mp3 players

[alonewiththemoon]

Mere months after getting a cell phone, I'm now looking at mp3 players--somewhere an angel is crying. Or maybe it's a devil, some days it's hard to tell. Anyway the bounce-proof memory on my cd walkman is no longer bounce proof and I figured I might as well upgrade my technology if I have to replace it.

So, my question to you, gentle readers--could those of you with non-Apple mp3 players let me know in the comments what you have and what your experience has been with it? Reasons I would be more than happy not to get an iPod are 1. price; 2. I very much want to use my own headphones; and 3. an admittedly somewhat stupid kneejerk reaction against being trendy. Creative Labs' Zen Touch is looking pretty appealing, especially after just now speaking to misscalculation about her experience with it. Thanks muchly...

This has not been an especially good morning so far, what with me running late, the bus running late, traffic into Alewife being backed up to Mass Ave and the aforementioned loss of memory in my Walkman, since the T is decidedly bounce-filled. Well, at least the sun is peeking out, and the leaves on one of the trees outside my window are pretty, as are the raindrops glistening on the other tree's red berries.

Comments

[slickgothgurl.livejournal.com]

i have the Zen Touch and i love it. p got it for me for my birthday. there's a kiosk at the prudential mall where you can buy them (and accessories). the only thing i found annoying about it is that the battery runs out pretty fast. i end up having to charge it every other day. of course, if i just plugged it in when i wasn't using it that wouldn't be an issue, but seriously, who remembers to do that? ;)

[slickgothgurl.livejournal.com]

oh, and you can use any generic mini usb AC adapter to charge it, too...not just the usb cable to your computer. i found that out because the usb cable was still hooked into my laptop when it was stolen. i found the ac adapter to p's mp3 player (which is no longer in our posession, either *grrr*) and tried it out on mine. it works fine. just thought i'd let you know.

[tisana.livejournal.com]

Sorry...I caved and got an iPod, mostly because many accessories and things are made for it, not other MP3 players, but also because I wanted to store my photos. And the price isn't that bad if you get something that is not the top of the line--once they make something cooler, the one with no video capabilities or lower memory goes down in price.

But I did want to point out there's no reason you can't use your prefered headphones with one. I hate the iPod white earbuds--they hurt my ears, are obvious targets for mugging, and the sound quality isn't great at higher volumes. So I switched to the earbuds from my Sony CD player, which are far better, and life's been good since.

[developer.livejournal.com]

A seconding on the 'use any headphones' note -- I use my sony mdr's with my ipod, I never even took those white ear bud things out of the box.

[alonewiththemoon]

Ah, ok--I had read a review somewhere that said the headphones had a special non-standard jack. Maybe that's just the new nano ones.

I agree about the iPod earbuds making one an obvious target for mugging, even if I liked them I wouldn't use them.

[developer.livejournal.com]

I think that the nano lacks the remote port, which is a special port that ipods have in addition to the regular audio port that lets external devices control the ipod. I suspect the nano still has a standard jack.

*shrug*

I have heard good things about the creative players overall, but don't tell anyone I said that or I get thrown out of the mac cult.

[ggirl.livejournal.com]

I just got a Creative Zen Nano Plus. I wasn't looking to spend a whole lot of money and for about $100 I got a 1GB mp3 player that holds about 500 wma files. So I am loving it thus far. My only major gripe is that it won't work with Napster to Go (the subscription music download service) but not many players actually do, it turns out. So I guess I'll still have to pay per song to download stuff. But I've ripped all my favorite CD's already and am enjoying my new cute little blue player.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_perihelion_/]

I know I'm a hardcore Mac guy . . . but my problem with other MP3 players is that they are MP3 players. all the iPods can play AACs (or MP4s, if you like) which are better than twice the sound quality at the same bit-rate (i.e. file size). to me, the better sound quality is worth the higher price.

[nepenthedreams]

I love my Rio Karma, but they don't make it anymore.

Anyway, once you get one, emusic.com has a lot of great music, including a lot of middle-eastern music.