OT: MP3 Player suggestions

[James Noble]

I know this is totally off-topic but there is a lot of experience out there and I need help!

My trusty 4 year old MP3 player is failing with button trouble. It only cost GBP19.99 but it outperforms many much more expensive units. I only use it for recorded radio plays and comedy programs in MP3 format so no music involved.

Current spec is 4GB with genuine 48 hour battery life. Looks like a HDD on the USB and transfer is very fast. Volume is more than adequate and apart from the button problem, the only other problem is that I can't see the display in sunlight whereas my wife's Sony Walkman is easy to read but has low volume, very slow transfer and poor battery life.

Can anyone suggest a player, at a reasonable cost i.e. not more than GBP100.00 which will possibly meet my needs as follows:

Minimum 4GB memory At least 24 hour battery life Fast transfer, to and from unit via USB Good display in bright conditions Easy to use navigation with easy to use buttons

I value personal experience over specs any day.

Thanks in advance!

[Nick Odell]

I've just bought one of these:

meets _none_ of your specifications except that of being sub-£100

£1.50 (one pound fifty pence) including postage.

Like you, I guess, I listen to downloaded R4 & R4x and thought that at £1.50 it was worth a punt. It arrived yesterday, complete with cheap earphones and a usb connector and a rather manky battery and I'll try it out on my way to work today

Nick

[John Rumm]

First question, is perhaps do you carry a mobile phone, and can it not take over these rolls?

[Jules Richardson]

bun fight!!!

[Steve Walker]

I use a Sansa Clip+ (the plus is important). You may see reviews saying that the maximum volume is too low, but that is an EU limitation and simply changing the setting to US solves that.

Mine cost around £45 a couple of months ago.

4 GB on board, plus an slot for 16 to 32 more.

Not certain how many hours, but I certainly get a couple of working days.

USB, yes. Can appear as an external HDD or can sync. with Media Player.

Small display, but clear.

Yes.

Has an FM radio too, but you need to be in a good reception area.

SteveW

--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to [e-mail]

[Pete]

I use my 80-quid (from Argos) Orange San Francisco mobile phone to play mp3 files. The music is stored on the microSD card (along with other stuff of course) and cards up to 32GB can be used.

[airsmoothed]

Sansa Clip+ or Philips Gogear equivalent would be my suggestions, they're both tiny mind you, although the little displays are high contrast.

[Nick Odell]

So... I took my one pound fifty pence MP3 player out for a test drive today and what did I find? Well, the supplied earpieces are seriously pants by which I don't mean they _are_ pants like sleep learning speakers are pillows but they are... well... just pants.

But played through my usual ear gear it sounded good enough to me. Then I'm a chap who has cut the sample rate on most of my speech broadcast mp3s down to the bare minimum in order to pack as many programmes per gigbyte as possible for long journeys and I'm looking for intelligible intelligence rather than hi-fi harmonies.

Out in the traffic I didn't even notice that there was a background hiss but in the still of my living room I can tell you - there's a background hiss. Also in the still of my living room, I slotted in a

4Gb card, packed to the rafters with programmes and played random samples of programmes right through the playlist from first to last. It all played normally even though the instruction leaflet says the upper limit is 2Gb.

So the verdict? It's rough round the edges but for £1.50 (including postage) it's bloomin' brilliant and just the sort of thing for me to take away on those long journeys where it's almost inevitable that something will be nicked.

Nick

[James Noble]

No mobile phone I know of can meet my specification. I have a Smart Phone which really isn't very smart when it comes to battery life and storage space and it's about 8 times the size of my MP3 player which rules out popping it in my top pocket as I often do.

[James Noble]

In message , Steve Walker writes

I have looked at this player and was put off by the bad reviews.

[stuart noble]

Rolls? Roles? I know spelling doesn't matter any more but....

[Londonman]

I know this is totally off-topic but there is a lot of experience out there and I need help!

My trusty 4 year old MP3 player is failing with button trouble. It only cost GBP19.99 but it outperforms many much more expensive units. I only use it for recorded radio plays and comedy programs in MP3 format so no music involved.

Current spec is 4GB with genuine 48 hour battery life. Looks like a HDD on the USB and transfer is very fast. Volume is more than adequate and apart from the button problem, the only other problem is that I can't see the display in sunlight whereas my wife's Sony Walkman is easy to read but has low volume, very slow transfer and poor battery life.

Can anyone suggest a player, at a reasonable cost i.e. not more than GBP100.00 which will possibly meet my needs as follows:

Minimum 4GB memory At least 24 hour battery life Fast transfer, to and from unit via USB Good display in bright conditions Easy to use navigation with easy to use buttons

I value personal experience over specs any day.

Thanks in advance!

I'm not an audiophile, but last Christmas I fancied one of Apples offerings as a pressie. My wife was short of cash but wanted to get me something as near as possible so I could listen to Podcasts of dedicated "Running" music etc while on the bike at gym. (A set of varying podcasts of an hour of numbered BPM that you can set a pace to) Google Steve Boyett if you want to get the idea.

She opted for

earphones are "adequate", the range is ok, there's a fast forward and reverse function, it's clear and ever so light. Using my Iphone earpieces the sound quality is good. Does MP3 and MP4, Ebooks and records voice too.... Simply marvellous for it's size and weight, with only a few easy to use and viewable screen.

Simplez !

[Zapp Brannigan]

Brilliant gadgets, dirt cheap and bullet-proof.

[Zapp Brannigan]

Odd. When I search "Sansa Clip+ review", every publication on the first page of ten results rates it highly. As a long-time user I can't remember a critical review. They are excellent devices, and if my teens could just stop losing them I would be entirely happy.

Are you perhaps confusing it with the hideous Sansa Fuze+...?

[James Noble]

In message , Zapp Brannigan writes

Of the reviews I have read of the Sansa Clip +, although most of them are positive, a lot mention problems with battery life and poor volume. I understand that the volume problem is due to using the European setting but, enough of the reviews mention glitches to make me wary.

Look at the Amazon reviews to get an idea what I am talking about. Maybe I'm over cautious, but I like to have a really good chance of getting a fully working device.

[Nick Odell]

Talking of a fully working device, the One Pound Fifty MP3 player has gone in the bin. I have no idea why, but it wouldn't play anything for longer than about twenty minutes. Book at Bedtime was fine, and so was Book of the Week (fifteen minutes or less, you see) but it automatically moved on to the next track at around twenty minutes on Analysis and the Afternoon Play, for instance- whether it had finished or not. So I'm, erme, quietly withdrawing my recommendation.

Nick

[Newshound]

I've had a Sony Walkman for a couple of years (NWZ S639F) and find no problem with speed, volume, or battery life. Probably about 20 hours, but it charges through the computer and I hook it up every couple of days to update podcasts.

[NT]

I was very unimpressed with a gogear. On the box it claimed to record mp3 and to have a built in radio. In fact it could do neither, and it was from a reputable retailer.

NT

[MarkG]

The Walkmans (in particular the A Series) beat the pants of anything else out there in terms of sound quality and usability. I Love my NW-A845, it's a fantastic player.

[mick]

Sandisk Sansa Clip+. 4GB on board and microSD slot to add more. Available on special offer from Amazon at the moment. £33.20

You can upgrade the firmware to Rock Box, which is excellent and adds a lot more stuff to fiddle with! These include themes, where you can optimize the rather small display to show what you are most interested in.

It's a really nice little player - I'm very happy with mine, even with the supplied earphones.