I am looking into purchasing an MP3 player. The thing is I haven't a clue about them and so I need some advice:

1. Besides MAC's Ipod what other brands do you recommend?

2. Besides the MP3 Player itself what other accessories will I need?

3. What software is involved and what is the cost?

4. Any other advice.

I am not looking for anything else but to play music. I don't need photo capture, etc., just reliability.

Thanks

I will always suggest Creative as a brand, as in my experiance they make far superior MP3 players.

It depends on what you are after, if you are after a status symbol, the IPOD is the way to go, as thats all its really good for, granted, it plays music fine, but it doesnt compare in sound quality, battery life, controls, screen quality, software compatabilty (have to use iTunes, which isnt a bad program, but you dont have a choice)

If you just wanna play music, then its not a tough competition as you wont need a Creatice Vision or iPod Gen5 or something.

Accesories? A car power adapter is always nice, and the accesory that transmits your tunes via the radio kicks ass, other than that, you shouldnt really need anything else, unless you get an ipod, then I STRONGLY recommend you get multiple screen protectors and a case as they scratch instantly.

Software should come with the MP3 player.

Anyways, after owning multiple products from both Apple and Creative, I gott go with Creative, they are just so much better, unfortunately, they just didnt have the marketing skills to take over the market.

bought Iriver 128mb 2.5 years ago.. more or less. Still working perfectly for me [img]smile.gif[/img] , can do voice recording and radio besides the mp3 playing ;) . Just note that you need 1 aa battery to use it. I believe its cheaper in a sense that compared to Ipod where you cant just replace its battery once its damaged.

edit:
software is free included in the package and its similar to a usb memory stick just plug, play and transfer songs. Pretty simple.
edit: link here just in case
http://www.iriver.com/

[ 11-12-2006, 01:42 AM: Message edited by: Harkoliar ]

Another good point, you cant replace teh batteries in IPOD's, whereas most Creative ones can, which was the main selling point for me as I could carry spares

One question - how much space do you want on the player? There are heaps of good options.

Another good point, you cant replace teh batteries in IPOD's, whereas most Creative ones can, which was the main selling point for me as I could carry spares </font>[/QUOTE]Actually you can. It just isn't simple. Jaycar (Australia) sells a tool kit, batteries & instructions.

I would recommend a Creative.

My old MuVo has seemed pretty resistant to being dropped on the floor, but if you're going to go for a model with a large and fragile screen for watching videos, a protective case of some sort probably wouldn't hurt. And the default whataretheycalled, the bits that go in your ears, usually tend to suck.

I don't need software. When I plug the player, it is instantly recognized as a portable USB memory and I can just drag-and-drop songs in it. This might of course be different if your OS is really old or designed for server use only.

Okay, I have Windows XP Pro with SP2 and I have USB 2.0 ports. Please excuse my ignorance but where and how do I transfer songs?

Depends on what player you get, most Creative ones will allow you to just transfer straight onto the device from windows explorer, and some may require a small program.

Ipod's need to have iTunes installed and then the songs to be converted before it copies them.

I have the Creative Zen Touch, and it needs some software to put songs onto it, or you can use Windows Media Player, though that has limited functionality.

However, I'm quite happy with my Zen. Bit big and heavy though, and as a hard drive player, you can't do sports with it.