Can anyone recommend an mp3 player under $200us?

[GerryDavid]

The cheaper, the better.

I did a search on computers.com and there were 3 that were interesting.

Rio Carbon (5GB) for $130-$250, rating 8.3/10
http://reviews.cnet.com/Rio_Carbon_5GB/4505-6490_7-30984154.html?tag=pdtl-list

Rio Nitrus (1.5GB) for $84-$170, rating 8/10
http://reviews.cnet.com/Rio_Nitrus_1_5GB/4505-6490_7-30474132.html?tag=pdtl-list

Rio Karma (20GB) for $170-$310, rating 8/10
http://reviews.cnet.com/Rio_Karma_20GB/4505-6490_7-30474134.html?tag=pdtl-list

Thier all rio, guess theres not much competition in this price bracket. The main purpose of this will be to play mp3's, and im sure I can fit all the songs I want on 1gb, so 20gb seems a bit extreme. Battery life is also important. It would be cool to be able to back pictures up on it but thats not a priority right now.

The nitrus one there is the most appealing due to the price, the 1st one is next since it has a bit more space.

Does anyone know of any others that are good audio quality/battery life/cheap? :0)

[FlyingPete]

Hmmm, I bought one a few weeks ago, my criteria was that it used CF cards (got plenty of those), and ran on AA batteries (also have plenty of NiMh ones of those as well).

Without doing a lot of research into the mater, I bought a Digital Frontier Nexia iA+, it was a CF based player than ran on two AA’s

Opps :(

Whilst it does work as an MP3 player, I have some grips with how it performs, and would not recommend it to anyone unless they fix the firmware (I am hoping they will), even then firmware doesn’t fix the fiddly controller.

What don’t I like?
- It locks up for no particular reason forcing you to remove the batteries to reset it
- The menu button is fiddly
- When you turn it on, it asks too many questions before letting you play the music
- It takes ages to ‘boot’ after the first option menu if you have a larger card with a lot of songs on it (i.e. 1GB)
- The backward button goes to the previous song rather than the beginning of the current one, this really bugs me, as I am so used to CD/DVD players working the other way

Don’t buy one of those.

[Andy_T]

Pete,

I also have had the Nex1a+ for about a year now (maybe shorter, don't recall for sure), and I have not observed any of the problems mentioned by you (other than the long startup time :cry: )

I really like its sound performance, it's better than many other more expensive units on the market.

However, I noticed that the player does not find the contents of the CF sometimes when the batteries are nearly drained. Maybe that is the reason for your lockups, too.

Best regards,
Andy

[Digital Prophet]

I know someone that has a IPod Shuffle and she just loves that little thing. I believe that the go for $99 for 512 meg and $149 for 1 Gig.

- Digital Prophet -

[kb244]

I know someone that has a IPod Shuffle and she just loves that little thing. I believe that the go for $99 for 512 meg and $149 for 1 Gig.

- Digital Prophet -


Was bout to recomend the same thing if didnt mind the size of them.

[Danny Boy]

The only bad thing about the shuffle is that you don't have a screen to see what you are listening to nor to be able to select certain cd's/artists/etc. Nice small size though.

Dan

[GerryDavid]

Is the ipod mini hackable? Like open it up, switch the memory stick with a larger one? Ive heard thats possible with some others.

I dont really like the idea of a small screen though. :0)

[Avalonthas]

Ipod shuffle, but it only comes in 512 and 1gig formats

[GerryDavid]

I meant to say ipod shuffle instead of ipod mini. I assume it uses solid state memory instead of micro hard drives like the larger version?

[jukas]

I know you said under $200 but it's so close I figured I'd mention it..

I have a Creative Labs Nomad Zen Xtra 30gb mp3 player. It included a lith-ion battery, carrying case, ear phones and wall charger. I can usually use it for 2 - 3 days of intermittant useage without recharging it, or 10+ hours straight.

You can buy them brand new for $219

[juneappal]

The iRiver 800 series is in your price range - It runs for 40 hours on a single AA, receives FM radio and with a small mic records at 44khz 192bps (and sounds good!) it also has a small display, but it is a functional one, and you can sort your tracks into folders/playlists.

Best of all - it is the size of a D-Cell battery but lighter.

(All that said, I have an iPod for listening - I got the iRiver for recording live music. The iPod I got for free through one of those free iPod schemes on the web.)

[FlyingPete]

All that said, I have an iPod for listening - I got the iRiver for recording live music. The iPod I got for free through one of those free iPod schemes on the web.

Huh? I though those were scams :confused:

[kb244]

Huh? I though those were scams :confused:
Hrm not scams, but I wouldnt wana be the person the bottom.