MP3 Players?

Anyone own/used any of the newer MP3 players? Im looking for a 128MB one that is very compact, good sound, good display and ~$120-$150. I was leaning towards the iRivers. Anyone out there with some advice?

iriver makes nice units but flash based is to small for me i need at least 1 gig

I have a 128 mb Iriver player IFP-180T. It's great. Battery life is about 20 hrs. on a single AA. It comes with Sennheiser earbuds that sound great. It has a built-in FM tuner and a voice recorder. You can even record right from the radio if the need arises. The software is for uploading music only. It doesn't come with ripping software. For me this isn't a problem, I already have a ripper that I like. It has few buttons and each button does something else in a different screen. Just takes some getting used to. Would definately buy another Iriver.

I bought an iAudio CW300 512MB MP3 player last night. It is manufactured by Cowon, www.cowon.com, and is very nice. It is reported to get 30 hours of play from one AA battery, stores the MP3 files in four "Album" folders, has a voice recorder, and FM tuner built in. The price I paid was fantastic and am very happy with the purchase. I've had a smaller 128 MB unit for some time, but I felt it just didn't hold enough music. 512MB should hold me for a while.

The earphones with the iAudio are ok, and I think you can get a upgraded pair with different models. If you really want to be on the cutting edge, iAudio is coming out with a new model in the next few weeks or months that has a nice multicolor large display area. The website claims 124 different colors for the display and you can add in your own graphics, similar to cellular phone displays. If audio quality is paramount to you, check out the new earbud headphones from Shure, www.shure.com. The buggers are expensive with their top model at $500, but they are supposed to be excellent at outside noise reduction and audio quality.

I guess the biggest downside to the iAudio CW300 is you have to install drivers on whichever computer you plug the MP3 player into. The new model due out doesn't require a driver disk and is recognized by Windows XP right away. This makes it easier to move your MP3 files or other files you can store in the unit around easier.

I hope this helps, and have fun with whatever player you decide to get. I can't imagine ever going back to a Walkman type cassette player and even lugging around a CD player is too much when compared to the size and convience of the MP3 players.

Creative has a 128m in that price range. Its the same size as a USB flash drive and then plugs into a small carrier that holds an AAA battery. The plastic ond construction look cheap but its held up for my wife for a year now. Hung it from a Mag Solitiare lanyard /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Packard Bell audiokey II. I'm very happy with it, 128MB, voice recorder and USB stick all into one. costs about €99 It uses a single AAA battery (even rechargeables work)

Eugene, you're talking about the Creative Muvo NX. An excellent little player. I have one of these and its great. The AAA battery (get a couple good rechargebles) lasts a good eight hours, and you get two battery holders, one red on grey. Plus it can be used for a USB key for those occasions when you need a quick and dirty way to transport a large computer file. See more reviews here.

The only downside (and this is not uncommon) are the unimpressive earbuds. But if you listen to music on a regular basis dropping a couple bucks on a good pair of ear phones that suit your individual tastes is an investment that will increase your listening satisfaction exponetially. I personally love the Sony earbuds.

Heres a link to some cans I really like. Kinda pricey but cheaper than the E5c's. They sound stellar.

http://www.etymotic.com