I'm in the market for a new MP3 player -- my second-gen iPod Nano is finally dead, and I don't want to buy another iPod, or any other player with DRM built in. I figure that any company that wants to devote its engineers to figuring out how to frustrate my desires doesn't really want my business.
Who'd got a suggestion? I'm looking for something:
- * small (Nano-sized or smaller),
- * low-capacity (8GB is fine, all I use it for is podcasts),
- * chargeable and connectable with a standard USB cable,
- * reasonably rugged,
- * with an LCD,
- * capable of marking some files as podcasts or audiobooks and remembering where you stopped playing them, and,
- * most importantly, I'm looking for something that can be connected to a set of lanyard headphones like these
Suggestions? Feed the comments, below (don't send email, I'm taking a break from it for the weekend).
Get a 8gbZune
Sansa e200, see here: http://lukeprog.com/essays/sansa.html
Maybe a Sansa Clip?
Unfortunately, my Sony Walkman S-series player uses proprietary cables. But other than that, I think it might fit the bill. It always remembers where we left off during a song, so the podcasts can't be too different. It also has a radio, which was nice when our power went out recently. I've also dropped it a couple of times, and it's been just fine. Actually, its primary selling point for me are the headphones which came packaged with my model, which are tiny but still vastly superior to any other bud-style phone I've ever used due to the rubber cone being offset from the speaker. So if you're looking for a stripped-down player with great sound, this is it.
i have 2 sansa e280s, unbeatable with rockbox on them and rugged as all heck, one has a broken screen but still works like a charm save for the black deadzone on the screen. a well placed rockbox theme still allows me to see all needed info though.
With the exception of your "Most Importantly", the Sansa Clip is an amazingly sturdy mp3 that could be a close fit. It only remembers the currently playing location, so that might be an issue.
Get an 8 gig Sansa Clip+, and skip on those lame lanyard headphones. Get Sennheiser CX-300 J-corded headphones (solves the "what to do with earbuds when not listening" problem), run the cord under your shirt and clip the MP3 player to the hem of your shirt.
I like my Sansa... Menu is Eazy kapeezee...
I love my cowon x5. Firstly because it has the best sound quality of any mp3 player I've tried (it's way better than an ipod). And also because it works just like a usb drive when plugged into a mac or pc. The downside is it doesn't sync with any library software like itunes, but I organize my music by folders anyhow and it uses the folder structure on its drive to navigate. Most of there players also have line in record - I've used mine to record dj sets many times and it sounds great, except have to be careful with the line in level as it doesn't display when it's clipping very well. Mine's 4 years old now and proven very durable, no problems so far and it's been well used and abused. They have newer models that are flash drive based, so they should be even better. All the ones with screens play video as well although I think you have to convert the video for most with their software. http://www.jetaudio.com/products/
The lanyard thing will be an issue, however a good mp3 player sleeve could solve the problem, that would require also looking at the accessories offered.
I also only use my mp3 player for podcasts but that caused me some problems because many mp3 players do not handle podcasts properly, either they label each podcast separately (on small screens with a long podcast name they will all show up as one podcast) and/or they have no way of indicating which podcast you already listened to (my ipod, for all I hate about it, has the little dot next to podcasts I have not listened to and allows me to quickly scan to a NEW cast).
I bought a sandisk a year ago on sale, worked just fine, but like I mentioned, handled podcasts terribly.
Most mp3 players seem to consider podcasts as an after thought, however I know that the zune and ipod both handle podcasts properly, I might not want to buy either of them but I have yet to see any other mp3 player work with podcasts the way it should.
So my vote is stick with an ipod if all u care about is podcasts, thats what I did.
Have to suggest the Sansa Clip as well - bought one & liked it so much, I ended up buying 3 more for x-mas presents! Basically a jump drive that plays music & has an FM radio built in.
For podcasts, do recommend the ipod for ease of use.
Rankings by desired qualities: http://www.consumersearch.com/mp3-players
@arghmonkey.
most podcasts are not tagged properly. a quick retagging and they sort and display just fine
Most iTunes music is no longer copy protected. And you can load any MP3's you like onto an iPod nano. Yes, it supports DRM, but no, you don't have to use it. The DRM was there to convince the record companies to let Apple sell digital copies. Blame them, not Apple.
Besides, you can make movies with the new iPod nano.
Hey Cory,
I just got a sansa clip+ and have been loving it. It's tiny and has a clip built on (instead of a lanyard). It sports a nice looking old-skool led display and is very easy/intuitive. My favorite feature is the fact that it uses a NORMAL usb cable, not one of those crazy iPod style usb cables. Also has memory expansion slot. Plus it's only $55.
Check it: http://www.amazon.com/Clip-Plus-MP3-Player-Black/dp/B002MAPS6W
—Dean
There's probably a fair number of "hong kong specials" that fit your criteria for next to nothing, including multi-purpose devices like the dingoo line, or maybe gamepark stuff for your linux and retro-game love.
Seriously, basic functionality of the type you want means you should research software features (multiple bookmarks) first, with nothing else being a concern.
I've never understood the appeal of ipod-like devices that refuse to be what they are, first and foremost: thumbdrives.
The real innovation in personal portable storage was video -- anything else was a given.
Sounds like what you want is an ipod, except that you say you don't want an ipod...
I don't understand the "DRM built in" business. My iPod is full of mp3's I either ripped myself or downloaded from music blogs and I'm not aware of any limitations on what I can do with them.
I second the motion for players in the Sansa line. I've been using a Sansa Fuze for over a year now, and had the Sansa Vue before that. DRM free!
Err, there is no DRM within the iPod. The iTunes Store no longer uses DRM on any of its tracks. Ergo, an iPod ticks all the boxes for you :)
=:~)
I too, don't get the DRM comment. Not only can you install any MP3s you want, the music from iTunes is now DRM free.
http://www.macworld.com/article/138000/2009/01/drm_faq.html
Buy an iPod and RockBox it:
www.rockbox.org
I have a Sansa clip thing. I bought it on sale at Radio Shack when my previous player's (iAudio) switches wore out.
However, my requirements include FM radio receiver for the local NPR stations - I hardly ever use it as an MP3 player.
For a sufficiently low bar of satisfaction, I'm satisfied. Unlike my Motorola cell phone, I don't want to hurl it against the wall on a daily basis.
I too shall say that I like my sansa. It also has a slot for an additional memory card.
I love my Creative Zen Stone. Tiny, 2GB, OLED display, speaker, microphone, and radio receiver all built in. Connects with a mini-USB cable for drag-and-drop of files (MP3s or others) and also charging. I keep mine in the car plugged into the head unit via a USB adapter, then unplug and add some headphones whenever I take it into the gym. Great little gizmo.
Same here... why be concerned about DRM? The iPod (and any other PMP, for that matter), doesn't *prevent* you from playing open content.
As much as I don't like Apple's attitude, their PMP's definitely are still a step ahead of the rest of them. I've tried some of the small, budget players, and I've always found that they end up with major problems, such as not playing certain files or not remembering their place in podcasts.
