MP3 Player / FM Radio with Built-in Speaker?

travistubbs

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Dec 13, 2007
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This has been a tough one for me to find, so many you wonderful netizens can help me.

For Christmas, my mom is wanting a new FM Radio. She's just starting to use a computer to manage all her CDs and music, so I figured maybe getting an Portable MP3 Player with FM Radio functionality. Finding a device that does that isn't so hard. Finding one with a speaker built into it is a whole other story.

She's mainly going to be using this at work, therefore portability is definitely a must as she'll have to take it home with her at the end of each day. If I could get some suggestions for a device that has those features, that would be great. The MP3 storage can be built in or done via Flash Memory Cards. It doesn't matter. Thanks in advance!
 
There aren't that many digital audio players (DAP) which has a built-in speaker. Below is a link to what's available on newegg.com

DAP + FM + Speakers

The one that I would recommend is the SAMSUNG 1.71" Black 4GB MP3 Player YP-K5JAB, but it costs $195. It's a flash based player and is pretty small. The smallest DAP would be the Fuji PLUS, but it's only 1GB. Looks kinda cheap to me.

For something that costs less than the Samsung, she can opt for the MEElectronics GrooveMee 2.6" Silver 2GB MP4 Player for $115. It has half the built-in memory, but it can be increased by another 2GB by installing a mini-SD card. It is larger than the Samsung, but it is also a video player as well.

If your mom likes to workout at a gym or jog, then it's recommended that she buys a flash based player because it has no moving parts. Hard drive DAPs will eventually skip during playback and ultimately fail if subjected to extensive motion since it has moving parts in it.
 

travistubbs

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Who knew that this would be a difficult item to find, eh? I never realized that adding MP3 playback functionality to a already existing FM Radio (with External Speaker) would be costly.

I've seen the Samsung K5 model of devices and it does looking great, but the 2 GB model would still set me back around $100. For around the same price, I found the Creative Wav (which can be found on a web site of a certain big box retailer who likes the color blue). Sadly, they're out of stock of the cheaper model.

So, what do I do? Well, other than nothing, I must just have to forgo the MP3 functionality and rely on a plain ol' FM Radio and nothing more. Thanks for the suggestion!