by Agouti » Sat Jun 20, 2009 2:11 am
If video and any other things like games isn't an issue, you can't go past the Sansa Clip. Superb sound quality and $60 for 4GB they are a steal. If you want to go more up market (video and such) Cowon makes awesome players (iaudio7 & S9 are both fantastic), and the Samsung P2 is good. I have a Cowon S9 and the screen is just fantastic - very easy to whatch movies with it when on long trips, and of course sounds great (though sound is only as good as the weakest link - source, phones, and the quality of your mp3's or whatnot).
From what you've said I would very highly recommend the Clip, cheap, small, good SQ and tough. In addition, if you are listening to a lot of music might want to think about upgrading your headphones as well - going from the cheap included (or K-Mart) earphones to a good pair of 'phones is like changing from a cheap tv's speakers to a surround sound system. Also, I find with my canalphones (the kind that have a silicone/foam tip to seal inside your ear) the sound isolation is as good as a pair of earmuffs (so handy for mowing, makes things quieter on the bike and such) though your selection is limited by wanting to wear under a helmet (how tight is your helmet?).
Can't recommend a pair off the bat, but check out
headphones.com.au and look at some of the canalphones there (only limited by your budget) have a ask on the forum. If your budget was up for it highly recommend a pair of Ultimate Ears 700's (tiny and awesome SQ), but at nearly $400 not everyone's cup of tea (be careful, the hunt for perfect sound quality can become very addictive...)
Oh and re: itunes and ipods you do NOT need itunes, you can sync with both
mediamonkey(my fav) and windows media player, before i upgraded from a ipod nano to my S9 I only installed itunes once to update the firmware then uninstalled it straight away.
If video and any other things like games isn't an issue, you can't go past the Sansa Clip. Superb sound quality and $60 for 4GB they are a steal. If you want to go more up market (video and such) Cowon makes awesome players (iaudio7 & S9 are both fantastic), and the Samsung P2 is good. I have a Cowon S9 and the screen is just fantastic - very easy to whatch movies with it when on long trips, and of course sounds great (though sound is only as good as the weakest link - source, phones, and the quality of your mp3's or whatnot).
From what you've said I would very highly recommend the Clip, cheap, small, good SQ and tough. In addition, if you are listening to a lot of music might want to think about upgrading your headphones as well - going from the cheap included (or K-Mart) earphones to a good pair of 'phones is like changing from a cheap tv's speakers to a surround sound system. Also, I find with my canalphones (the kind that have a silicone/foam tip to seal inside your ear) the sound isolation is as good as a pair of earmuffs (so handy for mowing, makes things quieter on the bike and such) though your selection is limited by wanting to wear under a helmet (how tight is your helmet?).
Can't recommend a pair off the bat, but check out [url=headphones.com.au]headphones.com.au[/url] and look at some of the canalphones there (only limited by your budget) have a ask on the forum. If your budget was up for it highly recommend a pair of Ultimate Ears 700's (tiny and awesome SQ), but at nearly $400 not everyone's cup of tea (be careful, the hunt for perfect sound quality can become very addictive...)
Oh and re: itunes and ipods you do NOT need itunes, you can sync with both [url=http://www.mediamonkey.com]mediamonkey[/url](my fav) and windows media player, before i upgraded from a ipod nano to my S9 I only installed itunes once to update the firmware then uninstalled it straight away.