Personally, I'm strongly considering a new Android-based device...
dude, you've totally got to get something you can put Rockbox on. i dropped my sansa e280 and broke it and was delighted to find out you can now put rockbox on the sansa fuze - but it has to be version 1: you therefore can't by a brand new in-box model cos you won't know what hardware version it is. find an amazon marketplace vendor and ask them to check the version number (they have to turn it on and look in the system info menu). but there's a bunch of things that you can put rockbox on, check at their website.
dunno about the funky lanyard headphones, tho...
How ironic: I just decided to ditch my Sansa Fuze and get an iPod Touch...
The first two Fuzes died because the data connector was too similar to my iRex Illiad's. I killed two of 'em accidentally and the third one's dial/face stopped working - I wasn't going to buy a fourth one, and I decided to go for a device with no moving parts.
Before the Fuzes, I had a Sansa Clip w/2G. It's still working - I gave it to my mom.
The only drawback, and it really isn't, is the lack of a full full-colour screen. You don't need one.
It does have a built-in FM radio, a voice or off-the-FM-radio recorder, and the data/charging connector is a mini-USB plug. The battery's usually good for about 15 hours on a charge. The sound is surprisingly good. It's so light you could clip it to your cape or those goggles and forget it's there. Highly recommended.
http://www.sandisk.com/products/sansa-music-and-video-players/sandisk-sansa-clip-mp3-players.aspx
£47.90 via Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sandisk-Sansa-Clip-Player-Radio/dp/B001GCTR3C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1257609682&sr=8-2
Re: the DRM - I think it's that the limit to the number of computers an iPod will "recognize".
So, in a sense, DRM is built in, just not to the music. There are workarounds, and it's never been an issue for me, but I can see why someone who's a lifestyle anti-DRM advocate might get pissed at it just on principle.
The lanyard is hard. Those are iPod exclusive as far as I know. The best alternative is something like this
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/191-1705482-9358769?ASIN=B001T9TABG&AFID=Froogle&LNM=B001T9TABG%7Ci2i_In-Ear_Headphones_Lanyard_Style_-_Pink_(T62025)&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=B001T9TABG&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001
That you *may* be able to use with the Sansa Clip.
In my experience the iPod is still the best podcast player. It is the only one that synchronizes position with a computer (unfortunately with iTunes). The Clip at least remembers position...
Would you consider an android phone? BeyondPod or Google Listen are tolerable podcasts players. BeyondPod is not free,
Ipods are DRM-free except you can't take what you put on the ipod back to your hard drive...not officially, anyway. A truly DRM-free device would support two-way traffic.
I can't recommend anything in particular but I would say, be careful of how the chosen device works under different OS's. I had a Grundig player once which was wonderful, except that while it acted exactly like a simple flash drive under OSX, whenever I plugged it into a Windows machine it refused to work without the included software, which, of course, I didn't carry around nor wanted to install. But without it the drive wasn't accessible at all.
Since then I've bought an iPod and love it as much as I thought I'd hate it before I had it. :D
Cory,
Just because the iPod supports DRM doesn't mean jack all now that the iTunes store is DRM free for music. Do the earth a favour-- buy a broken/used iPod and fix it. That's right, stick a new HDD or battery in that sucker. Reuse already manufactured goods that do the trick-- don't buy something new. DRM is the least of our worries (although I'm all for supporting the EFF don't get me wrong). Get out on Craigslist and do it. Ifixit sells parts and provides free instructions. What could be more 'indie' than spitting in the faces of DMP companies and not upgrading to this year's model?
well, try fixing the nano, if it hasn't experienced a catastrophic user initiated event, at least try to figure out why it's no longer working. or build your own, there's projects out there.
mobiblu b153. It has a 153 hour battery life, I haven't recharged it IN YEARS. Only 2GB though so I guess you'd have to manage the files with more care. You see it as an USB drive. It's so simple and wonderful, too bad it didn't get more storage space.
I'd still get an iPod and just not buy from the Apple store.
I think the "DRM" he's talking about is the limitations that Apple puts on their iPods. I have to assume that even the most recent gen. iPods don't allow you to, say, copy your entire music library from your iPod to your friend's laptop.
Sure, you could use iPod Disk by keeping your iPod in disk mode and carrying a copy of the app with you, but that's a workaround for the built-in limitations. That's the kind of thing that would be worth doing if you were, say, a huge Apple fanboy like me (yeah, I even own APPL stock).
Cory, I had a Rio that I really liked some years ago. Don't know how they're doing these days, but they were pretty ace about 5 years ago.
And to the guy who suggested Sony: dude, Apple isn't exactly an industry leader when it comes to the anti-DRM movement, but I can't think of a company worse than Sony.
The problem is that all the best MP3 players all have DRM baked in somewhere or other. Creative (Zen) does audiobook DRM, for example, iirc.
You can avoid using DRM in all of them, including the iPod, of course. But I guess that still results in having enriched the DRM sellers, even if you don't participate yourself. iRiver used to let you "turn off" DRM features, but that looks like much the same deal.
One possibility is to find a player whose firmware can be overwritten. Rockbox is an open-source firmware that plays many formats and runs on many devices: http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/WhyRockbox . It's not what you're asking for, but has the cool bonus of being a bona-fide hack!
You can build your own mp3 player from scratch: Daisy.
Another suggestion would be to pick up a cheapo no-name player that's obviously imported from the far east, one which doesn't advertise compatibility with any DRM-related file formats. (And even if it does, its unlikely the manufacturer will be passing any of your money to those who profit from DRM.)
I've had a refurbished Sansa e230 that has worked wonderfully, and only set me back $30. Installing RockBox will let it play any format imaginable, and a replacement battery is only about $10. Said battery can be replaced by removing four screws, which is far easier than anything Apple's released.
Keep in mind that while some of these older players have iPod-sized connectors, they are NOT compatible. Plugging one in to an iPod device will cook the circuitry.
You may want to take a look at http://anythingbutipod.com/
iPod was always proprietary -- database formats, communication protocols, etc. -- but that didn't bother me terribly. The fact that it insisted on using iTunes for everything was troublesome, since I didn't like iTunes, but I quickly found Anapod and was once again happy.
...until Apple decided they wanted to lockdown the "Apple experience" and locked others like Anapod out of accessing the iPod. They added a cryptographic hash to the song database on the device, so that if you didn't know the key, any sort of modification would leave the device essentially blank.
This was about the same time our company -- which uses Linux almost exclusively -- gave everybody iPods as a bonus. There were a lot of unhappy people when they found out they couldn't use them with their Linux machines at work.
Congratulations Apple. Because of your DRM, half of the staff sold their iPods.
I suggest you try a Sansa Fuze. It works great with linux, too!
+1 Sansa Clip
Have to throw my vote in with the Sansa e200 series, rockbox enhanced. Great sound quality, good battery life, easy operation, and damn tough. I dropped mine and cracked the screen two days after I got it, and two years down the line it's still trucking along. I got a rubberized case for it for a few bucks on eBay, and I've dropped it several times since, to no ill effect.
I use it to power the stereo set on my motorcycle even in monsoon season, and it just keeps trucking along. Radio, sound recorder, microSDHC, etc.
