Which one would you recommend?
 

Hello everyone :)

I'm seeking a MP3/MP4, but I don't now which one to get.

It needs to have at least 2GB (for real, not hacked) and it has to be great.

Which one would you recommend?

Thanks :)

Best regards,
Gosser

Gosser
how much are you going to spend - there are many MP4 players at different prices. cheap no-brand players, chinese branded players or popular branded players etc

Hmm.. I was thinking about chinese branded ones, but it needs to be quality, you know?

But now I'm thinking about just buying the iPod Touch :)

But I would like to get some examples anyway :)

iPod Touch!!???

goshhhh!!!! With half the money of an iPod touch you can buy a very good Chinese brand like it is Ainol or Archos or Oppo or Meizu, which are excellent players that will give you more than iPod "marvel" full of restrictions...
or go directly to Archos AV700 which is in other level of quality and benefits

an iPod Touch!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
sorry :oops: ... you make my day

Check out Meizus. They are great players.

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

where to start??
there are so many option open to you nowadays and it all depends on your expectations and budget, here is a small list of player types and web sites:

No-brand mp3/4 players:
these players are basic in quality and construction (generally) will usually have very little to no support and are made by one of hundreds of factories in china - i recommend the Rockchip based players with 2.4" color screens - DO NOT BUY NANO CLONE style players. these are cheap but work (most of the time) but will probably not last too long and dont expect any sort of comprehensive or sensible user manual

1. Uxcell
this iste has many players - i recommend looking at the 2.4" players which are usually rockchip based, the Temptation looks quite sexy - many people on this forum have purchased from Uxcell with no probs

2. MP4nation - optimus range
this is mp4 nation basic (own brand) players, similar to uxcel above

these basic players come in a variety of memory sizes but average is 1mb to 2mb, but the advantage of many of them is that they will accept either mini sd cards or micro sd cards so you can expand the memory capacity as you need.

chinese branded players
These are becoming more and more popular and there are many to choose from. they use basically the same technology as the no-brands above but what you get is better build quality, official web sites and product firmware updates, many of them also have their own fan forums so support is nerver far away, some brands to look out for are:

1. Teclast
2. Meizu
3. oppo
4. ainol
5. gemei

many of the above players are based on the rockchip with some improvements made in functionality and sound oerformance. The Meizu stands out as it has been designed from the ground up, has superior build quality and excellent sound quality and its best feature is the catalogued music database allowing sorting of music by artist, genere, album etc - something not really found on thses style players - a lsit of stores below - i have purchased from all with no problems

House of dap
future daps
mp4 nation
jct electronics

all these sites above offer a range of branded player from china and i have purchased form all of them at one point in time

Global brands

of course you have all the big global brands to consider also. the advantages are obvious, global brand name, support, compatibility, quality are all the things you would expect, but you also pay a premium in price for this. i shal list a few but all you need to do is go to your local electronics store and you will find most of these

creative labs
Apple
samsung
sony
IRiver
-- and the list goes on - i can not comment on any of these as i have never owned any.

in conclusion
it is up to you, may personal choice is a branded chinese player, my current best is Meizu M6 (excellent but not without small faults), i have a few rockchip based players for my kids and these work fine as they play movies, have games on and music too!!

this is all my own experience an opinion - hope it is of some use

cheers and good luck

ps - avoid ebay if possible but if you do, search this site first to see if the seller is on any black list - many mp4 sales on ebay are fraught with danger and may have had their fingers burned not to mention lost monay!!!

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

Are you wanting to use it primarily for videos or music? There are a variety of players out there. Some are great at both and some are better at one or the other.

I would stay away from anything iPod. Not because I hate them or anything, but you are restricted to using iTunes for music and videos. With a Meizu or Telecast you can rip music from CDs and download DVDs to them, not stuck giving Apple money for songs and movies you already have.

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

Something with Actions chipset. Superior economy.

and inferior performance, rubbish hardware, bad navigation.
i would much rather pay a few dollars more and recieve something that WORKS!!!
actions chipset is outdated, slow, lacks functionality

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

Lolita is sort of Action supporter... :D ... anyway...

A Action chip player is not bringing too much... but some fun to start enjoying MPx devices... average sound... average image... limited software... with proper firmware it could be skinnable... this could cost around US$ 40.?

Few buck more than a Action chip player maybe a Rockchip is a the best option... good sound... very good image... limited software... with proper firmware and support like Teclast for instance is skinnable at a good level of safety as rockchip is very robust and reliable... this would cost about US$ 70?

Then you have Meizu... very good sound... very good image... good software despite of its bugs... is fully skinnable... good support... this would cost from US$ 80 (M3) to US$ 130 (M6)?

Then it comes a different assortment of players which can fill the gap of prices like are Ainol, Archos, Cowon, Hacha, iRiver, Oppo, etc. etc. already mentioned here... no idea how is its software,,, iRiver I know is a excellent but limited software... not skinnable in any way... this could cost from US100 to US$ 700

But this thread was started by who could go to a iPod Touch... average sound... it said awesome image (but nobody knows how many colours deliver this player!!)... awesome software... incredibly no yet overpassed by Chinese... not skinnable in any way... excellent support... this would cost US$ 400?

Geez!!! i want an iPod Touch!!! :) :) :) :) .... If I get rich!!! :D :D :D :D

This are very interesting players, not well know as its said in about...
A couple of questions:

1. What processor has Hacha Players?
2. Is ti possible to change its skin?

Thanks in advance for the info

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

I am learning from the responses in this thread. Thank you to all for sharing their knowledge. So many player, so many features and I know very little about how these players work.

