any suggestions for a good workout mp3 player?

[LastKnight]

im not running marathons or anything so i wont need like a million hours of songs like some of the upper end mp3 players out there, i want something lightweight, simple, durable, easy to use on the fly. and of course... that has good sound. maybe something with a belt clip or armband but thats secondary cause just about everything comes with accessories these days.

i was thinking ipod mini or shuffle... do any of you who have these use em for workouts much? ill be useing em for more than exercise in all likleyhood but who knows. btw i know another thread is going on about ipod specifically, but i wanted a more general view on mp3 players in general.

im open to just about any brand and price range isnt a huge issue to me (within reason, anyway)

[MissMillie]

1. I'd like one too

but I don't want to spend a small fortune.

I also worry about finding music that is the right pace for my jog.

[LastKnight]

2. yea, heh...

id have to spend alot of time putting together a playlist with a good flow and beat. i *hate* when songs dont flow.

[Don Claybrook]

4. I have an iPod, my wife has an iPod shuffle

The Shuffle is a pretty neat little gadget, but with no display, its functionality seems very limited to me. You cannot see which song is coming up next, and sometimes it's even hard to remember what's on the thing if no one has touched it in a couple of weeks.

I think with a 4GB iPod mini, you'd have plenty of space for music (well, that's subjective...I have the 60GB iPod and it's completely full...waiting on them to release a bigger model). Anyway, with 4GB you have enough space that you're not constantly running back to the mother ship to switch out for new songs. And yeah, there are plenty of accessories available for the mini.

Finally, please don't think of whatever mp3 player you purchase as just a personal headphone player. I have the appropriate cables and adapters to plug into my home stereo, car stereo, PC, and a couple of sets of small standalone speakers that I put in the back yard and so on. I would guess that I listen to my iPod with headphones only 10% of the time or so. The balance of that time is spent with it connected to non-headphone speakers. It's pretty nice to have 10,000 songs wherever you go.

[MemphisTiger]

3. I have an iRiver flash player

it sounds pretty good and can take a beating. Mine has fallen off a million times and still works. It doesn't cost much either compared to the iPod.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00024VTAE/ref=pd_sbs_e_1/103-0063965-9782226?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846

[emulatorloo]

7. Um, yr iRiver costs the same as the iPod shuffle. . .

(actually the 512 mb shuffle is a little cheaper, the I gig a little more) and iTunes is a great piece of software for managing your tunes on the computer and w your ipod.

[MemphisTiger]

9. but it has an FM tuner and you can control which song

you want to listen to. The software that comes with the iRiver isn't too bad

[Lerkfish]

5. my reccomendation:

[element23]

6. well i know it's not the best but..

I have been using an RCA one like this:

http://www.rcaaudiovideo.com/Cultures/en-US/ModelDetail.html?PCI=Lyra+Flash+Players&ProductID=RD1071&PrevPage=ModelList

for a couple of years now. It holds about 30 songs, has a belt clip that works just fine on the waistband of basketball style gym shorts and never skips or anything. I've also dropped it a bunch of times and generally am not that kind to it.

It was about $100 a couple of yrs ago - I'm sure it's cheaper now or the same amount of money would get you a lot more memory (mine has 128k internal). You could probably find one on eBay for almost nothing.

I find the software that it comes with (and that you have to use) really sucky and annoying though.

I was going to get an iPod shuffle but they don't have a belt clip for it :( They do have an arm band though if you don't mind that. I personally don't like them.

Oh also the Creative Zen Micro is pretty cool too
http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=10795

[emulatorloo]

8. iPod Shuffle or Mini . . .

I use a regular iPod to work out w, my spouse a mini.

rugged reliable easy to use, iTunes software great for managing your library.