Tech Discussion Buying a modern MP3 player

AliShibaz · 01-10-2015, 11:47 PM

I want to buy an MP3 player.

Am I correct in observing the current trend is that the functions that used to be handled by MP3 players are now handled by cell phones?

The player that I want must have at least 32GB of external memory - preferably 64GB.

So, it must be able to accommodate an external memory card containing 64GB.

Can anyone here tell me which MP3 players are the best and which are the worst?

I am very puzzled by the wide range of prices. I recently bought a Hipstreet player. It cost me about $30. I also bought a 32GB external Micro SD card which also cost me $30.

It had beautiful specs including a beautiful TouchScreen user interface. Unfortunately, it also had some terrible problems. Just take a look at the following user opinions:

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/hipstreet-hipstreet-phoenix-8gb-portable-media-player-hs-2410-8gb-black-hs-2410-8gb/10265848.aspx

My upper limit on price is about $200.

FYI, here are some of the functions that modern MP3 players offer:

alarm clock, AM/FM radio, calculator, calendar, E-Book reading, stopwatch, timer, to-do list, create notes & memos, recorder (records voice, pictures and videos)

Strange as it may sound, the price of these things makes no sense to me. The price certainly does not seem to have anything to do with the functions offered.

I can't make any sense of the prices. It may just be based on the company name and the fact that better known companies can charge much more than lesser known companies.

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Just consider what people said after they bought the Hipstreet MP3 Player.

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/hipstreet-hipstreet-phoenix-8gb-portable-media-player-hs-2410-8gb-black-hs-2410-8gb/10265848.aspx

Most of the people who bought it now say they hated it. But, I have to wonder about the veracity of all the above opinions. There were two reviews from people who loved this unit, but all the rest hated it. I got a very strong feeling that some of these reviews might have been written by people who are related to "Hipstreet" while others may have been written by people who work for a competitor company. I'm not saying that is true. But it sure does raise suspicions for me. Anyway, if you take a look at the above reviews, I'd really like to know what you think.
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I would really appreciate if anyone with first hand knowledge can recommend a good MP3 player for me. TIA.

radiobox · 01-11-2015, 12:23 AM

I was looking for one a few days back for listening to audiobooks.
SanDisk Sansa Clip was highly recommended in one good forum where people listen to audiobooks.
[So it is second hand knowledge from first hand users. Effectively first hand knowledge ? :-) ]

Here is one which which has 32 GB external memory.
SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip. Price is under USD 50. 4/5 stars.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391262,00.asp

I would buy it, but my amazon charges more than US prices. I'll proly have to go fishing in the streets for lower prices. You could use the extra money for a good set of headphones - Sennheiser / Bose.

Do mention the intended use (music/speech) and other features (radio?) you may be looking for.

Do have a look at pcmag.com, where they publish regular reviews. Will post if I come across more.

sporkium · 01-11-2015, 04:15 AM

Apple.

/Thread

AliShibaz · 01-11-2015, 01:36 PM

Thanks very much for your information.

It was much appreciated.

I did see some good reviews by this org that does regular testing of consumer products.

www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/six-great-choices-in-portable-media-players/index.htm

How do you think this Org compares to PC Mag?

I took a look at that SanDisk Sansa player. I did see it before in my travels. But the viewing screen is so small. It appears to be about half the size of the Hipstreet player. I would never buy another player from Hipstreet. But the size of its viewing screen covers the entire unit and appears to be twice the size of the SanDisk Sansa player. I really should check that out.

The Hipstreet viewing screen is 2.8" LCD display.
http://www.staples.ca/en/Hipstreet-8GB-MP3-Video-Player/product_343219_2-CA_1_20001?kpid=343219&cid=PS:SBD:GS:n:n:SBD:58:21800&kpid=343219&gclid=CjwKEAiA28ilBRCy5cXrgtfTxTISJABgX7E2pRf9Ep4IxJkYZKoE8YaLwg4apvDfuBc17ex8QG-tXBoCZO3w_wcB

The size of the SanDisk Sansa viewing screen is 1.1".

How do they specify the size of the screen with only one number? It's a two dimensional screen. Why don't they specify both dimensions?

Oh Spork. What can I say? I had an apple for breakfast today.

P.S. Just FYI.

The people at Hipstreet practically beg its users to contact them if they have problems and do not return the unit before they have a chance to help them over the phone or in email. They say this several times in their User Guide.

I sent them three emails and they never answered a single one. Appalling customer service.

(This post was last modified: 01-11-2015, 01:49 PM by AliShibaz.)

radiobox · 01-12-2015, 11:28 AM

After searching the Net for a while, the only options seem to me to be, an Apple Ipod or better still a good smart phone (cost). I do not see any more products from the other mp3 player manufacturers. They've all stopped after 2011 or so. The smart phone has more or less killed the mp3 player market.

With 32 GB of songs, you are going to need a good user interface to search and play songs/audio easily.
iphone would probably be the top.

At the recent CES 2015 (Consumer Electronics Show), Sony has "returned" with the Walkman.
It introduced the "Sony Walkman ZX2". The cost -- a whopping USD 1200.

Am Unable to access the consumerreports site link. Tried twice today.

(This post was last modified: 01-12-2015, 11:28 AM by radiobox.)