I read that the Meizu players have a nice interface for handling music files and that others do not or that it is very primitive. I do not really know what this means. Could someone explain?

Also I think that the Gemei X-750 at MP4Nation sounds very like a very nice player, but except for a video review, I do not see much information. It says it has an HD screen--what does that mean?

Does anyone have or even used this player and could they tell about it?

Thanks

Seeker

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

Meizu have a good interface for any kind of files... let's say that is properly an Operating System, as it is iPod interface, but with more options: a video player, a FM tuner, a voice recording. One good option is the capability to let the user customize its functions, or skinning, which is something that makes this players enjoyable for more techy users. In this aspect is more a toy or a gadget than simply a player.
Other players, like Rockchip and some Action, are based on an utility to navigate the files stored in the flash memory... sort of Harddisk. Rockchip have also turned to be a customizable player as some manufacturers are developing firmwares and tools to deal with such functionality. Teclast is ahead in this area.
Gemei (and Hacha mentioned above) are Chinese companies devoted to more advanced technologies, offering better characteristics. I don't know how their software is, but usually this players are managed by limited Operating Systems which let the user to enjoy its technology, but not allowing them to customized it. In other words good players.
As iPod is... a good player that do right what was made for, but a player not a toy. Anyway this brands Gemei and Hacha are bringing to the user lots more than an iPod player. just an example: its screens are delivering images of above 1 million colours, while we used to watch around 300k colours in the best players. Archos, another Chinese brand, sport not just a FM tuner but a TV tuner, with recording options.
Some of this Chinese companies (Meizu and Teclast) have gone into the silly race of mix a cell phone, a MP4 player and a PDA... a challenge set by the smart guys of Apple... but that's another story :D

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

Thanks DaremoS,

That was very informative. I am pretty settled on the Gemei X760, Ainol V2000, or the Hacha PC20. I am more interested in a player as I am not that technologically oriented. In fact I worry about buggy firmware that I hear talked about as I sure don't want to have change the firmware or something.

I noticed that the Hacha PC20 has a 2.5" audio plug. That is not standard for here. Do you know if the adapters are a pain to deal with?

Thanks again,

Seeker

I've got a Chipod with a 2.5mm plug. The straight jack works a great deal better than the cable jack. You can find both on eBay for next to nothing. It can be a pain sometimes, especially if you forget it and are wanting to plug it into your speakers at work. :(

Given my choices, I'd get a player with a 3.5mm jack but that wouldn't be the sole selling point in my decision.

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

Thanks booboo,

Considering what you have said, I think I will move the Hacha from consideration. I can see where keeping track of the little adapter thing could be a pain.

How do you like your Meizu. I would so buy one of those if it took an sd chip.

I keep coming back to the Gemei or Ainol. Planning to buy from MP4Nation. Although no paypal is a major problem for me.

Thanks for the wisdom,

Seeker

I love my Meizu. The sound quality is superior and the videos play amazingly well. An 8gb one is more than sufficient for holding several movies and hundreds of songs. I recommend that you at least check them out before making a decision. Prices have been marked down on both the M3s and M6s so now is a great time to buy one.
JTC Electronics: http://www.jtcelectronics.biz/
House of DAP: http://www.houseofdap.com/index.php
MP4 Nation: http://www.mp4nation.net/products/index.php?PID=mp4

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

Hacha has gone the way of Teclast - but better - they use a modified Rockchip. Rockchip isn't necessarily low end, they are actually quite good, especially their newer chips - i am seeing a lot of good players based on modified rockchips. I don't know if you can alter the skin - but seeing how its based on a rockchip, it probably can.

Actions chipset - i will admit that there has been some improvement of late - they released a new chip, but the video still sucks, audio quality is decent - action is a low end player - if you can afford something better, then don't get a Action player.

Meizu is probably the golden child of Chinese MP4 players - its like the iPod, it shines because of its UI and its ability to sort music - but the M6 is old and there are now better players with better audio and video capabilities - but none of those can handle playlists or sort music by artist or album, like the Meizu can. I use the M3 and thinks its a fantastic player.

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

Just adding to what Razzer001 has said above; the Meizu is a great product, but my Rockchip players actually handle video better [but that might just be down to a fantastic 'partnership' that exists between my Rockchip players and the Xilisoft software I use for converting movies]. However, many people will testify very strongly that the Meizu sound is superior, and they're probably right. With an 8GB model M6, you really don't need an SD slot ! One of the great things I like about my M6 is how quickly you can load a movie into it. a 500MB movie will take around 1~2 mins, whereas on my Rockchip takes about 7~8 mins, or longer.

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

Thanks for all the help. I purchased the AINOL 2000. I hope I don't miss the nice user interface too much, but I was entranced by the lure of the big screen.

Seeker

Re: Which one would you recommend?
 

The Ainol V2000 IS for the moment the best player to have. Unlike the Gemei X750 or the bulkyer X760, Ainol's design is cleaner and more refined. Hardware wise it's one of the most powerful players arround. A year ago many handheld didn't have a 533Mhz Processor.
With propper firmware updates, Ainol can make a future refference for MP4s.

I too am going to buy a V2000, luckily much cheaper because a friend of mine is taking a trip to China,the land of all gatget dreams !! :P

Anyway, in the same price range as Ainol V2000, Creative has launched the new ZEN WITH SD support and very good audio and video features. It has playlists cathegorized by album and artist and such and the build quality should be supreme. Check it out: Creative website

I'm still going to go for the Ainol though !!