Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Adventurer]

I don't have an MP3 player, but I am thinking of purchasing one. Am I better off purchasing an Apple Ipod and if so how much should I expect to pay in Korea. I am not sure I really need something with video because the images would be kind of small, would they not? Anyway, does it cost much to get the movies on to your player? I am more interested in something that will take a couple hundred songs. Is it easy to put things in categories and separate them on a player.

I am hoping some MP3 expert will give me some advice...

[ageha]

my ipod mini died after using it for a year and 2 months
need to pay extra 68,000won to change the battery and after that all my songs will be wiped out
before it died it'd been good though...

anyway, 4GB is too much for me and i'm quite happy with my mp3 phone

* i heard if you have your battery changed within a year, you won't be charged!!

[kimchi story]

I like my iPod nano - I dunno if the battery thing is a problem with the 1st gen nanos, but the battery change thing within a year is an interesting point.

For a 4 gig nano - 210 000 at Yongsan. If you download Copypod you can also transfer stuff from your iPod back into iTunes pretty easily (fun for sharing music). The click wheel is easy to use and if you pick up a dock for 40 000 and a 30 000 won set of pc speakers (I got one with a little bass box) you have a convenient and cheap home stereo that fairly rocks.

[jazblanc77]

I am a big fan of Creative Zen Vision players. Look into them.

BTW, if you use the search funtion, there are probably about 15 other threads hanging around on just this subject. I have put up several reviews of different mp3 and pmp devices as recently as last month. Look into that as well.

[mnhnhyouh]

It really depends on what you want from an mp3 player.

How much capacity?

Do you want recording capability?

Do you want to be able to drag and drop music on and off the player on any computer? (You cannot do this on an iPod as the iTunes software is needed to create a database for the iPod to play music, and when the music is put on the iPod it is put into a hidden directory, the filenames are changed to random number stings and the song files are then put in randomly named directories.)

Do you want other functions, like games, calender, etc.

What ever you buy, I suggest looking at alternate firmware for your player. A group of geeks from rockbox.org write excellent opensource firmware for a whole series of player that significantly add to their functionality.

h

[Joppy U]

I just bought an ipod shuffle (new generation) at the Technomart at Gangbyeon station for 90,000 won.

This new ipod shuffle is a clip so you can clip it anywhere. Convenient if you like to listen while you're at the gym or doing anything.

It has a new lithium battery that is good for more than 1000 12 hour cycles or so they say.

i.e., Every time you charge the battery on your comp, it's good for 12 hours (charging tim 2-4 hours). And it should be good for more than 1000 of these cycles, or 3-4 years.

Also, every time you charge it, itunes will automatically put 240 songs randomly from the library into your mp3 player, which randomly shuffles your music when you listen. This is perfect for me, so I don't get sick of hearing the same thing over, in the same order.

[catycat]

Another vote for the Creative Zen MP3 players. I have a Zen Vision M, it's great. Never leave home without it!!!

[gsxr750r]

A good cheap .mp3 player (competitor to the Shuffle) is the I-River S7. They sound better than the Shuffle, but have no clip (they hang around your neck). They cost about 80,000 won or so at Lotte. You can buy them all over. They also use a small USB plug (too small) instead of a proprietary base, like the Shuffle. Not sure if that's easy to get a replacement for or not. They have a radio inside, too -- Shuffle doesn't have that.

If for no other reason, buy one for the peeing dog symbol (you can buy different faces for it, too).