[Enigmatic Entity]

I am looking for an mp3 player for $40 and under. It should be 1-4GB, preferably have voice rec. and FM but not required.

Also, it should be reasonable quality (if this is possible).

I live in Australia, so some of the ones that may be in your country may not be available here.

I've checked Dick Smith's, Tandy, Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi online. Not very useful except Dick Smith Electronics.

The only ones in DSE being Thomson, which I don't know about how good the quality is.

I'll actually go to the stores in the next week and see what else is there.

[Mongoose]

I've heard good things about SanDisk's smaller players; in fact, I had an old 512 MB one a while back that I was always happy with.  Their Australian site doesn't seem to offer the full range of products that the US site does, and it doesn't give a price for the player that is listed there, so I don't know if that's what you're looking for.

[Colonol Dekker]

They have Tandy? I've not seen one over here (UK) in ages.......anyhoo.

Is the Interwebs a valid purchasse option?
http://www.onlineshoppingaustralia.com.au/2009/06/where-to-buy-cheap-mp3-players-under-50.html

If not, the reviews should set you in good stead to decide

[Enigmatic Entity]

Due to the fact that JB and Harvey Norman had nothing much other than i-pods (and Tandy is basically DSE), I chose this (Black version from DSE).

The good:

- I got more than I expected, the headphones provided are quite good, and would out-do many bought separately for $40.
- Reasonably solid.*
- Free LED torch (really bright display)
- Good basic features.
- The sound is excellent, no hissing, only slight distortion at max. volume if you have 'bass' or 'rock' on in the EQ.

The bad:

- No option to turn off back light and dim O-LED (there is power save, but the back light and screen turns on every time you press a button).
- The volume reference '1' is to loud for my liking, so I made a 1,000 Ohm resistor cable. I think 750 Ohm may have been better, but at least I won't damage my hearing...
- *Plastic may fail eventually, but I think it will last.

The only SanDisk was that silly "Shaker" thing, which is a piece of crap. For some reason I believe that Thomson is connected to DSE in a big way - quality-wise, not in other stores except Tandy (see line 1).



btw, sorry CD, I'm not up to buying stuff off the web, yet. Besides, there are so many on there that could be good or bad...