Hi Guys,

I need to write my letter to Santa and I would like an MP3 Player for exercising. Any suggestions of something small but with decent sound quality?

Many thanks!

Ken

I'd say the two main contributing factors to sound quality are the MP3 files themselves and the headphones you use with the MP3 player, rather than the MP3 player itself... Of course the big brands are bound to serve you well (Sony, Creative & apple iPod). Cheaper MP3 players do their job fine, but worth investing in soem better earphones.

Get some decent running kit
Running with an MP3 is dangerous

Creative Nano Plus is a good 'un, with a built in radio as well.

I have a nano, which is light weight although it has scratched up easily.


Granty what is going on with the Darlek get up, right I am going to change my signature AGAIN

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A loser is not the one who runs last in the race. It's the one who sits and watches and who has never tried to run.
Bird in Boots :p

I use an Ipod shuffle & a decent pair of Sony frameless headphones purchased from Argos.

The Shuffle is almost weightles, sounds great and has 2G of space (around 500 songs I think). The headphones (cost around 30 quid) are good because the ipod (hard) ones dont fit in my ears properly. These ones dont budge!

Hope that's of some use to you!

I keep meaning to get some decent wrap-around earphones as althought the standard iPod ones fit me fine, just the weight of the wire while running along can sometimes pull them out - Most annoying!

I've got an ipod shuffle for use down the gym but I don't like using it outside as I can't hear traffic or someone coming up behind me.

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Getting ready for the GNR

i have the shuffle too, but the earphones annoy me at times.

but i like the fact you can clip it on anywhere.

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Are we there Yet

I've just been thinking about getting a weeny lil mp3 player of late. I have a 20Gb creative zen thing, but it's quite bulky, relatively speaking, and so want something like an iPod nano, or an actual iPod nano, my running gear have lil pockets for such things, and I don't like the idea of a potentially-chafing strap around my arm or anything. SO does anyone know a good shop that can show me a range of exercise-useable mp3 players?

MP3 players are dangerous to run with.
I ran up behind a woman wearing one the other day and scared the hell out of her. She had NO idea I was behind her.

What, did you go boo

Seriously though, if she was completely unaware of you she had her mp3 player way too loud, irrespective of whether she was running or not. Listen at reasonable volume and you can enjoy the music while still being aware of what's going on around you.

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Don

I find that most people don't hear me coming anyway; Mp3 or not. It can be amusing to hear the streams of shocked profanity as I pass and head off into the distance... especially when they come from the so-called "hard-guys"

I've owned Walkmans since they came onto the market in the late 70's; but I never took to running with them. I think that they (for me) somehow detract from the purity of the running experience (yeah, I know this is likely to solicit many a raised eyebrow and utterances of "Bo*^ocks"...).
...I think that I must be the running equivalent of a Luddite... coming from a running time way back before the present day "aids/crutches" of Mp3's, treadmills, Garmin, Polar, gait analysis, cross-training, and even, er, on-line forums (are we being stifled or even held down by the sheer weight of information available to us?). Heck, there were only a couple of specialist running shoes available at the time... (I remember being taken for my very first pair of proper running shoes. It was a little shop outside Bury. Reebok shoes. I think that some of the shoes may even have been made on the premises!)
Erm... sorry about all that... but I do get the impression that a majority of people seem to be sadly dependent on technology to influence/motivate them to get out running... (or not, in the case of the seemingly ubiquitous treadmill...).

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GONE RUNNING

I'm not dependent... I've only just started using MP3 players for when I had to use the treadmill over the winter and now on my long runs because I dunno... I actually find it helps me concetrate (treadmills are so boring, I'm lucky I don't fall asleep mid-run!). I've always used music as a way of helping my mind stay focussed when I was an undergrad during revision... It's hard to explain really, but I think music keeps a part of my mind occupied that would otherwise wander so the rest of my brain can happily stay focussed on whatever for loooong periods of time... and in the case of being out running for a couple hours - probably lead to sheer boredom or frustration, especially seeing as I have a lot of work in the lab I could be filling my time up with, instead of running. I always ran without it before now, so it's not essential... I just like it, especially when going through more urban areas. I turn it off when I get out to the woods and trails though, I love the sound of the birds, the wind, and the lil brook that flows past the trail...

I do truely respect your stance though, and understand it totally. I wish I could devote my everything to running... but I'm driven with my work, and it's hard to switch off, or even justify not doing it for what is essentially a hobby... as much as I love it.

I use this one.. http://www.amazon.co.uk/TeckNet-Buil...2239008&sr=8-1

Its cheap and cheerful and does me for my runs. I've also got an armband pocket that it sits in. I think that the armband thing was a couple of quid from ebay.