IPOD ALTERNATIVES...?!??!

[mikebatho]

OK. Following on from my last post a few days ago where I listed a couple of players & was hoping to have luck with, I'm now starting from scratch.

I want an mp3 player I can use easily with my mac, but I don't want an ipod.

I can probaply survive on around 1.5 gig, and I'd like one with removable, rechargeable battery, that I can buy as spare of too....

Ideally no bigger than the MUVO2, And no more expensive that about 120 quid.

Any ideas....?

Mike. :confused: :confused: :confused:

[edesignuk]

Can I ask why you don't want an iPod? They will work the best and the most seemless with your mac, and if you look on eBay you can get a Mini new for £145, or 3G 15GB for ~£130.

[mikebatho]

Well 140 would be at the absolute top of my budget, and I'd be paying for something a lot more sophisticated than I need. 1.5 gig would be plenty, and it will only ever be used for music down the gym, I'm not actually that interested of the fashionable appeal of the ipod...

I also want to go smaller, around the size of a soundstick. Packard Bell do one thats about 70mm x 30 but it doesn't have a removable, replacable battery.

Whats the situation with ipod batteries these days? Is it still 2 years use then goodnight? I want to buy a spare battery at the same time as the player to cover myself....

[mikebatho]

I wanted originally to avoid ine of these players that just takes 1 AAA batters, but I guess that as long as I go for a good quality one, thats gonna be the safest long term option. After all, there will always be battereies!!

Plus I've already got a set of rechargeable AAAs for an old cd walkman I have kicking around.....

Hmmmmm. Food for thought. There's Packard Bell sound stick half price down to #100 in Currys. Wonder if that'll work....... :confused: :rolleyes: :o

[jtgotsjets]

If you can wait till January, there might be a flash-based iPod.

[mikebatho]

Where's this rumour come from? Is there any info I can check out..?

[jxyama]

even with a flash-based iPod, it won't have 1.5 GB. and chances are, it will be more expensive than other mp3 players. so i wouldn't wait for it...

i'd get a flash-based mp3 with 256 or 512 MB with an expansion slot. get a 512 MB /1 GB SD card and i think you'll be all set.

there aren't too many mp3 players with removable rechargeable batteries, i'm afraid.

[lasuther]

Get a mini.

lasuther

[Jigglelicious]

Wait, Packard Bell still exists??? :eek:

[Manzana]

iPod alternatives that is.

Just how much is a 1gig flash card anyway? I think you're stuck with an iPod as the best value if you go over 512megs.

[toughboy]

even with a flash-based iPod, it won't have 1.5 GB. and chances are, it will be more expensive than other mp3 players. so i wouldn't wait for it...

i'd get a flash-based mp3 with 256 or 512 MB with an expansion slot. get a 512 MB /1 GB SD card and i think you'll be all set.

there aren't too many mp3 players with removable rechargeable batteries, i'm afraid.

I dont know why they dont do it but it'd be nice if I could replace iPod's battery easily. I once had a walkman which worked with a slim battery, why dont iPod have that?

[earthtoandy]

I'm not actually that interested of the fashionable appeal of the ipod...


thats not all there is to the ipod. is is simply the best player out there. If there was any comparison in quality i doubt the iPod would get 92% market share on good looks alone

[zelmo]

there's always this (http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=10795)

[mikebatho]

I don't want a mini. I was sure I'd mentioned that at the start.

Recon I'll prolly go for a 512mb flash player. That'll take all the tunes I need on a daily basis and isn't as conspicuous as the ipod.

Cheers, fellows....

[t300]

There is no subsitute. EVER.

[mikebatho]

I don't need 5 gig like the Creative player, and it looks too big too. I'm just after something up to 1gig in size thats small enough to go onto a keychain in my pocket.

Not a critisism here, but I find that people with ipods are keen for them to be noticed, where as I want mine out of site.....

Packard Bell do a 1gig AUDIODREAM, but you can't get at the battery. Dixons are selling that for 129 pounds, and its absolutely miniscule!!

