mp3 help please

Soxmum

Hi!

I would like to buy myself an mp3 player but this will be my first one & need some advice please!

Looking around, don't think I'll need anything bigger than a 2GB, and will probably want to transfer CD's mostly rather than downloading tracks, although I may do this in the future. Is the software easy to use?
Is it worth paying extra to buy one that plays videos?

Anyone have any suggestions?

Don't really want to spend more than £50.

Thanks!

Sox

BillScarab

It's only worth buying one that plays videos if YOU want to watch videos on it. If you do I doubt if 2Gb is going to be enough. You don't need any software to copy your MP3s to an MP3 player, just drag and drop in Windows explorer.

Personally I like the Creative players, something like a Zen Stone or Zen Stone plus may suit.

You can get a refurb Zen Stone Plus 2Gb direct from Creative for £20.

fiscalfreckles

I can recommend Samsung, I've got one (2GB) & DH has an 8GB; both are great & I have just got one for my daughter.

Easy to use, we use Windows Media Player. We download & transfer from CD. DH even has a USB turntable so he can transfer his vinyl.

Argos have some good half price offers at the moment. For £50 there's the Samsung, and a couple of Philips that look good.

I don't think the video option is necessary, I can't ever imagine wanting to watch anything on such a tiny screen!

However, I would get one with a screen, as some of the cheaper, rod shaped ones only have a very small LCD display and it is time consuming to scroll through & find what you want.

ingresman

Amazon have a sale on at the momement might be worth a look.
Some players do require you to use certain software and do not support drag and drop for example iPod needs iTubes. You can drag and drop to iPod but only for moving files abound, the playing software on the iPod wont know where they are.

Steve-o

PC World have been selling 1gb Matsui MP3 players reduced from £14.99 to £4.99, but only during the bank holiday selling periods. Might be useful waiting for the next bank holiday (which I think is near), to see if they are doing them for the same price. A fiver isn't much to waste, to see if you'll get much use out of an MP3 player.


The Matsui currently at £14.99: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0845595555.1211380017@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccciadeeefmeghfcflgceggdhhmdfhj.0&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null&sku=555551&category_oid=-29739

Edit: the Matsui can also be used as a USB stick (obviously), and has an inbuilt mic. The pick-up on the mic isn't as good as a dedicated dictafone, but it's perfectly adequate for everyday usage (and useful in lectures!).

superscaper

ingresman wrote: »

Amazon have a sale on at the momement might be worth a look.
Some players do require you to use certain software and do not support drag and drop for example iPod needs iTubes. You can drag and drop to iPod but only for moving files abound, the playing software on the iPod wont know where they are.

iPods don't need iTunes. There's plenty of alternative apps out there. I don't have an iPod but I can think of Yamipod off the top of my head as an iPod manager.

BillScarab

ingresman wrote: »

Amazon have a sale on at the momement might be worth a look.
Some players do require you to use certain software and do not support drag and drop for example iPod needs iTubes. You can drag and drop to iPod but only for moving files abound, the playing software on the iPod wont know where they are.

I'm not really up on iPods but apart from maybe the shuffle aren't they all outside of the OP's budget anyway? I've never understood why they designed them so you have to use iTunes or an equivalent anyway.

johng_uk

IPODs are undoubtedly the best mp3 player I have used. As a bonus, they also look the best. They are expensive and besides the shuffle, are outside the budget mentioned.

Bigpockets.com do lots of cheap electrics. Some of it is refurbished and some is bankrupt stock, but you pay less and get a warranty of sorts. Have a look there as they do new stuff as well.

ingresman

Bill,
do appreciate that but regardless you do need software rather than drag and drop from explorer.
I also belive that gen 6 ipods have some encrypting now which might stop other software from operating correctly/at all. Look here http://www.getipodwizard.com/index.php
I've had a look at http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/MP3_Players.1/?list&page=2
which shows a 4gb MP4 player (includes video) for 29.99. There are 7 pages of players so might be worth a little trawl.

buglawton

I should put a word in for the Creative Zen V Plus 4GB, this is good for say 50 CDs, has easy to navigate colour screen, 12+ hours on a charge. Catch is that you still need Creative's own software to manage it.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/mp3/review/2007/05/03/Creative-Zen-V-Plus-8GB/p1

Soxmum

ingresman wrote: »

Bill,
do appreciate that but regardless you do need software rather than drag and drop from explorer.
I also belive that gen 6 ipods have some encrypting now which might stop other software from operating correctly/at all. Look here http://www.getipodwizard.com/index.php
I've had a look at http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/MP3_Players.1/?list&page=2
which shows a 4gb MP4 player (includes video) for 29.99. There are 7 pages of players so might be worth a little trawl.

Just having a look around those now!
Thanks for the tip!