Looking for a good and cheap mp3 player.

[hyperdude111]

I'm going on holiday this summer and will be spending a total of 22 hours in planes or in airports. I am looking for a new mp3 player as entertainment as my last one went through the wash.

I need something with a minimum of 2gb storage but 4gb+ is preferred. Some sort of basic linux compatibility but i can boot into windows if necessary and priced between £10 and £50.

I already know about sansa fuze and ipod but are there any other good alternatives. Thanks.

[aysiu]

I'd recommend the Sansa Clip. It's Linux-compatible and very cheap.

[bernied]

I'm loving my Creative Zen. So much better than the old Creative players (I used to have the Zen Micro).
It works mostly well with amarok (1.4 not 2.x)

There's a 4GB model here:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5136539/Trail/searchtext%3ECREATIVE+ZEN.htm

But I think I paid £90 or so for my 16GB, so I think you can get it cheaper.

[mamamia88]

stay away from sansa. i've already had mine stop working twice. my current one is less than half full and everytime i try to add a song it bricks the mp3 player. i then have to remove battery and hook it up to computer to delete song to un brick it.

[Gizenshya]

I hate my creative Zen. I've tried everything, incluiding all updates, and it has never worked right. It is fine except for constant restarts, shutdowns, freezes, and even random startups. It is the same 4 GB model in the link above...

BUT, when it works it is great. Great image/video quality, great sound quality (I even use it as an input for my home theater system). But that is when it works. It rarely lasts more than a few minutes before freezing or some other issue comes up :( I have to keep a needle taped to it for hitting the little reset button constantly. And I ususlly just listen to it until I get fed up with resetarting then put it in a drawer.

[aysiu]

stay away from sansa. i've already had mine stop working twice. my current one is less than half full and everytime i try to add a song it bricks the mp3 player. i then have to remove battery and hook it up to computer to delete song to un brick it.
I've had the exact opposite experience.

Two Sandisk players, and they've both been wonderful.

One Cowon player that crapped out after less than three months (and Cowon insisted the broken screen wasn't covered by warranty, even though I didn't break it).

Of course, I don't want to generalize about Cowon, because a lot of other forum members here seem to like it. Likewise, I don't think you should slam also Sansa players, just because you had a bad experience. After all, what makes your negative experience more valid than my positive experience?

[mamamia88]

I've had the exact opposite experience.

Two Sandisk players, and they've both been wonderful.

One Cowon player that crapped out after less than three months (and Cowon insisted the broken screen wasn't covered by warranty, even though I didn't break it).

Of course, I don't want to generalize about Cowon, because a lot of other forum members here seem to like it. Likewise, I don't think you should slam also Sansa players, just because you had a bad experience. After all, what makes your negative experience more valid than my positive experience?
nothing i just know i won't be buying them again. think my next mp3 player will be an ipod touch for gaming

[mossman44]

I bought a refurbished 4GB sansa clip for $30 (about £22). It works well, has great sound quality, and has a handy belt clip that is great for working out. I manage my music with songbird.

[HermanAB]

The Samsung players are good. Sony players suck.

[swoll1980]

iPod shuffle. They are small, good on battery life, and only $50

[qamelian]

nothing i just know i won't be buying them again. think my next mp3 player will be an ipod touch for gaming
That's funny. My experience with the iPod has been so negative that I will never buy any Apple product again. My next player will be another Creative because they are the only brand that has never, ever disappointed me.

[Bucky Ball]

Hey, I just received my Cowon iAudio 7 which they have on this page for 60 pound:

http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_description=1&keywords=cowon+iaudio+7&amp3sid=5vp60rigeprt9bi5ssfmglbo43&x=0&y=0#guide_result

Don't know how trustworthy the seller is, or how realistic the price, but there's a start. I have to say, it is sweet and the sound is fantastic (you can tune it to different systems and speakers with the EQ). I say this as a musician/sound/audiophile for over thirty years. I wear my best headphones with it at home because the sound quality is only as good as the headphones and it's that good.

It was the one for the combination of things I wanted. It can play FLAC files, has a Line-in and is completely Linux compatible. I have plugged it into all three of my Linux Ubuntu boxes running various blends and it just pops up as an icon of an audio player 'iAudio 7'. Drag and drop, no drivers required; it 'just works'. Mounts automagically and you just right click and 'unmount partition' when you're done.

ps: also takes .txt files, vid (but tiny screen), built in mic for Voice record, FM radio and a bunch of other cool stuff. Check it out here:

http://www.cowonglobal.com/

pps: no, I don't work for Cowon. Being into sound (musician/currently student again!) I listen to a lot of music so I researched which player to buy for about three weeks (eventually driving my wife nuts), and I am more than happy with my final choice. Linux compatibility was a must. Cowon are one of the few companies to feature the fact they are compatible on their website (but oddly not on the paperwork that came with the player).

