I was at BestBuy today, and realized I don't know much about either, so I'm about to go look around on the internet about them. Does anyone know about them? Do you own one? Which do you think is better? What would be your deciding factor if you were buying one?

I'd probably go with an MP3 player due to the fact that there are no discs to swap, and getting your songs on and off the player is less of a hassle as opposed with having to burn MiniDiscs and such. IMHO, I think an MP3 player is more convenient and worthwhile. :)

Depends on the money you're willing to dish out. I think mp3 players are the way to go because with minidiscs you have to buy the discs, burn them.. etc..etc.. I really suggest an apple iPod, but that's if you got some money to spend.

Questions I'd ask yourself are:
1) How much music do you want to put on the device?
2) How much money are you willing to spend?
3) Do you want to listen to it in your car?

Nice replies, and I see it the way Raven sees it.

Something I learned already, is that MP3/MiniDisc is not smaller than conventional CD (128mb as opposed to 750mb). They use a 5:1 compression system, so it actually comes really close. I always wondered why people would use them if they could only hold 3 songs :P

heh MP3 All the way. You can get a 128mb for around $60 and that holds like 40 songs, and if you feel the need to get more songs you can buy bigger memory strips.

Id go with the Apple iPod or one simillar.

[quote author=The-Rabid-Lord(aka Demonz) link=board=2;threadid=7241;start=0#msg65249 date=1087243259]
Id go with the Apple iPod or one simillar.
[/quote]
Right now, I believe you can get an RCA Lyra with 20GB capacity for around $150; about half the price of a comparably-sized iPod. :)

Aparently none of you know any students who have a major in music. The ones I know say they are absolutely awesome for recording music as well, which is obvious since they have digital sound outs as well as storing them digitally compared to... tapes.

In case you're stupid and need me to spell it out for you, MiniDiscs are meant for the recording/playing of very high quality sound(often stored then as uncompressed sound in like .wav files). MP3 Players are meant for the playing of compressed sound known as mp3s. :P

<3 My Minidisc.
h8 sony.

I just bought a 40gb creative labs nomad everyone, and it rocks hard. $260 w/ car adapter

I've got a minidisc player...

< $100
$2/disc/~80 songs
1 AA battery with LOOOOONG life

Problems
- tiny screen you can't read
- my buttons sort of don't work (play pause etc, but i've dropped it and its survived)
- TERRIBLE SOFTWARE

All I can say is, you pay for quality.

I'm happy with listening to MP3 quality.

I have a iRiver - 20.0GB mp3 player. 8)

I'm going to eBay my minidisc player + 10 minidiscs for $100 American, I think.

atrac3 quality is quite good for low bitrates...i can't tell the difference between 64kbps atrac3 and 192kbps mp3.

of course, musepack is the best format...