To "pod" or not to "pod"?

[Coventrysucks]

So, being the decisive person I am...

Bored of merely humming to myself when walking to work, being sat on a bus etc, I'm thinking about some sort of portable music playing device.

Do I get:

- Something like a Flash-based 4GB MP3 player (Samsung YP-Z5 seems likely, not a fan of iStuff particularly)

- HDD-based 30GB-ish player, which in terms of GBs/£ is significantly better value, but I am unlikely to ever use/need that much capacity

- Or do I opt for the Third Way, and get a phone with MP3-playing capability (probably a Motorola of some sort), which has very limited capacity, but means you only need to carry one thingummajig at a time, instead of 2, and gets me a new phone into the bargain?

Anyone have any particular pros/cons about any of the above?

[2ndclasscitizen]

Really depends on what you'd prefer. I like my 20gb iRiver because I've my whole (150+) CD collection on it, so I can listen to whatever I want. But you mightn't want that. The HDD players aren't really that much bigger than a higher (~2-4gb) capacity flash players, so it really comes down to whether you feel like forking out for the extra space.

[:Exige:]

Sound quality on phone-based MP3 players is utter shite. Beware.

At the moment I'm using a 1gb Creative Zen Micro and all i have to do with that is change whatever music I have on there every month or so, which takes 2 mins max. It barely weighs more than the AAA battery it uses, it's tiny, has an excellent display and pretty much all the features the larger MP3 players have. Battery lasts as long as the bigger MP3s too.

[pimento]

I have a 60GB iPod. It has all my music on it that I'll want to hear when I'm out and about, so I never need to mess with it... except to add more. I chose the iPod because I know that it's easy to use and that it does exactly what I want it to do. I don't believe it deserves the negative image that people give it either, but rest assured I ain't no fanboy.

Besides, I have pretentious music, so I needed a pretentious music player.

[Wolf03]

I don't think it's necessary to get a big HDD player, unless it has video capabilities. I have an iRiver H10 5 GB and an iPod Nano 4 GB and it is really hard to pick one. The sound quality is simply amazing on both (but the iPod headphones are pure crap). Just a note, HDD players are not very good for mountain trips. I took my H10 on the mountain on a trip and the HDD just can't cope with the rough ride...

I think if you can find the iPod Nano 4 GB somewhere at a sale...it would be a perfect player...just make sure to have a 2nd pair of headphones...(no fanboy here since I got the iPod as a gift or else I would have never gotten an iPod).

[Jack_Bauer]

I'm still rocking my £10 portable CD player, and I've never had any urge to change. CDs are cool, and you know it.

[Suka]

I have a 20GB Creative Zen Touch and have run out of space on it now. To be honest its not one of the greatest MP3 players for usability but sound quality, battery life and capacity are all good. So i would imagine that the new Creative MP3 players would be very good.

[coolieman1220]

i say go for iPods becuase they are very versatile, reliable and easy to use. i've had 3 in the past 3 years. well one got stolen and i sold the other for an upgrade. but yeah u can get a 1 gig nano or even a 2 or 4 gig nano. and then jump to a 30 gig or a 60 gig. maybe even find an old 20 gig thats new but never sold. its a good investment to have just a secure mp3. i have a 60 gig video now and i watch movies on it and show pics to ppl its great i love it

[:Exige:]

iPods are for tools.

[Coventrysucks]

I'm still rocking my £10 portable CD player, and I've never had any urge to change. CDs are cool, and you know it.

CDs are also more bulky than some MP3s on a HDD, so when I moved I left my CDs at home to save some space...

I think I'm leaning towards the first option...

The only reason I'm in favour of the YP-Z5 over an Ipod (4GB nano) is that apparently the battery life on is about 2.5x better, and I've seen nothing but good reviews.

[IWantAnAudiRS6]

Coventry- get a SonyEricsson W810i.

It's one of the best phones I've ever used- and I've used a lot. My dad worked at NEC and Ericsson, so I got to road-test a lot of prototypes and pre-release models.

You can expand the card to 1Gb/2Gb cheaply and easily, and my K750i used to last for days at a time using music and other functions after a few full-empty charges.

[:Exige:]

In the Nano's defence, it does look really quite sexy in Black. Everything else seems commerical and tool-ish to me.

[jcp123]

iPod's what got me into my accident, that's why I have no use for one of those d@mn things anymore. You can have mine complete with all my accessories for $50 negotiable. I don't know the specs, I believe it's a 20gb.

[Guest]

Or do I opt for the Third Way, and get a phone with MP3-playing capability (probably a Motorola of some sort), which has very limited capacity, but means you only need to carry one thingummajig at a time, instead of 2, and gets me a new phone into the bargain?

dont dontdontdontdont - my phone plays mp3's (its an E398, which is the Rokr without iTunes, but with updated firmware so it has iTunes but i cba to get it working), and the sound quality isnt very good and its VERY slow - get something better

I have a 20GB Creative Zen Touch and have run out of space on it now. To be honest its not one of the greatest MP3 players for usability but sound quality, battery life and capacity are all good. So i would imagine that the new Creative MP3 players would be very good.

shameless plug thatsmy old one for sale - it has a great battery life, survives anything, its a bit big, and you cant use it for moving data without drivers, but it is VERY good

I sold it because Zens arent reliable (it broke once - it completely locked, and it wouldnt turn off, i had to wait for the battery to drain, which was a fair old time!), and i bought a Creative Zen Sleek Photo, it's 20 Gb, it's smaller, and it can be used as a memory stick BUT the battery isnt very good and it doesnt go very loud at ALL (ie i have a set of Sehnheissers PX-100 over ears, and i cant use them because my new Zen will not go loud enough to overpower my lawn mower ), but thanks to Argos being stupid i got it for £110 so i can't complain

DONT buy an iPod unless you want to look good - they do a good ish job (i dont care what you say - iPod audio quality is trounced by either of my Zens, and they are marginally worse than my Friends iRiver H320 (but its a brick)) , but they are waaay overpriced and wont play .wma, or .ogg (but then only iRivers do)

my suggestion is to find an old Zen Touch on eBay, but if you have tight trowsers or want something small then look for a Zen Sleek, as it is smaller, and get some DECENT headphones (all oem ones are awful - they save money on them and they are just crap), i bought some Fonotopias for £15 (Sony in-ears, very good), some Sehnheisser PX-100's for £18 (Over ear - great, incredible bass), although my friend has a set of Koss "The Plug" which are £13, and they blow my Sony's away

so overall - how small does it need to be, how much do you want to spend, and how much does looks matter?

[:Exige:]

Take Jakg's advice, he's summed everything up well in that post.