Good luck with it. :)

(Apart from this, Creative Zen are great from a sound point of view, but don't play FLAC, something that was a must for me. One other thing to think about is an SD card slot. Would be handy. I filled up 8Gb pretty quick!).

pps: As far as iPods go, they are not the best on the market sound-wise.

[hyperdude111]

I have found this link for a ZEN that looks promising http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-ZEN-4GB-MP3-Player/dp/B000V9IAYI

Do you have any other ideas?

[starcannon]

I'm going on holiday this summer and will be spending a total of 22 hours in planes or in airports. I am looking for a new mp3 player as entertainment as my last one went through the wash.

I need something with a minimum of 2gb storage but 4gb+ is preferred. Some sort of basic linux compatibility but i can boot into windows if necessary and priced between £10 and £50.

I already know about sansa fuze and ipod but are there any other good alternatives. Thanks.
I really like the Play Station Portable (PSP). I can watch movies on it, play games, listen to MP3's, Skype Voice and Text, Internet Radio, and I have all the room I need, I just grab more memory sticks. If one wants to really geek out and possibly brick the thing, there is the possibility of putting linux on it. http://jacksonm80.googlepages.com/linuxonpsp.htm

Anyway, PSP, thats my favorite choice.

[hyperdude111]

I really like the Play Station Portable (PSP). I can watch movies on it, play games, listen to MP3's, Skype Voice and Text, Internet Radio, and you have all the room you need, just grab more memory sticks. If you want to really geek out and possibly brick the thing, there is the possibility of putting linux on it. http://jacksonm80.googlepages.com/linuxonpsp.htm

Anyway, PSP, thats my favorite choice.

I do have two psp's but neither are in working condition. My psp1000 has a cracked screen and my 2000 randomly choses buttons without me telling it to.

I have been into psp homebrew for a few years. It is now no-longer possible to brick a psp 1k-2k with the arrival of the pandora tool (universal unbricker). I have installed many psp apps and ran windows versions 3.1 - win98 and mac os 7.1-8.1 but they were quite unusable. The link you posted was uclinux, it is fun to get to work but has no real benefits. Look up Irshell, psp vnc and psptube, these in my opinion are the best homebrew apps made for psp.

I cant send in the psp's to sony because they would inform me of a voided warranty because of the installation of CFW. Its a shame because for years they were my favourite product. I will wait until november and possibly get the new PSPgo or wait until 2010/11 for the psp2.

[bernied]

I have found this link for a ZEN that looks promising http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-ZEN-4GB-MP3-Player/dp/B000V9IAYI

Do you have any other ideas?
Seriously, you'd buy a used one when you could get it new for a fiver more?
Rechargeable batteries don't last forever.

[mamamia88]

i wouldn't use a psp as my main mps3 player don't like xmb interface for playing music

[hyperdude111]

Seriously, you'd buy a used one when you could get it new for a fiver more?
Rechargeable batteries don't last forever.

I didn't realize it was used, thanks for pointing that out. The new ones at argos are sold out though so i will kepp looking.

This also looks good http://www.amazon.co.uk/Archos-8GB-MP3-Player-Radio/dp/B001UE6LWG/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1247175186&sr=1-12

[oldos2er]

I bought a refurbished Sansa View (8GB) from Newegg (no affiliation other than being a satisfied customer) for ~US$60; so far it's working satisfactorily under Ubuntu.

[dragos240]

Sansa fuze. I have a topic about putting rockbox on it, it does everything I need.

[Bucky Ball]

The Cowon still continues to impress wherever I take it. The playback quality is ... well ... fantastic! I haven't heard one quite like this.

Sansa are great, but again, if you are after superior sound ... you pay for what you get. Check the reviews.

[Gizenshya]

I hate my creative Zen. I've tried everything, including all updates, and it has never worked right. It is fine except for constant restarts, shutdowns, freezes, and even random startups. It is the same 4 GB model in the link above...

BUT, when it works it is great. Great image/video quality, great sound quality (I even use it as an input for my home theater system). But that is when it works. It rarely lasts more than a few minutes before freezing or some other issue comes up :( I have to keep a needle taped to it for hitting the little reset button constantly. And I usually just listen to it until I get fed up with restarting then put it in a drawer.

I just thought I'd share an update, at the risk of jinxing it...

Since I posted the above post, my Zen has been on 24/7 playing random files without error. Thats.. well, a few days in a row anyway. I don't know what the deal is. Maybe it outgrew it? lol

It was plugged in the majority of that time, and I finally unplugged it and it played until the battery died.

Ohh, well.

[doorknob60]

Anything made by Sandisk. I have a e260 and it's totally amazing, especially with Rockbox, and it was only $50 (it holds 4 GB, and can also play videos).

[vinutux]

what about sony walkman series is it worked with ubuntu ?