Buying a new MP3 player

eamon

Hello Folks

My last MP3 player sadly expired (took it back to the "real" shop and got a refund). Anyway I've been looking at Ebay for a replacement and my questions are "Has anybody here ever bought an unbranded MP3 player i.e. supplied from Hong Kong? Would you recommend this course of action?

I've also posted this same query on the Ebay board and had useful feedback. Now its the turn of the techies. For your info my budget is less than £60. Need long battery life, USB charging, approx 4GB of memory (don't really need more than that as I would never fill it but won't say no if the price is right). FM (I like R4 and other talk stations when not in music mode).



Look forward to any replies

Eamon

olly300

About 6 and 4 years ago now I brought cheap ones as I wanted small light ones that I didn't mind getting damaged at the gym or running i.e. running when it's raining.

One of them went wrong and I returned it to the seller who sent me a new one. However both of them where at the time cheaper than the equivalent than you could get in a shop in the UK even though they were cheap, generic makes.

I didn't use the radio on the one that has a radio and don't tend to on any of my various MP3 players or phones because the reception tends to be poor.

To be honest with your budget and the fact that MP3 players have got cheaper in price over the years I would just look at an online retailer in the UK, like advancedMP3players.

toyotahilux

I've had a one of these cheapo unbranded players for over 4 years now, and it's still going strong like the day I got it. Only advice I can give is if you buy from ebay, make sure it's from a reputable seller, as there are a lot of hacked players, which claim to be 4, 8 or 16gb, and have just had a formatting trick to make them appear that way, as they actually will contain smaller chips. In terms of the players themselves, I would say go for it. Where to buy, I would say try and at least find a reputable UK based seller, or stay away from ebay altogether.

Stompa

Given that you can purchase a Sony or Sansa that meets your spec for <£60 is there any particular reason to go for unbranded?

For example:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-NWZE443B-Walkman-Recording-Function/dp/B002IKKFXW/ref=sr_1_1/277-0031589-5501800?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1262643346&sr=8-1

hc25036

Why go to HK when for that price (as suggested above) you can get the highly rated Sansa Clip 4Gb or even the 8GB from advanced mp3 (http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/MP3_Players.1/Sandisk.162/SDMX18R-004G/Sansa_Clip__4GB_MP3_Player.3989.html). There are others on the site, plus a helpful "mp3 matchmaker" (http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/MP3_Players.1/#guide).

No links to the site, other than a previous customer.

Beaten by Stompa!

BillScarab

Snasa Fuze are well regarded and you cna get an 8Gb one for your budget

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sansa-Fuze-8gb-Player-Black/dp/B0019JOD68/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1262643885&sr=1-1

I've always liked Creative ones. If you just want a basic MP3 player how abut

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Zen-Micro-5GB-Black/dp/B000A42UJ0/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1262644006&sr=1-32

Backbiter

I'm a big fan of Creative, too:
http://uk.store.creative.com/products/product.aspx?catid=213&pid=18430

toyotahilux

Just re-read that you have £60 to spend - go with a brand name, definitely. A friend has just bought a Sansa Fuze, the sound quality is top notch and the screen looks brilliant. It also has a good battery life.

As much as I like my little chinese player, I'm looking to invest in a Clip+ after listening to the Fuze, so I would say if you can afford it, and have no specific reason to go unbranded, go for something well known.

zzzLazyDaisy

You can get the new generation 4gb ipod shuffle for £60

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/ipod_shuffle?afid=p202|GOUKB100781497&cid=OAS-EMEA-KWG-UK_iPod-UK

davester

second a sansa, with clip or fuze they sound awesome. has a real kick to it even though it about the size of a calculator watch. last for a long time, The fuze has a card slot so you can expand the memory size.

fwor

My personal experience of buying a cheap MP3 player from HK is that it worked ok and sounded ok, but the quality was poor all round. The buttons were badly laid out, the user interface was horrid and it could not handle high bitrate (i.e. high quality) tracks.

I gave it away on my local Freecycle (now Freegle) group.