Portable mp3 cd players

[Neil]

I am getting one of these for my birthday and want to know which one to go for.  I've been looking at Amazon and am thinking about this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00019MLDY/qid%3D1085925133/sr%3D1-4/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F11%5F4/026-4992177-1597212

or this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00019MLE8/qid=1088174565/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_11_3/026-4992177-1597212

I want one that's going to be fairly robust, I go out walking every day and want to be able to take this with me.  Sony walkmans have always served me well in the past which is why I'm tempted to go for a Sony mp3 cd player.  Anyone got any experience with these things?

[The Boston Crab]

I fancy one of them for my birthday now.

I think the first looks a more attractive proposition, but I didn't even know you could get portable MP3 CD players, so my opinion is hardly the most informed.

[The Region Legion]

First one looks the nicest in my opinion, and since they're both Sony there's not going to be any real difference in performance for the extra £10 you'd be spending on the 2nd.

[A Passing Turk Slipper]

My brother had a goodmans one that was around the same price (and that he got given for his birthday coincedentally). It served him well for about a year before it was nicked, never breaking or anything, easy to use etc. Those Sony ones look fine thopgu as well. Don't know if that was any help.

[Neil]

Well I went for this one and it arrived yesterday!  

30 CDs onto 1 CD-R
Full accessory slim ATRAC CD WALKMAN
New SonicStage Jukebox Software
G-Protection continuous jog proof
Plays MP3 and normal Cds
Maximum battery life up to 86 hours playback
2 x NH-7WMAA rechargeable batteries supplied
LCD remote control
4 line LCD
AC adaptor.

It's bloody great, I have just been out mooching about for an hour and a half listening to John Peels Perfumed Garden.  The player that was a tenner dearer (85 quid) had an FM/AM radio, but no mention of a remote control on the headphones, so I went for the cheaper one.  The whole point of getting one of these is that I could listen to my own selection of music and comedy anyway, so the radio function won't be missed.  It's amazing what this thing can do, it remembers your favourite (i.e. most-played) tracks for instance, and you can then tell it to cycle through them or whatever.  It displays the id3 tags in scrolly text on the player and on the remote control. Sony walkmans were the only ones that ever stood up to constant use for me so I was determined to buy Sony again here, and I'm glad I did.  It's a very small and light little piece of kit, barely bigger than the size of a CD itself.  The battery compartment is inside it, which keeps it slim, in fact it fits nicely in my jacket pocket, although I'll probably be wrapping it in a jumper or two and sticking it in a backpack.

They give you two rechargeable batteries with it, so I was thinking I'd have to buy a little recharging thing for them, but no, they also give you a lead to plug the player into the mains, so once the player tells you the batteries are low, you plug it into the mains, press the charge button and it recharges the batteries for you, wow!  Navigating discs full of mp3s is very easy to do, there are up and down folder buttons so you can skip through the directories.  There also seems to be an optional backlight for the display.  

I'm really over the moon with it, the sound quality is smashing, and it hasn't skipped once.  There are also apparently kits for getting it working in cars so some of you might be interested in that, eh Tracey?

[TraceyQ]

Ssssh, Neil... my credit card is listening...

[mr rou-rou]

oh look, all this talk of ipods and they release a new one,

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5457434/site/newsweek/

Longer play. Coast-to-coasters rejoice: the new iPods are rated for 12 hours of rockin' between charges—a 50 percent boost in battery life. This is accomplished, Apple says, not by a heavier battery but diligent conservation of power.

[NaN]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5457434/site/newsweek/

steve jobs is quite an intimidating chap..... must.... buy.... ipod.....

[Chadwick]

I noticed that my local Asda is selling a portable MP3 CD player for about £30. The packaging tells you nothing about its ability to handle variable bit rate or WMA files, or if it displays id3 tags, though at the price I doubt it. Still, £30 quid is tempting.

[Pinball]

oh look, all this talk of ipods and they release a new one,

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5457434/site/newsweek/

Longer play. Coast-to-coasters rejoice: the new iPods are rated for 12 hours of rockin' between charges—a 50 percent boost in battery life. This is accomplished, Apple says, not by a heavier battery but diligent conservation of power.

Crap quality journalism as usual.

The top-of-the-line iPod, holding 10,000 songs (40 gigs, as geeks will tell you)

Gee, knowing the number of "gigs" is a tad technical, dontcha think? Is it the "science bit"?

[mr rou-rou]

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