WMA/MP3 players

[1HandInMyPocket]

Just need some advice.

I'm planning to buy either a WMA/MP3 player or a portable CD player that is WMA/MP3 compatible.

It has to play WMA files cause i'm looking into signing with puretracks, please no spiels about kazaa.

I'm willing to pay no more that $400 (pre-tax), and would like to have at least 512MB for MP3/WMA players

My questions are:
1)I know that some mp3 players are actually considered as hard drives, and therefore easily breakable. is this true, and how do i distinguish them from regular players.

2)If the average MP3 song is just over 3.5MB that what size would that be in WMA format?

3)Which MP3/WMA players or CD players do you recommend to buy, or at least stay away from.

Thanks in advance,
1Hand

 

[BKKlover]

1) never had a problem with durability and I run with mine.
2) wma is roughly 2/3 the size of an mp3 file.
3) Rio works for me, though I'm not sure they make anything larger than 256... try future shop/bestbuy.

hope this helps.

 

[Master_Bates]

get a nomad zen from canadacomputers.com.. they're not listed under their mp3 players but i've seen them in their stores.... and they hold 30 gigs and go for $355
if you want to check out the zen, go to nomadworld.com

 

[cynalan]

I have a Dell DJ. 30 GB hard drive and very durable. Great sound. Comparable to an iPod but cheaper.

Check out <url>http://www.delldj.com</url>

 

[drd]

for 150 bux, your best bet is to get an mp3 CD player - record mp3s onto CD - and get 700 Megs of songs on it - instead of about 128 Megs youd get with a reg. mp3 player. The only drawback is that its the size of a regular CD player...Panasonic offers one - as an example for 150 - Panasonic SLCT710 Personal MP3 CD Player...you can get it at FutureShop.

 

[LittleLenny]

Just purchased a Sony Hi-MD minidisc player for $255 at Minidisc-Canada.com. At Future shop its $289. So far, I'm very impressed
with it. It will convert WMA/MP3 to ATRAC3 for playback.

1 HD disk can hold 45 hours of music or 13 hours on a
standard minidisc!

 

[soylentknight]

too bad about the wma requirement - but understandable if that's what you already use...

iPod - still the king

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...LUpLzz4o8UXuWQ/0.0.7.1.0.6.21.1.4.1.0.0.0.1.0

 

[xarir]

1HandInMyPocket - I had no idea you could get an MP3 player that big.

iPods go up to 40GB these days. Apparently the 60GB model will be released this summer.

I've got an older 20GB iPod which I still haven't filled up despite my best attempts to do so. Thus far I've got about 125 hours of music (5.2 days) on there with space for about another 72 hours.

 

[Squirt]

iriver has a 20gig mp3 player with fm tuner that i was checking out. best buy sells it for $499. anyone heard of this one? i have heard the hd players can skip, true?

 

[Berlin]

Here is one, no FM though.

20 G MP3 player , Karma by Rio

http://www.cendirect.com/main_en/te...featured/tab_01/MP3_Players/pic1_Z1000271.gif

HD players are less prone to skip than the older buffer-less Cd player. Mind you, HD's still have moving parts .

If you plan to use your player for med to high impact sport activities, do what Kathleen did, get a flash drive MP3 player.

 

[Kitsune]

Canada computer's has a few, I usually buy most of my
computer stuff from there.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/mp3players.html

Though I opted to buy a 600 buck Ipaq 4150 and added a 256
sd card though.