best portable mp3 player?

[MuTTy_Hc]

Seen these 3 diff mp3 players,

60gb creative zen
40gb ipod 4th gen
40gb cowon iaudio m3
4gb mini ipod


i put the biggest sizes for all of them just as a guidline, i dont really mind bout the size, just need to know which one offers these.

- Best Sound quality
- Best support
- Best software
- Best encoding compatability
- Size
- Price

tnx.

[jimborae]

Well I have a Cowon M3 20 gig, using it now as it happens, at work, listening to the radio. I've also owned an Ipod (rev3) 20 gig briefly. For sound quality i rank the ipod higher (but many would diagree with me) however thats what I found. It generally sounded less compressed or flat as the Cowon did. But for general versatility I rank the cowon much higher because it has a radio, it can record, it has more codec support than the ipod & it can be used as an external hard disk to store any type of file. Its also cheaper than the Ipod because of all the things you get with it as standard.

Also with the screen on the remote & not the unit the cowon is slightly smaller than the ipod & you dont have to remove it from your pocket everytime you want to change tracks . But there is a downside too

1. No id3 tag support as it uses a file browser system to select tracks
2. The controls are not intuative like they are on the ipod, it is fiddly to select albums & tracks till you get used to it.

You might like to also cosider the iriver IHP120 & iHP140 mp3 players, all the benefits of the cowon plus digital line out, downside is its less attractive and more bulky. Eitherway the best place to buy one from is advancedmp3players.co.uk, great site, huge selection, price match promise, great back up should things go wrong and a good forum as well.

[eddietop]

Nice info, im also looking at buying one.

[MuTTy_Hc]

Well I have a Cowon M3 20 gig, using it now as it happens, at work, listening to the radio. I've also owned an Ipod (rev3) 20 gig briefly. For sound quality i rank the ipod higher (but many would diagree with me) however thats what I found. It generally sounded less compressed or flat as the Cowon did. But for general versatility I rank the cowon much higher because it has a radio, it can record, it has more codec support than the ipod & it can be used as an external hard disk to store any type of file. Its also cheaper than the Ipod because of all the things you get with it as standard.

Also with the screen on the remote & not the unit the cowon is slightly smaller than the ipod & you dont have to remove it from your pocket everytime you want to change tracks . But there is a downside too

1. No id3 tag support as it uses a file browser system to select tracks
2. The controls are not intuative like they are on the ipod, it is fiddly to select albums & tracks till you get used to it.

You might like to also cosider the iriver IHP120 & iHP140 mp3 players, all the benefits of the cowon plus digital line out, downside is its less attractive and more bulky. Eitherway the best place to buy one from is advancedmp3players.co.uk, great site, huge selection, price match promise, great back up should things go wrong and a good forum as well.

that sites dearer than amazon mate :/ however as u stated it price matches.

Whats the creatives like?? The cowon looked more bulky imo, however as u said it is smaller. Difficult decision I guess.

Hm... So the cowon 40gb is a good buy? The iriver is the same price too however the ipod is £270...

whats the best bang for buck?

[MuTTy_Hc]

that iRiver 140 looks really good, but a bit of a brick. Is the sound quality better than the ipod/

[jimborae]

AdvancedMP3 players will match amazons price as thats what I used, plus their service is much better. The cowon m3 is not bulky in any way shape or form, its as thin as a rizla practically, I believe its the thinnest you can get. It just must be the piccys that are distorting the dimensions.

It all depends on what features you want as to which is the best. I wanted something small & light, fm radio and could be used as an external hard disk. That made it choice between the Iriver & Cowon Iaudio M3. Then it came down to size & style & the cowon won hands down.

My mates have the Iriver but they need the digital connection for recording, as for sound quality I'd put the Iriver on a par with the Ipod but its all subjective.

[myth]

that iRiver 140 looks really good, but a bit of a brick. Is the sound quality better than the ipod/

I have the 120... 20 giger not 40 and I love it! Its sound is great! but you'll need better head phones...

[Gunbuster]

I held the iRiver 120 in local Dixons, its much smaller than you expect.

[silent ben]

My vote goes to the Ipod every time. I wouldn't go anywhere without mine

In my opinion the controls are the easiest to use, sound quality is very gd (cant really tell the difference between the high end 1's unless you're an audiofile)

[eddietop]

My vote goes to the Ipod every time. I wouldn't go anywhere without mine

In my opinion the controls are the easiest to use, sound quality is very gd (cant really tell the difference between the high end 1's unless you're an audiofile)

true, ipod would be my choice for just audio, but I want more than just audio, I need to put files onto it as well.

I heard the iAudios fail alot, the remotes, but the rma service is good?

[silent ben]

true, ipod would be my choice for just audio, but I want more than just audio, I need to put files onto it as well.

I heard the iAudios fail alot, the remotes, but the rma service is good?

Apples RMA service is great, you call up, 2 days later a box arrives, you stick the ipod in the box, box in the sae and arrange a pickup with UPS.

I use Xplay to transfer files onto my ipod (its a drag and drop system). Ephpod is also great for file transfers, and free. These 2 programs beat itunes hands down imo.

Ben

[MuTTy_Hc]

u can transfer actual files (word docs etc) onto an iPod?

[silent ben]

Yep, its just a hard drive with some software on it that makes work as an mp3 player.

[jimborae]

true, ipod would be my choice for just audio, but I want more than just audio, I need to put files onto it as well.

I heard the iAudios fail alot, the remotes, but the rma service is good?

That was the first batch that came over ages ago, all the problems were sorted out with the remotes and its well documented that its now been resolved.

I personally couldn't get non audio files onto my ipod, it wouldn't allow them to be copied across.

[silent ben]

Really? Mine allows me to put anything on it. What program were you using

Ben

PS: sorry for the hijack.

[MuTTy_Hc]

Really? Mine allows me to put anything on it. What program were you using

Ben

PS: sorry for the hijack.

no problem at all mate, i'm very interested in all this

btw whats the iaudio m3 s/w like? the irivers is rubbish.