MP3 Players

[Benny Seagull]

am currently in the market for an mp3 player that IS NOT AN iPOD! can't stand them - itunes possibly the worst progrmme when using a pc and i don't want any software that comes with it. instead i'm looking for a player with about 30G worth of storeage and one that i can just drag and drop songs into the removable disk. no fuss, no muss.

has anyone heard of archos? any good? for the longer journeys these little things also offer a multimedia player and so i can even put movies on them. screens are as big as a psp which i wouldn't have much of a problem with but am still undecided. creatives also seem ok but i thouught i'd leave it to the nerds on nsc to decide for me. many thanks.

 

[Monkster]

Creative Zen Vision M - 30G

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

If you don't wany anything fancy in terms of OS you might as well buy the cheapest thing you can find and then shell out on expensive ear phones.

 

[Simon Morgan]

Creative Zen Vision M - 30G

Never a truer word said...

 

[Beach Hut]

Good call on Ipods, they suck

I have a Samsung K5 which is a beauty but only 4GB so I think Creative is probably the best

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

Creative Zen Vision M - 30G

I have one of these and have been very happy with it. Reliable too - had it over a year and it has only crashed once. This is easy to correct anyway

 

[Man of Harveys]

Does the Creative Zen one play Sony's Atrac files (aka the Betamax of the iPod era)?

 

[Benny Seagull]

thanks for the help guys. will definately have a look at the zen. the pics i've seen look quality.

 

[Monkster]

Does the Creative Zen one play Sony's Atrac files (aka the Betamax of the iPod era)?

Apart from saving a bit of battery life, why would you want to?

Awaits the MYOB flaming

 

[Cian]

Only Sony players play ATRAC.

Monkster - not gonna happen, theres no reason to play them

 

[Monkster]

Monkster - not gonna happen, theres no reason to play them

*phew*

 

[Man of Harveys]

Apart from saving a bit of battery life, why would you want to?

Awaits the MYOB flaming

Cos I've had a Sony one before and can't really be arsed to copy my CD collection again. Except I might do just that.

 

[Goodfella]

I have this little beauty, it plays videos, and has an Fm radio for listening to those Albion matches.
And of course it's a Creative Zen.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Ze...9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1190976245&sr=1-1

 

[Monkster]

I have this little beauty, it plays videos, and has an Fm radio for listening to those Albion matches.
And of course it's a Creative Zen.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Ze...9?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1190976245&sr=1-1

My Mates got one of those & they are FANTASTIC

 

[Superphil]

The only negative I've heard about Archos products is that they don't wear very well, get scratched and tatty quite quickly.

 

[Hannibal smith]

I have a creative Zen vision M 30Gb. Very Happy with it although its not perfect.

Advantages
Can copy Windows media player straight to it without conversion. Drag and drop files. A piece of piss even for fuckwits.
If you buy one of these (link below), you can play any video on your TV easily.

http://uk.europe.creative.com/shop/...ubcategory=116&product=14484&ucmsid=true&nav=

Good battery life
Seemingly reliable.

Disadvantages
Bigger than the equivalent Ipod
Navigation is fiddly
Limited docking stations to play your music through.

 

[Jam The Man]

Creative Zen Micro (6gb) cost me £99 15 months ago from play.com.. absolutely brilliant stuff..

 

[Superphil]

But when all is said and done, I've had 4 different iPods now, and I will shortly be buying an iPod Touch, because I think they are just fine and lovely.

You don't have to use iTunes, other programs are compatible, you don't have to use DRMd AAC files, you can use MP3, if you really want you can convert WMA files very speedily, and with no perceptible loss of quality. You can use it as a portable HDD and drag and drop if you really want to. And of course now you can do movies on them too.

It's your money, so buy what you feel happy with, but don't necessarily believe all the negative that gets thrown at iPods being totally inflexible, they're not at all.

 

[liverpool_one]

i have recently bought the archos 504 80gb its a bit bulky but for what it does its well worth the money currys price 199 or 250 with the dvr station.
see details below.

