MP3 player?

[TheTravellers]

Not really OKC-specific, but thought I might ask here, since I know we have a bunch of tech-heads. Had a Samsung YP-U3 player that was fantastic, but it sat idle too long and became non-functional. Been looking around and haven't really found a good substitute (and nobody's selling their YP-U3s) - seems like most of them can't play tracks in the proper order (or can't make playlists), have problems with tags (which is silly 'cos that's the main piece of info the players use to get info about tracks), etc., (SanDisk Sport Clip is one that looked good, but the reviews made me run away) and it seems that since smartphones are everywhere, they're not being made as much now. Using my phone is just too clunky when working out, so want a nice little one that doesn't cost too much ($50-75 would be about top end, I'd guess). An iPod would be nice if I wanted to deal with iTunes, but I don't want to go down that route. I just rip my CDs to MP3 on my Windoze box and then go from there. Yeah, I know, I'm a dinosaur...

Wondering if anybody knew what a good model is off the top of their head (cnet, pcworld, et al aren't great for this kind of research 'cos they haven't done a good rundown in a few years, so everything on their sites is out of date)?

[bchris02]

Back before I jumped on the Apple bandwagon I had a SanDisk MP3 player. Personally though, I would just go with a smartphone as it's so much easier than having a separate MP3 player.

[windowphobe]

I have a Sansa ClipZip, albeit jailbroken: it runs a third-party operating system (Rockbox) and its capacity has been increased from 4 to 36 GB. About $60 to duplicate it.

[TheTravellers]

Back before I jumped on the Apple bandwagon I had a SanDisk MP3 player. Personally though, I would just go with a smartphone as it's so much easier than having a separate MP3 player.

Working out with weights doesn't work well with a smartphone, at least for the machines and things I do, keeps falling out of my pocket and is just big.

[TheTravellers]

I have a Sansa ClipZip, albeit jailbroken: it runs a third-party operating system (Rockbox) and its capacity has been increased from 4 to 36 GB. About $60 to duplicate it.

Might have to try to find one of those, remember reading about it as one that worked decently, but thought it might be discontinued. Thx.

[tfvc.org]

I have a Sandisk Sansa e280. Great little player and can be loaded with Rockbox. Largest capacity is 8gb with an expandable card up to another 4gb. I use my cell phone now but I picked this one out because it did not require extra software to move music over to the device, just drag and drop. I now use my cell phone which is a Note edge and bluetooth speakers. You can probably find them on Ebay since this was ~2006 when I bought it. Honestly though you might want to consider buying a small burner Android smart phone that allows external cards if you want a full featured newer mp3 player these days, then you can have access to other work out like apps and GPS if that is your thing.

[Thomas Vu]

How much did it go for? Maybe worth going for cell phone, and use the money towards a bluetooth headset.

[TheTravellers]

Thanks for the e280 suggestion, might check that out, there are apparently some older Sansa/Sandisk players that work way better than the current ones, have to go ebay-ing. And the whole phone thing is just too much hassle, already got an htc one (yeah, it's old), which is small, but the Samsung YP-U3 was the size of pack of Doublemint, so that's the size I'm looking for. And all I want is basic controls and functionality for when I work out - just play the songs that I've dragged/dropped onto it in the proper order and don't make it too hard to go back and forth between artists/albums/tracks. On plane trips/vacations/car, I can use my phone because I'm generally stationary and don't have to worry about weights/machines/other people, but for working out, I want something small and easy to use. So it seems like older Sansa players on ebay are the way to go, thx.

[Bill Robertson]

I have a Sansa. I don't remember what model but it's maybe 6 years old, about the length and width of a credit card and a quarter inch thick. It's been to hell and back and works perfectly.

[stick47]

I created an Ebay search for Sansa M250 2GB MP3s several years ago and grabbed 4 of them which should last at least until I go deaf. With harbor freight alkaline batterys at $5/24 the M250 works perfect for me. Two of the used ones I bought on ebay were preloaded with songs too.

[Swake]

You need wireless bluetooth headphones and you can leave your phone in your bag and still use it as an MP3 player. Range is usually about 30 feet for headphones.

[tfvc.org]

You need wireless bluetooth headphones and you can leave your phone in your bag and still use it as an MP3 player. Range is usually about 30 feet for headphones.

Plus no messy wires to deal with, which is why I switched from wired headsets to bluetooth.

[TheTravellers]

Bluetooth headset is a possibility, but I've got some nice Sony earbuds that seal everything up and are broken in and sound great, not sure if I want to go hunting around for a new set of headphones yet, seems like getting a new MP3 player would be easier, no qualitative hearing stuff to deal with, just functionality.

[stick47]

Man I'll stay with old school. No charger needed for the bluetooth earphones, no charger needed for the MP3 device. You guys can stay tethered if you want but to me, throw away batteries and corded ear buds make the most sense. Just a $50 easy peezy system. (plus the 4 gbs of free music I got on two of the used players I bought.)

[Thomas Vu]

scratch this.

[Thomas Vu]

and this.

[TheTravellers]

Man I'll stay with old school. No charger needed for the bluetooth earphones, no charger needed for the MP3 device. You guys can stay tethered if you want but to me, throw away batteries and corded ear buds make the most sense. Just a $50 easy peezy system. (plus the 4 gbs of free music I got on two of the used players I bought.)

Yeah, pretty much this - I just want to grab the player with the earbuds (with short wires, so no tangling) and go work out.

[traxx]

Take a look at this: http://www.amazon.com/G-G-Martinsen-...rds=mp3+player

It appears to be an old iPod nano knockoff. Probably made by the same Chinese manufacturer. No idea how good of a product it is, but for the price it may be worth a try.

[TheTravellers]

Take a look at this: http://www.amazon.com/G-G-Martinsen-...rds=mp3+player

It appears to be an old iPod nano knockoff. Probably made by the same Chinese manufacturer. No idea how good of a product it is, but for the price it may be worth a try.

Thanks very much for that link, definitely worth looking into, esp. for that price, as you said! Wish there were more "real-world" reviews instead of "received a discount for an unbiased review", but I'll look around, it's a possibility...