Recommend me an MP3 player

[EdwardKnoxII]

Ok here's the deal I've decided to buy an MP3 player with my X-Mas money. I willing to send anywhere from $150 to $200. So what do you recommend. Thanks.

[bobobrazil1984]

That's pretty vague. What features are important for you? Are you more interested in portability? or in the ability to do extra stuff? Watch video too? Do you need a ton of storage? using it to workout?

 

It's hard to go wrong with an iPod Nano:

http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/

 

Main reason for suggesting the iPod Nano is basically the interface. For non touchscreen mp3 players, the scroll wheel is King. Circular scrolling is more natural than any competitor's interface, and the buttons behind the scroll wheel feels natural without cluttering the front with buttons.

 

It hits your price point perfectly, $150 for 8GB, $200 for 16GB.

 

 

Alternatively, you can check out the Microsoft Zune, which has players at similar price points. A little cheaper actually. Upsides to Zune are that its not an iPod (if that matters to you), and has a few extra features, however its physical interface is inferior - the big button doubles as a pushable buttons or a touchpad. It sounds a better than it works, but it's not a bad player: http://www.zune.net/en-us/mp3players/default.htm

 

Creative makes a bunch of players too but I'd only suggest those if you're more budget-conscious. They are cheaper I think, but are vastly inferior in terms of design, UI, and physical inputs. Given the choice, I'd rank them behind both iPod and Zune.

[Steviekick]

I'd go with the iPod nano. It's durable and its interface is top notch.

[Smartly Pretty]

In terms of sheer gigs-per-dollar, I'm pretty sure an iPod classic is the best value. I got an 80 gig for $250. That's what, 3 dollars a gig? As opposed to the nano which is like, 12.5 a gig.

[Steviekick]

I used to have a Classic, but it died do to hard drive issues.

[Perfxion]

I have a nano and like it. If you are just for music, once you get over 2 its pointless to care about how many gigs. Thats hundreds and hundreds of songs. More than you might really listen to.

[KingPK]

I have a 4GB Sansa SanDisk player and I use it all the time. You can get one for $100ish (I got an older model on clearance for $50). As was stated, unless you are going to play videos on it, 4GB is plenty of space. It also has a great interface and scroll wheel.

[...]

I've been partial to the Creative Zen line. No pissing about in iTunes required. Just a simple drag-and-drop of files, and the screen is much sharper than the iPod. I don't know if the Zen Vision 30GB or 80GB are still on the market though.

[Smartly Pretty]

How is 4 gigabytes enough for you people?

[Red Baron]

Get the Zune. Easier to use and upload songs and remove songs too. The scroll is easier to use than the nano i found.

[Youth N Asia]

If you've got $200 I'd get the 8GB Ipod Nano. I love mine

 

Says it holds 2,000 songs...ehhh, no, a solid 1,700 to 1,800 though

[Perfxion]

My PC is holding 29 gigs of music, but my most played play list has about 1.5 gigs in it. Nobody could really listen to EVERY song on an 80gig to 160gig player. My 8gig Nano is more than plenty.

[daileyxplanet]

Bear in mind, an iPod Nano and Classic can be used as a small external hard drive as well. If you like that.

[CuddlyKnife]

Zen MP3 players that have worked well for me for a couple of years now, and i just got a new Microsoft Zune 4GB Media Player for my sister these days, you can take a look at it.

This is a great product. All that comes in the box is the Zune, a sync cord, earphones, and brief documentation. You need to go online and download the Zune software to a PC and then hook up the player before you can get it to do anything. This doesn't take too long and the Zune will provide you with some sample content to try out as part of this process.