Which MP3 Player?

[bobbocanfly]

My dodgy Sumvision Nexus Pro mp3 player just gave out on me (screen cracked and the whole thing went orange) so i need to get a new MP3 Player.

Basically i just want something to play my tunes (Mainly MP3 , but got a bit of Flac too) on around £50-£70 ($100-$150). I have been looking at the Zen Microg (5gb) and *wince* the new iPod Nano.

Anyone got any suggestions, particularly on what works with Linux, can it play Flac and is it easily broken?

All help appreciated!

[Kingsley]

In before "Ipod sucks!"

You should take a look at the Sansa e280.

[n3tfury]

look into Cowon DAP's

[Nano Geek]

One thing you can't deny, iPods have quality hardware. And as long as you aren't using iTunes, there's no problem with lock-in or anything.

You can even install RockBox to play just about any format you want.

[Polygon]

I have a cowon iaudio x5l

30 gb

plays mp3, ogg, flac and wav

can play movies (you can convert movies into the format supported by using a program in repos called iriverter)

color screen

long long long batter life, like 35 hours

and it acts just like a drive, so you plug it in, drop your music into it and then unplug it and your ready to go

and i got it for about 250 dollars, the same you would pay for a recent ipod. Its bigger size wise then a ipod but not that much

edit: oh its out of your price range.... oh well... still look into cowon though, they make other players that are linux friendly

[Het Irv]

A Creative Zen Sleek Photo 20gb is about $160 and there is working software in the repos. the only problem I have had so far is that I cannot put photos on it but that doesn't bother me.

[Iceni]

I agree with the Creative. I've had several mp3-players and none has been as good as Creative's. Look into Sansa players as well, the word on the internets say they are great:)

[machoo02]

If I had the money, I would probably pick up an iRiver Clix2. Really like the looks of it.

[*daniel]

One thing you can't deny, iPods have quality hardware. And as long as you aren't using iTunes, there's no problem with lock-in or anything.

You can even install RockBox to play just about any format you want.

This is what I did. I have so many FLAC and Ogg Vorbis files hanging around from netlabels like Kahvi and whatnot that I simply couldn't do without the support. The only thing I don't like about Rockbox, however, is that UI, even with skins, that doesn't come anywhere close to rivalling the iPods UI.

When my Nano dies... I'm going to look for a different brand of player. Something with significantly less lock-in. And preferably cheaper to boot.

[ButteBlues]

Pick up a used 5.5g iPod "video".

I got a 30gb one in excellent shape for only $100 USD.

[newbie2]

MP3 players with supported audio formats: FLAC (http://reviews.cnet.com/4566-6490_7-0.html?filter=501502_8128092_&tag=brdcrmb)
;)

[Zoiked]

The new iPod's are kinda out of the question at the moment. Apple just put a lock on the database of the iPod so only the iPods work with iTunes and nothing else. So, This means that Linux users and other media players that sync to iPod's are screwed at the moment but old iPods still work.

[Spr0k3t]

I'll give a +1 for the Sansa e280. Very nice system for price. Massive battery life (I've gone about 17hrs of play time without a charge so far), good support for Linux, native RockBox port, better features than iPod Nano. Also, the battery is user replaceable. I liked the e280 so much, that I picked up a couple e250s for my kids. You can get a e250 (2GB storage with expansion up to 32GB through microSDHD). On the e250s I put approximately 15 complete albums with lyrics, graphics, and a few music videos to go with each. Most of the music was ripped at high quality OGG but a few 80% VBR from http://ExactAudioCopy.de .

[Spr0k3t]

The new iPod's are kinda out of the question at the moment. Apple just put a lock on the database of the iPod so only the iPods work with iTunes and nothing else. So, This means that Linux users and other media players that sync to iPod's are screwed at the moment but old iPods still work.

The hash bit has been fixed for Linux. However, I still suggest avoiding Apple's iPod like the plague. If you need a good player with video support, take a look at the Creative Zen. I'd recommend the Sandisk View but the battery is not user replaceable.

[bobbocanfly]

Very tempted by the Sansa e280. Looks brilliant for the price.

Also very tempted by a Creative Zen Micro or V*.Anybody got any experience with these?

Thanks for all the replies so far!

[happysmileman]

and i got it for about 250 dollars, the same you would pay for a recent ipod. Its bigger size wise then a ipod but not that much


$250 is about €175, so i was looking for it, and only shop in Ireland I saw that sold it online sell it for €300?

Are they ripping people off or did you get yours on discount, or is it just more expensive in Ireland?

Ok they're also very expensive in England as well, and none of the ones on eBay will ship here.

Does anyone know where I could find a good (preferably plays OGG as well as MP3) player in Ireland, without being ripped off?
I'd be willing to spend up to €200 on it, I don't need any more than 6-8GB space (I have about 4GB and expect it to grow), don't care about video support, want it to work wth linux

If this merits a new thread just tell me and delete this post, but it seems relevant, since we wants fairly similar things

[happy-and-lost]

You should take a look at the Sansa e280.

+1 for the Sansa. If you want to put OGG and FLAC onto it, you'll need to itstall Rockbox, but that's simple enough. It's £79 on Amazon for the 8GB (expandable to 10GB) at the moment.

@Spr0k3t, the e200 series does not support MicroSDHC, only MicroSD, so only 2GB extra can be installed.

[ButteBlues]

The new iPod's are kinda out of the question at the moment. Apple just put a lock on the database of the iPod so only the iPods work with iTunes and nothing else. So, This means that Linux users and other media players that sync to iPod's are screwed at the moment but old iPods still work.
First, that only affects the 6g, not the 5.5g.

Second, it's been figured out and should be in applications that use libgpod already.


Finally, ALAC (Apple's lossless codec) is just as quality as FLAC.

[JESSU]

I recently got a sansa e280 and its great. Before I had an 4th gen iPod. I sick of the DRM stuff. I'm just trying to find a video converter because it only plays

Original Quicktime ".mov" container file
Uncompressed 16-bit big-endian PCM audio (11025 samples/sec stereo)
160x208 15fps MJPEG-B 422P


It did come with the Sansa Media Converter but I have know idea if that works with wine...I haven't even started playing with wine yet.

[bobbocanfly]

Ordered a Sansa e280. Looks absolutely brilliant. Didnt know it was Rockbox compatible! Things get even better! Cant wait for it to come now.

Thanks to the people that suggested it!