I'm looking to get a jukebox MP3 player and like the look of the 20gb new Sony Walkman.

What I'd like to know (not having had an MP3 player before) is how many CD albums I'm likely to be able to fit on. Am I right in thinking you can select the quality of compression and this effects how much memory each track takes up?

The Sony website says up to 13000 tracks (I reckon I'd need half that) but is this at an acceptable sound quality?

Lastly, Due to different compression techniques, will a 20gb Sony hopld more or less than, say a 20gb iPod (I'd be putting on music from my existing CD's rather than downloading from internet).

Thanks!

Hi Paul,

You are indeed correct quality of compression can be altered and it does directly effect the amount of memory used up. The quoted 13000 tracks is based on a very low compression rate on sony's hugely unpopular atrac format, the sound qulaity is decent but not outstanding and if this was to be the last jukebox you ever bought then it may be a viable option.

What I mean is ATRAC is likely to die out soon so if all you're music is stored in that format and then you buy a new player which will likely not support it you'd have to re-rip all your collection. As such you'd be better ripping in mp3 to ensure longetivity of your collection which will restrict you to 5000 songs at around 128kbps.

I would recommend ripping at 256kbps so perhaps a higher capacity player would be more suitable? Think 40gb - 60gb.

Hope this helps but let me know if I'm not making sense!

Thanks Brucie,

Any recommendations for 40-60gb players and what they might cost?

At 40 - 60gb there's a few to choose from but the top three for me, in no particular order, are:

Creative Zen Touch @ around £200 and 40Gb

Toshiba Gigabeat @ around £280 and 60Gb colour screen etc.

Apple iPod at £300 and 60Gb colour screen and video playback

Two weeks ago I sold my 15Gb iPod and invested in a Sony Vaio pocket VGF-AP1L - It's a 40GB device but the new ATRAC 3+ codec does an incredible job at 64Kbps - yes at 64Kbps! So my mp3s which take up 30 od gb on my hard drive squish down to a lot less on the Vaio but still sound good. These are discontinued models now, but may be available at big discounts - I got mine for £140!
There are plenty of reviews out there so I won't bother reinventing the wheel - just to say that most reviews appluad the hardware but criticise the software - The latest software - sonicstage 3.3 is a vast improvement on the originally released version. Incidentally I would never trust my collection to one device and you can rip to MP3 and just use atrac3+ on the portable if you are paranoid about format changes.

Mike


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/28/review_sony_vaio_pocket/