the kickoff MP3 thread..........!!!!!!!

[Bandare]

Well, I have an ipod (1st generation 5 gig) and have been mightily pleased with it on the whole. I have found though that over the past 4 years a lot has changed with the mp3 market.

I personally love the iriver these days due to its functionality. Being able to directly record on to it and use it for practically anything far exceeds the simplicity or design of the ipod.....

what is your favourite and why?

[Chapel]

I have a few thoughts on MP3 players. My first rule is that it either has to be under a gig, somethign that would replace a CD player. Or they have to be huge, like 20+ gigs. My thought is either have it hold everything or nothing.
I really have no prefrence on brand, Apple is good, Creative seems decent.
The only other thing i care about is display, its got to have a display of some sorts that is backlit. Thus spawns my beef about the new Shuffles, while neat, w/o the display i cant see what im playing, i persoanlly dont like that.

[Frakk]

I have a Creative Zen Xtra 30G with Etymotic ER-6i earphones. It has a big, blue backlit screen, about 10 hours battery life and amazing sound quality. I have about 2 weeks of continous music on it and still have more than 14G free. I can use it as an external HD as well or as a backup drive for any of my files. And the price is very friendly, got it for $300 CAD after taxes and shipping ( compared to $450 for the 20G iPod with far less features) No wonder why im so anti-iPod :D

[K3LO]

i use the Sony MD player, it's no Ipod, but it's good enought for it's 100 dollar price tag

[Bandare]

agreed, I think ipod is the first one but not the best... it just looks good!

[ZeD]

I have used a few of these (http://www.dansdata.com/usbmp3.htm) no name units and must say they sound great, I do like the simplistic look of them. What I would love to see is an all in one thumb drive. MP3, wifi, storage, security, personal data client(email client with emails, instant messenger with buddy list, auto sign on\configuration\install, favorites, e.t.c.) in one small keychain sized device. I see the no name units on eBay and they come in 1g sizes now which is about enough for a portable, I usually only find myself listening to a few new songs and the same 20 or so favorites often. The rest of the gig is good to transport the latest divx file to a friends place.

[Whisp]

I have a sandisk 512 MB one and it works fine. Holds more then enough music for my needs and has a radio. earbuds that came with it where not that bad. Also it has a graphic 5 band equalizer which I could change for my own likes or it has pre settings.

Overall a decent unit.

[Deadman]

I have a 4th generation 20GB IPod. I haven't had a problem with it yet, but the battery life varies. I will get 12 hours sometimes, and then 8 other times. It does the job though...

[MrSlacker]

i have iRiver h120 with Arctic iSkin and Ety 6i. as i call it, "the ultimate ip0d killer". 18 hours of non stop battery life. no software needed coz it works as external hdd. i just love this thing.

[heavy newton]

I have a 30GB Creative Zen Xtra myself and I love it. I got it for 300 with a two year replacement plan. My only complaints are the battery eject button is too easily hit and some of the organization is lost when tracks are saved on a playlist. Though I do have to say the iPod machines are just sexy basically it has a very good "ooh" factor to it. I'd take one but would never buy one personally.

[wretched73]

i have the dell jukebox 20gb and i think its awesome. its cheaper and holds a couple hundred more songs and has a sturdier constrution

[Aero]

I have an Archos Gmini 120. 20 Gig, tough as a rock. This thing has survived over a year and a half of traveling to school in my backpack. The same trip that turned an Ericson phone into rubble in about 6 months. I even take it out and just smack it in the table. My friends were like "Archos? whats that? You should have bought an iPod". I then take out my Archos and smack it, drop it and tell them to do that with an iPod, they just looked at me like I was nuts. The best poart is that it still works great, sometimes the buttons skip, but for $200 and 20 gig of storage that have lasted 1.5 years, heck, I love it.

[timmer]

iRiver H320...mine can play videos.. :D