Anything But iPod

[GA Russell]

Here's an interesting site for those who think that the iPod is not a particularly good mp3 player.

I intend to read what they have to say about the various Sansa's, which I've read good things about.

http://anythingbutipod.com/

[JohnS]

Good site for non-iPod users.

[John L]

Do they have something like rehab for iPod users who can't kick it?

[Dave James]

Do they have something like rehab for iPod users who can't kick it?

Yes. The program begins by you sending me all the iPods you have that are clogging up your life (160 gig models preferred). This may sound harsh and perhaps a bit self-serving, but once you've dropped these in the mail, you'll be amazed at how good you'll feel and how much less complicated your life will be. Trust me.

Let me know if you need my address.

[BFrank]

I've heard good things about the Zune. Amazon has the 32GB HD version for a little over $200.

[GA Russell]

The two I keep hearing about are the Sansa clip+ and the Cowon J3.

Can you plug a non-iPod into a USB port to listen over your computer speakers? The one advantage I see with an iPod are the third party peripherals that allow you to easily charge it while listening to a desktop radio-type arrangement (I think they're called docking stations).

[BeBop]

I've heard good things about the Zune. Amazon has the 32GB HD version for a little over $200.

I've got five Zunes, including one HD. Love 'em. Hold out for a better price, though, unless you're in a hurry. WalMart had 32GB HDs for $169 a couple of weeks ago. I paid $100 more, buying mine as a pre-release order. But no regrets.

[Tom in RI]

BFrank, I started a thread on Zune last summer:

I've got two now, an 80 gig and a 120 gig. If you go with the hard drive iterations you should be able to score for around $100 or less. I bought my 120 refurbished on Cowboom for right around $100 and have been very happy with it.

[BeBop]

32GB Zune with $15 MP3 credit at Amazon, $188 or $179, "p

lain"

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002JPITY8/ref=nosim/?tag=fatwalletcom&linkCode=as1

(broswser problems. Sorry for the messy post)

Edited November 26, 2010 by BeBop

[BeBop]

BFrank, I started a thread on Zune last summer:

I've got two now, an 80 gig and a 120 gig. If you go with the hard drive iterations you should be able to score for around $100 or less. I bought my 120 refurbished on Cowboom for right around $100 and have been very happy with it.

Just a note: Tom in RI's Zunes are apparently non-HD. The HDs are a world apart.

[GA Russell]

Black Friday special at Best Buy: Sansa clip+ 4 gb...$25

The clip+ takes 16 gb mini SD cards, so you have unlimited storage.

[Tom in RI]

BFrank, I started a thread on Zune last summer:

I've got two now, an 80 gig and a 120 gig. If you go with the hard drive iterations you should be able to score for around $100 or less. I bought my 120 refurbished on Cowboom for right around $100 and have been very happy with it.

Just a note: Tom in RI's Zunes are apparently non-HD. The HDs are a world apart.

Go figure, the older Zunes have hard drives and the newer Zune HD's are flash based. I am a late adopter (and cheap). Bebop, you have both, what are the features on the newer models that you like best?

[BeBop]

BFrank, I started a thread on Zune last summer:

I've got two now, an 80 gig and a 120 gig. If you go with the hard drive iterations you should be able to score for around $100 or less. I bought my 120 refurbished on Cowboom for right around $100 and have been very happy with it.

Just a note: Tom in RI's Zunes are apparently non-HD. The HDs are a world apart.

Go figure, the older Zunes have hard drives and the newer Zune HD's are flash based. I am a late adopter (and cheap). Bebop, you have both, what are the features on the newer models that you like best?

I'll say upfront that my desires and needs are a bit different: I don't watch videos or download music; no podcasts or e-books, though the Zune does 'em. Everything is ripped from CD or LP to MP3. I'd hard on players because I travel all the time. I've no great love for Microsoft, but even less for Apple. I'd used Creative Labs players before the Zunes, but they crapped out...probably due to my abuse.

All the Zunes have radios. I love radio. I probably listen to FM almost as much as I listen to recorded music. All Zunes have a social network, so you can connect to other Zune folks nearby with wi-fi. And I have never had a hiccup or failure with a Zune; I've droppd my old 30GB players seven feet onto concrete. Tough stuff. (No guarantees; your mileage may vary.) Capacity up to 120GB in the old version; 64GB in the new version is adequate - even though I chose to spread my music over five Zunes of 30GB or 32GB storage. (Again, no storage surrendered to games or videos or photos.) All Zunes have built-in wi-fi. They all adequate drive my Grado and Sennheiser headphones. Battery life 16+ hours. There's also a Zune music pass for $15/month, I think.

The HDs are far smaller, lighter and "slicker". They've got multi-gesture touch screens and full internet browsers with wi-fi connection. QWERT keyboard touch screen. HD radio, of course. Really nice, bright, well-defined, colorful screens.

