What Tech to Get: Mp3 Players

I previously had set up my decision making process.  Now I can do the recommendations, and my own decision.  As a reminder from my “In Search of: mp3” article, I am eliminating “everything other than dedicated mp3 players”.  It seems well timed to have this article posted now, considering all the news regarding Apple’s newest iPods.  We will be talking briefly about them, but keep in mind they are so new that not all the information is in yet.

I’m going to start with the category of player I wasn’t looking for myself; hard drive based players.

The iPod Classic is the gold standard of hard drive based mp3 players.  None of the others even come close.  The latest model comes with a massive 160GB of storage to hold even the largest music collection.  The iPod Classic boasts a battery life that makes most other devices blush, mainly because its battery is sized like those of the mini-computers (iPod touch & other gaming / MIDs) but without their processing needs.  While it plays basic games, video, and photos, this is clearly designed as a music first device.  Add in that Apple prices the Classic so competitively ($225 for 160GB) compared to other hard drive mp3 players, and you get a combination that makes the iPod Classic the no brain selection for a hard drive based player.

In flash based players, I found a lot more contenders.  I read quite a bit about the Creative ZEN Mozaic.  Creative had been a big player in the early market for mp3 players, but has faded as of late.  The Mozaic had slightly above average reviews, and decent pricing, however, a few complaints were consistent.  The Creative Centrale software, which is used to create playlists, convert video, and transfer / sync music is described as clunky, difficult, gross and awful by reviewers.  Also, the Mozaic is not expandable so the size you buy (2, 4, 8, or 16GB) is all you get.  Frankly, I think the checkerboard design on the front is unappealing.

Apple has two product lines in this area; the Shuffle and the Nano.  I couldn’t even consider the Shuffle, which is fine for what it is.  However, I can’t bear to have a player without a display, which keeps me from picking the songs I want to hear right away.  The Nano is a solid and popular player.  The 5th generation iPod Nano deserves more serious consideration.  It sports a built in FM radio, on the fly playlist creation, and full iTunes integration.  It also has other features I’m less excited about, but that still matter, like a pedometer, full color display for album art, and digital camera for stills and video.  Among the newest iPods announced today, the new Nano dumped the camera and the click wheel for a smaller size and a touch screen display. 

Still, the 5th generation Nano has negatives as well.  It’s been cited, especially among some friends I know who have one, that both battery life and long term life can be a problem, as these have been known to break down more often than the iPod Classic.  I could be accepting of this, and consider the Nano a good choice, but not a perfect one for me.  My biggest issue with the Nano is price.  I just don’t like paying extra for name unless I know it’s an absolute must.  A 16GB iPod Nano goes for $160 on Amazon, while the Creative ZEN Mozaic I cited above goes for $70.  An 8GB version of the iPod Nano goes for $130.

This leads me to SanDisk, and the Sansa line of players.  The Sansa Fuze line of players are about the size of a credit card, and display audio, pictures, and video, although I’m usually only interested in the music & podcasts.  However, people complain about the “jog wheel”, the Fuze’s answer to the iPod Click Wheel, being harder to use.  This led me to the Sansa Clip +.  This miniature mp3 player is about the size of a matchbox, but boasts an OLED screen that takes up about 1/3 of its size.  Its interface is simple, but supports creating playlists on the fly, as well as deleting files from the device.  When it comes to syncing, as opposed to the Creative Mozaic or iPod Nano, the Clip + has multiple options, allowing you to use Windows Media Player, Rhapsody (of which I am NOT a fan), and best of all, just using it as a disk to drag and drop your music any way you’d like.  It’s not without its negatives; the small size means a small rechargeable battery, which gives about 16-18 hours of music on a charge.  Also, it’s small enough to clip to your lapel, or drop in your pocket, but that makes it feel a bit too small in your hand while you use it. 

Why, yes, that is "The Mike O'Meara Show" I'm listening to.

The Clip + sound quality, and simple directional pad (no “jog wheel”) with buttons helped it earn the CNET Editors Choice award.  Two main factors finally won me over, and sold me on this device.  It’s expandable, supporting microSD and microSDHC cards.  With a simple purchase of a small memory card, like this 16GB microSDHC one from Amazon for $30-40, and you can increase the storage capacity beyond that of any other flash mp3 player I’ve seen.  Those cards are interchangeable, meaning I could have one card with oldies for riding in the card with my dad, and another with deep album cuts to help with long travel plans.  Secondly, the price really can’t be beat.  The 4GB Sansa Clip + is $40 on Amazon, and the 8GB (which is my choice) runs $56, but has recently been on sale as low as $50.

For about $80, I’m going to end up with 24 GB on a high quality, super small, lightweight mp3 player that’s durable and does everything I want it to.  Hopefully, it can last the same 4+ years of my last Sansa.

Till next time.