AliShibaz · 01-12-2015, 02:07 PM

Hmmm ... lots of attacks on the Social Media sites. At least that is what I read in some news site that is unmentionable here because so many people think it is really crap.

The biggest problem I currently have with my HipShit MP3 player I bought two and a half years ago is searching and playing songs easily.

But I don't need a new phone.

I can't believe I will buy a new phone just to play songs. Does that make sense to you?

AliShibaz · 01-12-2015, 11:31 PM

(01-12-2015, 02:07 PM)AliShibaz Wrote: Hmmm ... lots of attacks on the Social Media sites. At least that is what I read in some news site that is unmentionable here because so many people think it is really crap.

The biggest problem I currently have with my HipShit MP3 player I bought two and a half years ago is searching and playing songs easily.

But I don't need a new phone.

I can't believe I will buy a new phone just to play songs. Does that make sense to you?

Believe it or not, after doing some more reading, it does make sense to me.

I have never bought an Apple product in my life and buying an Apple product is on my Bucket List. So, I'm going to buy one. Any recommendations on an Apple MP3 player for me to buy? It would be an entry level purchase and I would want to spend between $200 and $400 for the player and a total of about 64 GB storage.

In addition, I do not want to pay anything else for extra tunes or storage or anything else that Apple might have up its sleeve to extort from me.

My view of Apple has always been that they expect me to spend all my money on their company to buy their products and never spend another dime with any other company. I don't want to fall into that.

Can I still buy an Apple product?

Would anyone care to recommend an entry level model for me?

Oh Look!

Just as I was going to turn off my PC and go to bed, I found this MP3 player from Coby.

I know Coby. My TV is a Coby.

http://www.amazon.ca/Coby-2-8-Inch-Player-Touchscreen-Speaker/dp/B003ULP5QA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1421123543&sr=8-6&keywords=apple+mp3+player

That looks mighty intriguing. Nice big 2.8" screen. Nice low price. (about $65). Nice Touch Screen. Yummy!

Any opinions?

(This post was last modified: 01-12-2015, 11:36 PM by AliShibaz.)

radiobox · 01-12-2015, 11:40 PM

My source of songs is usually my radio or me (hehe).

It would be nice to have separate gadgets for music / phone / vide etc. It depends.
I prefer redundancy. Separate devices for different functions. (radio / tv /phone / fridge!!).

But whenever/wherever I travel I see people with earphones connected to their cellphones.
Since the audio quality is getting better and it doubles up as a phone, that's what people want.
I see many people using it as music therapy tool too. Its a stressful world.

Regarding searching a song, isn't there a phone, where you can hum a tune or so and make it search and fetch the song; similar to what midomi, shazam do. Perhaps it is far complex a feature than I think it is.

Also have a looks at the youtube video on 'steve jobs unveils original iphone'. iphone does have good user interface. Maybe other phones too (I really don't know).

The iphone iPod seems to be in your budget btw. Hopefully you can get one when prices drop. Maybe an exchange offer if there is one ? Best way would be to visit a shop and check out the audio quality for yourself and then order it cheap online.

my amazon shows a new phone 'release' today. 'Micromax yureka yu'. The next phone is out before you blink.

[Aside: Ordering online story: A guy in my country ordered a USD 100 phone and received a package with a stone in it instead. Likewise I once bought a china made ac/dc adaptor. It weighed like one. When it went kaput, I took it to the local serviceman, who showed me it had one very small circuit board and two stones in it !]

(This post was last modified: 01-13-2015, 12:35 AM by radiobox.)

AliShibaz · 01-13-2015, 01:35 AM

Yikes!

I just read some user comments about Coby. I guess it's Apple for me.

http://forums.radioreference.com/electronics/261806-coby-mp828-8g-mp3-player-sucks-micro-sd-card.html

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Quote:
Originally Posted by cjrjr507 View Post
Hi all
Bought an Coby MP828-8G MP3 player and bought an 2 Gig micro sd for it. Well had a heck of a time trying to format the micro sd and get some MP3 music files on it. The coby MP828 will not see the SD card at all, that sucks big time. When I use my computer with it, it will show the MP3 player drives as drives I & J. J is the micro SD. Oh and the battery in the MP3 player only lasts about 3 hours if your lucky. The manual for the unit sucks as far as I'm concerned. Do not buy one period!!!

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Coby is a shit product. Do not buy anything made by Coby. Your alert was superfluous, they are pieces of junk. I am surprised they are even sold to the public, they are so bad. I bought a 10 dollar SW radio from Ross Dress for Less in their men's dept, as an extra radio to have around. It was completely useless, but I knew it wouldn't be very good- because it was a COBY.

Stick to known brands- but sometimes even the famous brands can have problems. Best to do research before spending any money!

(This post was last modified: 01-13-2015, 01:37 AM by AliShibaz.)

radiobox · 01-13-2015, 02:06 AM

That is a 2 year old post. Coby Electronics is defunct. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coby_Electr...orporation

Go for iPod Touch 5th Gen (with 1 year Apple warranty) if you can. It seems to be about USD 250 and meets your requirements.

Depending on sales, price may go down (just that I feel it can't be any more costlier).
So try to wait a month or so if you can.
Buy what fits your lifestyle.

(This post was last modified: 01-13-2015, 02:06 AM by radiobox.)