Need help with MP3 player

I've decided I'd like to get a MP3 player but to be honest I've never really looked at them before much so don't know much about them.

Previously I had a headunit in my Jeep that allowed me to play MP3 disks. It was great because I could have one CD that had like 10hrs of music on it. I did have to carry around about 10 cds though(my entire MP3 collection). My Jeep was totalled so the headunit went with it and I know if I ever get another Jeep I'm going to want to be able to play MP3s in it also.

There are so many MP3 players out there that I just don't know what I'm looking at as far as differences go. I have ideas as to what I want the MP3 player to do but it since I don't know much about them I can't decide.

Basically I don't want to have to carry a bunch of CDs around anymore so I can play them. I want to be able to play MP3s in my vehicle though. What I'm looking for is basically this:

--Has to have at least 10GB of storage so I can have my entire MP3 collection on it.
--Needs to have a LINE-OUT or something that would allow me to hook it straight up to the Headunit in my vehicle. I know you can by Headunits that have a LINE-IN on the faceplate since I use to do that with an old portable CD player.
--The MP3 player needs to either come with or have the option of hooking up to the 12v power in a vehicle so I don't have to worry about batteries.
--Ease of finding MP3s on the player while driving. I don't need some elaborate touchscreen or large video screen. I just want to be able to press a few buttons or something to get to the songs I want to play. Right now my MP3 collection consists of folders for entire albums and about 300 random songs that aren't inside a folder. I don't want to have to press a button 500 times to find the one song I want. Need to be able to browse perhaps a folder or scroll through folders etc. Hopefully someone understands what I'm getting at.
--I really don't want to pay 500 dollars or something for the MP3 player either. I've seen cheap ones and I've seen high dollar ones that allow for video viewing also but I have no use for video. Just want to play music.
--Not interested in an IPOD I don't think. Really want something with a replaceable battery in case the one in it dies out. From what I've heard(might just be trash talk from IPOD Haters), IPODs have a unserviceable battery that when it dies the entire unit is basically useless.

If anyone has any ideas that would be great. Just a name that I can search on Newegg or Zipzoomfly would be great. I think I've covered basically everything I need.

Thanks in advance.

Hi

typhoonmike said:

I've decided I'd like to get a MP3 player but to be honest I've never really looked at them before much so don't know much about them.

Previously I had a headunit in my Jeep that allowed me to play MP3 disks. It was great because I could have one CD that had like 10hrs of music on it. I did have to carry around about 10 cds though(my entire MP3 collection). My Jeep was totalled so the headunit went with it and I know if I ever get another Jeep I'm going to want to be able to play MP3s in it also.

There are so many MP3 players out there that I just don't know what I'm looking at as far as differences go. I have ideas as to what I want the MP3 player to do but it since I don't know much about them I can't decide.

Basically I don't want to have to carry a bunch of CDs around anymore so I can play them. I want to be able to play MP3s in my vehicle though. What I'm looking for is basically this:

--Has to have at least 10GB of storage so I can have my entire MP3 collection on it.

Click to expand...

Probably looking for one of the hard disk based ones - to get 10GB.

--Needs to have a LINE-OUT or something that would allow me to hook it straight up to the Headunit in my vehicle. I know you can by Headunits that have a LINE-IN on the faceplate since I use to do that with an old portable CD player.

Click to expand...

*Should* be able to get cables that connect to the headphones socket and then to a line in, no?

--The MP3 player needs to either come with or have the option of hooking up to the 12v power in a vehicle so I don't have to worry about batteries.

Click to expand...

Should be able to get an adapter that plugs into some sort of DC input and into the fag lighter (12v)

--Ease of finding MP3s on the player while driving. I don't need some elaborate touchscreen or large video screen. I just want to be able to press a few buttons or something to get to the songs I want to play. Right now my MP3 collection consists of folders for entire albums and about 300 random songs that aren't inside a folder. I don't want to have to press a button 500 times to find the one song I want. Need to be able to browse perhaps a folder or scroll through folders etc. Hopefully someone understands what I'm getting at.

Click to expand...

I have played with the IPod wheel on the Ipods at work - they seem quick and easy to use. You basically stroke the wheel to scroll.

--I really don't want to pay 500 dollars or something for the MP3 player either. I've seen cheap ones and I've seen high dollar ones that allow for video viewing also but I have no use for video. Just want to play music.
--Not interested in an IPOD I don't think. Really want something with a replaceable battery in case the one in it dies out. From what I've heard(might just be trash talk from IPOD Haters), IPODs have a unserviceable battery that when it dies the entire unit is basically useless.

If anyone has any ideas that would be great. Just a name that I can search on Newegg or Zipzoomfly would be great. I think I've covered basically everything I need.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

the ipods battery can be easily replaced for $30. its the ipod haters getting to you.
it does not have a direct 12v input, but you could mod one using a dock cable since the ipod charges from firewire(12V). i believe most other players charge only via USB (or a wall adapter) so those you would not be able to use with 12v.
you dont need a line out, you can connect to the headpohone out. the audio just goes through the heaphone amp, instead of straight out. unless you're an audiophile, linout v. headphone out wont matter too much

i dont know if the ipod would be your best choice, but i wanted to clear those things up.

Thanks for the replies. Brought up another thing that I would like to have on the MP3. Firewire. I have a firewire card so that would be great if I could use that to download the songs. I don't use USB 2.0 so the firewire option would be great.

There is a noticeable difference between using the microphone jack and a dedicated LINE-OUT. In my experience you have to adjust the volume much higher than usual if you use the microphone jack on the headunit. Then of course if you switch to radio or something and forget to lower the volume back down then it blows your eardrums out.


I'm looking for something that can be powered by my vehicles 12v power. Not something to charge it. Most likely that's the only time I'd be using it and don't want the battery to be draining while I'm using it in the vehicle. So charging from the firewire cable would not be the ideal solution. I'm sure there are power devices out there but I'd like an MP3 player that perhaps either comes with the 12v plug-in or has one available. Don't want to have to go searching for one. My old portable cd player had the ability to be used with the 12v in the car but I had to search for one. It was a Sony and you basically had to buy a overpriced setup to use it in a vehicle because Sony used some weird 3.3v power or something like that.

I like the Creative products and I've used Creative products for years. I've got their Audigy card which comes with the software to easily download music to their Nomad and other MP3 players. With an IPOD I believe I have to use their ITunes software. I'm just not a big fan of Apple since it seems like everything they have is proprietary and you can't use other products with it.