Posted by larrytxeast on 10/30/06 04:09

I am looking to get my first-ever MP3 player. Well, I do have an MP3
player already, sort of--a portable CD player that plays MP3 files on a
CD. I'm, however, about to buy my first REAL MP3 player.

It would play almost totally 100% MP3 files, a few WMA files here &
there. I downloaded most of those sometime ago, back in the Napster
hey-day (go ahead, flame me for that) so none of them are
"subscription-based", they're totally 100% "unsecured" MP3 files (the
WMAs, what few I have, are also).

I don't care about video/photo capability, and I'm not looking at the
venerable iPod. Reason: don't like how the iPod requires you to use
their software to transfer files. I like a minimum of clutter on my
computer, and prefer how the others let you upload MP3s via Windows
Explorer--I MUCH prefer that.

Right now I'm between the Sandisk C140 or Creative Zen V, the orange 1
gigabyte model. I realize the two models I'm asking about are 1
gigabyte in size, much larger sizes are offered I'm aware. The main
differences I'm seeing between them are:

* Sandisk uses AAA batteries, Creative Zen V uses its own battery
(which is not user-replaceable)
* Creative Zen V uses a standard mini-USB for uploading files, Sandisk
uses propreitary cable
* The Zen V (not the Plus) does not have an FM tuner, the Sandisk does
* BIG BIG difference (potentially)--the Sandisk has an expandable slot
(micro-SD), Zen V is "capped"

The last one is kind of swaying me at this point--as these models have
"only" 1 gigabyte, I'm thinking I will soon want the micro-SD
expandable slot. The Sandisk also uses AAA batteries, and I have a
15-minute charger for AAAs.

The other factors--I want the MP3 player to be able to scan WITHIN the
track, as one song I listen to sometimes is 24 minutes long (yes, 24
minutes long) and I'd like to be able to jump to a specific point
within this song. Do both models offer this, and conveniently?

What are any of your overall impressions of one model vs the other? I
haven't used a model anywhere near enough to know controls and how they
work. My thing is: I want to be able to quickly locate a song in a
folder, so if one shows more songs on the screen than the other that
would help. I would probably browse by album or artist a lot, so if one
model accesses this much easier than the other that would work.

Tips?

LRH

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