Tunes For The Trail

[Guests]

Can anyone recommend a good portable player for the trail? I’m doing the Long Trail next year and would like to have a portable music player for the 15+ mile days that I have scheduled. (I’m hoping to get it as a Christmas present this year).

I have looked at the IPOD but think I’d do better to get a unit that takes batteries (AA or AAA) since I can’t easily recharge the batteries on the trail. Ideally, I’d like to get some MP3 type player that has a radio too (so I can get weather forecasts, some news, etc.) I could always default back to a Walkman tape player or a CD player, but I figured it’d be easier to not have to deal with tapes/CD’s. Any thoughts are welcome. Thanks. I’m sort of a Luddite if you know what I mean. Carrotop (Chuck Collinson)

[Guests]

Sony makes a small portable radio (SRF-M37) that picks up AM/FM, weatherband, and local TV station audio. It also has a digital clock (though, I don’t think it has an alarm). I carry it sometimes when I think the weather may shift to the horrible (I live in the midwest, the chances of the weather report being accurate for more than 5 minutes is slim to nil). Anyway, it’s pretty light–less than 4 oz– but runs on a single AAA battery. The AAA doesn’t last as long as a AA, so a backup battery might be a good idea if you’re using it for a long hike. The biggest bonus is that it’s $30 US.

[Stagefright]

Check out the Creative MuVo Nano 200 from the Creative. It’s $60, takes 1 AAA battery, has 512mb and an FM radio. You can also rip CD’s to the player from a CD player and no computer is needed.

[Guests]

Can you take XM or Sirrus satellite radio on the trail? How does power work? How about reception.

[hikingfan]

I second the MUVO suggestion. They are relatively inexpensive now and are very small. Just like past post, takes 1 AAA battery. I love mine. Had it before the IPOD boom and have never had any problems. My husband has one that has AM/FM capability in addition to the MP3. Its about the size of a 20 piece pack of stick gum, like Doublemint gum.

[hikingfan]

http://us.creative.com/local/1/seasonal/vistasale/products/10737product.asp?campid=20869&WT.cg_n=Mailer&WT.cg_s=VistaSale_MuVoMicroN200&WT.mc_id=2680

hope you can get this site. Its for the MUVO and its only $9.99

[TreeFrog]

Creative also has a 2G with FM Stereo, even voice recorder, and it takes a AAA battery which is nice for the trail. $70 with color backlight. Love mine.

[Author]

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