mini-MP3

[tamaranth]

the mini-MP3 (i.e. the one I shove in my pocket when I'm going for a walk, or use when I don't want to carry a bag / risk loss of the Zen Creative) has finally died -- headphone socket's gone. The replacement I ordered from eBay is crap and I'm sending it back. Can anyone recommend cheap, reliable, plug-and-play 512MB/1GB MP3 player? The last one I had was Logik, ~£55, and it's given me a year of excellent service. Prices seem to be coming down, so I'd rather pay less ...

Comments

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

iPod shuffle?

But then I am Steve Jobs' bitch...

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

iPod -> iTunes -> ETERNAL DAMNATION for swearing so much at a bit of software.

The one thing I hated about my iPod was having to use iTunes. The Logik stick was basically a USB stick with some firmware: drag'n'drop'n'rock.

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Odd - you're the first person I've ever heard of to have problems with iTunes. Is this run from a Mac or PC?

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

It was PC. Mostly, I found it extremely slow, and intolerant of music drives that were sometimes there and sometimes not. Thing is, my MP3 collection is pretty well organised by file structure: I don't want an extra layer of organisation, and I was much happier with simple drag'n'drop on the USB stick. (Creative's management software is better than iTunes, and much better than Sony, but I don't exactly like it.)

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

I guess I have it easier with iTunes in several ways. I'm on a Mac so there's no issue of having extra layers of organisation (though I think iTunes will handle most things with XML files and not mess with your files if you tell it that), I have firewire which is fast, and I have a 30 Gig iPod so can carry just about everything with me, so there's no day-to-day messing with files...

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

30Gig? I'd need 7 for my MP3 collection ... <g>

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

Clearly I am inadequately musical :-(

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

Not at all inadequate! It's just that I was a voracious buyer for years and years, and did a great deal of weeding last year (ripping everything before I parted with it), as well as having many friends who like to share :)

That said, I don't listen to much music at the moment. Am broken.

[dawnmipb.livejournal.com]

*comes out of lurking for a bit*

I have a 512Mb SanDisk that is about the size of a package of gum, holds nine hours of music, has wonderful sound and has held up under two years of running. I don't know if you can get them where you are, but Amazon may have them.

I paid USD 125 two years ago for it. I'm pretty sure they still have a 1 Gb version for much less than that now.

*back to lurking*

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

thank you! (and hello!) Will have a look on Amazon and eBay. Is it plug-and-play or is there some nasty software to load?

[dawnmipb.livejournal.com]

Hi! It does load Musicmatch if you want it to, but I think you can bypass that and run it right out of Windows Media Player. It's not like the Sony horror my friend purchased. And MusicMatch has not been a hassle for me at all. Now mine uses AAA batteries and flash memory. I use rechargeables to be green and all that, and I won't have the battery issues that the iPods have been having.

Warning: Avoid Sony. Avoid, avoid, avoid. They force you to use their software, and then they strip the song off your computer to put it on your player.

I found you through 50bookchallenge and I hope you don't mind me lurking.

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

I definitely like the fact it's battery-powered! Do you know if it's usable via Explorer, e.g. just an extra 'drive' where you can drag and drop? (MusicMatch sounds better than iTunes but I'd like to be able to run it without installing software -- e.g. on the work laptop which runs Linux.)

Of course I don't mind you lurking! Have you found the reviews blog? tamaranth.blogspot.com

[dawnmipb.livejournal.com]

This is the version I have, the blue one. I use the armband when I work and go running, and the thing has survived two years. (http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(1209)-SDMX1-512-SanDiskDigital_Audio_Player_512MB.aspx)

I honestly don't know that it would work without the MusicMatch software. I haven't tried. You might be able to access it directly from the USB connection; it always wants to run of its own accord when I hook it up. It's worth trying.

[dawnmipb.livejournal.com]

Score! Drag your music files to the player or save music files to your player with software tools like Musicmatch, the same as you save files on your hard drive from Microsoft Word or other applications. (http://www.sandisk.com/Retail/Default.aspx?CatID=1242)

And there you are.

This might be the one for you!

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

You are a star! Thank you so much for checking that for me -- I'm going to order one today!

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

we have a 64mb one you can have - or for bigger if you can stand price and itunes, the ipod stick-thing is nice and small

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

nah, 64MB would only just see me to the postbox and back! Ideally I'm looking for something that behaves like the Logik one -- a USB stick plus firmware.