Even has a chess clock, through rockbox ;)
If you have any kind of smartphone at all you may want to look into the podcast software available for it.
Assuming you already keep your phone on your person, the size of your podcast player is now zero. And it's the only option where placing or answering a phone call will pause the podcast, so you're not quickly fumbling with multiple gadgets.
Cory, it looks like a lot of people have made suggestions for good cheap portable mp3 players--which is what you said you wanted.
However, let me project on you--be ambitious. Go high tech. Get something *awesome*. The Nokia n850 is Linux based. It plays mp3s. It plays movies. It cruises the web on its huge-ass high-res screen. You can use it to securely administer your *nix servers with its Xwindows server and SSH. You can install a chess game. You can install FreeCIV, the open source Civlization clone. It has 802.11a/b built in. You can Skype. It has a video camera (web cam) that pops out--so video conferencing is in. It does flash, so youtube is in. It is the size of an effing cell phone. A bit big, but tiny for what you get.
Best of all, it is "obsolete" since the N900 just came out, so you can get it cheap. The n800 is even cheaper, but it doesn't have a pop out keyboard.
These things are the awesome.
If you have the money, the n900 also has a gps, accelerometers, cell phone, and effing laser beams. These are hacktastic state-of-the-art geekerection tools of mass construction.
+1 for the Sansa Clip
It is such a big improvement on my Shuffle.
The pictures don't usually do it justice, the screen is the most readable I've seen on such a small device.
It remembers the playback position on audiobooks and podcasts providing you put them in their proper folder, and since the "speed" setting is so easy to find, I've actually found I can listen to podcasts/audiobooks better at the fast speed
I second all the recommendations for the Sansa line. I have a c250 myself, but the "e"s have better displays. And most of them can run Rockbox, so you can get the software to do anything you need. Battery life is great.
You've answered your own question:
* small (Nano-sized or smaller),
* low-capacity (like an entry Nano),
* chargeable and connectable with a standard USB cable,
* reasonably rugged, (like a Nano, presuming you mean the standard usb cable connects to your computer)
* with an LCD,(like a Nano)
* capable of marking some files as podcasts or audiobooks and remembering where you stopped playing them, (like a Nano) and,
* most importantly, I'm looking for something that can be connected to a set of lanyard headphones like these that are shown connected to an iPod Nano.
My iPod Nano has 10 songs, 8 gigs of Podcasts. It's an excellent podcast device.
I'll second (third? fourth?)the suggestion for the Creazive Zen Stone Plus. Tiny, USB, rechargeable, nice little OLED screen, records with a built-in mic, extremely durable...
And, you can get a little keychain sleeve to put it in that would make it work well with those headphones or a seperate lanyard.
iPods may not technically use DRM anymore, but they still go out of their way to make them impossible to use with software other than iTunes. I don't even know what iTunes looks like--I've never seen it. I just copy files onto my Sansa like any other USB device. My sister got an iPod recently and asked me to load it--it was a nightmare. Apple's "my way or the highway" attitude toward users takes them out of the running for anyone who values their freedom, DRM notwithstanding.
I think Zens in general are good. They have nice displays, and although I don't own one, I think any kind would be suitable for podcasts.
I love the Archos players. I'm still using my 504 digital media player, but their new MP3 players look pretty darn sweet: http://www.archos.com/products/mp3_players/index.html?country=us&lang=en
I second that. I've had my Zen Stone for 2 years now and it's great: Fast to charge, easy to upload music on, no limitations built-in... For someone who doesn't want games/phone/apps/hype mixed with their music, it's perfect.
My only crit is that the battery tends to drain on its own, so if it sits unused in my bag for a couple of days I have to recharge. However, it fully charges within 15-20 minutes.
My husband has a Samsung YP-U3, very simple as well but it can read both .MP3 and .OGG files.
Sandisk's Sansas are reasonably priced, have simple no-nonsense functionality, and are very well recommended by people who have owned them.
I use the 16gb Sansa View (they're available up to 32gb and accept a microSD card in a slot which allows you to expand their storage capacity and even hot-swap different memory cards with different portions of a large music collection if you need to). It's smaller than the iPod you were using and I believe it has more functionality (sometimes just listening to FM radio is more fun than the music loaded on it, and the microSD card option is really awesome).
As far as I can tell the lanyard headset would work with it too!
I am sooo disappointed. you are the MIGHTY Cory Doctrow, MASTER of teh intertubes!
what's this "get" business? you should have a mailbox full of different things companies send TO you, begging you to evaluate and recommend.
just reform your initial post to read:
"I, Cory, MASTER of teh Innerwebs, am interested in evaluating a few MP3 players for my personal use, and recommendation. Please submit your companies best offering as soon as possible. Email me with proper credentials, and I will give you the location of my mailbox. Understand these players will not be returned, and there is no guarantee I will pick your companies offering"
c'mon, if you cannot leverage your job, who can?
I'm relying on you to set an example for the rest of us.....
I listen to Podcasts and for a while, in between upgrading iPods, I decided to try out a Sansa. It was horrible for podcasts and honestly not much better with the UI and navigation.
So like many other people here, I gotta say, if you want a good podcast player, iPod is the go to player. Next on the list is probably a Zune. Unfortunately for many companies making MP3 players, podcasts seem like an afterthought.
Maybe you should just get an iPod can then donate to Defective by Design to clear your conscience.
Try ccrane.com
I highly recommend the Sansa Clip or Clip Plus. Small, light, excellent sound quality, has a simple menu, supports Ogg, OLED screen, and best of all, it's CHEAP. Here's a guide on how to use it under Linux: http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Blogs/Off-the-Beat-Bruce-Byfield-s-Blog/Using-a-Sansa-Clip-music-player-under-GNU-Linux
Interesting that the engineers bent on frustrating your desires make the only headphones that you like.
You might like the iAudio 7 and (not yet released) iAudio 9. The iAudio line is known for playing every format under the sun (including ogg vorbis), and for excellent sound quality.
samsung P3 ftw
The iPod absolutely does have DRM built-in to the device, and it absolutely is intended to limit the things you can do with your un-DRMed music.
Projects such as libgpod (the library used by gtkpod, Rhythmbox and Amarok for iPod access) worked out how to write the database required to add music to an iPod (fair enough, since there is no Linux version of iTunes).
Apple didn't like people using other applications to sync with iPods, because they need to control as much of the user experience as possible in case people get confused and blame everything on the iPod (or because they like people seeing a little button for buying music from Apple every time they rip a CD - pick one), so the iPod firmware now stores a checksum of the database, so that if the device detects that you have synced using something other than iTunes, it pretends to have no tracks loaded.
Libgpod eventually cracked the checksum, although Apple continues to work against their own customers, and libgpod has to be modified for most new version of the iPod.
I am happy with my iAudio 7 which plays OGG Vorbis and OGG Flac files as well as MP3.
Take a look at iaudio (Cowon) players. They are probably the most open devices on the market. Many will play MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, WAV, and more. Some models have radio, can record audio and have line-in. Some even have "official" Linux support.
