I Officially Have A Bad Luck Streak With MP3 Players

The first one I got was an 8GB Sony which ran out of power after a few hours of being charged so I got an 8GB Phillips Go Gear which was good for over a year. I wanted somehting larger so I got a 30GB Phillips and had it for about a year. When I switched from XP to Vista both Phillips stopped working properly. I then got a cheap 4GB Sansa player and that lasted for a while then stopped working. I then got a cheap 2GB Phillips MP3 player which lasted a few months. I finally went a little higher in price and got an 8GB Zune which so far was the best MP3 player yet. I was cleaning my car yesterday and had my MP3 player playing in my car when I realized my tire was flat. I put on the donut but got grease all over a good pair of shorts so I when I was done I threw them in the washer (not realizing I put the MP3 player in the pocket). I ran the washer this morning and while putting the clothes in the dryer what did I see? My MP3 player. I had a product replacement plan but that doesn't work on accidental damage. I will be going to Best Buy to get another Zune because it's such a great player but I officially have a bad luck streak with these things (5 players in less than 3 years) so who knows how long this one will last.

I've only owned one (and that one I got for free). It was a Dell Pocket DJ, lasted about 2 years before the power supply died.

I've never gotten around to replacing it with anything.

Sorry to hear that DB. I've had a sansa 4 one for 2.5 years now with not a problem and a Sansa 8 since Christmas with no problems.

Let's place bets as to what will happen next.

Correction, my first was an RCA not a Sony. What will happen to the next one? It could fall into the toilet at work, fall out of my car and get run over, or years from now get chewed up by a puppy. The possibilities are endless.

I have the IPOD Video 60 gb and have it for 3 1/2 years - it rules!!!! If I were to get another one, it would be the 120GB Ipod. I have NEVER had an issue - the battery doesn't last as long, but Apple can replace that for 50 bucks or so. YOu can also get a good deal on a referbed unit on the Apple site.

I like to have all my music with me at all times

Do you have a problem with watches too?

I have a zune, first MP3 player to last more then 6 months. I'm extremely hard on these things. they go everywhere with me.

sam wrote:

I have a zune, first MP3 player to last more then 6 months. I'm extremely hard on these things. they go everywhere with me.

dropped mine and dont use it(cause I stopped listening to music out in public cause well people don't look to nicely on some one whom head bangs and sings gama bombs final fight)but it still works great.

Do yourself a favor and stop buying those cheap things. Save your money and buy an Ipod. Deal with the cds for a while and make compilations or something to bring around with you then when you saved up some money get a 160 gb Ipod and you will be happy. This is the second Ipod ive had. The only reason why its my second is because 1 my friend from work dropped it off a platform onto the cement. It still worked but sometimes it would get stuck. 2 it was only an 80 gb so I was going to replace it soon anyway. I actually ended up selling it on ebay over christmas time and got $50 for it. Last christmas my gf bought me the 160gb one and its great. Its almost full though. I think I have like 40something gb's left but its definetly worth it. I know it might be a lot of money but in the long run it will be worth it. It sounds like youve spent a lot of money already on those other pieces of junk. Another solution would be to not put them in the washing machine as well but hey sometimes that happens haha. I did that with a phone last year. Luckily I never did anything like that with my ipod because I dont keep it in my pants pocket.

Anyway the moral to the story is save your money and buy an ipod even if its a 80gb you'll still be happy. Make sure you get a case with a clip too that way you wont put it in your pocket.

Zunes are not exactly cheapos. I kept buying cheapos and they stopped working (the Phillips weren't cheap either just victims of that damn Windows Vista) so I learned my lesson that way. Zunes are very nice MP3 players and mine would probably have lasted a lot longer had I not washed it in the laundry. However, a clip would be handy but I would probably have to order it from the company seeing as accessories for Zune are few in the stores. Your right that your better off with iPods seeing as how the majority of accessories are made for them. However, I personally believe that with iPods your paying extra for a brand name (like buying a Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt) and I don't believe paying a little less for a Zune is giving up quality. If this Zune stops working naturally I have a repacement plan and will utilize it while saving up for an iPod. But until this proves to be a bad brand I will continue with it. I need an MP3 player because at work we aren't offically allowed to listen to music and they allow me to keep them hidden (though lately management has been lax in enforcing that rule but it won't last forever). That is why I don't go for the most expensive but you're right about all the 1, 2, and 4GB players under $50.

I dont know much about the zune but from not hearing much about it since its been released and a friend of mine who had to have one and used it for a couple months then went back to his ipod tells me something.

Geez man, you have almost as bad luck with players as I do with headphones. I've toasted 6 or 7 within 3 years.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

I dont know much about the zune but from not hearing much about it since its been released and a friend of mine who had to have one and used it for a couple months then went back to his ipod tells me something.

Well I can't speak for anyone else, I can only speak from my own experience and as I said, if the Zune proves not to be reliable then I'll go for an iPod in the future. But right now I couldn't really afford another Zune let alone the more expensive iPod. However, so far I really like the Zune and it hasn't caused me any problems. I like the Zune because the sound is good, the screen is clear, it allows me to watch a slide show of my pictures while the music plays, I can use any of my pictures as a wallpaper on the screen, the battery lasts for well over 9 hours even w/o recharging and unlike the other MP3 players I've had when the playlist is on shuffle, no songs repeat. I did a search on Amazon and read many of the reviews (4 stars out of 453 reviews)and it seems like the Zune works great for some people and horribly for others which might have been the case w/ your friend but I've read the same stuff in response for iPods. So from other people's experience it seems either one is a crapshoot. Also iPods have many features that Zune's do not which probalby contributes the Zune's decline in popularity but since I don't need anything fancy it works fine for me.

