[Yudster]

....because I have what you lot will probably think is a really stupid question. I need to know - in English, that is how many hours, or approximately how many tracks - how much music you can get on a 4Gb MP3 player. I don't own one of these things so I don't have a clue. Anyone?

[Boboff]

ish 5 min is 5kb ( windows media audio file)
So 4 MB = 800 songs.

Ish

[dimtimjim]

Yeah, Bobs not far off, 4Gb should get you up to 1000 songs depending on length and sound quality.

[Yudster]

So do you reckon that's enough capacity for a student? She only wants it for travelling, gym etc - would 4 gig be enough?

[dimtimjim]

Hell yeah!! Plenty enough....

[Boboff]

say 70 hours of music.... How far is she travelling.

However.

Memory is relatively cheap, get bigger and she can store files on it?

Also I find that if you have one big enough to "sinc" all your music files on your computer its a good back up option, and it means when you get new stuff on your laptop it automatically gets put on your MP3 player. Other wise you have to select the files folders etc.

I am sure she would be happy either way, but if you can afford the extra personally for me I would prefer the bigger one......

[Yudster]

Well, these are the kind of questions I would ask if I knew that they were issues, but not being one of the "people who can't hear what's going on around them because of the things in their ears" brigade, I don't really know! Thank you all - and where are my pies, I was banking on them for lunch.....

[dimtimjim]

I have a bus-powered external hard-drive with my music collection on it, as I have 90Gb of music so could never keep it all on MP3 player, Its no major biggie to plug in and update collection every so often.

But Bob is kinda right, just get the biggest you can afford to. 8Gb is, obviously, better than 4!!

[CassieJackson]

I have the 160gb ipod classic so it stores my music, some photos and a couple of films. I would have thought 4gb is more than enough for travelling and gym though.

[bmstinton93]

It depends on whether your buying an ipod or a normal mp3 as well as the step up in price from about 4gb Nano to 160gb classic is not too huge i dont think.

[Yudster]

Well in many ways I would rather NOT get a, iPod but if they are good........

[bmstinton93]

I have had my 30gb ipod video for nearly 5 years now i think and it has always been very reliable and never had any problem with it and i think it was £160 back then but now they sell 160gb ones for about £180 but 160gb could probably last most people for life with all their music tbh apart from me but i have over 100gb on my computer.

[Yudster]

Well I'm afraid the iStore failed me. I went in, no one was helpful, nothing that was displayed had any prices on so there was no real indication of what I was looking at, and no one was remotely interested in helping. This all chimes with my previous experience of Apple's customer service (although I know other people have had the opposite experience) so I took the decision that whatever I do buy, it won't be Apple!

[bmstinton93]

I just look on amazon usually and the reviews on there are usually pretty useful.

[Yudster]

Yes, I tend to look at those too. But they don't constitute customer service. I think I may be making this more difficult than it needs to be.........

[Boboff]

I wanted an MP3 recently for a "gym" companion, and in the end I ended up with a Nokia with Mp3 on it, with an extra 1gb memory card, pay as you go, Tesco Mobile for £80.

I am really pleased with it, it's got a nice amount of tracks on it, sounds great, and at the end of the day is a cheap phone as well. You get triple points and double credit if you use £20 in a month ( I have spent £30 on my phone calls in the last 2 years!!!!)

Might be an idea for you if you want to avoid apple etc, upgrade the phone, and get an mp3 for "free" ( and a camera, tea maker and paint stripper to boot)

[novalinnhe]

Hi Yudster - I'm not sure if this will help in any way, but 4GB is more than enough space for a good work-out session AND the trip to and from the gym. I have a 2GB MP3 and it's more than enough, too, but I'm not sure anyone actually sells 2GB MP3s any more! *laughs* Also, it probably wouldn't be the best present.

Curry's always have a really good MP3 section, and so do Maplin although I've only ever seen one Maplin before. iPods are a bit of a waste of money, in my opinion (unless you're a proper tech fan).

Here are a few that seem to have quite good reviews:

- This one looks like an iPod Nano, but err, isn't (from £21): http://www.amazon.co.uk/PLAYER-GENERATI ... 104&sr=1-3

- Creative ZEN always gets good shouts, but this one's pretty expensive... (from £40): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-ZEN-4G ... B000V9IAYI

- This one has great reviews for the price, but you'd need to buy a rechargable battery kit too (£25): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intenso-3601450 ... 104&sr=1-7

- This one's from Sony, so you know it's going to be good. It also has a "Unique Quick Charge Feature". Not sure what that means, but it sounds handy if you want to charge it up quickly before a run. You can also get it in different colours (£30): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-NWZB153B-W ... 04&sr=1-10

Hope I helped x

[Yudster]

Thanks novalinhe and everyone else - I ended up getting an 8 gig Sony one. Mr Yudster has a Sony and is very happy with it, so I thought it would be a safe bet. Also, its red, which is always a good thing!

[R94N]

Yeah, my Grandad has a little Sony player and he seems pleased with it. He uses it for all his classical music Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just thought it was related!

[bmstinton93]

My Nan doesn't even have an mp3 player so your lucky in that respect. My mum struggles to use an ipod. I would dread to see how my Nan would manage.

[dimtimjim]

whatever I do buy, it won't be Apple!

Good girl, you never fail to go up in my estimation! Well done for not being a sheep and joining the constantly changing world of Apple.

Sony > Apple.

[Yudster]

Well, I know loads of people who love their Apple stuff and have had excellent service - its just that everything we've had from there has broken and the service has been awful. I'm not pronouncing on Apple and their product range, just responding to my experience, which is both limited and personal.

[bmstinton93]

I wouldn't know about their customer service as I've never had a problem with them. But I have had bad customer service with many big companies including Microsoft so its not just Apple that have that problem. And I find their products great and really reliable.

[Yudster]

Exactly - we all respond to what we find.

[dimtimjim]

I don't own anything Apple and am proud of it. I know too many Apple-geeks to allow myself to get caught up in the never ending mild improvement and re-hash cycle. Why release a finished product when you can sell V1 for 6 months while you actually put all features which would normally be expected then sell V2 to everyone again.... Gits.