Please Help Me Find The Appropriate Mp3 Player For My Father

[superstar]

Good afternoon ladies & gentlemen,


Hello everyone this is my very first time making a thread and posting anything on this site. Thank you for all of your hard work in helping this site grow. I will definitely recommend this site to all of my friends. & thank you for taking the time to read this thread. Without further a due here I go...

I am here as a "new" mp3 player buyer. Why do I say "new"? Well I've never bought an mp3 player before except a 2GB I Pod Nano I purchased for my girlfriend last year during xmas. I never really payed much attention to it's specifications when I bought it for her since all she wanted was a simple mp3 player. So therefore I still consider myself a "new" mp3 buyer with little to no experience about these gadgets.

Anyways I have a quick story to tell before I ask for help in buying a new mp3 player. Basically my father lives in south america, and it's pretty full of criminals down there. Thieves have stolen my fathers cd car deck 4 times in the past 6 years. As we all know south americans don't make much money so it's hard for him to dish out $150US for a new cd car deck each time it gets stolen. The horrible news is that they stole my fathers cd car deck yet again this week. I feel really bad about this and we've decided to come up with a new tactic.

I've informed him that the latest trend in North America is having your own portable mp3 player. I told him they can work wonders since they do many things than just play music. I let him know how they work and what they do so we tore that wall down. I also told him I want to buy him one so he can carry a portable player in his pocket instead of having to have his car deck stolen all the time. I explained how the Apple I Pod has an fm transmitter that can send the sound signal to his car stereo if he buys a simple radio deck for his car [ie: not cd player car deck - just radio]. I assume fm sound transmission sending the mp3 player sound wirelessly to car speakers can also be done with any other mp3 player using some sort of external device.

We came up with the main specs we want his mp3 player to have:

1. Fm Radio
2. The ability to purchase some sort of external device that can send the mp3 sound wirelessy to his card radio deck using fm signal
3. Mp3 Playback
4. Great Video Quality
5. Very Excellent Sound [ie: not cheap bad quality sound]
6. Simple interface navigation [ie: not difficult to use]
7. Durability with low price [ie: a very low cost mp3 player that can last years and won't break or ruin so fast]

Anything else other than what we listed would be an added plus. I stayed up all last night since I felt bad and looked around google, ebay, youtube reviews, and this site looking for a few players to choose for him [I still haven't even gone to bed]. I than found four candidates.

Our four choices to choose from:

ONDA VX858



ONDA VX858 INFO: http://houseofdap.com/index.php?act=...d&productId=73


TECLAST T29



TECLAST T29 INFO:
http://houseofdap.com/index.php?act=...d&productId=17


TECLAST C280



TECLAST C280 INFO:

http://houseofdap.com/index.php?act=...d&productId=56


TECLAST T39



TECLAST T39 INFO:

http://houseofdap.com/index.php?act=...d&productId=72


Okay now we'll list our questions to you. I hope you either know about these players or visited the info url links above to see their specs. Please try to answer all the questions below by copying and pasting the questions into your post and answering them.

1. What is the best mp3 player out of the four we chose, and why? [Please chose one]

2. Is the player durable in strength with a good battery too? [ie: lasts long especially when touched a lot and has a good battery that doesn't ruin]

3. Does it have easy to use navigation?

4. How well is the quality of the sound?

5. Can you change the theme/look of the player by updating to a custom firmware?

6. Is it possible to use some sort of external device to transmit the sound from the player to car speakers wirelessy through fm radio signal? [If so please list the device you can use to do so]

8. Where can you buy it for the cheapest price from a legit seller with legit GB size? [exact model only no rebrands or copies with other names]

9. Please list any other reasons/info you can on the player you chose as the best of the four. & if you didn't like any please list why and what you would recommend instead.



OUR BUDGET: Anywhere between $50US - $130US




Thank You

[lattesurf]

superstar , personally i own the 4GB T29, but generally i could still comment on the other choices.

1. i would recommend the T39 as it's the latest player from Teclast. It does not differ that much from the T29 or C280 as internally both players use similar hardware. The only obvious difference would be the touch controls though.

2. Not very sure about the Onda, but with a 1000mAh battery, it should be quite lasting. The T29 i have lasts for about 14 hours of music playback, and about 5-6hours of video. I can't remember, but i think the battery is around 600mAh or so. So the 1000mAh batteries for the Onda and T39 should almost double it.
So far have used my T29 for about 10 months now, and it has been trouble free.

3. In general, all players need a little getting used to. The first time i used the T29, the joystick was extremely hard to navigate. i kept hitting it wrongly and going all over the player. But once i got used to it, i could navigate it within my pocket without taking it out.
The Onda uses a stylus, which i presume that control should be quite easy. But troublesome when you are carrying other stuff in your hands and you actually need both hands to use the stylus and hold the player.
The T29 uses a joystick control with some side buttons, the T39 i assume it is controlled by side buttons.
For the C280, it uses touchpad controls. Very much similar to the LG KG800 Chocolate mobile phone. i own this phone btw, control is quite ok, just need a little getting used to. You'll tend to exert some force on the touchpad at the beginning, as you would normally do on normal button controls. But whether it lasts or not, i'm not very sure.

