Best MP3 Player and Why

[phenious]

Ok a spin off of then "When did the Apple people go downhill thread".... what is your favorite portable MP3 player and why and try to defend your reasoning... because isnt a really good answer Please respect each other of course and lets not get into name calling.

I vote for the Nomad Junkebox Zen Extra. I got the 30GB model for $216 at CompUSA which is a far cry on the 30GB Model from Apple which was selling for about $400 at the time. On top of this the battery is not user replaceable so at the end of its 2~3 year life you have to goto apple for the fix assuming they dont make you buy a new one. Allong with that I have the option of getting another battery for my jukebox. The one thing that kinda angers me is that reviews are loving the IPOD for its looks and its glowing buttons. I think part of this is because they arent the one footing the price tag. I think if you handed them both players and said what would you buy, in the end, assuming they dont make a ton of money, they would go with the player that was good and cheap, and in my eyes, that player is the Nomad Jukebox Zen.

-: phenious :-

[vass0922]

I just picked up the ZenXtra yesterday, so far my only problems is its a little heavy for wearing on teh belt.. but I think this is common with the HD based MP3 players

The only thing that really frustrates me is the case that came with it. While it allows you full access to all the buttons, it does NOT give you access to the display
If it wasn't for that I'd rarely have to take it out of teh case. I can already see that the snap it uses will be the first part of this thing to break

Other than that, I really liked the creative media center for updating the ID3 tags (had some issues but overall worked well) and the import was painless.

[DanGrease]

I voted for Apple's iPod
The Mini is pretty original, but doesnt beat its big brother.
Now for my defend why I choose iPod as the best MP3 player:

Apple has always been one of my favorite brands since they started doing great Macintosh computers during the late 80's.
Infact my first computer was an Apple. When the iPod was released I had to see what new thing Apple had invented this time and since then I have always thought the iPod is the best MP3 player made. Why? because of its tremendous quality (in all aspects) its extremely good looking, its compact, its HUGE in space, without having troubles of crashes or slowness because of the harddrive size it contains. Its also made by Apple, which IMO already sais 'Quality' on its titel. The thing is no other MP3 player has been som complete, without any flaws at all in it. Sure the price is a bit steep, but for people that want the best iPod is the deal. I had an iPod myself, but it was unfortunately robbed, so I decided to buy something more compact and I went for a flash MP3, that is a Jens of Sweden.

dan

[Dark_Link2135]

wow....im surprised archos has not been mentioned

small design, easy interface, large storage, and USB 2.0 support!

apart from mp3 playing, i use it as my 2nd external hard drive

you can plug it into any speakers, and they have relatively low prices, and are very durable, long charge, and are backed by a prettygood warranty as far as hdd mp3 players are concerned

[DanGrease]

If its not in the options vote for Others Dark
Never heard of that MP3 though, maybe its a good one

dan

[phenious]

I forgot all about the archos, sorry. But yeah vote for other I remember reading about the first Archos that came out when the first Nomad Jukebox came out and it was a new company so the player software wasnt that good and neither was the software on the computer but I imagine by now they have matured into a nice product or they wouldnt be making them still Have any links to recent reviews?

-: phenious :-

[Dark_Link2135]

erm....well, i dont have any links to reviews, but you can look at their stats on the webpage, archos.com

i got my mp3 player about 1.5 years ago i think, and was very happy with it then and with it now

a lot of people complain about hdd mp3 players being prone to skipping, but i could sit on my hdd mp3 player and scoot around on the lunchroom floor and not experience any skipping

hehe, imagine that in your head, lol, funny image....

im not sure when archos emerged, but if it was 1.5 years ago, they had good interface and everything else you mentioned then, and it is probably better now

at the time i got it, it was the only USB 2.0 hdd mp3 player available, and has not lost any of its usefulness or speed

[phenious]

Originally posted by vass0922

The only thing that really frustrates me is the case that came with it. While it allows you full access to all the buttons, it does NOT give you access to the display
If it wasn't for that I'd rarely have to take it out of teh case. I can already see that the snap it uses will be the first part of this thing to break

Other than that, I really liked the creative media center for updating the ID3 tags (had some issues but overall worked well) and the import was painless.

I agree with the case its not the best thing in the world but hey, I can live with it came with it. I also felt that the button would be poping out of the leather sooner then later when opening it. Ive considered cutting a hole where the screen is and placing some plasic there so the screen is still protected in my pocket.

Also, I found a fairly simple cure for the face plate poping off, sand down the biggest tab of the swich and it wont get caught on everything and keep popping off, if its in the case all the time you dont have to worry about it though

-: pheniou :-

[vass0922]

ya I had that happen once, I assumed I had not put it back on quite right when putting the battery in

I'd also considered cutting the hole with a plastic coverign :/

If you wanted to get really crafty, you could use the leather you cut out, somehow attach it over the plastic for further protection
Maybe velcro it down.

[phenious]

ahhhhh velcro would drive me mad

I normally end up just having it randomly play all tracks so I dont look at the screen to often.

-: phenious :-