Anyone have any good suggestions? One you have and love? Looking for the under $100 range.
NON-ipod mp3 players?
- Thread starter Sea
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SanDisk makes good ones. I gave each of my sons one last Christmas and they work great. You can get refurbished ones for like $60.
Laurel
Well-Known Member
There aren't many high quality hard drive style ones, it's pretty much the ipod and the zune. It's expensive and difficult to produce compact HD style music players, that's why there are so few companies in the market.
Flash memory style ones are all pretty decent. I'd just go by reviews or how cheap it feels in your hand.
Flash memory style ones are all pretty decent. I'd just go by reviews or how cheap it feels in your hand.
Baja_Brewer
Well-Known Member
+1 on SanDisk. I have a 4GB Sansa that has expandable memory (I can get a microSD card for it)
They generally run about 100 dollars. Check it out.
They generally run about 100 dollars. Check it out.
For a little player, I have an old Creative player that won't die. It's been drowned, it's missing pieces, the display is cracked, it's beat to **** but it won't die.
it depends of how you intend to use it and how much music you need to fit on it. for durability and shock resistance definitely look for flash memory as it has no moving parts to break, the only draw back is it wont offer as much storage space as a harddrive based player. I bought my brother a creative zen nano years ago as a bday gift its still working even though his previous music players (3 minidisc, and 1 ipod) all lasted less than 6 months each, they did take a bit of abuse since he wanted it for riding his bike in the woods. the zen nano has stood up to being dropped, having stuff dropped on it and being exposed to lots of dirt and grime.
OP
OP
Good to know, I wasn't aware of the difference.
I don't like the price, don't need the flashyness, don't own a Mac, and am not too crazy about the stories I've heard about i-tunes, the way it interacts with your files, and the copyright issues.
Sounds like the flash memory is the way to go since I will predominantly be used for music at work. Is there any drawback to flash memory other than reduced storage? is there a sound quality, or longevity/reliability issue?
Laurel
Well-Known Member
No downsides other than the size. I have a 4 year old ipod shuffle (flash) that's been through more than I care to remember and it still functions like new.
I have no problems with the itunes interface, but I remember being less than enchanted with it when I had a windows-based computer.
I have no problems with the itunes interface, but I remember being less than enchanted with it when I had a windows-based computer.
leftyguitarjoe
Well-Known Member
I have an old 30 gig zune. Its great. You can probably nab one off ebay for cheap.
TeufelBrew
Well-Known Member
Have four 4Gig Sandisks in our house. They've been to the Carribean, and everywhere our family has gone the last 2 years. Beaches, boats, mototcycles, bicycles... you name it and they've handled the abuse. I chose the Sandisk over Ipod because I can replace the battery. You have to return to Apple for replacement for Ipods. Good luck deciding what's best for you.
s3n8
Well-Known Member
Watch woot for Sandisk mp3 players. They seem to be on there every time I check. Honestly, why the anti-ipod request though? I have had several, and they work great. The interface is intuitive, and itunes is easy (I think, wife would disagree). I used to have a 20G creative and the software was horrible. Been an itunes/ipod convert ever since.
ChshreCat
Well-Known Member
+100 on Sansa. I got them for my wife, my daughter and my mother. Buy.com usually has good deals on them with regularity.
Blender
Well-Known Member
I have a Sandisk View which has been good to me. The reason I went with Sandisk is that we use Napster for music. I have been looking at the Sandisk Fuze for my wife which seems to be a smaller version of the View.
Dr_Deathweed
Well-Known Member
+1 on creative
We bought one like 4 years ago, and it has been treated like crap every day since. 60gig 4 years ago was <$100. we changed the battery once about a year ago, that has been the extent of our problems.
We bought one like 4 years ago, and it has been treated like crap every day since. 60gig 4 years ago was <$100. we changed the battery once about a year ago, that has been the extent of our problems.
ChshreCat
Well-Known Member
+10 on buy.com That's where I got mine also.
Buy.com has all sorts of deals...
beer: All Search Results - Buy.com
heheheh
I also have a 30 gig zune - I like it.. its been good to me...
Pickngrin
Well-Known Member
+1 on the Sansa. I have the 8GB model (e280 I believe) and it's a great unit. I installed the open source Rockbox on it...many more options than the factory software.
StickyWicket
Active Member
I have a Toshiba that I love -- but it won't work with linux.
I have both the creative zen 30 gigHD (~$200)and the creative zen V plus 2gig flash, (~$55) I dig them both. the little one gets bout 15 hours of battery life.
Now I have an Iphone, and realized why I took Itunes off my computer. grrrr.
B
Now I have an Iphone, and realized why I took Itunes off my computer. grrrr.
B
Fingers
Well-Known Member
Being an uh, 'older' guy, I had an original cassette Sony Walkman. For the longest time I called all portable music players 'Walkman'. I finally broke the habit and began calling them MP3 players just in time for the kids to buy me a new player. You guessed it. A Sony Walkman. It works very well. It does video and photos as well as music. It's only 2 Gigs, but that is still a hell of a lot of music.