I've found that the little Sony 2GB player I picked up a couple years back works rather well. It's basically a large thumbdrive with a decent-sized color screen (navigation is rather good) it appears to run on an embedded Linux kernel. It functions just fine under Kubuntu, coming up as a thumbdrive to which files can be dragged to.
my vote is for the Sansa E200 series (e280 in particular). With Rockbox open source firmware it is a great player. A little thicker than a nano but you can use up to a 16 gigabyte micro-sd card and it has an easily replacable battery. It sucks for watching video but it is a fantastic MP3 player that can play virtually any format (with Rockbox installed).
You might look at a small mp3 recorder like the 8GB moVex MP3 Player http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002KEDY48
It is so ugly that Steve Jobs would vomit if he saw it but it is small cheap and has an eyelet to hang it from your neck.
I guess I'm the umptieth person to suggest the Sansa e200 series with Rockbox.
I have two, the functionality is marvelous, the audiobook bookmarking is the best of any player I've ever owned, and they are stone solid reliable.
Rockbox now fully supports any e200 you can find on ebay, woot or anywhere else with the exception that (on the v2 series e200's) you have to boot into the original Sansa firmware to transfer files via USB, and that recording still does not work via Rockbox.
Sorry for the doublepost, but forgot to say:
Ideally, you should get something which acts as a USB MSC device ("USB stick"; music is added by simply copying it), and generates its own database, like the (sadly no longer produced) Rio Carbon did. That way, you can use pretty much any software you want (and can still use it if the company dies) on any OS you want to use.
I wish Rio still existed, and made a modern version of the carbon. I don't use mine much anymore because it only has 6GB storage and takes a minute or two to build the DB after being disconnected.
When you get something, you'll review it for us, right? I'm still looking for a real replacement for my Rio Carbon.
I suggest a Cowon D2, you can get it in up to 16GB I think, and has a lanyard hole where you can put some DIY skills to good use and adapt a headphone for it.
I had one, great battery life, about two days of continuous music playing. And as le_avion noted, it supports a myriad of music formats. I stopped using it because I don't listen to music a lot... I bought it mostly for the technofetishism bit, and then I gave it to my sister.
For music playing on the road, GPS and e-mail checking, I just use a cell phone... About 5 devices in 1, and still growing!
I'm looking for the same thing as Cory, minus the lanyard phones and plus AAA batteries instead of built in. I much prefer carrying a few rechargeble AAAs than being s.o.l. on an 8 hour drive. As it is I am still using my 4 year old Creative Zen Nano 1GB - held together with a rubber band now, that thing is so tough and so simple to use - basically a thumb drive with a phone jack plus remembers where you left of, fm tuner, and mp3 recorder.
The device limitation in iTunes has to do with the number of computers you can link to an iTunes account. You can sync an unlimited number of ipods with any version of itunes on any computer. The only DRM on the ipod is the fact that the content is locked into a database that isn't normally accessible with Finder or Explorer.
Sounds like you need an iPod. Yes, I know you don't want one. It's still the best device for what you're looking for.
I've bought a whole bunch of players trying to find one that can replace iTunes + iPod for podcasts after switching to Linux. There's going to be some compromise.
I've settled on the Sansa Fuze for now. Yes, it has a proprietary cable, but I've been through enough Sansas of various flavours (including a bunch of e200s running Rockbox, all three of which died early deaths on me) that I have those cables scattered around that it's not an issue anymore. *Sometimes* it decides to start up in the main menu rather than the file I paused it at. If you can find the file, it will resume where you left off, but finding the file for audio books isn't always the easiest thing.
On the positive side, it's a great player with a few quirks. Update the firmware and it supports ogg with a firmware update and syncing to a miniSD card is much preferred to syncing to the player, IMHO.
You could try the Cowon iAudio D2, which meets all your requirements, except I found the touchscreen UI to be so frustrating as to make it unusable. YMMV.
I'd recommend going through some of the reviews on http://anythingbutipod.com. They cover a wide range of devices, but are very music, rather than podcast-focused.
No advice on the lanyard. I haven't found an headphone solution I'm totally happy with.
I have a Cowon iAudio 7, and it could be a good match: it's very open, has a nice form factor, great battery life, and is plenty durable. I also like having the FM radio and the built-in audio recorder; I use it as a back-up for interviews.
But as nice as the hardware is, the software is apparently made by retarded lemurs. After a year of owning one, I still have to stop and try to remember which button does what in which mode. And recently it has gone from a 5-10 second startup time to 3 minutes or so.
I don't understand how anybody could make an MP3 player without asking themselves, "Hey, why is Apple totally dominating the market?"
Make your own http://makezine.com/daisy/ :)
(although bigger than you want)
Like most people have said above, get whatever hardware you like that runs RockBox. Certain iPods will run it - check http://wiki.songbirdnest.com/Docs/Device_Support/IPod_Device_Support#comment2 for a list form last year.
Maybe a first gen Nano?
I recommend Sansa Clip. They come with low quality headphones that don't do the players justice, so do replace them with nicer ones. (The money you save from not overpaying for Apple products should be more more than enough for a decent pair of headphones.)
When you use a nice headphone with Sansa, you'd find that their sound is amazing. I bought it after the numerous good reviews from CNet. Love it.
The iAudio7 is well worth a look. I've had one for around a year, and it's been working well. As mentioned above, it will play a lot of formats and it sounds great. The interface does take a bit of getting used to though. It doesn't do chapters, as far as I can tell, but my firmware is one or two versions behind the current.
There is still DRM on the iPod. The video section of the store still uses DRM. The iPods themselves still have to support the DRM from when the music section had DRM. And recently I purchased one of the free tracks they promote through Starbucks and got a protected audio file.
Cory is right, the evil is still in the box.
But the iPods are still the best podcast players. I love the 2x playbacks speed and scrubbing features on the touch.
Hi! Tried to create an account, but it doesn't seem to be working so I'll post anonymously. :)
My recommendation would be to purchase a used iPod. From your list of what you're looking for, the iPod does seem to fit the bill the best except that obviously you don't want to support Apple. A used iPod would not be putting any money in their pocket, would actually save you some cash, and would result in a player that allows you to do everything it looks like you want to do (use the special Apple headphones, excellent podcast management, etc.). Plus, it's a little bonus for the planet to reuse something that doesn't really need to be new. If you buy from a reputable person, they will typically send any warranty along with it, and in my experience Apple will still honor this (I have a friend who bought a used U2 iPod which broke, and they replaced it for free).
http://www.buy.com/prod/sandisk-sansa-clip-2gb-mp3-3076-black-refurbished/q/loc/111/212217832.html
Cowon iAudio 7 all the way. Very open, plays everything, great firmware, the battery lasts 24 hours of play time on a charge, and the sound quality is phenomenal.