[Ugg]

Whats the situation with ipod batteries these days? Is it still 2 years use then goodnight? I want to buy a spare battery at the same time as the player to cover myself....

Batteries.com is listing batteries for the iPod at USD 33-47. Not an unreasonable price for a battery that lasts two years. Also, I believ Apple have a pdf for replacing the battery and you can do it yourself. Just go to ipodhacks.com or any other site devoted to ipods and you'll find pleny of info about replacing the battery and I'm sure links to cheaper batteries as well.

There aren't any batteries available for the 4G iPod yet, they only came out in August so I'm sure that even the most die hard user couldn't have burned it up in only three months!

Trust me, you'll never regret the iPod. It's not just stylish and easy to use but also rock solid. Something I'm sure you'll appreciate ifyou're taking it to the gym.

[dongmin]

OK. Following on from my last post a few days ago where I listed a couple of players & was hoping to have luck with, I'm now starting from scratch.

I want an mp3 player I can use easily with my mac, but I don't want an ipod.

I can probaply survive on around 1.5 gig, and I'd like one with removable, rechargeable battery, that I can buy as spare of too....

Ideally no bigger than the MUVO2, And no more expensive that about 120 quid.

Any ideas....?

Mike. :confused: :confused: :confused:You might want to temper your expectations a bit in terms of the capacity. The Muvo Micro, which is probably what you're looking for in terms of the form factor, goes for USD129 for the 512MB and USD199 for the 1GB version. (USB199 is about 110 pounds no?) There are no 1.5gb players out there, as far as I know. The next step up above 1GB is 4GB (HDD). The MuVo uses AAA batteries which satisfies your replaceable battery requirement.

As for interoperability with iTunes (I'm assuming you're talking about iTunes when you say compatibility with your Mac), it's gonna be a clunky solution with anything other than an iPod. Apple used to have Creative Nomad pluggins for iTunes but I don't think anymore. So you'll have to manually load mp3s into your MuVo, which could be a pain. Also, Creative products don't support AACs and Fairplay, so you're SOL when it comes to iTMS.

[mikebatho]

Hello....?

I'm not laying out ipod cash, & thats it. I already have means of playing music when I'm on train journeys etc - personal cd & mini disc.

I'm not paying for an ipod to use for an hour at the gym 3 times a week. Are we all clear on that? I'm not interested in diving head first into the digital age & swanning around with a piece of kit that is FAR to sophisticated for my needs.

I don't even have enough albums to fill the thing.

So are we all on the same page? Simple, cheap (ish) tiny players. I know you love your ipods, but trying to get me to buy one isn't helping....

[mikebatho]

Hello....?

I'm not laying out ipod cash, & thats it. I already have means of playing music when I'm on train journeys etc - personal cd & mini disc.

I'm not paying for an ipod to use for an hour at the gym 3 times a week. Are we all clear on that? I'm not interested in diving head first into the digital age & swanning around with a piece of kit that is FAR to sophisticated for my needs.

I don't even have enough albums to fill the thing.

So are we all on the same page? Simple, cheap (ish) tiny players. I know you love your ipods, but trying to get me to buy one isn't helping....

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :eek:

[mikebatho]

On behalf of the campaign for plain English, can we try & keep it simple?

I'm not a mac enthusiast and some of the phrases used in posts don't help me. All I meant when I said it needed to be mac compatible it that I want to be able to plug the thing in & drag songs onto it from my desktop or a cd (mp3 cd). It doesn't have to be lightning fast, I have plenty of time....

[SuhasG]

Why not check iRiver? They have models from 256 MB to 1 GB with price $149 to $225. Sound quality is excellent (next to iPod) , work on AA/AAA size batteries. Has FM tuner, FM recording, voice recording, microphone input to recored CD, LP, Cassettes directly into MP3, can be used as USB Data storage. No restriction to use any proprietory software to transfer music to-fro. Simple user interface and good quality LCD Screen. Comes with all std accessories such as cables, case, shoulder band etc.

