Mindful Musings

I had set out to purchase a large capacity MP3 player at the beginning of the summer. The reasons for my purchase are numerous and I know for a fact that I would get a lot of use out of it. I was looking for a very specific product and wanted to spend a bit of time and allocated a considerable amount of money for the purchase. However, I was not going to spend the money only to hate it in the near future. Here is the culmination of my research.

There are quite a few large capacity MP3 players out there and peoples’ opinions about them range from in between rave for most iPod players to disdain for some of the other products. I will try to go through some of the benefits, failures and then the ratings for each of the products along with the price ranges for them.

1. iPod – On top of the list of every MP3 player that is advertised or displayed on review pages is the iPod. Some of the benefits of iPods include:
   

   • Rechargeable Battery with respectable battery life
   
   
   • VERY smooth interface with a wonderful user experience
   
   
   • Mostly very reliable, good hardware
   
   
   • Relatively nice headphones
   
   
   • Coolness factor
   
   

   Some of the weaknesses include:
   

   • No USB connection, an extra purchase
   
   
   • HAVE to use software to upload/download, cannot be a simple hard drive
   
   
   • No FM built in, another extra purchase
   
   
   • Somewhat fragile, too many horror stories of dropped iPods
   
   
   • Priciest of the lot, hands down
   
   

   In spite of all of this, the iPod consistently receives 4-5 stars out of five stars on all reviews. A good product overall, but just lacking enough that I didnt intend to buy it.



2. Creative Labs Jukebox Zen Xtra – This is a reliable and value product which provides a large amount of storage for a small price. Some of the benefits include:
   

   • Very well priced, largest capacity for smallest price
   
   
   • Good equalization and sound quality, lots of sound tricks
   
   
   • Long battery life
   
   
   • Mostly very reliable
   
   
   • USB support
   
   

   Some of the weaknesses include:
   

   • No FM support
   
   
   • Jog wheel is disliked by all, poor button features
   
   
   • Battery cover is strange, case forces you to flip it open when changing songs etc
   
   
   • Poor support
   
   
   • Cannot be used as a hardrive without the included software installed
   
   
   • Warranty is poor
   
   

   This player gets a 3.5-4 out of a possible 5 in every review. A lot of users do not like the quirks in the software, the buttons and the size of the case but like the price and some of the features. I wouldnt buy this because it just lacks the two main features I am looking for. It lacks hard drive capabilities (plug and play) and no built in FM



3. Archos GMini 120 – Simply a bad product, dont even think about it


4. Archos GMini 220 – This one is a worthy contendor with some cool new features and a nice price to boot. Some of the positive features of this product include:
   

   • Compact Flash Card support, useful for digital cameras
   
   
   • Built in FM module, needs extra purchase remote
   
   
   • View pictures in greyscale(this might be a negative attribute
   
   
   • Relatively well priced
   
   
   • Good playlist support
   
   
   • Hard drive emulation, dont need software to transfer files
   
   
   • Very small compared to the iPod
   
   

   Some of the weaknesses include:
   

   • Software still a bit buggy
   
   
   • Need to purchase extras to get FM to work
   
   
   • Greyscale screen is weak
   
   
   • Headphones are crappy
   
   
   • Limited availability
   
   

   This was my first choice for the longest time, but things have changed since then. This product gets a consistent 4 out of 5 in reviews from various sites. It is a good contendor, wish it was available at Best Buy.
   



5. Philips HDD120 – This is another product to stay away from. This will ONLY work with Philips Digital Media Manager software and there are known issues with DRM encoded MP3s as well. It is also expensive. Once I saw a 2-3 ratings in all the reviews, I stopped looking.
   EDIT: Review from a reader:
   

   I just bought a Philips HDD120 and just LOVE it, the remote is so tiny comparing to the iRiver, And the unit is so much prettier then the iRiver, It is so much FASTER with then the ones the dont convert the mp3’s (DDM). Also a BIG plus for me the Philips has a nicer screen and digital in, but I wish you luck with your iRiver (I’ll bet you wouldnt have it for 1 year)

   
   


6. Create Zen Touch – This is a good product though it is very new. I would like to have purchased this, but I do not believe in Version 1.0 of ANY product. Some of the features include FM radio through optional remote control, hard drive emulation, nice playlist support, nice encoding support, good software and sound tools and everything that is good about the Zen Xtra. I was going to wait till this became available, but I have found something better.
   


7. iRiver iHP-120 – This is what I am getting and here are the reasons why:
   

   • Lots of positive reviews from all the sites, a lot of happy customers
   
   
   • Hard drive emulation
   
   
   • FM support built in with included remote, nothing to buy
   
   
   • Voice recorder built in
   
   
   • Encode from FM, on the fly
   
   
   • Relatively well priced
   
   
   • One word, Ogg
   
   
   • Loud volume, small footprint
   
   
   • GREAT battery life as experienced by customers
   
   
   • Leather case included
   
   

   Some of the weaknesses include:
   

   • Awful software for the PC, need to create playlists externally
   
   
   • Complicated interface
   
   

   But none of these deter me much. I will miss the CF interface, but I can add that on at a later time. I LOVE the remote, the price is acceptable and it looks cool. The product seems to be “built to last” and people love it.
   

So there you go. Those are the reasons for my purchase. I am going to get this from BestBuy and will purchase the extra warranty/protection with it. All in all it should put me back about $350 but I think I will like it.

What do YOU own?