What 20GB MP£ Player

[Byatt]

iaudio m3!

[speardane]

I have had my Iriver H series for a couple of years now. It just works and keeps working.

For
multiple formats, with very high recoding rates available
High quality output to line and headphone
Decent headphones supplied - stunning with high end headphones
USB 2 device - no complex software or cables required - can also be used for back up

Against
Larger than Ipod
Not so sexy - so safer on the underground!
adequate rather than brilliant

John

[nvening]

i ike mine to look good.

[nvening]

im getting the new sony, in black

[ahat]

The new Sony NW-A3000 is very tempting to me. 20gb (the also apparently have a 6gb model)
According to the site, it can give you very many different custom playlists and the like.
A battery life of 30-35 hours is also a plus, and I hear the audio quality is supposed to be on par with all of the other quality Sony players.
http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowArtic...site=odw_en_GB



I am going to keep ahold of my Seinheissers to try them on this.

[nvening]

what in ear type headphone are best for this for about £30 ?

[j.o.s.h.1408]

Try the Creative Zen. I have the 20GB version and i am well happy with it.Has stated in previous sites(ebuyer/scan etc...) it does last over 20Hours!! Thats almost double what the normal standard Ipod can take.. Not sure if the newer releases last longer though

[nvening]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...502030-1687853

These the best?

[[DW]Cougho]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...502030-1687853

These the best?

Ive heard they arent too bad. However the build quality is apparantly appauling, so if your gonna get them, get them from a shop where you can pop in to exchange em (within warranty as they always break within it).

Or you could do what i did and decide to blow what i view as an excessive amount on headphones and get some shure e2c's which A: sound unbelievable for headphones and B: are built like a brick sh........... well you get the picture.

[nvening]

so if I break them i can claim they are faulty?

are there better ones for £30? £50 for the cheapest shures, tre tre much

[[DW]Cougho]

so if I break them i can claim they are faulty?

are there better ones for £30? £50 for the cheapest shures, tre tre much

yep, i think i remember someone bought some from richer sounds (i think) and that when he got them replaced the warranty was basically reset and that over the years hes had about 7 pairs but only paid for 1.

And i think they are probably the best you will get for £30. I also have the Sennheiser MX500's (now replaced by the MX550's) and they are solid if a bit lacking in bass. I think maplin still does these.

[shiato storm]

has anyone tried one of those new sony things yet?...
I'm pondering putting an mp3 player of sorts down as potential xmas gift but not sure what to go for; there's the obvious ubiquitous ipod and its 'please mug me and steal my possessions' white earphones, the iriver ones I hear are pretty decent as well...

[!nfil]

has anyone tried one of those new sony things yet?...
I'm pondering putting an mp3 player of sorts down as potential xmas gift but not sure what to go for; there's the obvious ubiquitous ipod and its 'please mug me and steal my possessions' white earphones, the iriver ones I hear are pretty decent as well...

I'm in the same boat.

I went to check out both the Sony NWA-3000 and iPod Video during my lunch break last Saturday. The Sony NWA-3000 aesthetically looks good albeit slighty bigger than the iPod however the screen seems to be a bit pixelated (maybe it's just me) though the menu system seems to be as good and as quick as the iPod. There is also the ability to replace the battery and from what I have heard some user's have reported it to last up to 20+ hours, that is if you are using ATRAC.

The iPod does look stunning in the flesh, very thin with a bright and great looking screen though my main concerns were the lack of replaceable battery and again the lack of remote. Menu system is very nice and the clickwheel makes it very easy to navigate through the various menus.

In terms of audio quality some would argue that the Sony would be better but you'd probably require some expensive headphones to notice the difference.

Saying that, I will probably go for the iAudio X5 as my experience with their M3 model was very good and it seems to be the best compromise, especially in terms of what additional features you get which you don't get in the other two. In addition you can get it for £203.61 from ebuyer which is cheaper than a lot of other places.

[XA04]

I like my iPod shuffle. Nice little thing, you can use it as a USB stick (which is very handy), you can get it in 512mb and 1gb (I have the 1gb version and still havn't filled it all up).

Down side is iTunes, if you like it that's fine. But there is a way around it, a Python script (http://shuffle-db.sourceforge.net/) which is very useful, and you can arrange the folders on your iPod to how you like.

It doesn't have an LCD but who needs one?, it looks great too.

[nvening]

I have tried the sony and it is very nice, the screen is an OLED screen and i think is mabe old tech or something but there are some mp3 players which are now starting to use them because of thier usability (easy to read) and i guess, low power consumption.

The shuffle is all well and good if you dont have much music. Or you dont feel the need to carry it all round.

The iriver is also good (and its 100 from argos, if you can get your hands on one) but it is tre ugly imho

[autopilot]

If you dont need a battery draining colour screen (who really does), i would go for the Sony myself. Probably the 30gig HD-5. If only because it suports gappless playback, which you might notice i go on about a lot (im suprised more people dont, ignorance is bliss i guess).

The ipod video is tasty looking though i have to admit, but for me presonally the Sony has more Pro's than Con's compared to ipods (although its close). And Sonic stage is not as bad as everyone makes out these days. Most of the serious bugs have been patched out (albiet very slowly and it's still no itunes). Sony are dropping Sonic stage anyway soon though. They are building a whole new thing, dont know much about it mind.

There is no such thing as the perfect player yet, all have thier downsides. If only Apple could implement removable and longer lasting batteries, proper gappless playback (with CUE support) and better format support in general (get with the Ogg Vorbis/FLAC guys), the likes of iriver, sony and creative etc might as well just give up and go home. It really would be quite easy for these much needed features, i just cant understand what they are playing at (maybe they are holding off like the mobile companies, updrading every year to get people buying new ipod every generation).

Of course the next thing on the list should be WiFi too, how sweet would that be, auto syncing without even having to take it out of your pocket Maybe they dont want people hacking peoples ipods on the bus with there laptop!