I have one (256MB) and quite happy with it.

By the way I am no way connected to iRiver , just a music lover like you.

Hope this helps.

SuhasG

[pianojoe]

What about getting a used CL muvo2 off Ebay? They have 4GB now, but until recently this was a 1.5GB thingy. Should be in your price range as well.

BTW, I have an iPod. It's sturdy, reliable, a nicely crafted piece of functional and durable hardware. And, yes, you can replace the battery. In your place I'd take a look at a used 10GB 3rd gen., this will suit your needs, and is within your price range. But since you don't want to, you'll have to get along with something lesser. But the muvo is a good machine, and it's small.

[jxyama]

not expandable, but i like this:

http://www.samsungusa.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?eUser=&prod_id=YPT5V%2fXAA

they are supposed to release a 512 MB one soon. it's very, very compact.

[kirk26]

OK. Following on from my last post a few days ago where I listed a couple of players & was hoping to have luck with, I'm now starting from scratch.

I want an mp3 player I can use easily with my mac, but I don't want an ipod.

I can probaply survive on around 1.5 gig, and I'd like one with removable, rechargeable battery, that I can buy as spare of too....

Ideally no bigger than the MUVO2, And no more expensive that about 120 quid.

Any ideas....?

Mike. :confused: :confused: :confused:

OMG! Look at the caps in the title! My god! My eyes!!!!

[ocellnuri]

Look at iRiver and Rio, specifically the Forge.

[jimjiminyjim]

I use a Samsung Yepp! Player.

Great: ~15 - 70 quid.
Great: Sound Quality
Acceptable: AAA Batteries last 1 - 2 hours (rechargeables)
Acceptable: Syncs with OS 9, not OS X (works with classic)
Acceptable: Plays MP3s, but not AAC.
Not Great: 32 - 256MB Players
Important: Contact samsung to ensure that they have software for a Mac. Their website does not have the software by download, you must request it.

[pilzbury]

Wait, Packard Bell still exists??? :eek:

I think in Europe they still do. I was in France back in September and saw advertisement for it. So yeah I was like what's up with that. I remember back in the day when our family got our first computer. It was a Packard Bell, with a Pentium 75 and a 1 gig HDD. Ha. That was crazy! Now I am a happy Mac owner and won't go back!

http://www.packardbell.com/

[brap]

If you don't mind it being Fugly, you could always buy this (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?product_uid=62369), and a 1GB compact flash/whatever. Should just mount as a storage device.

edit: after looking around this is still the cheapest way of doing it. Ebuyer have 1gb CF which brings the price to £70.32. Course, this puts into perspective the relative good value of the iPod Mini.

[homerjward]

If you don't mind it being Fugly, you could always buy this (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?product_uid=62369), and a 1GB compact flash/whatever. Should just mount as a storage device.

edit: after looking around this is still the cheapest way of doing it. Ebuyer have 1gb CF which brings the price to £70.32. Course, this puts into perspective the relative good value of the iPod Mini.
that doesn't support cf, but this (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=2897813700&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=65540') is a 1gb sd card for 90 pounds, 106 with VAT (im an ignorant american, what is that?). still cheap compared to similar solutions. is that device for sale in america, cause i could use one of those...

[Koodauw]

Hello....?

I'm not laying out ipod cash, & thats it. I already have means of playing music when I'm on train journeys etc - personal cd & mini disc.


Hummmm, a closed minded buyer complaining about closed minded advice to buy an iPod. Who'd of thought.

But anyways, What is wrong with the Muvo itself. You say you want a small player, it will hold the amount of music you want, and I believe you can buy some rechargeable batteries, and throw them on in. (it only takes one AAA battery right? Maybe AA) I got one for my dad for Christmas last year. Its just drag and drop, so its nice and easy for him to use.

The other thing to keep in mind is that you may find yourself using the an iPod for things you never thought you would, if you did get one. I know I use my more than I had ever invisioned. But I digress because..well.. NO IPOD, and that is that.