4. In general, all the 4 players uses the same Wolfson audio chip. Which means that all of them are quite similar in sound quality. The thing i like about these few players are that there is a separate audio processor and main processor. Which mean better quality for music. i'll say that the sound quality would be much better than typical nano-clones.

5. Not so sure about the Onda, but the Teclast do have updated firmwares which you can download and update your player. But the last update i had for my T29 was about 6months ago. They probably stopped supporting it as newer players are out.

6. You can find lots of FM transmitter on ebay or your local electronics store. They use the typical 3.5mm plug which you plug into the audio socket of your player. Chose an FM frequency, then use your car stereo to tune into that frequency.
i'll suggest that you check for the frequency used on the transmitter before buying. Most cheap transmitters only have 3-4 preset frequencies, which might be the same as your local radio station's frequency. This would interfere with both transmissions, and you won't get clear output.
If possible, get those that are adjustable, like a car stereo, but are more expensive though.

8. Houseofdap is currently the official main exporter for the Teclast players. But there are some other private re-sellers who sell the OEM version of the Teclast players. They are exactly the same, only without the Teclast branding.

9. Guess i could not really chose the best player as i only own 1 of them. But if given the choice, i'll probably try the T39.

[superstar]

I greatly appreciate your reply kind sir. That was quite useful information for me and my father. This is now steering us towards either buying the T39 or the Onda VX858.

Anymore replies would be great if anyone else is out there!

BTW is your T29 case shiney like an I Pod? I assume all the Teclast models would be made the same according to your answer. If so is it easy to scratch too?

[lattesurf]

superstar , the back of the T29 is shiny silver, and the front is glossy black. Very much like the ipod nanos, so if unprotected and you keep it in your pocket with coins and keys, most likely it'll end up scratched.

However, house of dap sells the silicon casing for the T29, guess they should sell for the T39 & Onda models too. With the casing, it should be quite alright.

[tadad1]

The only negative I have heard\read about the touch control players in your selection is that they can be slow and unresponsive when trying to navigate or activate commands with the touch system especially the Onda which was found to be most frustrating and required the use of a stylus.

[superstar]

Damn well now I've found another road block. First off everyone's saying I should get my dad the Teclast T39. So that's obviously what I would want for him. But you know what? I did some reading and research at www.teclasters.com [which is a fan site for teclast aficionados], and well someone wrote a review there mentioning that the Teclast T39 hardware can be felt moving inside the case when you move the unit side to side. This seems like a road block for us now that we chose the right unit.

On top of that there is another problem I read about on www.teclasters.com. Which is the fact that there are "first run" players being sold which have on screen design flaws when upgraded to new firmware or something like that. I have no idea what "first run" even means. I assume that has to do with the manufacturing process.

Oh my what are we to do?



Update:

Hmm I just found a "second run" unit of the T39 here:

http://futuredaps.com/index.php?act=...d&productId=24

I still wonder what the difference is on units called "first run" and "second run".

[lattesurf]

superstar , the moving part probably was a manufacturing fault. No manufacturer would have something moving inside their players, unless it was a faulty, or something broke off inside.

First run and second run, i can only think of them as being first and second edition, but i might be wrong.

But anyway, House of Dap offers warranty, so i won't be so worried if the player arrives faulty.

[knob]

Something that wasn't mentioned.
Yes you can theme and customise these players since both Onda and Teclast provide firmware upgrades and support on their websites.

[ashley_rb]

Hi superstar. Welcome to the forum.

I'm going to throw another player into the pot for you to consider. Ready?
Get him an apple ipod with video. The only thing that doesn't meet your criteria is price. But its well worth the money, every dollar.

You can't beat an apple ipod, a real apple ipod from a authorized brick and mortar store where you can see it and try it out.

There are so many fakes and scams and nasty sellers online selling MP3 and MP4 players it is worth the extra money to invest in getting your Father the best, and it will save you hassel and frustrations.

There are some very honest sellers with some great clones but for a gift, espiecally for a family member I say get your dad a apple ipod video. You can't go wrong. You'll have to pay more for it then a fake clone but it will be worth every dollar.

[tadad1]

Originally Posted by ashley_rb";p=&quot

Hi superstar. Welcome to the forum.

I'm going to throw another player into the pot for you to consider. Ready?
Get him an apple ipod with video. The only thing that doesn't meet your criteria is price. But its well worth the money, every dollar.

You can't beat an apple ipod, a real apple ipod from a authorized brick and mortar store where you can see it and try it out.

There are so many fakes and scams and nasty sellers online selling MP3 and MP4 players it is worth the extra money to invest in getting your Father the best, and it will save you hassel and frustrations.

There are some very honest sellers with some great clones but for a gift, espiecally for a family member I say get your dad a apple ipod video. You can't go wrong. You'll have to pay more for it then a fake clone but it will be worth every dollar.

If you reside in a place where your $100-$150 car sound system has been stolen 4 times I would think walking around with a expensive iPod Video would be quite hazardous to your health.