Posted: 4/4/2005 11:24:11 PM EDT
| I'm looking at an entry-level MP3 player for the Mrs. and am looking at the Creative Labs MuVo Micro N200 and TX models. I haven't decided on the 512MB or 1GB. For those with 1st hand experience with them, does one have an advantage over the other? Do you recommend any other MP3 players? I'd like to stay with one that uses regular batteries vs. the Lion batteries. |
Well... the difference between those 2 is storage. the 1gb holds twice as much. You are looking at about 250 songs with the 500mb and 500 with the gig. +/- 100 songs depending on bit rate. And if I were you I'd go with a model that allows you to replace the battery. edit... I just looked up that player. It's nice. I have their top of the line sound card in my PC and love it. |
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www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=55-102-172&depa=0 This site has the best prices on almost everything and their service is UNBEATABLE!! just remember... you won't be able to upgrade the storage on this. but really... who needs more than a gig when they are out walking the dog or working out? |
| Personally, I'd only get one with removable storage, preferably SD since it's so common, cheap, and small. I used to think my Rio with 128 MB was plenty of memory but now I'm really glad I can fit in a 1GB SD card that I bought for $50 from Frys. Plus, these cards are just getting cheaper and more powerful by the month. |
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I've been doing some research on these, and have pretty much settled on the iaudio5, 1GB or 512MB version. ETA: The selling point for me is that it also plays the Ogg Vorbis format, which is what most of my music collection is encoded into. Plus, it acts like a USB mass storage device, so you don't need any proprietary software on your computer to load the player with music. "They" say that it will play about 20 hours on 1 AAA battery. |
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I have a Rio Cali and Rio Forge. They have only 256MB on board but you can buy add on chips in up to 2GB sizes when you need the extra storage. Takes one AAA battery and there are some excellent deals on rechargeable NIMH AAA batteries to save in the long run. You must spend an additional $10 online to get the burning software to rip CDs. Cost is under $100 for the Cali and $125 delivered for the Forge 256. These are THE BEST for jogging as they are flash based and not hard drive or mini hard drive based and cant self destruct the spinning hard drives since they have no moving parts. No expensive batteries to replace every year like iPods either. Also come with arm band for running. Best arm band made IMO. Cali and Forge are THE active MP3 players. You need upgraded head phones for any MP3 IMO. I use mine all the time and love its sound quality. Could be a tad bit louder though. You really need to look around for the 1GB cards. I got mine for $80 delivered and prices are dropping always. You can also hold use the same card in your digital camera. My 1Gig card hold 777 4MP full resolution photos. Wait till she wants more music before deciding on card size... not everyone needs 1 or 2 gigs of extra storage the SD/MMC card offers... they also have 512, 256, 128, 64 MB etc cards for MUCH less. NOTE: Its not an iPod so you cant download iTunes to it. |
I got only a flash player... The Sandisk 1 GB. It uses a standard AAA battery which is supposed to last 15 hours. Never tracked battery life, but I use it almost daily at the gym for weeks on one rechargeable.  Personally I would still get as much flash storage as possible. One complaint about HDD players is that they chew batteries. I get tons of battery life and carry around 15 some very high quality albums. |
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Dude, if you're not buying a iPod Shuffle, you're throwing your money away. Seriously. Wurst Buy (the sausage emporium) has 512MB Shuffles going for a hundred bones. The Wal-Mart I work at has some RCA piece of shit 128MB DRM-enabled proprietary-format piece of shit for ~130. So! You could go and buy yourself a crippled, locked-out, proprietary format, overpriced polished turd, or a player that like, doesn't suck. My two centavos. |
I'll second this. Batteries last longer if you turn off menu backlight, etc but a single AAA is probably good for 8-15 hours depending on how much you screw with the menu. My average play time is about 12 hours. I also like the USB drive capability...great for transferring large mpgs or albums of pictures and you need not have proprietary software installed to transfer files. In other words, it should work with any PC with a USB port without having to install software. |
| I picked up a Creative Muvo TX 256mb from walmart last night for $79, I got it for using at the gym. Nice and small and does everything I need. Has FM receiver too for watching the gym TVs. It's very good for the price, ear phones that came with it are pretty crap though. 256mb is plenty enough for a couple gym sessions. Comes with a good belt clip an armband thing (which I'll never use). |
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Online Con$umer Report$ says for small size/low price: iRiver iFP-790 ($150), Creative MuVo TX FM 256Mb ($105) and Rio Forge Sport 256Mb ($150). These are low-price flash-based players rated. In ascending price there are midro-drive players, and then hard-drive players. They note the iPod Shuffle was in this price range also and had been reviewed, but they had not ranked it among the table yet. ~~~~~~ |
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You may not consider this because its is kind of older technology . Well i dont really know if its older technology but I recently made the decision to buy this . I have had 3 of these , first the regular minidisc version , then the Net minidisc player (which played mp3's) and now I own the HIGH MD player . www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage.asp?AuctionId=10342948&refLoc=searchall I actually picked this up for about 60$ . It has a battery life of over 25 hours. The discs hold a gig of info , it can hold regular pc files or music . The discs are cheap (about 10 bucks a piece ) . It is a little clunky but the sound is so much better then the average mp3 player on the market .It hardly weighs anything and when you plug it in the usb powers it . static.ubid.com/mgen/pimg/capable.ms?args=%22198953.jpg%22 
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Tis is my favorite as well. It does not use any software to convert music between formats. And it can accept files and also does play lists. Biggest advantage, unlike the HD based, this does not have internal moving parts and can withstand impacts. |
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I have the 1 gig iPod shuffle. Its worked great for me so far - cost $150, is small, lightweight, charges off of a USB, can be used as a file backup (I do this when traveling for work for important files). I let it hang underneath my shirt while I am working out and it stays nicely out of the way. I don't have any experience with any others. |
| Well I broke down and bought the Creative Labs MuVo Micro N200 512MB. It should have plenty of play time for the Mrs. Her birthday is next week so I won't be able to try it out till then. I don't like the Ipod Shuffle because there's no lcd screen. Actually I'm not too fond of any of the Ipods because they are beginning to be a status symbol nowadays. I'm waiting for the new Creative Labs Zen Micro with the removable battery for my personal use. I'd rather download all my songs once. |
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Here's something new and fairly attractive: www.cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/5/ Very compact and very attractive features. I may get one this week. |
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I went ahead and ordered the 1GB iaudio5. I have to discourage anyone considering getting the iPod shuffle. Don't get hoodwinked by Apples multimillion dollar ad campaign. For $24 more (I got mine for $174 shipped, newegg.com had a one day sale), you can get a 1GB iaudio5 that has voice recording, FM radio, FM radio recording (you can schedule an auto start time too), line in recording, ogg, wma, mp3 playback, a 5 band EQ, sound effects: BBE, Mach3Bass, MP Enhance and 3D Surround, AND you get a screen - try navagating 1GB worth of songs without a screen. You don't have to use any proprietary software to load the player with music, unlike the iPods which must use iTunes software. The iaudio5 uses a removable AAA battery, unlike the iPod, which you will have to send back to the factory when the non user removable battery craps out. 
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