Discussion
I have been trawling through the maze of 5-20 gb mp3 players.
I need a decent battery life, something that is compact, reliable and has a robust build quality.
this is only £179 from Amazon
Have I overlooked any alternatives and has anyone had bad experiences with the sony? I have read that some people find the volume insufficient on this product.
Cheers,
pop
>> Edited by poptosis on Wednesday 17th August 21:45
I need a decent battery life, something that is compact, reliable and has a robust build quality.
this is only £179 from Amazon
Have I overlooked any alternatives and has anyone had bad experiences with the sony? I have read that some people find the volume insufficient on this product.
Cheers,
pop
>> Edited by poptosis on Wednesday 17th August 21:45
When you buy an mp3 player, it's good to consider hardware and software stuff under and around the player's clamshell.
Some vendors offer a full system with software to administrate the music collection, player, and of course shopping. This can be very comfortable for people that are not very tech savvy, or don't have the time to care for how it all works.
When an online shop offers compressed music to download, they (mostly) all make sure that is music can't be pirated. The software on your computer and on the player cares for DRM - Digital Rights Management.
DRM can be used for various things: control where the music file is played, how often it is played, where it is copied or not copied to, etc.
An unfortunate side effect for the consumer of all this technology is that he is not as free with what he did with (for example) CDs. Very often, an mp3 player only supports one manufacturer's DRM, or DRM'ed file format. The consumer becomes dependent one ONE music vendor or his licenced partners, when he wants to have DRM'ed files for his hardware. The vendor, who provides the obligatory software to use the DRM'ed music files may also -at any time- restrict use of already bought files.
Best thing to look out for, when you want to remain free in your choice, are players that support as much formats and codecs as possible, and are not dependent on a particular software to use. IIRC, Apple and Sony offer models, where converted music will become a format (ATRAC, AAC???) that is not readable for other players, or has to be specially licenced to do so. Also, it is not possible to copy music back from an iPod.
A good list on multiple codec supporting portable players can be found here. Make sure you can put music on them by drag&drop with a common file manager; so you can use the player with every connectable PC without special software.
Some vendors offer a full system with software to administrate the music collection, player, and of course shopping. This can be very comfortable for people that are not very tech savvy, or don't have the time to care for how it all works.
When an online shop offers compressed music to download, they (mostly) all make sure that is music can't be pirated. The software on your computer and on the player cares for DRM - Digital Rights Management.
DRM can be used for various things: control where the music file is played, how often it is played, where it is copied or not copied to, etc.
An unfortunate side effect for the consumer of all this technology is that he is not as free with what he did with (for example) CDs. Very often, an mp3 player only supports one manufacturer's DRM, or DRM'ed file format. The consumer becomes dependent one ONE music vendor or his licenced partners, when he wants to have DRM'ed files for his hardware. The vendor, who provides the obligatory software to use the DRM'ed music files may also -at any time- restrict use of already bought files.
Best thing to look out for, when you want to remain free in your choice, are players that support as much formats and codecs as possible, and are not dependent on a particular software to use. IIRC, Apple and Sony offer models, where converted music will become a format (ATRAC, AAC???) that is not readable for other players, or has to be specially licenced to do so. Also, it is not possible to copy music back from an iPod.
A good list on multiple codec supporting portable players can be found here. Make sure you can put music on them by drag&drop with a common file manager; so you can use the player with every connectable PC without special software.
I have a Sony Mp3 player, the model is a 20mb ND something or other. The sound quality is great, menu's and controls easy to use and the battery life, around 30+ playing hours, is amazing. However.... the software is cumbersome and slow to use, you can't drag and drop files instead you have to use the Sony interface.
If I was buying again I'm not sure I'd opt for Sony again.
If I was buying again I'm not sure I'd opt for Sony again.
I bought the Creative labs 60gb jobbie (cost around £220, smaller ones are cheaper) its easy to use (even the gf likes it), the software is easy, the sound is very good, and the storage is massive (only put 35 gb on it so far).
I sometimes wish I'd bought an ipod but only because of all the accessories you can get for it, but I can live without all those expensive extras.
Kwacker
I eventually bought an iPod because of the myriad of accessories for it. I can plug it into my Alpine head unit and fully control it whilst I drive.
I can plug it into my bike's intercom (admittedly I could do this with any music source) and control it with a wireless remote. The iPod can then be safely tucked away under the seat.
MP3 is a compressed, and therefore flawed medium anyway. Lossless or analogue audio will always be superior. In theory anyway - I know I can't hear the difference between players. Any difference is far more likely to be down to the headphones.
And there is third party software which allows you to download songs from an iPod.
I can plug it into my bike's intercom (admittedly I could do this with any music source) and control it with a wireless remote. The iPod can then be safely tucked away under the seat.
MP3 is a compressed, and therefore flawed medium anyway. Lossless or analogue audio will always be superior. In theory anyway - I know I can't hear the difference between players. Any difference is far more likely to be down to the headphones.
And there is third party software which allows you to download songs from an iPod.
Chim Girl said:
I have a Sony Mp3 player, the model is a 20mb ND something or other. The sound quality is great, menu's and controls easy to use and the battery life, around 30+ playing hours, is amazing. However.... the software is cumbersome and slow to use, you can't drag and drop files instead you have to use the Sony interface.
If I was buying again I'm not sure I'd opt for Sony again.
Oh
I have an NW-HD3. Generally I love it. The bad bits:
1) F
king SonicStage. Totally worthless. 
2) Erm, that's it, just f
king SonicStage. As soon as Sony release a decent version (I'm on v3.1 at the moment) I'll be completely satisfied. 
I have Sonic stage that came with the HD5 and I find it pretty good...certainly have had no problems with it. When others say slow and cumbersome I don't know what their benchmark is but say i was ripping from a Cd then I would say and this includes selecting tracks probably no more than a few minutes, albeit it is a 2 stage process.
As I say I dont know if that is good or bad to me it is aceptable
PS Sound quality from the HD5 is really good
As I say I dont know if that is good or bad to me it is aceptable
PS Sound quality from the HD5 is really good
Top ten MP3's from Stuff Magazine.
I thank god for the day I sold all my Sony stuff and deleted Sonicstage. I cannot believe it still sucks after 3.1 versions!
I thank god for the day I sold all my Sony stuff and deleted Sonicstage. I cannot believe it still sucks after 3.1 versions!
I would never buy another Sony music product again (games machines and camcorders are good, although they happen both through poor execution often) because of the software and the overly Draconian way they treat their customers.
There players could be 10x better than the rest, and I'd still avoid them like a bad rash.
I'd rather carry around a petrol powered 240V generator and an iPod than have a Sony product with terrific battery life but garbage software!
iPods are everywhere for a very good reason - the units themselves are stylish and work brilliantly, AND the software for them works very well and very easily.
If you really MUST get something other than an iPod, some of the other players coming through are starting to rival it.
>> Edited by Murph7355 on Monday 22 August 21:17
There players could be 10x better than the rest, and I'd still avoid them like a bad rash.
I'd rather carry around a petrol powered 240V generator and an iPod than have a Sony product with terrific battery life but garbage software!
iPods are everywhere for a very good reason - the units themselves are stylish and work brilliantly, AND the software for them works very well and very easily.
If you really MUST get something other than an iPod, some of the other players coming through are starting to rival it.
>> Edited by Murph7355 on Monday 22 August 21:17
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