Good Mp3 player..

[Keyboard Cowboy]

I am boycotting creative due to their lack of support. 4 years ago, I have purchased a new Creative Xen Xtra 30Gb MP3 player.

No Vista Support. Like many of thier other products where they are
* No longer Supporting
* Dumbed down the drivers so that you do not have full features.
leading you to have to purchace another product.

In the end, I managed to get it working via another Xen MP3 player play. However moving music over to it under vista is not the same.
However when i purchase a new one, it will not be creative.

More info here
Creative stops 3rd party Vista drivers for legacy product

[Keyboard Cowboy]

Originally Posted by SiZcO

Well i work construction and been traveling alot. driving back and forth from florida to texas for work. been working like 2 weeks out of town then coming back then going back. i need something to past driving time. i want a good mp3 player or ipod or whatever thats VERY good on its "life" because i wont be around a USB to actually charge it. and something that isnt to steep in price. any ideas?

You can get AC to USB Adaptors. I have got one for my TomTom to charge it up over night.

[Oreo]

It depeneds

Sound Quality= iMod > Zune 2 > iPod > Zen (all better than average)
How reliable/well built= iMod > Zune 2 > iPod > Zen (very poor)
Screen: Zen ( very good) > Zune 2 > iPod and iMod
Ease of use, functionality (imo) Zen (disagree with Apok, find it very easy to use) > Zune 2 > iPod + iMod

Not to sure on battery, the iMod is thirsty though.

I really would NOT reccomend the Creative Zen, or any Creative Sound cards as there reliability is terrible, frequent lock ups, computer wont recognize them, totally die etc

[Eric1]

I thought about getting an mp3 player for my car, but now I am almost convinced to get satellite radio.

I Liston to Techno and there is a great station called the beat, playing nothing but Techno.

[CalcProgrammer1]

I use my dad's old PDA for music...he didn't need it after his company switched to BlackBerry phones, so I took it (a Dell Axim x50v) and installed some music player software on it.

The thing's so good I don't think I ever want to change! It doesn't have the size of other players (just a CF and SD slot) and it isn't as good for organization, but it has tons of enhancement programs to make your audio sound great through headphones or speakers. I have GSPlayer which has tons of options, SRS WOW HD with TruBass, and X50mix [a simple EQ that controls the hardware equalizer of the x50 series]. It also plays videos and YouTube and stuff...it's like a mini computer.

However, it has horrible battery life, the 624MHz CPU eats up the battery very fast. I made an external battery using an AA holder and a 5v regulator, lasts about 6 hours on that using 8 NiMH batteries...enough for a movie or two and some music.

My friend had an iPod 80GB but he dropped it on the floor. It didn't work after that because the hard drive was ruined. He also had an RCA hard drive player before that...dropped it on the ground too and its MicroDrive broke...I think Flash technology is better for portable applications because it can survive (I threw an SD card up in the air and let it hit the floor, then threw it at the wall, etc...and it still works just fine, but drop a portable hard drive 3 feet onto somewhat hard floor, and it's ruined).

[Nitestick]

My friend had an iPod 80GB but he dropped it on the floor. It didn't work after that because the hard drive was ruined. He also had an RCA hard drive player before that...dropped it on the ground too and its MicroDrive broke...I think Flash technology is better for portable applications because it can survive (I threw an SD card up in the air and let it hit the floor, then threw it at the wall, etc...and it still works just fine, but drop a portable hard drive 3 feet onto somewhat hard floor, and it's ruined).

of course flash storage is better for these applications. no moving parts to damage and less mass (i.e. less kinetic energy and less damage when dropped, it's true, the bigger they are the harder they fall).

SiZcO, regarding battery life and charging via USB: you can purchase 12V-5V USB adapters that will charge usb devices from the cigarette lighter socket.

[carnageX]

One of the Sansa models I'd say. I have an e260, and love it. Havent really tested the battery life on it, but it lasts pretty decent (played at almost max volume b/c I use it with an FM transmitter in my car). There's also the Sansa Clip, which is a smaller one (competitor to the ipod shuffle). And agreed with other people above; don't get an ipod =P.

[Mak213]

I swear by my Zune. I got the first Gen of 30GB. Some aer still out there. I recommend that.

[Preacher]

If I didn't need the 160gb ipod , I would have gotten a Zune II.

[carnageX]

Originally Posted by Makaveli213

I swear by my Zune. I got the first Gen of 30GB. Some aer still out there. I recommend that.

I use my Zune 1st gen for movies/music on long trips; my Sansa is for my music everywhere else because its a lot smaller.