[Fineus]

Well, I've done a little research and I'm still no closer to an answer. I want to get rid of my crappy personal CD player and get an MP3 player of some sort instead.

It has to be hard wearing, as I cycle and constantly have problems with skipping CDs from the bumps and so forth that go with the territory.

It has to have capacity for upward of 1000 songs. Preferably enough for 7GBs worth although this isn't essential - I don't mind not carrying absolutely everything with me.

I also don't care if it doubles as a camera, phone, cameraphone, coffee maker or vibrator. I don't want any of that stuff. I need something that plays music at a good quality without skipping and has a decent enough battery life (I don't want to be carrying around a spare battery if I happen to go somewhere for a weekend without a power source).

Having looked around I've decided that right now the iPod Nano is ideal. Sure - everyone has gone iPod crazy and it seems quite cliched to own one these days but frankly I don't care, if the hardware is good then that's fine for me. However - I'm also noticing Creative and Sony bringing out offerings that seem alright although I don't know as much about them..

..so, anyone have any input?

Edit/Update: I should add that I believe the iPod Nano is solid state and therefore immune to the skipping of a hard-drive or optical based player.

Also, I've just been reading up on the new Sony Walkman which seems to be their answer to iPod. It's about the same price as an iPod Nano and looks very nice indeed, but as it's much newer I don't know what any actual customers make of it.

[Clave]

I would go iPod Nano, but if you're really gonna abuse it, then a solid state Shuffle would last longer, but with reduced capacity of course....

[phatosealpha]

Do they really make an ipod nano that can hold 7GB?  I figured 2GB would be pretty much tops for a solid state player.

[Ransom]

They have a 4GB Nano, but I think that's as large as they go at the moment.

[WMCoolmon]

I'm pretty impressed with the Nano, although I'd be worried about losing it, it's so small. Or it getting dressed up as a granola bar and someone choking on it.

The worst I've heard about iPods is battery life...not as far as how long it runs, but on how long it takes before the battery capacity starts to deteriorate.

[IceFire]

For running...mmmm its hard to get all in one there.  I considered Creative's Zen Nano (1GB flash) and I'm not a huge iPod fan but the iPod Nano 2GB or 4GB seems to be the best bet for you.

As far as hard drive based players go...Zen Micro 5GB hands down with no competition in my mind.  I own one and I love the little thing.  A fantastic piece of technology, well put together and durable.  But maybe not ideal for running.

[Fineus]

That's a little worrying, as 4GB isn't huge (compared to the 20 / 60 gb models out there).

And battery life is unfortunately important in all senses of the word. If the battery starts to deteriate then I'd at least like to be able to get a replacement set every quater year or so... but I believe iPod batteries can't be changed?
 
Having read more and more... the new Sony Walkman looks a more attractive offer. I've heard good things about battery life. Size starts at 6GB and the quality is apparently excellent.

On the subject of hard drives.. are they likely to have problems? I don't throw my computer around... but any mp3 player I buy would certainly be shaken and abused in some way. Cycling isn't a totally smooth activity.....

[Martinus]

I'd be wary of the Sony's atrac system. I've heard the front end is pants.

[Scuddie]

There was a really good MP3 player a while back that was inexpensive, as well as good for what you want.  It runs off a single AAA cell battery, and typical battery life was 40 hours.  It had 128MB storage, but the real good part was that it used MMCs.  You could put a 1GB card and have a plentiful selection of music, or you could put in a different 512MB card and listen to a discography of your favorite artist.  Unfortunately, I don't recall the name, or why they don't exist anymore.  It seems that would be the best way to do things.

Variable storage based on how many cards you have, ridiculously long battery life, able to take a beating, and inexpensive.  I think that's better than what is common nowadays :\.

[Nuke]

i got my sister an ipod nano, me and my mom pitched in half. im rather annoyed that she has a better mp3 player than i do. i was gonna get the ipod video (aka "pornman" ) but i spent all my money of a 19" flat panel monitor. i wouldnt buy a sony. i bought a 512mb network walkman and although it said clearly "mp3 player" on the package, it really only plays sony's own crappy format, which requires special software that sucks. but it was light durable and it worked for me at the time.  i think creative has a reputatiion for making good hardware whilst leaving out the media protection bull****.  ive never owned a creative mp3 player so this is all on hersay. i liked my archos i had a few years ago, pure drive letter access and was really simple not very shock rsistant though. i dont know if there still around.

[IceFire]

That's a little worrying, as 4GB isn't huge (compared to the 20 / 60 gb models out there).

