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General discussion

MB vs GB - What's best for me?

Jun 11, 2005 5:05AM PDT

I'm looking into getting an MP3 player but I don't know what's the best size suitable for me. I have just over 2000 song files on my computer but I probably listen to about one-tenth of them regularly. Should I get a 5GB player or something between 256MB-1GB? I've been looking at the Creative Zen Micro if the 5GB is good for me but I have no ideas of what are the better smaller-sized players.

Please reply soon because I'll be going on a 10-hour car ride with the family in a few weeks and I'd like to be entertained during the trip.

Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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Let's calculate.
Jun 11, 2005 5:16AM PDT

1 mp3-file = 3 to 4 Mb.
200 mp3-files = 700 Mb.
2000 mp3-files = 7 Gb.
Easy to check in Explorer or My Computer.

The more bytes, the more $, that's the idea.

Read some reviews before buying. Note differences in battery life time while playing (about 10 hours), battery type (standard AA or AAA or custom) and possibility to reload them from the mains, and ease of use/userfriendlyness (making playlists, browsing through folders etc).

Good luck,
happy listening


Kees

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Do you use all your hard drive space?
Jun 11, 2005 7:52AM PDT

That's my main question - is it worth putting in the extra money to buy something that I may not use to full capacity or is it wiser to save and buy a smaller unit and just keep swaping files every so often?

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Well,
Jun 11, 2005 10:58AM PDT

It's up to you, really. You just want a dinky player to just play music for you? Cause you can just buy like a gig player that's on sale at whatever electronics stores are near you. It's about how much mileage you're gonna put on the player, how long you intend to have it for and just overall value. I'd go in for the long haul and get a hdd player. It's convenient to have all the music you want at your fingertips.

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iPod vs. all others
Jun 12, 2005 1:55AM PDT

Right now I'm looking at 4-5 GB players. I'm trying to decide between the top players but I can't really decide based off of the user reviews on CNET. Aside from having to replace the entire unit of an iPod, are there any other downsides to it? I like the Creative Zen Micro but does the battery not go for as long as it's advertised? What about the iRiver H10? Any others I should consider aside from these three?

Thanks.

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Well,
Jun 12, 2005 4:34AM PDT

The Zen Micro is pretty reliable, but I just don't like it. It feels too much like a toy to me. It might be the plastic casing, or something, but it just doesn't feel solid. It's good, though, don't get me wrong.

The H10 5 gig model is being discontinued, so if you look hard enough you may find it at discounted prices, I saw it for as low as 230 USD. It's a real decent player, too. Removeable battery, sounds great, nice screen. The 6 gig is out, but it's price is rather steep, and for its price, you may as well get a higher end model.

Which leads me to the Toshiba Gigabeat. I've got the F10 model, which is 10 gigs. I bought it for about 260 USD from Amazon. And I have to say, it's a great player. Decent battery life, 12 to 16 hours off the charge. It's got a beautiful 2.2" QVGA screen and has phenomenal sound. Check it out if you're interested.

With the iPod, honestly, I don't see the draw of it. It's got a pretty, simplistic design. It's spinwheel works well, and is easy to grasp. And it's user-friendly. But otherwise, it's not got too much else. The sound output isn't as great as other players'. And honestly, for the price you can get comparable players that do more than it and better.

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lol, ur joking MB and GB storage?
Jun 12, 2005 10:04PM PDT

gigabyte ofcourse. The more the merrier