5GB MP3 Player

[AH64 APACHE]

Hi all

Have wanted to get a player for a while now but been waiting for a cause. Am going for a three week hol which includes loads of flying (as pax) so decided now would be a good time to buy. I was going to get a 20gb player but wife has convinced me that despite 8gb of music on laptop this is too much to have on a personal player. So can anyone recommend me a smaller (and cheaper) player of around 5gb.

It needs to be:
1. portable
2. Nicely rechargeable (i.e. in foreign climes does not need a hige adapter which works on some bizarre voltage)
3. Long battery life
4. Plays MP3's as my whole collection is already in that form.
5. decent interface
6. Can sit next to my stereo on a dock at home so I can play musice collection through hi-fi to avoid getting technical with streaming audio.

Any advice gratefull received.

[mazzy1026]

Try here:

Advanced MP3 Players (http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk)

Fantastic site with lots of variety. I have bought here a couple of times and the prices are reasonable!

Maz

[joe2812]

www.creative.com

[OE-LBA]

What about IPod ?
available with 4 , 20 or 40 GB

[ZH875]

Muvo^2 from Creative, comes in 512k (Flash) or 1.5 or 4 Gb Disk, smaller than Ipod, 10hr bat life, universal charger, may need a decent set of ear buds (Sony in-ear), good enough for me. 1.5gb is about £110 Sony ear buds about £30

[joe2812]

I had the Creative Zen Micro (5GB). Loved it untill the Play/Pause button became dodgy and got a refund.

Nice software, looks smart...annoying light flashes on and off when it charges, pain in the @rse if you're trying to sleep.

Also gets FM radio which can be recorded along with voice notes.

I however went with a 20gig iPod in the end as the store wouldn't give me cash refund and could only order me an iPod.

[AH64 APACHE]

I think I have narrowed down my choices to the following:
Either - 5GB - Creative Micro or Rio Carbon
20GB - Sony NW-HD3

I have to decide whether I want to be able to use the thing as a back up hard drive for my computer (photos etc ).

Joe - a question re the Creative - I know the play button got stuck but a review from T3 mentioned that the scroll function was extremely annoying as it constantly thought you were tapping instead of scrolling through the playlists? Did you find this?

AS regards the i-pods - I have decided not to go for them as think the Sony offers a better battery life and that the 5GB players offers better value than the mini.

[AH64 APACHE]

Just to let you know and thanks for the advice - went for the Sony due to the extra storage space and ability to use as a spare HDD for files.

It is in the post (hopefully). If anyone wants an update when I get it then let me know.

[Bre901]

Just fell in for the new Sony NW-HD5, even better than the HD3, battery life is now up to 40 hrs and the battery can be removed by the owner.

The only issue I saw for the time being is that you have to use the proprietary software to convert and transfer musical files (works only on Window PCs), even for existing MP3s (I don't mind as I'm actually ripping my CD collection) I did have some trouble on XP, but it works fine on an older Windows ME machine.

Prices on the older NW-HD3 are going down these days.

[Bre901]

I tested (unwillingly, of course) the shockproof capability of the above mentionned device yesterday night. :uhoh:

My feet got caught in the earplug line and it got flung from the table it was lying on down to the floor.

Looks like the buit-in g-meter did its job perfectly, still works like a charm (transfered 30 CD to it afterwards). :ok: