cheapest decent MP3

pigeonpie

Hi, I need to get a cheap but reliable MP3 to hold about 50+ songs / one hour of music downloaded from virgin, napster and iTunes. I'm sorry I don't know the format differences.
It must be resilient as will be used for for pathetic middle aged exercise attempts.....so a bit but not too much of :j and of course, waterproof to survive the summer rainy season

Thank you. Please be patient!

timm_2

You would probably be better going for a cheap 256MB player from ebay. It may not be as resilient as you wish, but to get something really substantial you will probably have to pay three or four times the cost of a 'throwaway' cheapie.

Expect to pay well under £20.

marbar2k

i am after the exact same thing just a cheap 256 or 512 for the gym! and recomendations?

cwoodham

Have a look here for for a recent discussion on this. I can recommend the Medion MD81018. Bought two from Somerfield/Qwiksave at £24.99 for the kids. They're 1GB. One goes to school every day and one to college, so they must be fairly resilient. But at that price if they break/get lost it hasn't broken the bank.

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

Can't comment on Napsters format (though I assume it's the same as Virgin), but music from Virgin will be DRM protected WMA files. Music bought from ITunes, I believe will be in the AAC format. Right click your audio files and check their properties.

Many of the cheaper MP3 players won't play DRM protected files, so best to check before you buy.
If your ITunes songs are in the AAC format, then they won't play on your MP3 player. The usual formats for the cheaper players are WMA and MP3.

I think it's been raised before with people having problems playing DRM encoded files on the Somerfield player. Maybe someone can fully clarify if it does or not?

If you just want to rip music from your CD's for your MP3 player, then a cheap player will be just fine.

Paying £20 for a player that doesn't do what you want is still £20 wasted.

You may need to pay a little more for a player that plays DRM files.

edna_clouds

You won't go far wrong with THIS one.I think they are reburbished but still not a bad buy for a 2GB mp3.

Currys are doing a reburbished 1GB Logic for £24.99 plus delivery. LINK

General_Hogwart

Hi,

My sister got one of these ones here with a 512 memory card - other sizes to choose from. and its really good. Also they have a 99p shipping offer on so its a bit of a bargain!

Tharweb

Foggie wrote:

Hi,

My sister got one of these ones here with a 512 memory card - other sizes to choose from. and its really good. Also they have a 99p shipping offer on so its a bit of a bargain!

I bought the Sumvision one and think it would be fine for your needs.

7dayshop are doing one that looks very similar and it works out a bit cheaper http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=100694 you could put the savings towards the SD card.

This SD card is good value because of the free delivery option at the moment http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=17327739098&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=82393

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

As above just make sure the product you buy will play your downloaded music.

All the specs for Sumvision products I found came up as non-DRM compatible.

pigeonpie

Phantom_Flan_Flinger wrote:

Can't comment on Napsters format (though I assume it's the same as Virgin), but music from Virgin will be DRM protected WMA files. Music bought from ITunes, I believe will be in the AAC format. Right click your audio files and check their properties.

Many of the cheaper MP3 players won't play DRM protected files, so best to check before you buy.
If your ITunes songs are in the AAC format, then they won't play on your MP3 player. The usual formats for the cheaper players are WMA and MP3.

Thanks a lot for all the advice, I suspected as much but don't know too much about it! DRM...Mr W. Gates vs AAC, Mr S Jobs with us peasants in the middle, right?!

I have AAC music from iTunes and a few MP3s but I suspect most of what I have downloaded from the Virgin.fr site and Napster is DRM protected :mad:
So what can you recommend that would play anything and do I just download it to the player or do you have to change format? Which I would not know how to do.
Have v little music on CD as have been moving countries for a few years!
I know iTunes invites you to convert all your music to AAC but then I guess you are stuck with iPod? Plus it's a big hassle.

Sorry to be dumb. If you copy your music to CD as I do, if you copy it from the CD back on to the PC > MP3 player, it won't work as it's still in the same saved format - would that be right?
What would I have to pay to get a player and how do I tell if it plays all formats?

Thanks everyone :T

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

I'm not really in a position to tell you about ITunes and their AAC songs as I don't use it. Maybe someone else can comment about burning their songs to CD and then ripping them back as MP3.

I don't think there's a cheap player that will play AAC, WMA and MP3.

I know that the Creative MP3 players will play WMA DRM files (as I own a Creative player), which will cover your Napster and Virgin songs. One of the cheaper ones is the Muvo TX SE 256MB.

Maybe someone else has other recommendations.