I know this has been asked about a thousand times, but frankly, I’m too lazy to search for any of them…deal with it Greg 
Besides, I figure the market’s changed some since those threads, so there may be something not available then. No idea why, but been feeling the urge to ask for an MP3 player for xmas. Nothing fancy and probably don’t want an iPod since it only supports iTunes or whatever they’re called, and from what research I’ve done, you get less storage for all the money you’ll spend with an iPod. I’d like something that works well and won’t cost out the ass…ya know, more bang for the buck. Any suggestions?
Anxious to see what you guys say to this question. I’ve had limited experience w/mp3 players, but I’m psyched about them in general. Miles ahead of cassette and CD walkmans. But I also need one or two more in my house and don’t know what to get.
I have a nextar 512 MB.
Pros: It was $28 new. I can take any mp3 and just shove it thru a USB wire like it’s just a hard drive, and it simply plays. No iTunes, no Windows Media Player. Just copy/paste. Fairly easy to navigate the controls, more or less a logical setup.
Cons: Sound dynamics aren’t great; limited EQ options … only 512MB … factory headphones are terrible … takes AAA battery instead of internal re-charge (but I’m using rechargeable batteries so it’s not bad) … starting to behave weird; shutting off on its own and changing tracks.
My son has a Philips 4GB.
Pros: It was $42 used. This thing is sweet. Sounds full and pretty. I tried to test the headphones out on ^that mp3 player to see if it’s the headphones, but I think it’s really both. The player just has a better sound, and so do its headphones. 4GB is much more room than 512MB. Its functions are cool-looking, and it has a groovy shape, plus it charges right from the wall socket.
Cons: Only works w/Windows XP. I have to go to my sister’s house to load songs … it’s okay though since my son’s music selection is small, being that he’s 13. That situation won’t last much longer though! The other con is that it’s married to Windows Media Player, and you have to load it thru WMP, no choice. You have to make a playlist first, and I’ve found that process to be no fun.
My son used to have a 512MB iPod Shuffle.
Pros: Looks like that lick’em candy stick thing. Aesthetically neato. Great sound.
Cons: iTunes can bite me. It wasn’t compatible with one of my computers. It stole like, four or five whole days out of my life trying to get it working properly. Then it freakin fell apart when my son was a little rough with it one day. It was $70 new, and it’s only 512MB (compare to $28 for generic brand w/lousy headphones). It charges thru the actual computer, which never seemed to really do it fully (I think I had the wrong kind of USB port maybe … or maybe it didn’t live long enough for me to really know!). You have to use iTunes with the thing, and that’s worse than WMP w/the Philips. I like to use EAC to make mp3s so maybe that’s at the heart of my dislike for iTunes & its iPod friends.
Overall that Philips is killer, and I’ll be eyeing ebay for Philips players if I ever upgrade to XP.
Meanwhile I’m keeping my options open while my crappy little nextar thing still lives.
Wait, you really think I’m going to be a Nazi Mod about searching for old threads?? I barely even pay attention to that kind of shit anymore.
I-pod Classic 160gb.
Fits my entire music collection.
Nothing else even comes close.
Easy to use, easy to load songs, plays my phish videos as well as other concerts I have.
You don’t HAVE to use Itunes, you can use the new amazon store or just load your cd’s or other mp3’s.
No other music player even comes close to the storage.
It was a joke, Greg (hence the smiley)…a throwback to the days of yore.
Out of all you technogadget lovers, I got 1 suggestion?
I play all of my music through computers at work or home or in my car. I like plugging the labtop into my heady speakers at home and rocking out.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get an ipod.
I love my ipod, but if you want an alernative then…
One thing I will say: Don’t get a Sony Walkman. I got one for running and I HATE IT!
Not loud enough
Not mac compatible (maybe not a problem for you but a real kick in teeth for me)
but worst of all, the Sony software is DREADFUL and you have to use it.
labtop?
It was probably a typo.
The ‘b’ is close to the ‘p’ on the keyboard.
my post was kind of a suggestion.
^yeah it brobably was. those two letters really are bretty close tobether.
do you ever post anymore when not correcting me??
didnt we discuss laptop/labtop the other day, hank?
didnt i send you a wiki link for laptops?
damn it, henry!
wikipedia’s accuracy is very questionable.
but yeah, I know now its laptop, I just wasn’t thinking about it then I guess.