A few people whose requirements for an MP3 player match mine might benefit from hearing about my adventures in shopping. The criteria in choosing a player were:Not iPod.
Primary use: audio books.
Sound quality.
Video and photos and games unimportant.
Music downloads by subscription: indie artists (traditional, blues, old jazz, Celtic, world, folk, bluegrass, old-time).
Reliability.
Price.
Flash-based technology, as opposed to disk.
A player that meets these requirements is the Creative Zen V Plus with 2GB of storage, although if your computing universe is Apple-based, then this is not the right player. You need Microsoft® Windows® XP (Service Pack 1 or higher) in order to manage the software on the Creative Zen and to do downloads.
Primary use: audio books.
Sound quality.
Video and photos and games unimportant.
Music downloads by subscription: indie artists (traditional, blues, old jazz, Celtic, world, folk, bluegrass, old-time).
Reliability.
Price.
Flash-based technology, as opposed to disk.
A player that meets these requirements is the Creative Zen V Plus with 2GB of storage, although if your computing universe is Apple-based, then this is not the right player. You need Microsoft® Windows® XP (Service Pack 1 or higher) in order to manage the software on the Creative Zen and to do downloads.
An online vendor sold it for well under a hundred dollars. A player with 80 (that's eighty) GB is available, but for my purposes that would have been excessive and a waste of cash. Four GB would have been too much.
On a user forum, happy listeners reported that the 2GB Creative Zen offered good sound quality, capacity to store up to 15 audio books at a time, and a book-marking feature. Currently I have Swann's Way loaded on the player--that's 20.5 hours of audio-- plus 3 music CDs, and 1.3 GB of space remains free. The sound quality is very good on the earbud headphones and not bad when plugged into an adaptor for playing in the car. This is the same cassette adaptor that we use to plug in a portable CD player.
I wanted flash memory, because this technology is reportedly better for listeners who will use the player while on the go, and my plan was to use it while out walking. Flash players do not skip like disk players do. The tiny size is nice too (1.7" x 2.7"), and it's super lightweight. The FM radio is another nice feature.
On a user forum, happy listeners reported that the 2GB Creative Zen offered good sound quality, capacity to store up to 15 audio books at a time, and a book-marking feature. Currently I have Swann's Way loaded on the player--that's 20.5 hours of audio-- plus 3 music CDs, and 1.3 GB of space remains free. The sound quality is very good on the earbud headphones and not bad when plugged into an adaptor for playing in the car. This is the same cassette adaptor that we use to plug in a portable CD player.
I wanted flash memory, because this technology is reportedly better for listeners who will use the player while on the go, and my plan was to use it while out walking. Flash players do not skip like disk players do. The tiny size is nice too (1.7" x 2.7"), and it's super lightweight. The FM radio is another nice feature.
I did not want an iPod, because it seems outrageous to have to pay 99 cents per song every single time you download, since Apple does not offer a subscription iTunes service.
The main drawback of my Creative Zen is that when I'm walking, the earbuds that came with it fall out of my ears. They are fine if I'm not moving, but then sitting less and moving more were the main reasons I got the MP3 player in the first place. There are reports of some ideal, size-adaptable earbuds on the market for over $300, and if that's your pleasure, then I wish you joy, but it seems foolish to spend on earphones more than 3 times the amount of the player's cost. I ordered some old-fashioned, but lightweight, top-of-the-head, over-the-ear headphones for $40 and am optimistic that these will provide the stability needed for walking, without sacrificing sound quality.
This headphones model is supposed to block out a lot of external noise, and with the bear attacks around Yellowstone in the past few weeks, I'll probably restrict the walking to my immediate area (no bears). Now all I need are some snowshoes.
The main drawback of my Creative Zen is that when I'm walking, the earbuds that came with it fall out of my ears. They are fine if I'm not moving, but then sitting less and moving more were the main reasons I got the MP3 player in the first place. There are reports of some ideal, size-adaptable earbuds on the market for over $300, and if that's your pleasure, then I wish you joy, but it seems foolish to spend on earphones more than 3 times the amount of the player's cost. I ordered some old-fashioned, but lightweight, top-of-the-head, over-the-ear headphones for $40 and am optimistic that these will provide the stability needed for walking, without sacrificing sound quality.
This headphones model is supposed to block out a lot of external noise, and with the bear attacks around Yellowstone in the past few weeks, I'll probably restrict the walking to my immediate area (no bears). Now all I need are some snowshoes.
2 comments:
I have a Zen and had been wondering how it would do with audio books; I'll have a go at putting some on it now, thanks. And yes, I had the same problem with the earphones.
Eloise, my new headphones arrived yesterday, and they make a big difference. They are Creative HN-605 Noise Cancelling Headphones. They fit snugly, but not uncomfortably, and are lightweight. Outside noise is muffled, not completely blocked, a good safety feature. Sound quality is very good. The price was right.
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