I'm buying an MP player this week...

[zanana1]

Any suggestions on what kind I should buy? I don't know anything about them except that you download (or is it upload) music into them. I need serious help here and I don't want to get ripped off by some kid at Staples. I also don't have alot of money. Any suggestions? Please?

[onethatcares]

1. yes, it's been my experience

that it was better to buy a cheap transistor radio and a set of light weight headphones instead of an MP3 player and a set of ear buds.

I got one for Christmas and between it changing stations for no reason, trying to find a place to wear it, and the volume control, it's a POS.

Good luck, I hope my evaluation works for you.

[MicaelS]

2. Best bang for the buck is a Sansa Clip + (Plus) or Sansa Clip Zip

Last edited Tue Mar 27, 2012, 01:15 PM - Edit history (1)

They make the base players in 2GB, 4Gb, or 8GB. The neat thing is they have a slot for a microSD card which can store up o 32GB of memory. So you can have up to 40GB of music for less than $100, including tax.

My recomendation is get a Sansa Clip Zip 4Gb for $40 at Radio Shack.

http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=sansa%20clip&origkw=sansa+clip&sr=1

Then add microSD cards as you can afford them.

The Sansa Clips are not locked into a proprietary format like iPods. I own a couple of Sansa Clips and they're great for music. I do not use them for video.

[zanana1]

10. Thanks so much for that.

I want my MP3 player for music only so I don't need all the bells and whistles, but I do like the idea of 32GB of memory. I'll definitely check it out. I'm looking for great sound, also. I'm a music junkie--I like everything.

[MicaelS]

12. If you're looking for great sound Sansa is the way to go...

Read the reviews at Anything But Ipod.

For optimum sound, Sansa supports FLAC

[woofless]

13. I have the SansaClip+

with 16 gigs of music on it and I love it. Fantastic little device.

[zanana1]

17. That's exactly what I just bought! Thanks! nt

[Archae]

3. I bought a Sylvania 4g with slot for the mini chip.

Cost me $40 at Big Lots.

Works great, I prefer headphones though instead of earplugs.

It's great on my bicycle, or on the bus.

[VenusRising]

4. My mp3 player is a Sony Walkman.

I haven't even begun to fill it, and it was less than $80.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=sony+walkman+mp3&hl=en&cid=12009428887616551493&ei=jvRxT_u-MLTGsAejrI3rBg&ved=0CBcQtRI

Enjoy your new mp3 player!

[GermanDem]

5. I would buy a used Ipod nano or

Ipod touch. You can get them on ebay, a refurbished ipod touch as low as $105!, and a used Ipod nano 3rd generation for as low $60. I still use my Ipod that I received as a Christmas gift in 2005. Works great! The Ipod touch has the advantage that you can not only use it for music. With thousands of apps available now, you can do all kinds of stuff with it, watch movies and tv shows, play games, track your food intake, whatever you can think of, you can probably do it! It's a great product.

[erinlough]

8. I agree with this post, based on my own experience

I had three mp3 players before my first iPod. They were difficult to manage for me and I didn't use them. When I bought my first used iPod, which is still working by the way, everything clicked. I use it all the time. I can't explain it any better than the slogan, "It just works".

[OxQQme]

6. Sansa Clip n/t

[kaitcat]

7. Sansa Fuze

You don't need the iTunes interface. You plug it in to the computer and can use your operating system to manage your files. The user interface on the player isn't anything fancy, but nothing gets btwn you and your tunes.

[kentauros]

9. The following review is a few years old,

but it has some good info in it on three popular players. I own the Cowon S9 and love it, but it may also be more for those that want higher-end quality sound than just something to carry all their mp3s. The S9 can play FLAC files and many other formats, which is a plus for some of us. It generally has a better quality to the sound output than iPods, too.

You may also want to look at higher quality earbuds or headphones. I use PK3s by Yuin, though there are plenty others than what comes with a player.

Let us know what you eventually buy!