Stender, I had even worse luck than you w/ headphones. It seems I have to replace them every 3-4 months, but that also probably has to do with the constant use and the fact that I hide them under my shirt so I don't get caught by managers who don't want me listening to them.

Zunes are supposed to be pretty good players actually. You pay a premium for the IPOD name since they are the industry standard. That being said, I'm on my 2nd ipod. Just a shuffle to use while working out.

kethdredd wrote:

Zunes are supposed to be pretty good players actually. You pay a premium for the IPOD name since they are the industry standard. That being said, I'm on my 2nd ipod. Just a shuffle to use while working out.

If you go with the IPOD you will be VERY happy and see why you paid a premium. if you want to get it cheaper, get a refurbed unit from the Apple web site.

I'va had a 30 gig Zune for about 2 1/2 years now and the only problems I have had are 1) it is full, and was deleting music to make room for new music, and 2) the New Years Day "freeze up" because of the 2008 leap year day. A few months ago I got tired of "making room" on it, so I went out and purchased a 120 gig Zune. Still have the 30 as a back up though.

I got four 8 gig Sansas (each is loaded with a different genre) last winter, and so far I've had no problems. However I gather that I'm on borrowed time there. I guess reading other peoples posts tells me that using multiple smaller machines is a good fit for me. I think if I had to replace and reload a 120 gig machine a couple of times I'd get pretty discouraged. This way I will probably have a machine die every now and then, but it won't be a catastrophie, just an annoyance.

SAHB Healer wrote:

I got four 8 gig Sansas (each is loaded with a different genre) last winter, and so far I've had no problems. However I gather that I'm on borrowed time there. I guess reading other peoples posts tells me that using multiple smaller machines is a good fit for me. I think if I had to replace and reload a 120 gig machine a couple of times I'd get pretty discouraged. This way I will probably have a machine die every now and then, but it won't be a catastrophie, just an annoyance.

Hedging your bets..........god help us if the Pomp/Cheese player breaks down

I bought a 30 GB Zen Creative about 3 1/2 years ago, kinda bulky but has a great equalizer(not the lame rock, pop, jazz, etc..settings that Ipod's and others have) and I always get the exact sound I want on it and I'm very picky about my EQ settings. The only negative is the battery only lasts about 10 hours. It has mostly christian rock and metal on it, but only studio albums, no live.

I finally bought an Ipod about a year and a half ago, an 80 GB. It sounds awesome and is easy to use but again I'm not a big fan of the set equalizer, alot of the time I just cant get that right sound that I want, especially with not-so-great sounding albums (you know, the very old albums that need to be remastered), and bootlegs that sound awful but you just gotta have em on yer Ipod, ya know. This one has about 75% non-christian on it and has tons of live and live bootlegs on it, and alot of quirky stuff on it as well, like games n such. You can do that when you got 80 GB to work with, ya know.

I also bought a 1/2 GB iRiver from a yard sale about 3 years ago for only 5 bucks. It runs on 1 AA battery and it lasts forever. It also came with all the accessories like USB cords, snap on belt thingy, and installation cd's n stuff. It has an awesome equalizer and a bunch of other settings like surroundsound and 3D sound, which is cool but kinda weird. All that for 5 bucks. One of my best yard sale buys ever. This one has just Rush on it, from the first album up to Power Windows, all remastered and it also has the Magna-Carta "Working Man: Tribute To Rush" album as well. That albums rocks!!

rattpoison wrote:

SAHB Healer wrote:

I got four 8 gig Sansas (each is loaded with a different genre) last winter, and so far I've had no problems. However I gather that I'm on borrowed time there. I guess reading other peoples posts tells me that using multiple smaller machines is a good fit for me. I think if I had to replace and reload a 120 gig machine a couple of times I'd get pretty discouraged. This way I will probably have a machine die every now and then, but it won't be a catastrophie, just an annoyance.

Hedging your bets..........god help us if the Pomp/Cheese player breaks down

It's worse. My first casualty was my vintage (67-72) player. The only good things about it is that it was only expanded to 10 gigs and completely full so I did need something bigger now. That and it still works... kinda.

But the death is a mystery if anyone has any clues for me. I charged the thing up and left it in my work locker last week. Today when I went to take it out it was busted open. There are only two possibilities. Either the extreme humidity at work (not heat, sun, or water, just humidity). Otherwise somebody was snooping in my locker and dropped the player? It looks like the battery pack just swelled up massively and warped the case though. That's my guess but it is a mystery. ???

I got to my sister the IPODnano 16GB for $160 on j&R. It's really good I recommend it.

The last mp3player was an LGMUSIQ phone, it had 1gb of space, I used to listen music on my way to work, but It broke. I haven't feel the need to get an mp3player since then

"...bad luck streak"

Is that like a "skid mark"!?

It took me awhile but I finally tracked the problem down. The battery swelled up from humidity (or maybe heat). I hope they will replace it for me. But it least I figured out what was going on before the thing blowed up on me. It might have blowed me up real good.

My 3 year old ipod still kicks a**