Best MP3 player

need to buy one soon

[Visit Thailand]

A son of a friend wants a MP3 Player.

I know nothing of such things and was wondering if anyone can recommend one?

Is the capacity MB/GB the most important?

[limbo]

Is the capacity MB/GB the most important?

Yes and no - get yourself at least 1GB anything below that'll fill too quickly. Other than that it's about price. The sound quality is very similar for most I have listened too in the 1 - 60 GB range.

An I pod is always a good bet - classic design, lot's of space & accesoroes but pricy.

The Iriver Range is excellent - something for everyone there.

Battery life is an issue on some models and was a concern to me - so I got an Ipod mini - which is perfect for my needs. Also Mobile Phone with in built mp3 players are coming along, but none really have the capacity to challenge... yet.

[Visit Thailand]

Thanks for the input. I should also mention the son is almost 17 so fashion and the cool factor etc is important.

[limbo]

cool factor etc

All the cool kids have ipods ;)

[incrediBILL]

Skip the iPod - my wife has one, it sure holds a ton of music but the interface on the thing renders it pratically useless. Basically you need to build all your play lists and such on your PC and download them because attempting it in the actual iPod could cause a brain seizure. There are better devices with better interfaces for a lot less money.

The only benefit and consideration the iPod has (maybe some others do this too) is one of the wireless transmitter sold by one company that can be adjusted to ANY FM frequency, not just 5 or 6, which is cool in the car. My car has a cassette tape deck in it so the cassette interface works best for me, better sound than those little transmitters, but my wife's car is CD only so the transmitter was the only way to listen over the speakers in her car.

[sem4u]

I have the 20GB ipod and it is nearly filled from my CD collection. I love it and couldn't do without it these days :)

[bill]

After about 6 months of reading reviews and spending all of my lunch breaks drooling in the electronics stores I finally settled on the iRiver H340. It accepts all of the bizarre audio file formats I experiment with. It fits all my music with a little room to spare (40GB). It's not limited to the proprietary Apple software or online music store. All told, the sound, cost, hardware capability and flexibility of the software made this my choice.

[Visit Thailand]

Thank you all I now have a lot more knowledge and amunition to take to my local electronics shop. Apreciate it.

[RussellC]

I love my 20GB iPod and I couldn't live without it either. I have also played with the iPod shuffle. Very cool gadget.

I recommend an iPod especially if your friend's son wants to be "hip".

[2by4]

The ipod's batteries are for all practical purposes not replaceable, that's a very expensive disposable toy, well designed, but in this case design took the lead over long term utility, a common problem with design. When the batteries die, the ipod dies, sooner or later that happens.

Number one thing I'd look for is standard batteries, AA ideally, rechargeable nickel hydrides last forever, are cheap, and can be used on any other little things you have.