MP3 Player : iPod or alternative?

R

Re83L

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Hey guys..

I'm in the market for a good mp3 player..

It has to have the following specs (at least) :

  • Has to be able to be charged away from my PC
  • Would prefer if it can play music through my car's radio.
  • Minimum of 8GB
  • User friendly, not a cheap knock-off :D
  • Would like good batterylife and good build-quality.

Anyways, been looking at the iPod nano, (R1999 on special at kalahari.net)
I have heard that the Creative Zen is also very good, where can I find prices on it locally?

Is there any alternatives? Please share your views.
 
I have an 8gb Creative Zen, very happy with it. At the time it was a bargain compared to the iPod Nano in terms of cost/features. Sound quality and format compatibility is a lot better than iPod, and for the size the screen is VERY impressive. Build quality is great, battery life also. But it does have to be charged through USB unless you can maybe find a converter charger, dunno how. It's not a problem for me.

But I have to say the Nanos have come down in price a lot recently, I would look at the new gen ones. Plus the Zen has actually gone up in price where I bought it:

http://www.have2have.co.za/product/Creative-ZEN-8GB-Black/30996/
 
X-Fi I have to say doesn't impress me. Too many buttons - and who wants to send SMS's from an MP3 player? Now if it could use tha wifi capability for something useful then I'd look at it. I'm quite happy with the Zen. I think it's the best design they came out with for a long time. The user interface is great, I love being able to customize a button for my bookmarks.
 
cerebus said:
X-Fi I have to say doesn't impress me. Too many buttons - and who wants to send SMS's from an MP3 player? Now if it could use tha wifi capability for something useful then I'd look at it. I'm quite happy with the Zen. I think it's the best design they came out with for a long time. The user interface is great, I love being able to customize a button for my bookmarks.
Click to expand...

I want it for the X-FI sound technology ... and the looks work for me.
 
X-FI is just a gimmick for a MP3 player, if the DAC is of a good quality then you'll have great sound the rest is just gimmicky.
 
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I really dont like ipod, it is beautiful but not useful, cant play mp4, always freeze, dont use for a while u need charge it. wait for another 2 yrs, maybe my country's mp4 player will enter yr market.
 
Frag said:
For now : The damned iTunes will have to do :(
Click to expand...

For me iTunes is the best side of iPod. If Creative had a music manager as good, as slick, and as simple, it would have sold far better.
 
Actually I really dislike iTunes. I find it intrusive and overly simplistic. But it's the best of a bad lot really.
 
I've used the iPod 3G (3rd gen), Creative Zen Vision and Cowon A3.
All 3 are great. The last two also play video, they are high end, high resolution players. From build quality I can say that Creative and Cowon are
good alternatives to the iPod. They are superior to the iPod in video playback (more formats and much higher res screens) but for audio they should all
be good. I also purchased an iPod Nano for my gf and she's happy with it.
It all depends on your choice and specs but for Audio

iPod, Cowon or Creative are all good.
All 3 makes have audio only HD or flash based models.
Cowon's may actually play video too at 8GB of flash.
 
The Zune 16 is also a very attractive and feature rich player. And the Samsung P2.
 
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Why pay 'brand' prices when you can get a solidly-made clone for one-third of an iPod's price??? I have been absolutely blown away by the quality and performance of one of the very widespread Nano clones you see around in SA these days, the JNC 'MovieMojo'. Game and HiFi Corp regularly do a 1GB model for R399, 2GB for 499; compare that with the barely-sub-2K iPod equivalents!

What knocked me out most was that you actually get more for your money, with the things that Apple left out: a good FM radio, a voice recorder and a tiny built-in speaker. Plays movies well, audio is phenomenal, e-book rendering is so-so, photo display fine, all on a 1.8-inch screen. And although the early models of this Nano-clone (third-generation Nano, fat, wide, square, as opposed to the new elongated Nano shape) had some problems they were recently re-engineered and kitted out with new software. Rock-solid now. Decent lithium battery life, too. I'm a fan! Cheap enough too that when technology hurtles on or the battery eventually dies, you don't feel any twinges at passing it on or dumping it.
 
The touch screen I have on sale is better quality than the nano clones.
 
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