[AmigoMac]

:mad: iPod... want to think different? :rolleyes:

[papersushi]

The alternative would be keep saving money until you can get an iPod.

[Joeytpg]

Guys, honestly you're pissing him off, even me hehehehhe (j/k) he DOES NOT want an iPod, not interested, doesn't like it/feel it/ need it. So stop trying to get him into buying an iPod, or telling him what an ipod can do, or if reliable.

[Edot]

Hello....?

I'm not laying out ipod cash, & thats it. I already have means of playing music when I'm on train journeys etc - personal cd & mini disc.

I'm not paying for an ipod to use for an hour at the gym 3 times a week. Are we all clear on that? I'm not interested in diving head first into the digital age & swanning around with a piece of kit that is FAR to sophisticated for my needs.

I don't even have enough albums to fill the thing.

So are we all on the same page? Simple, cheap (ish) tiny players. I know you love your ipods, but trying to get me to buy one isn't helping....

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :eek:

It seems to me you have already made up your mind. Most people can't recommend anything because they don't have the tiny, cheap, small capacity players that you are describing. Seems to me you have done more research than anyone here. Why do you expect everyone here to have the answer for you? Go get a small flash player! Spend as little money as you can and be done with it! Sheesh!

[Ugg]

Most people can't recommend anything because they don't have the tiny, cheap, small capacity players that you are describing. Seems to me you have done more research than anyone here. Why do you expect everyone here to have the answer for you? Go get a small flash player! Spend as little money as you can and be done with it! Sheesh!

You beat me to it.

Obviously from the few responses about alternatives, there aren't many and they aren't very good. I can see not wanting to spend the extra money but why have three devices when one would do just fine? Also, the not wanting to own an iPod because of its popularity is pretty lame.

In the end, you'll get what you pay for...

[mikebatho]

OK guys, it finally looks like I've decided.

I'm gonna go for a muvo tx 512.

All I need to know is that it works ok with a mac (G4) then I'm off to the shops....

?? :)

[mikebatho]

Anyone out there been using the Creative MUVO TX (?) with a mac, or the MUVO sport C100...?

I got hold of a too good to be true player for 60 quid at the weekend and its locked up already. It was a Sumvision 512mb (avoid)

I now have my eye on either of the players above. Don't need 512, 256 is plenty.

[Mechcozmo]

Well, on an Apple forum (Macintosh really... but yknow what I mean) we will try to sell you iPods. Just read past those posts, accept it as part of the landscape.

There are not too many 1.5GB flash players out there, seeing as 1GB tops off the Compact Flash and Secure Digital (CF and SD, respectively) right now. a 4GB or 8GB CF card is just a mini hard disk. So.

I'd look at the iRiver series of mp3 players. They seem to be pretty good, but I don't know about Mac compatibility. Nothing will ever beat the iPod in terms of ease of use with the Mac. The 1GB players are around $100 from what I have seen, but those tend to be kinda fugly. But who knows, maybe Fry's was just out of the nice ones when I got there. :)

And about iPod batteries... my 1G 5GB iPod still holds an 8 hour charge. Pretty good. You might be able to pick one of those up for cheap on eBay, but they tend to go for more than $130. And there is a rumored flash-based iPod coming out, according to this thread. Respectable site, too. ;) (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=97215)

[mikebatho]

I'm getting the impression that the general opinion is that the muvo players will work ok, so I'm gonna go with that.

For the record, I came on here specifically for a purpose, to find a particular type of player to meet my needs. I don't see the point in people adding unconstructive, pointless additions to a discussion that could have been kept about half the length it was.

People don't want to be critisised for their choices. If you don't agree, how is telling me over and over going to be of any use to me? It just means that I have to wade through a heap of unhelpful rubbish to snatch the tiny pieces of information that the more thoughtful people out there have added.

So I'll buy my little inexpensive player that holds only a few hours music, use it a few times a week, and when eventually I accidently drop a dumbell on it, or come off my bike, or wreck it in some other way, I won't be too upset.

Thanks to the people who assisted me.
:cool: :cool: