mp3-cd player recommendations

[zee]

So I think I'm finally gonna get around to picking one of these up.

Canadacomputers.com looks like they have some good deals..

I know there was a previous thread that iriver is a good company, but frankly the panasonics on Canadacomputers are a helluva lot cheaper

Any recommendations?

Long Battery life is a big plus - though i'm not sure if it would be better to find one that has rechargeables or one that uses regular AA bateries would be better..

Things like mp3-track ids and file organizers would be nice but its not necessary... getting a good deal is a higher priority..

 

[OTIS]

The iriver cd-mp3 player comes highly recommended.

I'd be very cautious with the brandnamers & mp3 just because of the close noose the RIAA has on industry to comply.

 

[The Tesseract]

Koss MP3-CD

$70 at Costco.

 

[zee]

Originally posted by OTIS
The iriver cd-mp3 player comes highly recommended.

I'd be very cautious with the brandnamers & mp3 just because of the close noose the RIAA has on industry to comply.

yeah from what i've been reading the iriver looks pretty good
but as i said, it seems a bit out of my price range (for a decent model at least)


and what do you mean by your last comment? i won't be able to run mp3 cds correctly with a panasonic or sony player? doesn't that negate the function of the whole product?

 

[zee]

Originally posted by The Tesseract
Koss MP3-CD

$70 at Costco.

any good?

even the koss website is sparse on product details

 

[OTIS]

Originally posted by zee
and what do you mean by your last comment? i won't be able to run mp3 cds correctly with a panasonic or sony player? doesn't that negate the function of the whole product?

I'm just extrapolating the idea from waht i've had to deal with in searching out a flash based MP3 player.. I found that whenever I researched a brand name one whether it be sony, or RCA or panasonic, they all had some annoying copyright feature (to make the RIAA happy) that annoyed the shit outta me.. the RCA Lyra for instance re-encoded any files you put on it into it's own proprietary format/codec so you can't copy it back to your PC, this was out of the question for me as I listen to alot of my production work on my player and need the integrity of the encoding to be under my control, and not some arbitrary half-assed codec built into the player.

I ended up noticing all the fringe companies (especially Korean based) had much better design in software & hardware as far as MP3 technology went. So I settled on my MPIO flash based unit, (Iriver was a close second). This can also be said for early DVD players.. the big companies did everything in their power to prevent anything but standard storebought DVD's & CD's from playing on them. So many people who wanted more settled on fringe names like APEX who were lesser known and less of an RIAA target and built their players accordingly -which played everything under the sun, and stole a good part of the market. The bigger names noticed and then finally implemented the same compatibility into their products.

So two examples of a lessoned learned where the big boys don't know shit about the trends in the digital age of entertainment.

 

[el presidente Highsteppa]

Stay the fuck away from Sony

 

[Aphrodite]

my Panasonic is AMAZING. I can shake it for a minute and it wont skip. not that I sit ther shaking it or anything.



is there any out there that you can fast forward with?

 

[zee]

^ which one do you have shannon?

 

[green_souljah]

Originally posted by OTIS


So many people who wanted more settled on fringe names like APEX who were lesser known and less of an RIAA target and built their players accordingly -which played everything under the sun, and stole a good part of the market. The bigger names noticed and then finally implemented the same compatibility into their products.

So two examples of a lessoned learned where the big boys don't know shit about the trends in the digital age of entertainment.

I bought an Apex 1200 dvd player from Futureshop in the summer for $59.95, it plays everything from MP3's to MPEG's to Kodak Picture Discs.

A good friend of mine dropped $200 on an RCA crazy looking DVD player, and it wont play anything except for store rented dvd's.
He is pissed.

In this day and age, more expensive doesn't mean better.

 

[deep]

apex has been kicking some major business ass with their strategy ... pretty much forced a lot of the big slothy companies to adjust to what they're doing. rob is right in that a lot of these small korean companies are offering good technology and quality at more accessible prices than what major manufacturers would like to charge people.

zee : my suggestion for anything is always going to be iriver first, but you might want to check out the portable audio forum at www.head-fi.org to look for other reccomendations for products that better suit your budget

 

[jasmyn]

i got the panasonic sl-sx420 cd/mp3 - it's metallic blue and silver. i got it for my birthday this past summer and i haven't had any problems with it since - despite the fact that i've dropped it several times!! i don't know the exact price but i think it ranges in like the $60-$70ish price range. my only problem with it is that you can't fast forward through mp3s. but you get use to it. and it won't skip no matter how hard you shake it and the battery lasts quite a long time. plus i can use both regular and rechargeable batteries in them.

 

[zee]

hi jasmyn!

yeah i came across that model.. it looked pretty good.. except for the fact that it says it doesn't support "mp3 id tags"?
I was a bit confused by that.. does that mean you have no idea what track you're playing? it's just Track 1, Track 2, etc. on the display?

because if you can burn a ton of mp3s on one cd, i think it'd be a pain to find a certain song..

 

[deep]

no mp3 tags means that it will probably just display the filename of what's playing

so if your files are named properly then it's not an issue

I don't think anyone would make a product dumb enough not to display anything about what's playing

 

[jasmyn]

Originally posted by deep
I don't think anyone would make a product dumb enough not to display anything about what's playing

you'd be surprised ... panasonic is dumb i guess!

Originally posted by zee
does that mean you have no idea what track you're playing? it's just Track 1, Track 2, etc. on the display?

because if you can burn a ton of mp3s on one cd, i think it'd be a pain to find a certain song..

yep it's true, you have no idea what track you're playing .. it's just labelled as track 1, 2, 3, etc .. sometimes i have mp3s with over a hundred tracks and unfortunately it's all just labelled by numbers. that's the only downside.

*waves back to zee*

good luck with finding an mp3/cd player.

 

[zee]

the search continues..

 

[MoFo]

I have this one and it's amazing. Slim, light and pretty.
I got it for $130 (from $169) including an extra battery (rechargable slim) and no tax.

I had the previous model but I dropped it and cracked it. This one is even slimmer, there is only one battery instead of two (so it's lighter) and it has a remote control attachment.

We can go and I can bargain for you if you'd like. I got it at one of the better Indian stores on Yonge. There are some which are really shady but I've never had problems at this one and the service is really good. They're quite nice there.

CD-R/RW Playback 1 Yes

Digital Servo System Yes

Built-in FM/AM Digital Tuner No View all models with this feature


S-XBS Yes

Slide-lock, Full-open Top Cover Yes

Rechargeable Batteries Yes

Car Power Adaptor No View all models with this feature


Car Cassette Adaptor No View all models with this feature


Batteries Required 2 x AA (not included)

Stereo Headphones Included

Flexible 4-way Power Supply Yes

Backup Memory (MP3) 100 seconds

Backup Memory (CD-DA) 45 seconds

No Skip System 2 Yes

Electronic Volume Control Yes

Preset EQ Yes

MP3 Playback 3 Yes

Continuous Playback with supplied external battery case Up to 80 hours (with 2 Ni-Cd rechargeable & 2 AA alkaline batteries

ID3 Tagging Yes

Illuminated Keys Yes

Magnet AC Adaptor No View all models with this feature


LCD on top cover No View all models with this feature


Dimensions (H x W x D) 021/32'' x 59/32'' x 59/32''

Weight 0.34 lbs

I've also discovered the best way to protect it. I put mine in a slim circular cd holder so I never have to worry about it banging against shit and I can hold cds at the same time. It's great!

 

[MoFo]

Originally posted by zee


Long Battery life is a big plus - though i'm not sure if it would be better to find one that has rechargeables or one that uses regular AA bateries would be better..

Even though I knew where to get discount smuggled batteries from Korea, I am never going back.

I wasted WAY to much money on batteries.

With the new Panasonics, you can switch between AA and rechargable with an adapter. The slim battery is SO light compared to the AA batteries. And a quick charge every 4 days before sleeping is all you need.

 

[MoFo]

Any of the ultrathin ones are nice. The material is more durable than a lot of the cheaper ones where they use the plastic that they use for cellphone faceplates you get at Pacific Mall.

I want this too:

 

[g0nz0]

Originally posted by el presidente Highsteppa
Stay the fuck away from Sony

*

mine has worked like a charm for well over 2 years. great battery lenght, and the anti-skipping feature is flawless. i would recommend the one i have to anyone/everyone.

*mine is not exactly as the picture displays

 

[el presidente Highsteppa]

Originally posted by g0nz0

*

mine has worked like a charm for well over 2 years. great battery lenght, and the anti-skipping feature is flawless. i would recommend the one i have to anyone/everyone.

*mine is not exactly as the picture displays

I had a very good Sony model too, but when I needed to get it fixed they were charging me almost three times what I had originally paid for it for repairs. I think for the most part their products are quite good, but the repairs are bullshit. I've vowed not to buy Sony walkmans anymore, and went with Panasonic. So far, no problems yet.

 

[exrboy]

I have a "low end" sony cd/mp3 player and I love it. Sound is great and the batteries last forever. It costed me $130 including tax at Pacific Mall. However...if I could go back in time...I probably would have picked a panasonic cause they are cheaper and come with remotes. I don't think the lower end panasonics support track "iding" though. I would also try and find one that has a backlit display. Why my Sony doens't have it...I dunno.

 

[MoFo]

What's fucked about Sony ones is that they work really wel with Sony products (speakers, headphones, cleaners...). As soon as you want to change something, it doesn't work as well.

And the Sony ones are really thick.

The Panasonic Shockwaves are also a scam. It doesn't matter what the material is, it's how you drop it. After 3 Shockwaves, I gave up on them because they were so overpriced and the same problems occurred with all three, including the ones my friends bought. The headphone jack always comes loose. And the headphones get this buzzing.

The only problem I have with the insert headphones is sometimes they shock the skin on your ear and it fucking hurts. Plus, it's kind of scary to think that something electrical is that close to your eardrums.

I've also found that those cheap-o ones from Zeller's (the ones you get for $39.99) are fine if they have anti-skip. The only problem is that they break REALLY easily no matter how you drop them and rain will fuck it up big-time.

Future Shop has "damaged" or "returned" cd players. I would avoid those too.
Every year Bay/Bloor Radio has a special on the ultra slim baby blue (there's new models coming out). So look out for that during the holiday season. Last year, I believe it was $130.

Again Zee, if you're serious, we can go to those places and I can bargain for you. Especially if I show them the one I bought from them.

 

[Stan]

Originally posted by MoFo
The only problem I have with the insert headphones is sometimes they shock the skin on your ear and it fucking hurts. Plus, it's kind of scary to think that something electrical is that close to your eardrums.

I'm currently using the Sony Fontopia earbuds:
.

They're really fucking expensive for earbuds ($60), but they're awesome. They block out a huge chunk of ambient noise and are a godsend when riding on the TTC. And they have the best bass of any earbuds I've ever used. Oh and the part that you stick in your ear is made of silicone and is very comfortable once you get used to it.

They sound as good as, or better than other headphones which are twice the price. Probably because they block out so much ambient noise that you can actually hear the music.

 

[exrboy]

I bought Labtec headphones to go with my Sony cd player and I think they are great. They costed a whopping $7.99. (No I am not an audiophile)