SanDisk (clips) vs Sony Walkman - or other? Help me decide please.

[zannster]

Help, I'm going a bit batty researching this stuff...I want to buy a player soon because I want to take it on a trip in a week. I could spend days reading about this sort of thing, and I just don't have the time. HELP!

I had a Cowon iAudio G3 that died recently. I'm really bummed, because that seemed like the perfect player for me.

Required characteristics:
good sound
drag-and-drop with windows explorer (no other software required)
good battery life
<$100

Micro USB would be nice because I already have wall chargers that would fit. My mini USB (that is the larger of the two right?) cable is only to the computer, which I won't have on the trip.

Storage is not a big issue. I think the G3 was only 2 GB, so I'll probably go with 4-8 and have plenty of space.

I'm not picky about playlists. I never used one on the G3.

I don't care much about the screen. I'm not going to use the player for video. I mainly use it when I work out or walk. The Clips (+/zip) are appealing but I'm annoyed at the 15 hour max battery life, when I used to get 3x that much out of an AA battery with my G3. Would it be a big deal? I don't know.

One of the Sony Walkmans might be a possibility, but I don't have the time to research the different models. Which would be the best fit here? And are there any other players you know of that would fit my requirements?

Thanks a bunch!

[gahata]

15 hours on Clips in enough if you don't travel much etc.
I highly recommend one of clips, either clip+ or clip zip. You can throw a 32gb card in it if you want to

[WalkGood]

I would recommend either clip as well, currently I have the zip and love it for the uses you described. If the battery life isn't long enough for a trip, get a portable USB battery charger as well, like one of these.

[zannster]

The Sony ones (E463/464/465) actually get better ratings on Amazon than the Clips. I wonder why...?

[FreeZ5]

Clip Zip for micro USB. Clip+ for mini USB, but it should come with a cable.

Steve

[mellymelsr]

Originally Posted by zannster

The Sony ones (E463/464/465) actually get better ratings on Amazon than the Clips. I wonder why...?

...because those Sony's sound much better on the stock hardware than the clips. I have the S545 and E465 and they sound fantastic. I have both clips as well. One is Rockboxed and I still prefer the Sony when it comes to sound. The Sony sound enhancements just seem to have a smoother, richer sound than the clips and the bass boost is very clean without bleeding into the rest of the music. I would say get both if your budget can handle it but for overall sound I prefer the Sony Walkman.

[JK98]

The Duracell Instant Power is old, and only has 1150 mah. I have it and it is okay, however imo the Veho Pebble XT at $32 is 5,000 mah(4.4x the capacity), but just double the size. The Tekkeon mp1580 is only around $17. It takes 4AA nimh batteries.

I have the older model the Tekkeon mp1550, which is the same except that the 1580 puts out 1,000 ma while the 1550 only puts out 800 ma. I like the versatility of AA nimh batteries and the ability to carry spare sets. The Tekkeon mp1550 and 1580 also can charge the nimh batteries in them via usb.

If someone does decide to get the Duracell Instant Power though, they should make sure to get the newer version with a power switch. The older version without a power switch loses plenty of power sitting idle. Make sure any usb power pack you buy has a power switch.

[zannster]

Thanks for the tips. I went ahead and ordered a Sony for the trip. I may yet buy a Clip (not sure yet which one) for exercise. Can't deny that it would be really handy, since it's so small and easily attachable.

[FrankB2]

After researching mp3 players, I finally bought one last weekend: a Sansa Clip Zip 8GB. It's small size and great sound made it seem like a steal. The ability to add SD cards was a big selling point, and I immediately ordered one from amazon. However, the battery will last 15 hours in someone's dreams. I turned all the power saving settings to their lowest, and tried not to touch the buttons too often. 5-6 hours is what I was getting, but that's a lot for around the house and office. I looked at other mp3 players while listening to my Clip Zip, and found that people were reporting great battery life with the Sony Walkman. I bought a Walkman E465 last night, and like it very much. Its screen is better than the Clip, but it's also twice the size (which is still tiny compared to an Ipod Touch or Samsung Galaxy 4.0). The E465's 16GB storage is really 14GB, and there's no way of adding a memory card. Both units are easy to navigate, but I liked the Sony's display better. Some reviews mentioned that the Sony's buttons are very sensitive, but I haven't had any problems. In fact, I just got back from a bike ride. The Walkman doesn't have a clip, but my jersey has pockets along the back, and it fit into the corner of one. I did use the hold button to prevent any accidents.

Sound Quality: The Sansa is really nice, but the Sony can be tweaked much more. My wife and I loaded a few of the same songs on each unit, and then compared them using the same earphones. Right out of the box, the Sony had a thin sound when compared to the Sansa, but a bit of tweaking (turning ON all of the sound features which are set to OFF from the factory) gave the Walkman the advantage. We listen to a lot of jazz, and the Walkman just seemed better suited to that genre than the Sansa.
Oddly enough, Elvis Costello's "Pump it Up" sounded much better on the Walkman as well. The Sansa's earphones aren't much, and the Walkman's are decent for a $110 package. I had considered buying a Samsung Galaxy 4.0 because of its ability to accept SD cards, but it's size is way too large for my needs: just music. I'm 50 years old, and have good hearing. I turned to volume limiting feature on, and find that the stock earphones provide adequate volume at a fairly low setting of 7-10 (goes up to 30 with the AVLS turned off).

P.S. The Sansa Clip Zip can be charged with a cell phone wall charger, but the Sony has a proprietary USB cable that fits in a computer port. There are charger packages on ebay (spare USB cable, wall and car lighter chargers) for $10. If they work, that's great. With the Walkman's reported longer battery life, it might not be a big issue either way.

[WalkGood]

I am right around 12 to 15 hours battery life with my rockboxed Clip Zip playing 192 VBR files. It depends on how much I am tooling around with features that may lower the battery life, but then I do not use the original firmware (OF) at all so I couldn’t tell you how long it runs on mine. With rockbox you can pretty much match the sound of other players if you have very good hearing to set the proper tweaks. Volume matched and EQ’d properly I do not believe there is any difference. BTW better headphones make a huge difference in how good of sound you'll get from your players ♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