No question: You want a Sansa Clip or Sansa Clip+. They're tiny, have great sound quality (a lot better than my iPhone), cheap, have FM radio and a beautiful minimalist interface. The Clip+ comes in larger sizes (2,4,8 gb) than the older Clip(1,2,4 gb) and comes with a micoSD slot compatible with cards up to 16gb. You don't need any special software to load the player, but they have great audiobook and podcast functionality (resume where you left off).
i'd say 1st or 2nd gen ipod nano using winamp for sync. i also have a sansa and a sony but the click wheel is the best way to fast forward a long file. i did install rockbox on my 1st gen nano but i found it was simpler just dragging and droping files in it with winamp.
the ipod is the best hardware but itunes suck. it's the single app i hate the most. today itunes decided to delete my apps from my ipod touch deleting my stanza library even though i had everything in manual (i hate the autosync feature).
just give me drag and drop. WTF is wrong with apple?
I've been using Creative's mp3 players since my first, and I've been happy with them. I'm using the Zen X-fi right now, which was kind of a waste of money, but the regular Zen player is great. Nice sized screen, small enough overall, you can bookmark your place in any track. As for marking files as podcasts, you'd just have to make sure the genre in the mp3's tag is correct.
My vote is for the Sansa Fuze.
I previously had a rockboxed Sansa e280, and I've got to say that you owe it to yourself to give Rockbox a try. Benefits of Rockbox:
Skinnable UI - I used one of the Pirate themes myself. I'm sure you can find a suitable steampunk theme, Cory.
Bookmarks - You can bookmark your location anywhere in a file. Crucial for audiobooks and podcasts.
Browse by folder structure or tags - I listen to a lot of podcasts and audio books, and I don't want to have to depend on someone else for tagging consistency. I primarily use folder browsing.
Ogg and FLAC playback
And the Sansa e200 series does video playback, voice recording and FM radio, all of which is supported in Rockbox. You can even download FM presets for different locations for Rockbox.
I lost my Sansa e280 a few months ago, and I found a good deal on the Fuze on woot. The Fuze is more compact than the e200 series and the scroll wheel is much smoother. I was going to rockbox it, even though the rockbox build for the Fuze is still considered somewhat unstable at this point, but I found that right now, the native firmware does just about everything I need. The Fuze has:
Ogg and FLAC playback
limited bookmarking - it retains the memory of any place you stopped playback in any file in the "audiobooks" folder, and asks you if you want to resume playback when you return to that file, even if you've been listening to other stuff in the meantime.
I know you're not interested in DRM, but it does support wma DRM which I've been using because I download audiobooks from several different public libraries. I hate DRM too, but the majority of downloadable books from public libraries are still available only in protected WMA format, though that is slowly changing.
Browse by folder.
The battery life is huge, and it's a nice small player. I haven't felt the need to Rockbox it yet, but I probably will once the build is stable. One of the nice things about Rockbox is that you can boot into either rockbox or the native firmware at startup. So you don't have to sacrifice the native firmware to give rockbox a try.
The iPod you owned doesn't actually enforce any DRM at all; that job was handled by iTunes. So, get a new (old stock) Nano and use iTunes to load all your DRM-free files (a la eMusic, ripped from CDs, even the iTunes Store's DRM-free collection itself, etc.).
The over-sensitivity to DRM reveals this consumer-v-theman slant to BB that gets a little old, I'll tell yah.
Or, just get a Sansa already. Available at RadioShack! :)
I have used a Cowon D2 for (mostly) podcasts for the last several years. Plays mp3, ogg, etc., great battery life, touch screen, handles SD cards for extra storage. Mine have been VERY reliable. I originally had a 2gb device, and later I bought an 8gb because the price dropped, and I didn't want to be without a D2 in case the battery in my original one started getting old.
It comes with a stylus, which I promptly threw away about 30 seconds after I got mine, because fingers work fine. It remembers your place too, most of the time. (For some reason I haven't figured out, it forgets VERY occasionally.)
Aoctavio, those lanyard headphones you linked to look nice! I had some that were similar that I actually wore out a year or so ago, and haven't found a good replacement yet.
By the way, most lanyard headphones I've seen are designed for the nano's proprietary connector, but Sennheiser makes some with just a 3.5 mm connector.
I have never been able to find the "speed" setting on the sansa clip. There is no information on adjusting playback speed in the clip manual, how do you access it for podcast mp3s?
I'll add my vote to the sansa players. Reasonably cheap, removable storage, good quality. no special cables, Plays flac and ogg as well as mp3. And if you add a pair of IEM they have pretty good sound quality and isolation.
http://www.headphone.com/headphones/in-ear.php
does anyone know of a mp3 player with a balance control? i'm bamboozled that ipods don't have one, and most portable headphone don't have balance control either.
I'd second (third?) the recommendation of a Sansa e200 series player with rockbox. It can be a bit hard to find the first generation ones, that have better rockbox support, but it looks like the 2nd gen has a working rockbox port as well. With rockbox, they're great little players and will play just about any format you throw at them, they've got a microSD card which can support arbitrarily large microSDHC (with rockbox only), and they're really sturyd.
@zio_donnie and others-- if you don't think iTunes has "drag and drop", you're kinda doing it wrong. That's how it works. Drag, drop, songs are on your iPod. Couldn't be simpler.
About four years ago, I got a music player from Samsung that also plays OGG VORBIS files. It's only 512 KB, alas, and I doubt they make it anymore. I don't know if ANYONE makes an Ogg-compatible player these days.
+1 for anything Sansa. I'm FOSS only and my Fuze works like a dream with linux. They have also been noted for great sound quality.
yep i know it has some kind of drag and drop. only that you have to disable all the auto sync crap and put it on manual. and if you are not in a a mood to get a degree in itunesology and miss a stupid checkbox it will delete all your stuff like it did with my touch. stupid me it "synced" my apps meaning it deleted everything from the ipod and stored it in my pc prompting me to reinstall everything. oh and it did not backup data of 3rd party apps. meaning i lost my 300 ebook stanza library. all without warning, just with the sync apps checkbox ticked. how the f***k is this useful?
and that's only for music and videos. i still cannot find the drag and drop setting for photos. for some weird reason it wants to sync a folder. not to mention that it will not accept other files at all, like txt or html (i want ebooks on the thing). itunes plainly sucks. it's just bloated crapware
Nano with Rockbox for infinitely variable playback speed and pitch.
I like to be able to verify the speed and pitch of the podcasts and audiobooks I listen to. I find most of the built in firmware fails to let me do this to the precision I want.
My current audiobook/podcast player is a referb 1st gen Nano off of Ebay with Rockbox installed. And I tend to listen to everything at around 120-140% speed. With Pitch turned down a couple of percent to normalize the voices. This greatly improves the efficiency of the time I spend listening.
With an OS/firmware choice done, you can pick whichever supported hardware you prefer.
buy new iPod. No DRM. Though the video function
is superfluous if you have even a cheap still/video camera
I have an 8gb Archos mp3 player I really like. And it was cheap.
The lanyard is the stumbling block, as it fits with the iPod connector and only iPods have them.
On the other hand I can think of no reason to own an iPod unless it's a Touch (all the extras) or a Classic (the massive storage)- and the Touch is beginning to see some proper competition. Of course only media hoarders *need* 160GB of entertainment all the time
I have had several mp3 players mostly used for audiobooks. The new Sansa+ Clip is really great! The player is small but the screen is just right size. I got the 8 gb and and a microchip memory card... great for books or music.
