Can anyone advise me on mp3 players or ipod thingummies?

I'm looking to buy one as a small gift for my girlfriend for when she's out running or gardening, as she'd like to be able to download either music or talking books from t'internet, or listen to the radio if these devices have such things built in. It doesn't need to be able to store 18 gazillion songs, just play a bit of music every once in a while.

I know absolutley nothing about this kind of thing (my knowledge of portable listening only brings me up to the time of release for my Panasonic walkman), so wonder if anyone can advise on a reasonable and small machine, for up to the £50.00 mark? Any advice on the subject will be appreciated.

Many thanks,

Chris.

 

iRiver makes good MP3 players.

 

Ipod shuffle or nano, she can subscribe to pod casts for a days worth of radio and her music in the normal way.

If its just a 'standard birthday' present than the shuffles are very cheap as well.

 

I'd say a Nano and it really attacks the boredom if she's putting in the training for a distance event. I like to have the display (that you don't get on a Shuffle so I can easily find podcasts I haven't listened to yet as I trot along, especially on the long sunday run. Previously I thought the Mini was nice - and it is if you want to fit most or all of a big collection on, but the Nano is big enough and makes it feel ike a brick. The only caveat is that I would buy a rubber protector or screen film straight away, and the Nano doesn't have a lanyard as standard

 

Looking again at the requirements, I would like to adjust my recommendation to the iPod Nano... So I second Gary. The iPod shuffle does not have a display a shuffles all the songs in memory. It might not be what your girlfriend is looking for...

 

People seem to be missing the "for up to the £50.00 mark?" requirement. The cheapest shuffle seems to be about £60 and the nano's are triple the budget.

Silly question, do you need a computer to put music onto an mp3 player? Or can save straight from a source?

 

The shuffle is a taste thing but equally you can play in order or random, so youc an choose what albums are on there.

If price is not the issue then yes the Nano.


If you are not an apple fan and don't mind the fact sony are f***ing useless with its marketing what with proprietary formats and cd worms then you might consider this:

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/6140.html

They sure do look good.

 

Thanks for all those replies - it gives me something to think about.

I guess, having now looked at some of the options, I was a bit optimistic with my £50.00 limit - I did say I had no idea about this type of thing - so lets up it to about a £100.00 instead. That rules out the Nano but, presumably, gives me a bit more scope for choices.

I've nothing whatsoever against Apple, by the way, and have home access to a PC and internet for downloads. I also have various digital sources with digi outs in case direct recording is an option - is this something that any of these machines offer?

Thanks again,

Chris.

 

If its just the tonne then the one gig shuffle is going to give you the most for the money.

Do not plumb for the cheap no name option, it will be nothing but crap.

 

I just bought a mobiBlu DAH-1500i off eBay, cos it's only a Stateside product. http://www.mobibluamerica.com/dah1500.html So much better than a shuffle IMO. If 1Gb is enough for you then take a look. I don't think sound quality is the issue with these bits of kit, they all sound a bit dodgy in absolute terms. Facilities and size are a big factor.

Otherwise, the nano is sweet!

 

At your price range - why not look at minidisc? I know this is a "dying " format but sound quality is amazing battery life is a lot better than HDD or flash players and you may possibly be able to get a Hi-MD for your price. Can then downoad from PC or direct from any other source as well as offering live recording.

 

The Mrs wouldn't be very pleased with MDs skipping when she's out for a run! Solid state's best if you're active, I reckon.

 

Blogger get a grip.

Why not a betamax, she could hook it on with a car battery larf.

 

I've been looking at some of the creatives ..Zen range these get good sound reveiws but are not as "hip" as the ipods. the creative range has some smaller types that may fall more with the budget ...by fleabay seems to have some cheaper zens.

 

The major advantage of the iPods is their user friendly interface and user friendly software (iTunes). It makes life easier by hiding all the techno-babble and making handling intuitive.

 

if you're on orange and at the end of your contract - upgrade to an spv c550 - they are doing a music special edition at the moment which comes with 512mb of memory (upgradeable to 2gb iirc) or you could go for a motorola rokr (itunes) or sony w800i (walkman phone) - that way your gf won;t have to carry a phone and an mp3 player round with her when she's running - just a thought...
cheers


julian

 

What's wrong with the minidisc suggestion? 1GB discs seem to be the norm now. My old player had reasonable anti shock on it, and being quite old now, I'd imagine things have improved further still.

 

Hey its no skin of mine, if he wants to show his love for her by getting her technology at least 10 years out of date, then go for it.

If it were me the only real option is an iPod. Everyone owns one, and those that don't own an MP3 player are going to be wanting an iPod.

So heres the scene, the girlfriend has seen one of those iPod thingies the nano is it? And he pulls out from behind his back a mini disk player. I know he could really **** her off and get a second hand one off ebay, because that model from years ago was really good at the time.

 

I've always found my iPod Mini to be excellent. I'm very glad I took out the extended warranty, as I stupidly managed to drop it this afternoon on my way home from work. Thanklfully, Dixons Mastercare covers accidental damage, otherwise I'd think the repair bill for a cracked screen would be pretty hefty.

 

Just get an ipod nano 6gb, believe the hype! Im gutted because my "super cool at the time" black and red u2 ed ipod now looks like a brick compared to 1 of those and lacks the colour screen. It even has better battery life than the frankly appalling lifespan of mine! All this in a package 4 times smaller and lighter than a full fat ipod.

Ultra