MP4 or IPOD

Saint_Chris

Her current mp3 is 126mb

colin79666

Well if she isn't bothered about video and wants ease of use then my recommendation would be a 2GB or 4GB iPod nano.

Saint_Chris

and the cheapest place to buy one of these from, would be?

Idiophreak

I'd recommend the Zen nano plus(not sure that's the best price btw)...that's what I use, it has much better sound quality than an ipod (you can actually hear the difference, i was quite shocked) and transferring music is just drag and drop.

edit: more durable also. and this place seems really cheap.

edit2: that place is actually more expensive than play, rather misleading...

wolfman

Idiophreak wrote: »

I'd recommend the Zen nano plus(not sure that's the best price btw)...that's what I use, it has much better sound quality than an ipod (you can actually hear the difference, i was quite shocked) and transferring music is just drag and drop.

That's a very subjective opinion. What were you listening to? What headphones were you using? Was it a controlled environment etc... The iPods are generally known to have very good sound quality, especially the Shuffle.


The iPod is still generally the best player about for the average user. The price is quite reasonable, and it's easy to use, update etc... The 2nd Generation Nano would be a good choice.

If an iPod doesn't take your fancy. I'd recommend the Samsung YP Z5 (look on Amazon) and the Sandisk Sansa e260 (on Amazon too). Both cheaper than the iPod (not by much) but are both very good alternatives. I personally like the Samsung a lot.

jampton

wolfman wrote: »

The iPod is still generally the best player about for the average user. The price is quite reasonable, and it's easy to use, update etc... The 2nd Generation Nano would be a good choice.

That's a very subjective opinion

I really liked my mates ipod but couldn't stand itunes

I got a Sony Erricson w810i phone free on contract am very happy with it as MP3 player 512 MB out of the box - as some one once said why take two bottles into the shower !

Idiophreak

wolfman wrote: »

That's a very subjective opinion. What were you listening to? What headphones were you using? Was it a controlled environment etc... The iPods are generally known to have very good sound quality, especially the Shuffle.

...you say that as if there's any other kind of opinion...

I haven't done it in a controlled environment, no.
But I've listened to ipods (shuffle, nano, 30gb..) and my zen through combinations of headphones (various different types...), fm transmitter in the car, plugged into hifi, etc etc etc over a couple of years and generally the sound quality is better from the Zen.

I'm not saying the iPod sounds that bad, just that the Zen sounds better.
(it's also cheaper, more robust, has radio and allows you to steer well clear of itunes etc etc etc)

By the by, you can get the creative zen v for less than the iPod nano now - which does video too...Not used it, so won't say it's any good, (edit: what hifi s&v gave it 5*s though, so is probably sound) but I'm a bit of a creative fanboy, so thought it was worth mentioning...

thetope

for what it's worth i was very anti apple and ended up buying a creative. unfortunately imho i don't think the sound is any better than an ipod and where i've really come unstuck is on the accessories front. you can buy so many things to add on to an ipod, !!!!!! all for a creative or else it's nearly dearer than the player itself. so think about that too.

i did buy a friend a recnditioned nano from the apple refurb store http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore £65 for 2Gb and £85 for 4Gb. these are the first generation nanos. i thought it was good value and indistinguishable from new apart from the brown box packaging.

The full size ipods start at £129 but that's not the video one

wolfman

jampton wrote: »

That's a very subjective opinion

Heh, true.

Idiophreak wrote: »

...you say that as if there's any other kind of opinion...

I haven't done it in a controlled environment, no.
But I've listened to ipods (shuffle, nano, 30gb..) and my zen through combinations of headphones (various different types...), fm transmitter in the car, plugged into hifi, etc etc etc over a couple of years and generally the sound quality is better from the Zen.

Just that it was completely based upon how you feel, and not formed on fact. Although when it comes to sound it's difficult to be objective and purely factual. Doing blind tests you're providing information but it is still based on your opinion, it's just less biased. If that makes sense.

The main advantage for the Zens (at least the Vision M anyway) is that you can set the EQ settings yourself. Through a stock set of headphones though listening to compressed music, it can be very difficult to tell the difference, or if it's actually the hardware that is making the difference (and not something else).

Saint_Chris

Right if i decide to get her a ipod, can i still download tunes form limewire, and just plug it into the compter and download onto it.

I'm sorry for asking to many questions but i'm not very well up on these type of things.