With the Archos 500870 504 80GB Portable Digital Media Player and Recorder you have all the entertainment you need at your fingertips, in a package that stays ultra portable. The perfect companion for everything from long trips to short bus rides, from going to parties to just hanging out around the house, the Archos 504 lets you not only take your favourite music, movies, and moments with you, but helps you make new favourite moments wherever you happen to be.

With a screen size surface three times that of similar size PMPs (portable media players), the Archos 504 ensures you can thoroughly enjoy movies and videos. This unit uses a bright, 4.3-inch TFT LCD display with over 16 million colours to provide a crystal-clear, sharp picture with a 16:9 aspect ratio and 480 x 272 pixels of resolution, as well as an intuitive GUI (graphic user interface) for easy-to-use navigation. The Archos 504 not only plays your videos and movies, but lets you store over a whopping 226 regular movies or 58 DVD-quality movies on its hard drive in either MPEG-4 or WMV formats, at up to DVD resolution. You can also purchase and download optional plug-ins from Archos' website that will allow you to play H.264 and MPEG-2 formats up to DVD resolutions as well.

Not only is the Archos 504 a portable video and movie player, but a high-resolution photo viewer as well, complete with features such as zoom, music, and transition effects. You can easily download photos from your PC, or transfer them directly to the 504 from your digital camera via the optional docking adapter. This unit is compatible with JPEG, BMP, and PNG file formats, and can hold up to 800,000 photos at a time, depending upon file size and what else you are storing at the same time. The Archos 504 can even read and display PDF documents for on-the-fly work situations, although it may not implement all PDF features.

For those times when you can't afford the distraction of watching high-quality videos, the Archos 504 can be your music player, storing and playing up to 40,000 songs so you can keep working, walking, or doing whatever you need with your own private soundtrack. This unit displays the track, artist, album, and album cover of whatever you are playing, and supports stereo MP3 decoding from 30 to 320 kbps CBR and VBR, as well as WMA, protected WMA, and WAV (PCM/ADPCM) formats. Furthermore, the Archos 504 can play AAC music files, and AC3 stereo sound files with the addition of optional software plug-ins that can be purchased and downloaded from Archos' web site. And just in case inspiration strikes or you want to make sure you don't forget something important, this handy media player lets you make voice recordings through its built-in microphone, or via the optional DVR travel adapter or DVR station through a stereo line-in jack in WAV format.

The Archos 504 is fully compatible with DVD-quality VOD (video on demand) and online music stores, allowing you to purchase and download new music and movies directly online rather than having to transfer everything from more traditional media sources. This media player can also record directly from TV in high-quality MPEG-4 with stereo sound via the optional DVR station, so you can take your favourite television shows with you wherever you go. And if you are at home, the Archos 504 can play back any of your movies or recorded TV programs on your television itself, also through the optional DVR station.

The Archos 504 has a built-in 80 gigabyte hard disk so you have plenty of space for anything you need, and includes a high-speed USB 2.0 connection for transferring files. This unit features a 3.5-millimeter stereo headphone jack mini-jack and TV output, and dedicated connectors for hooking up optional adapters or the DVR station. The 504 also features a music playback time of up to 17 hours, and a video playback time of up to 5.5 hours on its built-in LCD display, all with its internal, removable lithium-ion polymer rechargeable battery that charges via computer through its USB port, or more quickly with the optional docking adapter or DVR station, or a separate optional power charger. The Archos 504 is compatible with both PCs and Macs with a USB port and Linux, Windows ME or higher, or OS X or higher, and requires Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher and Windows Media Player 10 or higher for use with PlayForSure video and subscription services. This media player allows firmware updates to be downloaded via www.archos.com, weighs approximately 11.15 ounces, and measures approximately 5.1 x 3 x 0.9 inches (W x H x D).

 

[liverpool_one]

The only negative I've heard about Archos products is that they don't wear very well, get scratched and tatty quite quickly.

i would think the modern archos wear very well as most of the out material is brushed metal.