[zanana1]

11. Thanks for the earpod info.

I want good sound and if these earbuds will help me get that, that's great. I'll definitely check them out.

[quakerboy]

14. A few...

Don't go to staples, unless they happen to be having a sale on a product you specifically wanted.

You need to figure a few things out first. Like what are your priorities. Is having a tiny size most important? Is holding a massive amount of music most important? Do you want to use it for purely music, or do you want to watch videos, or even take/hold pictures? is quality or price more important?

You may not want an Ipod, but you can use their line of products to get a good overview of the potential players out there.

Start with the shuffle, which is tiny. It plays music, it has no screen, it can be clipped to a sleeve or collar and left unnoticed, at under half an ounce. 2 gb, which is maybe 500 songs capacity, for $50. Thats it, thats all, it plays music.

Then the Nano. Slightly larger, at a whopping .74 ounce. Can be used with a strap to make a slightly unwieldy watch. Plays music, has a touch screen. No alarm clock, for some reason. You can use it to set a play list, or just skip through songs, or whatever. 8 GB or 16, for 129 and 149(2000 to 4000 songs). Its a fairly dedicated music player, with a few extra functions

Then you have the Ipad touch, which is larger, with a bigger touch screen. About cell phone size. Its basically a little mobile mini computer. It can watch videos(in miniature, granted) and check email from your couch, games. And it plays music, and has up to 64 gb, or 16000 songs(though most would use at least a portion of that space for other things, but it will set you back 399.

Finally, there is the Ipod Classic. Bigger, heavier, has an actual hard drive not solid state flash storage. Smaller screen than the touch, but more storage, at 160 gb, or 40,000 songs. Also does video and photos, but not much for apps or games.


You can get products from other sellers that emulate each of these, or that blend qualities of each of these that you like. You can go on ebay and get a little Shuffle equivalent for under 5 bucks, shipped direct from China, or you can try brands that are available locally. I suggest looking up some of these on Amazon. Read some reviews, see what clicks with what you are wanting, price wise, ability wise, and in terms of what people say about actual use.

[zanana1]

15. Wow

That's alot of info, and I need all the info I can get. (After I buy this thing, I'll need to learn how to use it. Hint, hint).

[quakerboy]

16. That is the next step

Usually, that's not the hardest part. Most of them are pretty simple to use anymore. Both in getting music onto them, and in actual use to play music.

I will say that Apple is the safe bet. Their music players are a fairly consistent line, and so they are documented in great detail. If you have an I-problem, chances are extremely high that someone else has already encountered the issue, found a fix, and posted it on the world wide web. Which is one portion of why they control something like 70% of the music player market in the US

I would say there are other products at least as good, and certainly other products cheaper. But none with the track record, so you have to do your research if you want a good player from another brand. Its quite possibly worth the trouble to do that research, in the end price.

To be fair, you can almost certaintly get on ebay and buy a cheap player for under $5, like the following:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hello-Kitty-Clip-MP3-Player-Support-1-8-GB-TF-card-/270944589313?pt=Other_MP3_Player_Accessories&hash=item3f158e5601
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-New-Brank-Aamazing-Portable-MP3-Player-Micro-SD-Slot-Smart-USB-2-0-Clip-/251028038080?pt=Other_MP3_Player_Accessories&hash=item3a726fe1c0
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Mini-MP3-Clip-Player-Micro-SD-Card-up-8GB-Brand-New-Fashionable-Gift-/170814969660?pt=Other_MP3_Player_Accessories&hash=item27c55d973c

And it will probably work relatively easy and not die for a year or two. And at about $5, you can afford 10 of them for the price of the cheapest Ipod. But its not the "certain thing"

So, again, I recommend looking up reviews. You might try Cnet for some comparisons, since they have a section just for MP3 players. See what looks good to you there. Then take the model number to Amazon, and see what the reviews for the same thing look like there.

http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/?tag=hdr;brandnav