Anyone familiar with portable CD/MP3 players?

[El Chuxter]

I've been meaning to replace my old, half-dead portable CD player for a while, and I'm trying to do some research here. I've weighed the pros and cons of straight MP3 players, and, well, I'm leaning against it for two reasons: 1) the price (especially since I couldn't give a rat's about video capability), and 2) the large number of regular CDs I have.

I discovered not that long ago that I can fit over 500-600 MP3's at "less than best" sound quality on a CD without any major compromises in sound. (And, hey, I can always redo them at a higher sampling rate if the sound does suck.) So, for me, a hybrid-type player seems to make a lot more sense.

I'm having trouble finding unbiased reviews concerning a wide range of manufacturers, though. Sure, there are the usual idiots on amazon.com and circuitcity.com (1-star reviews for a product because amazon sent it the day after they said they would? Gimme a damn break), but that's about it.

Of the brands I'd consider buying, meaning no WM store brand, I keep coming back to a model from Philips that retails between $37 and $40 at most stores and online dealers. The few reviews I can find list some drawbacks, but they mainly seem like flornbesque complaints to me ("I doo not liek the hed phones the coard is to long"--Buy a new set of freaking headphones for $1.99, then, idiot!). There's a similar model that's about $10-$15 more, but the only extra features are a remote control (Why, on a portable model? Is there something I should know here?) and FM tuner, and I'm leaning toward those not being worth the extra cash.

Speaking of cash, I'd like to get my 50 or so Johnny Cash CDs on one MP3 CD so I can listen to them anywhere sometime fairly soon, so any hep here'd be hot (to quote everyone's favorite SW character).

[Jargo]

I use a RIO Carbon MP3 player. 5 gigs of memory. think I can cram about 800 top range quality tracks on it or 80-120 hours of listening. It's heavier than most players but very sturdy. The battery has a long play time before it needs recharging. and it has a mic built in so it's handy for recording conversations surreptitiously. *cough* There's no confounding array of controls either, on/off, usual play jog pause stop roundlet, menu button. you can build playlists within the player though. artist or album etc. Nice ergonomic shape too. comes with software that allows you to mix your stuff, organise playlists synch your player with you PC music library.

I'm currently using 4.6 gigs of memory with 747 tracks in the playlist.

Ghost of Jonna also has or had one. He's hip too. Only the best people have Rio's.

wouldn't know about cost though it was bought for me. roughly in the £100 price range I would imagine. Damn good investment. Damn good.

CD's are dead dude. stick with MP3. pay the extra and get something decent.

[Dar' Argol]

Dude, seriously don't rule out what WM carries. I got a Creative Zen Nano MP3 player from WM for about $60. Its a 512MB player . . . and for about 20 or so more you can get the 1GB with a FM tuner. Its a little taller then a AAA battery and maybe as wide as 3 AAA's. It uses 1 AAA battery and depending on how loud you have it the battery last well longer then 18 hours. Even on the 512MB version I have well over 125 songs on it and still have a bit of room left. It comes with some software and it does automatically convert the files to a smaller bitrate if you want it to so you can fit more on it. I have had no problems with this player . . . I have a few friends who have it as well and they love it . . they are the ones who turned me onto it.

Here's a link to creative's site Zen Nano

If I am not mistaken the pic there is actual size.

Just my 2 cents.

[Darth Jax]

i have a first generation iPod and have used it for years now. iTunes makes it easy to purchase music if i'm so inclined and transferring tunes between player and cd was a breeze. although since i have my entire music collection on a separate hard drive it's much easier for me to change up the selection in my Pod. since i've had it my portable cd player has been stuck in a closet.

[Kidhuman]

I am basically using the 2 gig ipod nano. It sells for 200(I won mine, wouldnt pay for it). I get about 8 hours on the battery it has, it recharges with a USB cord attached to your comp. I dl music and it updates itself.

People at my job use other brands to listen to theres and they are cheaper. Some sell for 50 bucks.

As for a portable CD player, go to WM and they have one for 10 bucks that my kid got for herself. It works fine and dandy.&

[LTBasker]

I've got an RCA discman with mp3 support and it's a few years old but still takes abuse and works fine, I'd suggest something by them if you want a cd/mp3 player.

[LusiferSam]

Ghost of Jonna also has or had one. He's hip too. Only the best people have Rio's.

Just keep telling yourself that. After all only cool people need to be reminded they're cool.

CD's are dead dude. stick with MP3. pay the extra and get something decent.

On the serious side, Mr. DP is right. CD's are mostly dead. I listen to CD's at home sometimes. I get them only when there's a big price difference between iTunes and local retail, unavailable on iTunes or when my behind the times family buys them as gift. First thing I do with CD's is rip them for my iPod.

I balked at idea of an MP3 when the first ones hit the market. Same thing with the iPod. I thought it was a joke when I first saw them. But as they maturated and the tread moved more and more to MP3s (legal and illegal) I changed my mind. That and the fact that you can carry all your music with you on a MP3 player rather then only some of it. Like you I'm not too into the idea of videos on my player. But I might change my mind on that too. So keep an open mind (but closed wallet).

As for what type of MP3 that's not an easy question. I think nearly all the hard drive based players are good. For me being a Mac user, clearly the best chooses was the iPod. If you do go with a MP3 something to get in mind is the software. How easy is it to use?

[2-1B]

I've got all of my CDs loaded into iTunes, sold off the CDs that weren't "collectible" as in being from my very favorite bands, and now I just do mixes of whatever I want and burn them on to a 3 cent CD and play them in my cheap portable CD player when I go out walkin'...I know I'm not with the times in terms of iPods and Mp3 players but I don't care.

[Dar' Argol]

Personally I just cannot see the point of getting a "trendy" iPod . . . 8 hour battery life??? Yeah, it can hold 1000's of MP3s but you know what, I don't have that many. The 512MB that I have is just great. I can listen to that thing all day at work and never hear the same song twice. Plus I spent something ike $100 less for mine. I can't see spending that kind of money on something that's more for a name ans status symbol. The $60 I spent on my Zen is just perfect. And its smaller and less . . . fragile then the iPod. I can tuck it in my back pocket and not worry about something happening to it.

[Jargo]

you can use the Rio carbon as a weapon and hurl it across a room like a ninja throwing star but more blunt and unable to embed itself in flesh but it's a tough little thing. all metal case.
And having a player with hundreds of tracks means not having to reload it if you want a change. I ripped my CD collection to the PC and have but a fraction on the player I'd like a bigger drive.
It's not about status as much as convenience. I go away for a weekend break and the battery on mine lasts the whole time and I have choice. for moods, for drowning out noisome people, for driftng off to sleep with. and a Rio is hardly a big name item. Doubt most people have heard of one.

Personally i wouldn't touch a iPOD. think they look nasty and cheap. all that swappable casing stuff makes me think about airheads and people who match all of their clothes to their underwear and stuff. vapid clubbers and valley girls and boys.