MetaChat - AskMeCha: MP3 player advice, please!

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26 February 2006

AskMeCha: MP3 player advice, please! →[More:]
After a bit of research and having recently read this thread, I'm contemplating the purchase of one of a Sony NW-E507.

I already have an iPod that may or may not be permanently out of commission and is a back burner item for other reasons altogether (and, no, no extended warranty or other such wise choices, there.) In its stead, I've been using a work horse that has served me well for 5 years: an iRiver iMP-350. It, however, has seen kinder days and would now do better as a stationary device. Not to mention the fact that I'm sick of burning discs for it and always somehow missing that one song or burning it in the wrong format.

I'm looking for something small and easily tucked away since I use this almost exclusively for my daily 1.5-3 hour public transpo commute, flash (fewer moving parts) and under $200. I'm not dead set against getting another iProduct, but the poor battery life is a huge drawback that may be a dealbreaker.

Any and all input is greatly appreciated!

post by: Frisbee Girl at: 21:45 | 11 comments

contemplating the purchase of one of a Sony NW-E507.

Because, you know, buying two of them would be just silly.

posted by Frisbee Girl 26 February | 21:54

Get an new iPod Nano and be done with it. And buy AppleCare for it FFS. Then don't worry for three years.

posted by Cryptical Envelopment 26 February | 21:57

The iPod nano uses flash memory, which means greater reliability than a hard drive and longer battery life.

posted by AlexReynolds 26 February | 22:03

I bought a 60GB Creative Jukebox Zen at Fry's for $200 not quite a year ago, and it has been the love of my life. 8000+ songs and it's just now half-full. It's not flash (you can feel it hum when the next song is loading) but if you can find one, it is da bomb.

posted by BoringPostcards 26 February | 22:06

I'd have to also put my vote in for a nano. I use this case and have had not one isue; I even drpped it in the tub!

My nano is a 2giger and I find it holds more than enough for a long (3 hours or so) commute or a day at the office.

posted by jelly 26 February | 22:16

Don't get an NW-E507. They're a bit flimsy and Sony has saddled them with terrible software that makes it much too hard to load music on your player. This is particularly bad since it's a flash player, so you'll probably switch more than with an HD player.

I recommend a Cowon Iaudio product, like the U2, U3 or similar as a good alternative. Good sound quality, tons of features, easy to use, and they are USB mass-storage devices which work simply on Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. I absolutely adore my U2.

I enjoyed my Creative Muvo Slim, which now belongs to my wife, but Creative seems very hit-or-miss with their stuff and durability can be an issue.

I didn't get an ipod, but the Nano is pretty cool. And of course itunes is quite nice for loading music.

posted by selfnoise 26 February | 22:20

Psst, the Applecare warranty for an iPod extends the warranty from one year to two, not three, crypticalenvelopment.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 26 February | 22:23

I've got a Rio Carbon that uses a 5 Gb microdrive. I like it. A year of use with no problems, and I'm only at 75% capacity. Battery life is great; I charge it once a week or so & it uses the USB cable to charge from the PC. Also, it mounts to the host PC as a plain ol lettered drive, so it is easy to move files around. My only complaint is that selecting a song/artist/album isn't quite as speedy and intuitive as an iProduct. Very minor pony-wishes: I wish there was an easier way to toggle the shuffle playback than to dig down two menu layers. It does not do gapless playback, and I wish that I could exclude genre tags from shuffle mode (eg spoken word).

If you would like to borrow it for a week, I'd be happy to lend it to ya, frisbee.

posted by Triode 26 February | 22:29

Why not another iRiver?

posted by box 27 February | 00:29

nano. I listen to it ALL DAY LONG and usually the battery is still half full by the time I get home. My favorite purchase in some time.

posted by mike9322 27 February | 08:44

Thanks all! Triode, that was especially generous; we'll talk more soon.

posted by Frisbee Girl 27 February | 11:30

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