I need a new MP3 Player - £200 to spend.

jason5_k said:
well here is one mp3 player to consider: the Sony NW-A3000, if like me you can't possible see why your mp3 player needs a colour screen or why anyone would be prepared to watch videos of such a small screen (hey just my opinion, dont flame me, please Lol) then its great, lack of colour=longer battery life. Navigation is good (granted it isnt quite the ipods wheel but still very easy) its also got a host of handy search features, artist link and intelligent shuffle are good, I thought they were pointless features but you will find yourself using them. And the price? £144 from ebay :thumbsup: they were going for as low as £115 on ebay too but that sounded a bit dodgy to me


The screen made me go crosseyed and it's way less legible than an iPod even not factoring in Photo/Video functions. The UI is slower. Battery life is a few hours longer than the iPod - not double as advertised, and it's considerably bulkier. It does have a decent EQ, as you say the artist link facilities, etc are good (but then so are smartlisting functions on the iPod) and it's gapless provided you use the completely proprietary ATRAC file format. A half-decent option with prices as they are these days if you can't stretch to an iPod.


A real budget option apart from the Archos if you can still hunt them down is the iRiver H10. Some places have them for less than 100 for even the 20gb model. When they were released a year and a half ago they were a total disaster despite the hardawre being not bad. The firmware was just totally up the spout and the bundled software was utterly abysmal. But now with firmware upgrades they're pretty much as usable as any other non-iPod DAP. No fancy features such as OTG playlists, but you do get a radio + recording and pretty respectable voice recording (e.g. both features are notably better than the Zen Vision M despite the age of this model). Sound is respectable and there's a EQ, SRS and all the other things that crap up the sound but people love. The 20Gb models work with Windows Media Player and other MTP software only. The 6Gb models can be converted between MTP and UMS. Battery life of the smaller-capacity models is not spectacular but the cell is removable. The 20Gb has fair battery life on a par with the current iPod and has non removable batteries.
 
jason5_k said:
...the UI is very clunky and slow...

I've not found it so at all and certainly no more or less than other players I've had experience of. It's received praise for it's innovative dual browser (which I will admit I rarely use)

jason5_k said:
...if you browse for another song it stops playing the current...

Absolutely not so, you must be operating it incorrectly.

If you are in playmode "All" and playing a track press the right button then scroll down to the browser, browse to the track you want then press the middle button and your new track will play.

Doing the same procedure in playmode "Queue" will queue up your chosen track to play when the current track has finished.

At no time during either operation does it actually stop playing whilst browsing.

I'm talking about the XS202s BTW, apologies if you're referring to any other model.
 
biskitboy i stand corrected :oops:

I was using the back button all along, its my sisters so i didnt take time to fully acquaint my self with it, yeah its a good player
 
Any further advice on which to buy?, i need it to be relatively easy to use as well as reliable? what about a Sony
 
coline said:
i need it to be relatively easy to use as well as reliable? what about a Sony
If you want "easy to use" then take my advice and forget Sony.

The software, Sonic Stage or Connect, which you have no real option but to use, is apalling and firmly puts Sony at the bottom of the list in this category.

I speak from bitter (and expensive) experience having recently ditched my NW-HD5 player after about 9 months purely out of utter frustration with the software and now have an Arcos XZ202S which was an absolute breath of fresh air and is simplicity to transfer music to (and from) and to operate.

A search through this forum will reveal that I'm not alone in my opinion.

If ease of use is high on your list of required features then the single most important point is to make sure whatever you go for does NOT need dedicated software but is simply Drag-n-Drop in Explorer, this will obviously exlude Apple products as well as Sony.
 
I use a 4th gen iPod 40g player, actually tell a lie its currently being replaced due to a knackered hard drive but anyway. Dont discount Apple's players just because of the software because that is easily bypassed by these guys. Fantastic application that just removes the Appleness of the iPod and makes it just as functional/computer friendly as any other player thats errr easy to use and a shed load more.
 
peterjspencer said:
Zen vision M now £179 delivered at play .com

The wife bought one of these a couple of weeks back, she loves it. I did too, so much in fact I bought one for myself too :)
 
ash said:
The Sony Aw300 20GB can be had for £129.99!