Downsides? Few apps; mainly games and utilities. (Doesn't matter to me.)

Zune people tend to be really into them. Many see themselves as anti-Apple radicals. (I'm no radical, but I'm not rrady for the white earbud army.)

At (rough) current prices (say $80 for a 30GB and $180 for a 32GB HD), I'd go for the HD in a second. ...though a nice red 30GB (non-HD) would be cool.

Keep in mind, the non-HD models were discontinued long ago, so you're really looking at the used and refurbished market ONLY.

PM me if you want. I like talking ablut Zunes.

[BeBop]

16GB HD for $149.00at amazon. Free shipping (U.S.) plus some kinda bonuses.

[AmirBagachelles]

If you are just getting into mp3 and portable music, one thing that you will learn soon enough is that the software and file management matters as much as the hardware. Creative and Sandisk/Sansa offer decent overall electronics, and very weak software. I have found the Windows Media Player, as incredible as it seems, to be the best simple tool for managing a ton of music. I don't know the Zune players, but I would be surprised if $200 for their 32GB device isn't money well spent. The one great thing about the Sansa is the ease with which it will sort and integrate whatvever is on your pop-in SD card with the balance of stuff on the main device library. However the overall user interface is awful. And because Creative devices can't integrate SD/main content OR multitask while you may be enjoying any content on the SD card, they are a non-starter for me, $300 and 32GB Zen later.

Edited November 29, 2010 by AmirBagachelles

[BFrank]

Zune HD 32 GB Video MP3 Player (Platinum) on Amazon now for about $180.

[fent99]

I've had a sansa clip 8gb for nearly 2 years. It was cheap (£5 cheaper than a shuffle with half the capacity and no display at the time) easy to use with windows media player and so far (touch wood) its been really robust. The interface on the player is basic but fine so you can play by artist, album or genre and shuffle or not. I love it!

My rec unless you want bigger storage would be a flash player and for $25 that sansa is a steal

[GA Russell]

Amazon has the Sansa clip+ 4 gb on sale through tomorrow for $34.99 with free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002MAPT7U/ref=pe_99550_18007030_as_txt_4/?me=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[six string]

I missed that 4Gig Sansa but I bought a 2Gig for $25.00 and awaiting its arrival. I don't use portable machines very much at all. I usually only need one for a few hours at a time so I figured the smaller unit would probably work for me even filling it with songs at 320 or flac. Even for a few hours it would be nice to not have to bring three or four cds and switch them out of my Walkman on the go.

[BFrank]

I got that Zune HD 32. It's nice, it's small, it does what it's supposed to do.

[alocispepraluger102]

i cart around a tiny rca pearl($15)with usb plug and keep at hand an inexpensive external drive of 500 g.of music. 1 aaa battery lasts at least 50 hours. there is the rechargable battery option, of course. with a nice set of phones, the sound is fabulous.

moving the music in and out is effortless.

i reduce the file sizes to 64 k. by using mp3 pro.

i put my vinyls, cds, radio programs, and tapes on the ext. drive.

the pearls are all but extinct, so i have purchased 4 backups.

the rca pearl is not sexy, trendy, or costly, but, then, i'm not either.

Edited January 10, 2011 by alocispepraluger102

[six string]

Last week I got a 2Gig Sandisk player and so far I love it. It's the perfect size for someone who doesn't use a portable player very much. Even with a song list that is heavily weighted to jazz (longer songs) and files that are either flac or 320kbps, I have 112 songs in the player. I listen to albums and not play lists though I could see why others don't since it's easy enough to customize your own "albums" as it were. Still, I have around ten albums to listen to and a supposed 15 hour battery which is all I really need. I may even start doing a little exercies, i.e. walking now that I don't have to carry cds and a bigger player with me.

[GA Russell]

There are couple of items at Amazon that I have my eye on.

Sansa Clip+ 2 gig - $24.95

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-Player-Packaging-Refurbished/dp/B004CN518W/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I333CT9O2Q3GIX&colid=RVSBV717YT9

Combine that with a Sandisk 16 gig micro SD card - $19.45

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-microSDHC-Memory-SDSDQ-016G-Packaging/dp/B001L1H0SC/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I32KQIIO1R6EN0&colid=RVSBV717YT9

[Van Basten II]

Newbie question, does these MP3 player take flac files without any much work, I always thought they only could support MP3, but if they take files that you can find on a CD, I might be interested in getting one ? Would just settle for one with a lot of memory.

[six string]

The Sandisk players accept flac files. They also take memory cards mentioned by GA Russell so you can load them up and switch them out and in essence increase the memory in a sort of virtual way. The link in the first post was very helpful. For $25 at Amazon, it was a small risk to get that Sandisk and I'm glad I did it.

Edited January 18, 2011 by six string