(It also has radio and voice recorder).
I picked up a 4 or 8 GB Sylvania mp3 player from Big Lots for $30. It's decent -- definitely no ipod, but it matches your requirements. I got it for my son to play him music while he goes to bed.
Just get the iPod. You basically describe it in your wish list, and I'm betting you'll be sad with whatever other device you buy. I'm not sure there is even a decent player out there that literally doesn't support AAC DRM.
Changing the playback speed on a Sansa Clip:
Step 1) Make sure you've upgraded the software to the latest version,
Step 2) Er, in the Settings/Music or Audiobooks menu? It's been a while...
One nice thing: With this one, you can impose a folder structure, so you can group audiobooks under the book's title, likewise for podcasts.
And, while I don't know about non-"Touch" iPods, you CAN delete files directly from the Fuze and the Clip.
(Why can't I do that from the iPod Touch??? Grrr!)
There's a new Sansa Clip+:
It supports microSDHC cards, up to 16G, and an improved FM receiver. So you could get the cheaper models, and install more memory if you really find you need it.
You're better off picking it up in the 'States, it's about 2/3's of the UK price.
http://www.amazon.com/Clip-Plus-MP3-Player-Black/dp/B002MAPS6W/ref=pd_cp_e_2
As many folks have pointed out above, the iPod does have a crippling DRM anti-feature : you can only sync TO it ; you can't pull data back off it without using 3rd party applications.
The other DRM features are negligible -- such as authorizing multiple computers for iTunes access -- they merely enable it to play DRM content. Compatibility isn't bad, its something that all machines should have.
But the one-way sync is absolutely and without argue a form of DRM – and fucking annoying.
The Sansa Clip+ is a great little player. Tiny, rugged and great sound. Not just great sound for it's size, but great sound period. It drives full-sized headphones with ease, and gives great fidelity thru my car's system. And it slides right into the little watch pocket on my Levi's like it was made to fit there. It would be an easy mod to attach the lanyard fitment, or just use the clip.
Sansa Fuze. It works with Linux, it feels really solid, the menu is nice and it has a microSD slot.
Hubby and I have both gone through a Sansa Clip each in the last 12 months - they aren't as rugged as some are making out and we found the UK branch of the customer service to be be beyond hopeless (Didn't even reply to our e-mails / couldn't get through on the phone) - that's out us off replacing them.
Of course iPods have DRM. They have DRM that's backwards compatible with their old DRM-store offerings. They have DRM for their current DRM offerings, such as videos and audiobooks (hey, here's a funny story: Audible agreed to put out my audiobooks without DRM and Apple refused to carry them in the iTunes store because they didn't have DRM. Ha! Ha! And Audible is the only supplier authorized to provide audiobooks to iTunes! Ha! Ha! And 90% of the audiobook market is controlled by iTunes/Audible! Ha! Ha!)
The point isn't whether I can or can't load DRM-free files. The point is whether the device is designed for its owner's benefit or for the company's benefit. The iPod is designed for the company's benefit. It's not in an iPod owner's interest for there to be an annoying obfuscated filesystem that requires proprietary software to interface with it (and if you think that it's OK there's no competition in music-library software for iPods because "Apple is best," ask yourself, if iTunes is so great, why are they afraid of competition?) . It's not in an iPod owner's interest for there to be stuff down in the guts of the device designed to control whether you can play certain files.
These are to the benefit of Apple, and some of its suppliers (though not all, see Audible, above). They are not to your benefit. You can choose to give money to a company that's not looking out for your interests. I'm voting with my wallet for companies that are.
Sansa? Zune? use iTunes with them.
http://www.salling.com/MediaSync/windows/
Personally I have a Creative ZEN but I think that the bundled software sucks for podcasts. My solution was to use Podcastready.com which is free and cross platform. As long as your MP3 player can be seen as a USB drive then it is the best software I have found so far. I put all my podcasts on the SD card in my ZEN and all my music on the internal memory. It works well for me.
The point is whether the device is designed for its owner's benefit or for the company's benefit.
The question seems to be whether you designed it or someone else did.
I can appreciate that iPod's don't do what you need, and I'd never try to talk you into one, but I can't appreciate that you're ascribing very limited potential motives to apple's actions.
They're not doing it to thwart you personally, they're doing it to protect the image of the brand as one that works, legally, easily, and reliably.
You start opening up the insides to whoever wants to play around (as opposed to all the software and updates coming through apples) and suddenly the machines start turning into bricks, which potential customers see, and which dilute a brand image.
I can imagine a device better than an iPod, sure, but I'm, not apparently angry with apple for not building it for me me me.
Answering a couple of upthread questions:
Rockbox will play ogg files on anything but the old Archos platform.
Rockbox also has full balance control and can in addition downmix stereo into either the left or right program.
If a player can't be Rockboxed, I'm not buying it.
Any sentence containing the word "brand" has a 90+ percent likelihood to be an appeal to emotion without recourse to logic, and to be irrefutable as such.
Explain to me how "legal, easy and reliable" necessitates that Apple force audiobook publishers and writers to adopt DRM (this being one example among many)?
You should tweet this question @twelpforce to try them out.
Sansa Fuze is what I have, and I love it!
Just ordered the Cowon 9 and the Sansa E250. I'll report back with my findings in a couple weeks -- including installing Rockbox on the Cowon.
Do not buy a sansa Fuze / Vuze. I just bought one to watch video on flights and discovered that the process of importing video onto the unit takes other programs and lots of time.
I recommend you get a sansa fuze and some cheap micro sd cards from ebay. Plus, Rockbox is on the works for it too.
iPods are NOT DRM free...I consider the almost mandatory use of iTunes (for NORMAL users) to be a form of DRM.
Couldn't you have asked the BB gadget guys?
The "remembering where you stopped" part is something that any player with ".m4b" playback should have. You can convert any old MP3 file to mp4/m4a with dbpoweramp(free) and rename the extension to m4b. You can convert multiple files with the software, though the renaming part is a little tricky.
Somehow I'd never managed to hear about Rockbox before today - just installed it on my old Sansa E260. Very deeply awesome. Thanks to all for mentioning it.
Scalzi recommends the Ipod Nano 3rd gen.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/11/05/my-tech-life/
(2nd to last para.)
two thoughts, aside from hoping i haven't offended:
when you live in a world where gun manufacturers get sued and are held responsible for urban gun violence (not an appeal to emotion, an example of manufacturers being held responsible for misuse), AND your device can be used to circumvent copyright law (granted, a law your company benefits from greatly), you then practice a lot of CYA by walling off the garden (yes, while making a great profit). So, it's profitable and it's legally pre-emptive way to do business. I've never felt a for profit company owes me more than what they offer and what I agree to buy into.
second thought is more about the aesthetic of the apple line. the aesthetic of a thing is that they just work. they're predictable within the limits of the apple design guidelines. You agree to live within that when you buy an Apple product.
You might design a better gadget yourself. Given your imagination and techno-savvy circle, I bet you probably can. But you sound bitter that apple has their own standards for their awesome stuff that they made. Around here people who tell you guys how to run your blog get told to go get their own blog. I mean no offense, but go build your own iPod.