Where buddy!
 
ASH - Dont leave us like that !!! Im presuming that you mean the NWA3000, and if so where is it available. Cheapest Ive seen it is £179. Im after one at the moment
 
Currys prices as stated but sold out !! Not surprised at that price. COMET sell the soft cases for NWA3000 but not the actual unit. They probably got rid of all theirs as well.
 
extremelydodgy said:
The Zen is a good deal - but you do get what you pay for. Feature-laden but inferior screen, clunky and poor usability IMO.

Where do you get the idea that the ZVM has an inferior screen ? Its the other way round.

Read the conclusion here http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=31530

http://hifiblog.com/past/2005/12/17...o-in-the-screen-department-weve-got-a-winner/

http://www.everythingusb.com/creative_zen_vision:m_30gb.html

THe ZVM is technically head and shoulders above the iPod. It does actually live upto the battery claims (14hrs music). Its also better supported (WMP 11, mediamonkey etc), you aren't restricted into using iTunes (that I find awful to use) and provided you have XP SP1 or above it supports drag and drop with no software needed.

If, on the other hand you are vain and need to follow everyone else get an iPod.
 
peterjspencer said:
ASH - Dont leave us like that !!! Im presuming that you mean the NWA3000, and if so where is it available. Cheapest Ive seen it is £179. Im after one at the moment

I saw the 3000 for sale at £129 in currys Horspath Oxford.
 
Mark_C said:
Where do you get the idea that the ZVM has an inferior screen ? Its the other way round.

Read the conclusion here http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=31530

http://hifiblog.com/past/2005/12/17...o-in-the-screen-department-weve-got-a-winner/

http://www.everythingusb.com/creative_zen_vision:m_30gb.html

THe ZVM is technically head and shoulders above the iPod. It does actually live upto the battery claims (14hrs music). Its also better supported (WMP 11, mediamonkey etc), you aren't restricted into using iTunes (that I find awful to use) and provided you have XP SP1 or above it supports drag and drop with no software needed.

If, on the other hand you are vain and need to follow everyone else get an iPod.

Have you owned both? I doubt it. I have and the difference is clear to me. If you notice those photos they're all shot dead face-on.


This is the actual difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=953cL2_qrhU


The iPod screen is also much more legible in broad daylight... it's just a more versatile and usable screen. Sure, it's not as vivid head-on but it's much more practical.


And as for the loading 'restrictions' of the iPod, it actually has more third-party software available for it than the Zen, including the handy Yamipod - allows you to run the program directly off the iPod, and allows drag & drop onto it. Always with the ignorant Apple-bashers who're probably worse than the people who buy iPods because they don't know about anything else :rolleyes:
 
Mark_C said:
If, on the other hand you are vain and need to follow everyone else get an iPod.

It's quite extraordinary how many people who prefer something other than an iPod have to end their posts with an insult to iPod owners. "Methinks they do protest too much".

I suspect that for most of the people on these forums who own an iPod, "vanity and following everyone else" had nothing to do with their choice. An excellent player with the balance of features which interest them did.

Apart from all that welcome to the forums:hiya:
 
Biskitboy said:
make sure whatever you go for does NOT need dedicated software but is simply Drag-n-Drop in Explorer, this will obviously exlude Apple products as well as Sony.

It might exclude Sony products, but not Apple. I have a iPod 5G 30GB, and I use the third party software 'Anapod Explorer' (instead of iTunes), which is a drag 'n' drop program which operates from within Explorer.
 
Just out of interest does anybody know why there are no third party software for the Sonys. I personally have never suffered at the hands of Sonic Stage, but plenty have.
You would think that there would be a good market for something.
 

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