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General discussion

What mp3 player should I get?

by GabrielLaerza Mar 10, 2008 9:54AM PDT

Hi,

I'm looking for a new mp3 player or a pvp. My previous mp3 players were the creative touch, creative zen v plus, and creative zen vision w. But most of them broke, or are too small for my needs. I want an mp3 player that is not as big as the zune (that thing is bulky). It needs to play songs, and play movies. I plan on watching anime on it, so I think that the screen should be big. My price limit is 300 dollars. The mp3 players I have looked at so far are the Archos 605 wifi, and the creative zen. I know how small the creative zen is, but not the archos. But I still need help. What would be a good mp3 player for me?

Thanks to anyone to replies to this post!

Discussion is locked

4 Posts
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well the 605 is bigger than the Zune
by JonTitor Mar 10, 2008 10:19AM PDT

how about the Archos 405 30GB?

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small
by GabrielLaerza Mar 10, 2008 11:43AM PDT

thats only 2 gigs though. I need something thats 30 or above

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woops
by JonTitor Mar 11, 2008 2:01PM PDT

looks like the 405 30GB didn't release yet
well you can get a good deal on the slightly older 404 30GB

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I'm still trying to figure that out myself...
by freqdwnldr Mar 11, 2008 12:31AM PDT

but I will narrow it down by a few - be wary of Toshiba Gigabeats (40GB mp3 player, decent weight and size). Those things tick me off, though. I had one & it was a pain getting my music to play on it (not simple copy-paste - you need to install software to convert your music into a format it plays and even when you do, some of your music still won't play). For some reason it wouldn't play my converted songs (shrank 'em from 192 to 128/160). Also, forget about viewing your pictures - had no luck in moving files.

If you have unconverted music and don't mind installing and converting your music, it might be a different story but for me, it's best suited as a USB HDD. Another is Microtek (20GB media player, lite), good mp3 player, decent radio reception but stinks playing video (you need to convert to 3GP to play anything and it needs to be a SMALL file to play decent).

A 3rd is the SmartTrax FlashTraxXT (40GB), I don't know about you but I wouldn't buy this from eBay or in "refurbished" condition - go elsewhere - you'll pay more but I would have rather got this one new. This one worked for me for a few mos. w/ some issues. Mainly concerning times when I start it up only to get no response.

Right now the display seems to have gone out. In terms of performance, though, I consider it a great media player. Plays most, if not all music formats (ogg, mp3, wma, etc.) and a select number of video formats w/ good crisp quality (if you don't mind squinting a little). Lets you play and record radio broadcasts too.

However, seeing as the FlashTrax is somewhat bulky ('bout the size of a small brick Happy), I'd suggest putting that $300 to an iPod Classic (I'm considering getting 1 for myself once I save the dough). But don't just listen to this forum, do some research too. Check online at different sites (newegg, tigerdirect, resellerratings.com, etc.), look at their consumer ratings & see what problems are common w/ these players.

Sorry about the long post. I know you said you were looking for an mp3 player and I gave a small synopsis of media players.

Just my 2 cents.

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