Do you remember when you bought your first dedicated mp3 player?

[metalifuxx]

The first time I discovered what an mp3 was back in 1996, I thought, whoever the first person is to be able to make this compact and portable will be a very rich successful person.

I got discman that read mp3 cdrs (and also played VCDs with an RCA video out!) from some asian company back in 2000 or so. Think it cost about $200, but it was well worth it for the time and got tons of use without breaking. A year later they started making car stereo head units that could read mp3 cds, and I got one of those. Sometime in 2005 the original mp3 discman started to not fucntion to well (after many many hours of use), so I bought a newer cheaper Sony discman that could read mp3 cds. First gen iPods had been around for a few years but were still very pricey so I stuck with the mp3 disc man and a wallet of cds for a number of years. Then all the cars started making it standard for in-dash cd players to read mp3 cds.

Hmm, it wasn't until 2010 or so that someone gave me their old Blackberry phone that could play mp3s on a 4gb micro SD. Then a few years later someone gave me an Android based phone for free, and all I did was buy a 64gb to use it solely as an mp3 player (not a phone). It was and is still cheaper than an iPod/iPhone, easier to use, and I don't have to deal with iTunes to transfer music. Just a simple drag and drop.

[Bombadil]

2007, I think. It was an Archos S 202, or something like that. It was a HDD player, and after a good knock, would have to be formatted again, but it lasted 5 years. It had great sound, a fully customizeable EQ (iPod, bite me). I didn't get an iPod because, at the time, I was still using OS 9, and the iPods were only compatible with OSX, and it cost over €100 at the time. I wasn't going to pay for a new OS AND a MP3 player, so I bought the Archos. Now I have a Cowon i9. Great little player, better sound than any iThingy.