Shall I buy a MP3 player, or get an MP3 capable PDA/phone?

[M0nkeyb0Y]

I'm bored of listening to the voices in my head and need something to drown them out. My dilema is this: Shall I fork out for an MP3 player (budget £100-150), and have another thing to clutter my pocket; Or shall I get a mobile or PDA that can double as a walkman when I next upgrade?

Advice and suggestions of products always appreciated.

Ta, MB

[charleski]

It all depends on how much music you want to carry around with you. If you want to fill it up with all your music and not have to bother choosing what you're going to listen to before going out, then it's hard to beat a 5G viPod or an equivalent non-Apple player. (Even flash-players like the nano offer a lot of space these days.)

Many PDAs and phones are limited by the 2Gb limit of the FAT16 file system and so can't use memory cards bigger than this.


OT, but:
I was going to post the following smart-alec comment when it struck me how ridiculously dangerous it is that sites like this exist at all.

Originally Posted by M0nkeyb0Y

I'm bored of listening to the voices in my head and need something to drown them out.

You could always buy some haloperidol instead!

[Aaron]

If you go for a musicphone, you will never get the same integrated experience as, say, an iPod. The software isn't as good, the UI isn't as streamlined and generally you're going to end up with a bigger device per MB.

However, if you do want to get a musicphone then there's plenty of options.

The Sony Ericsson W810i is a very popular musicphone and usually comes with a 512MB memory card and some fairly decent headphones.

There's also the Nokia N91 with a 4GB HDD. It's not the smallest of phones, but at least it has a proper 3.5mm headphone socket and can sync with your PC via Windows Media Player.

Lastly, there's the Sony Ericsson W950i. It comes with 4GB of flash memory built-in, has a touchscreen but doesn't include a camera. It's also not quite out yet.

If you do decide to go for a musicphone, just make sure you avoid the Motorola ROKR E1. It syncs with iTunes but it's terrible.

[M0nkeyb0Y]

Cheers guys - that's some good advice (except about the anti-psychosis pills!), I'm begining to think I'll go for a dedicated player. If you've any recommendations let me know.

Thanks again, MB

[Funkstar]

Another phone option is the W850 which should be out before the W950, is 3G and has twin cameras. Apparently the P990 can handle 8GB MemoryStick Duo cards, i don't know if the W850 is the same, but i woudln't be surprised as it is of the same generation etc.

[just_laze]

I think the benefit of having limited capacity is you're almost forced to listen to the same, say, 10 albums because it's all you've got. With an iPod i find myself switching between tracks every 10 minutes.

I won't tell you whether to buy a dedicated device or a phone as you've already decided dedicated, so my suggestions would be, the obvious iPod Video that i believe is now up to 5.5G after Apple's recent announcement or i quite fancy the iAudio players in particular the X5.