Sansa e280 + Rockbox
And for lanyard earphones you're not likely to beat Sennheiser CX-300: http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/home_en.nsf/root/private_headphones_classic-line_cxseries_502746?Open&row=2
Cowon D2+. Awesome battery life, touch screen, has an SD memory card slot for easy memory expansion. Cheap too!! Supports video playback... I've had mine for a few months and love it!
What you want is the Sansa Clip
Plays ogg, Works beautifully with gpodder, standard headphone jack, usb charge and data transfer. Order a mains charger seperatly if you want one.
The other key point about not having an iPod is that Apple deliberately cripples the music player so that you can't use anything *but* iTunes to transfer music to it (they store an encoded magic number with the music file database on the iPod on the iPhone and iPod touch, and now it appears the latest iPod Nano. Apple has previously attempted to DMCA-takedown projects working on reverse engineering this.
Really, if someone is going to make you break their ToS and potentially sue people who are trying to help you use your purchased item on the OS platform that you use, you really don't want to be buying *another* one of their products. (I speak as someone who bought an iPod Touch before I realised this, and can now only effectively use it for games and other apps).
Sansa Baby!
Thanks to everyone who mentioned RockBox. Just installed it on my beat up old Sandisk e250 - works like a dream, and now I'm the envy of my dorm hall by virtue of having an mp3 player I can play Pokemon on. Anyone know if using RockBox will enable it to support larger memory cards? I have a 2gb microSD right now, but I'd love to be using an 8gb card...previously it wouldn't support those.
Any input on MP3 players that have replaceable batteries but also have a clip for safe use at the gym?
sansa clip has been great for me - ridiculously cheap, portable, fm radio, remembers where I was on all my clips and asks if I want to resume playback or not.
Since 2001, the answer to your requirements has pretty much always been "X device + Rockbox", as you can see from the number of comments previous to this. For open-source Rockbox goodness, the premium player has changed over the years: first Archos, then iRiver, then Toshiba, and now it's basically a tie between the Sansa and the Cowon flash memory DAPs. Slot in a 16 GB micro SD card and you're good to go. I've personally got a sample of each of these over the years (including the 2001-era 128MB Archos Ondio solid state player that's now boosted to 4 GB of MMC and runs on 3x AAA rechargeables, is a recording workhorse, and which I fully expect to outlive me and my grandchildren). The recent Sansas are nice because they have the crisp, tiny colour LCD and do video, but I still use the iRiver H1x00 the most, mainly because it's large enough to fit out inside with a CF-IDE card and some solid-state memory that boosts battery life to a ridiculous amount, but also because of the optical SPDIF in/out ports that make hooking it up to a real sound system sonically impressive.
Trying to spark a mine-is-better-than-yours flamewar, were you?
Seriously, Cory: Given your fondness for the Maker movement, I'm slightly surprised you didn't start with "what's a good homebrew design?"
I can't advise since your needs aren't mine. I wanted one with at least 20G of memory, preferably more, so I could put my full audio collection on it without significantly lossy compression.
I love how whenever someone on a forum asks for a recommendation and lists as a requirement that it absolutely NOT be product X, half the recommendations will be for product X. Usually with a side order of disdain and an attack on the user's desire to avoid X.
I have an old Cowon player with rockbox and love the quality and versatility, they are a good company and deserve more press. As for lanyard earbuds, make your own! They don't look hard at all, and you get to pick the buds you like best instead of hoping the ones that come with the lanyard are decent.
Thanks, I was about to ask that you review them, I'll be in the market for a replacement for my own soon.
@32 hits the nail on the head,
Don't just buy the next shiny model full of rare illegally mined minerals. Recondition a used one, make it your own.
I recommend the rockbox interface, which I have been happily using on an old 3rd Gen Ipod for a long time now.
Good luck.
I don't think Rockbox is available on the Cowon S9 is it? Did you mean you're going to put rockbox on the Sansa e250?
Hey Cory, I just stumbled across this little kid doing a review of the Sansa E250. This kid is smart!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iToRcHBqlg8
Looking forward to your reviews.
@ gruntfuttock:
Uh, your solution ticks all the boxes except for the "does't want an iPod" box. iPods are great for people who enjoy shelling out $60 every time their stupid iPod's battery dies. Add to that the fact that iTunes has a nasty history of deleting people's entire music libraries, and you can count me out. I've been very happy with many other MP3 players. What you're suggesting is that iPod is the best option, and it's pretty clear that plenty of people commenting here disagree with you.
If your most important consideration is the lanyard, I like the Samsung pebble, 1gb, it comes with a lanyard, has no screen, remembers it's position within a song, acts as a mass storage devise, has a custom connector (audio jack to usb), won't play some file formats, I can't remember which.
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Slim-MP3-Player-Black/dp/B001APUWQ6/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1257635705&sr=8-12
I just like it cos it doesn't make my ears hurt when the earphones get pulled out. Cos they don't get pulled out due to the lanyard. win.
I've found myself growing more and more disenchanted with mainstream media players (read: ipod, zune) for some of the same reasons Cory has listed.
One of my sticking points is a replaceable battery. Unfortunately I believe this feature is becoming more and more rare.
Another endorsement for a Sansa Clip - does everything you seem to need. High quality headphones make all the difference. Being so small and easy to clip to clothes you don't need the lanyard unless you're a nudist and even then the Clip is so light that it can dangle freely if you have a short cord - maybe perfectly apt in the circumstances!
Yet another vote for a Sansa. I love my Fuze - the resume function is good. Cheap micro SDHC expansion. And cheap in itself. Why splash out on the iPod's expensive over-priced non-expandable memory? And when the battery on whatever you're buying is going to crap out in a few years and the next better, newer thing is going to be out then anyway buying good and cheap now makes sense.
A Sansa (Fuze) does the job.
My MP3 player has no DRMed content on it.
I have an 80GB iPod Video on eBay for $60 that sips power, looks great and sounds excellent.
It's full of things I've ripped from CD or purchased from Amazon as high quality DRM-free MP3s.
A player is only full of DRM if you put DRM content on it. Don't like DRM? Don't buy DRMed tracks...easy peasy.
I would also have recommended the Creative Zen, the newer Zen Stone Plus having an oled display but only going up to 4gb i think. My "old" Zen Nano Plus 1gb is still going strong; FM radio, line-in and voice recording - encodes to mp3, backlit lcd... plug it in, drag and drop mp3s and away you go. Only requiring 1 AAA battery too, which lasts ages. Great little device. Yeah the software is awful but the point is you don't need it, the hardware doesn't seem to be built with DRM in mind but an optional(!) extra if you're a technosadist.
Another vote for Rockbox!
Actually, your 2nd Gen Nano broke just when the rockbox project finally managed to get it running on this player. So in your case I'd probably re-buy it! (Buy it second hand, if you do not want to support Apple due to DRM)
Personally, I own a handful of 1st gen Nanos that work with Rockbox even better (at the moment, as the 2. Gen hack is newer), but are limited by the 4GB file size.
