My dh and I would both like to have an MP3 player. I know that everyone else in America has one (LOL), but that's not why we want them. We both would like to have one when we exercise. Right now, I'm lugging a CD player to the high school gym, which works okay, but when it gets warmer outside this spring, I will be hitting the track. I can't really take a CD player out there, ya know?

We are looking for VERY inexpensive ones. We don't need anything fancy at all, and our budget is extremely tight right now.

Any suggestions? Do "cheap" MP3 players work just as well as the more expensive ones? What do you think, ladies?? Thanks for any input you may have!!!

I have an iRiver that holds like 80 songs...I got it a few years ago for like 50 bux. I think the key is finding one that is easy to load songs onto. I loadedd all my stuff from my disks..as opposed to buying songs online. I did just get a new phone that has an MP3 player in it. I just love it! It's an LG Fusik - I have Sprint service. It's easy to load songs on, and with an upgraded chip it holds maybe 500 songs? Way more than I really need. It's handy having the player and phone in one - I can actually hear my phone ringing now.

My suggestion would be to check a website like www.newegg.com and look around at the 1GB and 2GB models. I know that Creative came out with a new model, the Zen Stone, that people reviewed there and seemed to like. The 1GB version is a little over $30 and the 2GB was $50-something.

I have one that was $19 1g I hate it. It's just complicated. It's a nextar or something like that. I am interested in everyones responses as I'm in the market for a new one too. Hubby got me a $300.00 Ipod for x-mas. Too much I returned it. I do not need all those bells whistles etc. Money is too tight to be buying something that elaborate.

I got an iPod nano for Christmas and I looooove it - however, before that I had a Creative Zen Vision W that I got for toting around videos to watch on the subway as well as the 60GB memory. (I got the smaller nano to tote around in my purse/pocket)

I would definitely recommend the Creative brand products as they're great quality, extremely easy to use and support a lot of file types. The Creative Zen line is very good, so I second the poster above who suggested something from their line.

i've an old iPod, 1st generation nano that looks like an antique now hehehe it's like 3 years old, holds a jillion songs and keeps right on going, love it to death!

If you aren't concerned as much about space and are only using for working out - then how about the iPod shuffle? It's good quality and it's a tiny thing at 79$. It's not super cheap, but not super expensive either. However if you are looking for something that holds lots more songs then you might have to go with a less expensive brand.

I love my Ipod, I could not exercise without it. I just can't exercise without music. I've accepted this and moved on. My workouts are harder, faster paced and often, I need just the exact right music for where I'm at on my workout.

Ginger

I bought myself an Ipod touch for my birthday -- I LOVE it. It even has Wifi and now it has a map feature. I thought it was totally worth the $400 I paid for it. I think you can get one for $300 thougg. Like with everything, you get what you pay for. I would stick with Ipods though -- a lot of my friends have had trouble with anything other than ipod. You may even want to check out craigslist to get a used one.

I bought a nice little San Disc Sansa, 1 G, for x-mas. It is the c 150 series and I bought it on Amazon. I read all the reviews of MP3 player on Amazon which gave me some direction. It was about 40 dollars and I just love it. It is fairly easy to use once you get used to it. Like you, I was looking for a "beginners" MP3. I wish now I had gotten a 2 G model because I have this one almost full. I download a lot of spoken audio stuff so it has filled up fast.

I have a sandisc sansa too with 1GB.. it's over a year old so I"m sure they're selling for 40-ish bucks now. It's the same size as the old ipod shuffles. It's a decent little thing that I take everywhere

I personally am an ipod fan, mostly because itunes is easy to use and I listen to audiobooks that donwload right to itunes, You can look on the apple site and get a referb'd ipod for a little less than retail. I did this for a shuffle that I have a waterproof case for and can swim with it.

I got a San Disk Sansa 1 GB for Christmas and I LOVE it. They are under $40 at Walmart, like $35 or so. It is very easy to use, you can download from online or scan your CDs into the computer and put them in...it is SUPER easy to do either way. Mine is holds around 100 songs, and I just keep it on shuffle and use it while walking or jumping on trampoline. It has good sound quality and is so small and lightweight I don't even notice I'm carrying it or have it clipped on.

My son (college student, not a little boy ) told me to buy this one for his sister who wanted one. Creative ZEN Stone Plus 2 GB Black It's $54. He said it was a popular model at college and performs very well considering the cost. She's had it for several months, has loaded it with a lot of music and has used it often with no problems. It's small, maybe 2" by 1" at the most. Maybe they are all that size LOL I thought it would be bigger. We bought it from amazon, here's a link http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000S5TYQI

Those Creative Zen Stones are really cute, and very reasonably priced. I have 2 MP3 players. One is a 1gb iPod Nano that I got as a gift. I love it for the gym. Very small, holds lots of music. The other is a Creative Zen Vision M, 30gb which I use for listening to audiobooks. My library has a free downloadable book service, but it doesn't work with iPod, but this one is not much bigger and is pretty easy to use. I use it just about every day. The nano stays with my gym stuff unless I'm charging it or changing the music.

We have a 20g iPod, an iPod mini and 2 iPod shuffles between DH and me. For working out, I definitely recommend the iPod shuffle. It's an itty bitty thing and the new ones have a built in clip which is just awesome. It holds plenty of songs for a workout, I just love mine. It's really light, too, so it doesn't bounce around when I run. WELL worth the $75 to me.