And battery life is unfortunately important in all senses of the word. If the battery starts to deteriate then I'd at least like to be able to get a replacement set every quater year or so... but I believe iPod batteries can't be changed?
 
Having read more and more... the new Sony Walkman looks a more attractive offer. I've heard good things about battery life. Size starts at 6GB and the quality is apparently excellent.

On the subject of hard drives.. are they likely to have problems? I don't throw my computer around... but any mp3 player I buy would certainly be shaken and abused in some way. Cycling isn't a totally smooth activity.....

The best bet for taking a MP3 player moving is something equipped with a flash drive. But they are naturally going to be smaller in capacity.  They tend to go right now between 128mb and 4GB with the iPod Nano (this is presently the biggest flash based MP3 player that I know of on the market).

The problem with iPods is, as you put it, the battery problem.  If they die, you ship it to Apple and so on and so forth.  With my Zen Nano, the battery is removable...its very easy to remove and toss in a replacement.  The battery on mine lasts the advertised 12 hours of use before needing recharging.  Its a solid and tough little player but I don't know if I want it reading off its mini hard drive while im biking or running.  I haven't taken it on either...I suspect I will not.

[Sandwich]

Biking != active enough to rule out HDD players.

I use my iRiver H320 all the time - buses, cars, walking, running (ok, sprinting for the bus), and it never skipped a beat. I'd recommend it in a heartbeat, especially since it doesn't lock you into its own format.

[Rictor]

For running...mmmm its hard to get all in one there.  I considered Creative's Zen Nano (1GB flash) and I'm not a huge iPod fan but the iPod Nano 2GB or 4GB seems to be the best bet for you.

As far as hard drive based players go...Zen Micro 5GB hands down with no competition in my mind.  I own one and I love the little thing.  A fantastic piece of technology, well put together and durable.  But maybe not ideal for running.

That's this thing, right? They have it at Best Buy for $200, which is cheaper than I've seen any other MP3 player of similar capacity go for. If I can convince myself that an mp3 player is a justifiable purchase, this would be what I get. So you say you're happy with it?

[Deepblue]

I would personally recommend an iRiver H10 from personal experience.

[IceFire]

For running...mmmm its hard to get all in one there. I considered Creative's Zen Nano (1GB flash) and I'm not a huge iPod fan but the iPod Nano 2GB or 4GB seems to be the best bet for you.

As far as hard drive based players go...Zen Micro 5GB hands down with no competition in my mind. I own one and I love the little thing. A fantastic piece of technology, well put together and durable. But maybe not ideal for running.

That's this thing, right? They have it at Best Buy for $200, which is cheaper than I've seen any other MP3 player of similar capacity go for. If I can convince myself that an mp3 player is a justifiable purchase, this would be what I get. So you say you're happy with it?

I'm more than happy...I'm completely in love with the thing.  Its got a 96db SNR which is the highest signal to noise ratio that I was able to find in its class, its got a FM radio (possibly the worst bit about the whole unit is that it doesn't have a very good antenna), FM radio recording, voice recording (works extremely well even in noisy rooms), MP3 and WMA formats, 12 hour battery life (in my experience I do get about 12 hours), and it seems durable (not that I throw it around).

The only bad things are the aformentioned FM radio and the lack of any good cases for it.  But I imagine that will change shortly...it comes with a cheap little pouch which works well enough for me right now.

I really like it as you can tell...I completely recommend it to anyone as my experience has been top notch so far.  I use it at work as its either very quiet or very loud with many students studying nearby and making plenty of raquet so when I am in my office and need to hunker down and get some stuff done...I use my Zen Micro to block outside noise with soothing music.

[Deepblue]

The H10 has wonderful FM reception. Same quality as a car setup IMHO.

[Fineus]

Cheers guys... again lots of information. I feel kinda bad ignoring it but having been around a few shops today I'm still leaning strongly in favour of the Sony Walkman:



Although I've heard bad things about the software used to load the songs - I figure that once I actually get the songs on there, it ceases to be a problem. The battery life is supposed to be exceptional (charging at faster than an hours worth of run time per minute and having played with one in the shop the interface seemed perfectly stable and friendly.

Of course... I'm still open to persuasion. That's just the way it seems to be going right now.

[Sandwich]

What about the software is bad?

[Rictor]

That looks gorgeous. Wonder why I've never seen it around. Is it a new product, or sold only in the UK or something?

[Martinus]

Read this Kal: Link

It should be enough to put you off buying the Sony.