thanx for the tips. It's hard to get a real feel for the iriver 6GB model since they don't give the dimensions.
You might want to Google for reviews of the h10 and see if you can get more info. From all indications, I've heard that it's one of the best units iRiver has released, but I don't own one.

Yes, I did eliminate the Ipod primarily because of the lack of WMA support though I didn't realize that files could be converted.
Yeah, recent versions of iTunes added this feature. Do note that this won't work with any music bought from a WMA store, so if you do that, the iPods are not a choice for you. And don't feel pressured one way or another -- these units are pretty darn nice as well, and some of them are a good deal.

Also, thanx for the explanation of playlist-on-the-go. That's unfortunate because I was really leaning towards the Rio but have a hunch that I may not want to forego this feature.
That's my opinion, too. :) It's less of an issue on a small flash player where the music selection is limited, but on a hard drive player I think it's important.

Another question I have is regarding the sturdiness (yeah, I just made that word up, but you know what I'm saying) of the hard drive units. I'm assuming that jogging and working out with them is not a problem.
Sturdiness is a real word (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sturdiness). :) As for your question, standard jogging or working out should not be a problem. More strenuous physical activity (i.e., that makes lots of vibrations) may cause the hard drive to skip, which is inadvisable. It's not usually noticeable because of the RAM buffer (i.e., these players load a song into a RAM buffer and play it from there to save battery), but flash players are king for more extreme activities.

--janak

[shawnc]

Janak,

Thanx for the all help. I went with the Rio Carbon 6GB. I found the experience to be similar to purchasing a PPC. You get v-e-r-y close to the perfect unit, but each one is missing on small thing. In my case, it came down to the size of the Rio versus the convenience (i.e. playlists on the fly) of the Zen. I wanted them both but decided that I would rather forgo the convenience and keep the smaller size.

I've never had a dedicated music player so I'm kind of looking forward to it. I was going to spend about $150 on a 2GB SD card, so for about an additional $50 I pick up an additional 4 GB in storage, smaller size, and a dedicated unitl that will hopefully function as a higher quality alternative to my PPC.

We'll see how it turns out.

Thanx again,

[Janak Parekh]

Cool! I hope you enjoy your unit, and find it liberating. 8)

--janak

[shawnc]

Got my Rio. Just a couple thoughts/observations....

I was a little dissapointed in the initial sound quality. Being a dedicated player, I expected it to blow my PPC out of the water. It doesn't. Sound quality is a little better, though not much.

The disappointment lasted all of 5 minutes. Man, this thing is sweet. Granted, I don't have any music player experience to compare it too (other than my PPC) but it is soooo much more convenient for loading and listening to music.

I love how all the music is sorted by genre, artist, album, etc. Honestly, if I had known that these players were this nice, I might have held out and searched for a 20GB unit.

The only real disappointment is that it is simply another thing that takes me away from my PPC. I never really knew what all the fuss over the Treo's "one-hand" operation was until I brought my RAZR. Man, loading appointments is so much easier than it is on my PPC that I stopped using my ipaq as an organizer. Now all of my appointments/contacts are loaded to my RAZR. Now, with the dedicated music player, the only real use I have for my PPC is to read internet content via avantgo, and even that is on the decline.

I remember being frustrated and saying that my ipaq would likely be my last PPC purchase. However, I spent considerable time trying to find a similar VGA device. That told me that I hadn't really gotten the bug out of my system. But now, I'm not so sure.

[Janak Parekh]

I was a little dissapointed in the initial sound quality. Being a dedicated player, I expected it to blow my PPC out of the water. It doesn't. Sound quality is a little better, though not much.
Actually, many Pocket PCs are top-notch in audio quality. My iPAQ 3870 was one of the finest devices audiowise, and a bit better than my current iPod as it had a DSP-enabled equalizer with fantastic bass.

The disappointment lasted all of 5 minutes. Man, this thing is sweet. Granted, I don't have any music player experience to compare it too (other than my PPC) but it is soooo much more convenient for loading and listening to music.
Welcome to the hard drive revolution. 8)

The only real disappointment is that it is simply another thing that takes me away from my PPC.
You should let your needs drive your devices, not the other way around. :) If the Pocket PC is less important in your lifestyle, that's fine. The only time I'd be unhappy with this if you made the change due to ignorance, i.e., there was a way to accomplish what you wanted with a Pocket PC at the same level of convenience. This is clearly not the case here. Enjoy your new toy. 8)

--janak