I also own more than 10 devides capable of running Rockbox - as Rockbox is the only mp3-player firmware flexible enough to meet my needs:
- plays every main DRM-free file format. Including mp2 - the format used by BBC satellite and digital radio transmissions, which play without conversions.
- has multi bookmarking and mid-file resume functions
- has optional sound compression, which make it easy to listen to speach in noisy environments like planes (check hardware, works great on Nano)
- adjustable rewind/forward speed allow you to easily navigate within very long files.
- has pitch control, allowing you to speed up playback
- has user defined font size, great, if you want big letters
- reliable hifi-recording (on the Nano you need a litte line-in adaptor to connect the sound source)
- no management software necessary, just plug into USB
- database or file-based view. The database it created on the device itself!
- dual boot, if you like you can still boot up the original player firmware.
- many more things and with the source code available you can apply your own patches to the firmware if necessary.
I've used Rockbox for many years now and it is now so good that no consumer player can match it's features.
Regarding hardware I recommend going for the Nano, because the scrollwheel control works great with Rockbox and the Nano hardware is pretty decent.
Looks like I'm too late *not* to recommend the Sansa E200. I had one, rockboxed it, loved it. Then the flash went on the fritz and couldn't be reformatted/restored by any means - apparently the daughterboard can come loose, and wreak havoc with the internals.
They use a proprietary connector. You probably want a mini/micro USB B connector, as you'll already have cable that work with that.
The $20 "MP4 Player" Nano lookalikes can work pretty well, and use a standard USB cable for charging.
I got a "refurbished" Sansa -- dirt cheap, around 25 bucks, on Overstock. 2 gb, headphones, recharger/trickle charger for USB that is of course also how it talks to the computer for downloads,included. It's simple and easy to use, works with the car/cassette digital plug in the car, 8 bucks for that adapter. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people also like them. I'd never heard of them.
I have an iriver E100 that I find works really well
8GB internal memory
+ micro SD card (another 8 GB)
.mp3 .ogg .flac .wma audio
Xvid MP4 video
USB charging
Standard headphone jack
Audio recording (int. mic + external jack)
FM tuner (+ Records from FM)
Nice LCD screen
Plays nice with Linux (Amarok and Songbird compatible)
+ acts as a mass storage device (internal amd card memory)
AUD$ 149 when I bought it , cheaper now.
8gb zune for sure! ive enjoyed mine a lot and the price is good
There are recommendations and reviews for the best cheap MP3 players over here: http://www.cheapism.com/cheap-mp3-players
The Sony 4GB Walkman seems like a good inexpensive option for you.
I didn't see if it had been mentioned, but many of the Sansa have built-in voice recorders, which has been handy on occasion.
The e250 was my first decent mp3 player, before it get left in a pocket on the floor and stepped on. Hopefully you like it, I really did.
They are actually pretty rugged. It took someone putting the ball of their foot right on the screen to break the thing, I'd dropped it tons of times before.
Thankfully the person who stepped on it bought me a 16gb Sansa View as a replacement ;)
+100gajillion for a sansa e260 w/rockbox. been using mine for 4+ year, cracked screen, scratched to crap beat to hell and still kicking ASS!
Sansa clip FTW
Seemed like you were describing it when listing the specs.
With the Sansa Clip you can easily *make regular buds into a lanyard*, long as you don't mind listening with only one bud - and podcasts don't require stereo. You wrap one bud around the little clip and presto, a lanyard! and listening with only the other bud is less antisocial, and safer too. Note, the Clip has a special podcast folder, remembers where you left off, simple, cheap...
I too would say sansa clip+. Not sure about the lanyard but its a great simple player.
TrekStor makes some amazingly sturdy MP3 players. My old .rock went tru a full wash and dry cycle and came out fully working (i still use it for running). If you want something cheap and different I'd go for them before diving into the plain chinese-branded MP3 player hell. They're not very different of the later... in fact, hardware-wise they are mostly the same, but the firmware tends to be improved and quality is up a notch.
That said, the Creative Zen series (in my case the Zen V Plus) are great little podcast players from my experience. It's worth noting that most Creative devices after the Stone range use MTP (a non-obscured, open USB protocol that Microsoft uses for their Windows Media line, but is also implemented across all systems) instead of regular USB Disk mode, what makes them slightly better functionality-wise, including rating and tagging. And yes, support for DRM files, albeit there are no locks for non-DRM files like the ones in non-rockboxed iPods.
Yet another recommendation for the Sansa Clip. Really tiny, nice bright little screen, handy clip, plays OGG files. And so cheap!
My Linux box sees it as a plain old drive. No need for that shabby Rhapsody stuff and the DRM it want to install.
My older Sansa model had the advantage of using AA batteries, but the Clip's USB-charged battery does last a really long time. When it needs a charge I hook it up to my mostly-on DVR. In fact, I'll do that right now so it's ready for my walk tomorrow.
Well, with the hard drive models, its a matter of unhiding a folder, copying everything off, and retagging them actually. Not really rocket science
Cowon D2
Plays mp3, ogg, flac, wav, wma, avi, jpeg, etc., great battery life, touch screen LCD, no DRM, handles SD cards for extra storage. Works great under linux (usb-storage). FM radio too. I looked long and hard for an mp3 player for myself, and the Cowon D2 meets or exceeds my expectations.
iPod is the best bet, but I don't think you're going to find an MP3 player that supports those old headphones (they're proprietary Apple, after all). JVC makes some nice, cheap headphones perfect for podcasts.
As for the DRM, just don't buy or support DRM music, but MOST if not ALL mp3 players are going to support some type of DRM system (Windows Play for Sure or who knows what else). But buy shopping for a completely DRM free mp3 player, you're going to end up with a cheap, ugly, difficult to use and overall unfriendly system.
Sorta like linux.
More on the Sansa Clip+: I've put mine through the washing machine twice (once it was submerged for about 10 minutes, the other time for a full cycle) and it keeps on ticking (after drying out and being power-cycled).
The missing piece of the puzzle is for rockbox to provide support for keeping track which podcasts have been listened to and current location within. Rockbox developers, you listening? Don't let Cory down!
Cory has been riding a rather tiresome anti-Apple hobbyhorse for several years, now. Really, he should build his own mp3 player and software ecosystem, which I'm sure we would all rush to buy. I can hear my pathetic 80 gig Classic trembling right now.
My Sansa Clip's battery died when I left it plugged into the USB port overnight.
One thing I will say about the e250, though--even with RockBox, the sound quality is terrible. I don't know what kind of terrible components they used for the audio out, but it's like listening to music through gauze. Really a very noticeable flaw in the thing.
@131 Yes, Rockbox on Sansa does support the use of micro SDHC cards; that is cards up to 32GB, not limited to the 2GB micro SD cards that the Sansa firmware supports. I currently have a 16GB card in my 4GB Sansa e260 and can't wait for the 32GB cards to become available so I can put all my music on my little audio player, in Ogg/Vorbis format of course.
I've been using Rockbox on Sansa players for a few years and I love it. I've purchased, or caused to be purchased, about a dozen Sansa e200 and c200 players, all with Rockbox.
- Larry
Clip+ by sansa
Creative Zune Xfi. Superior sound quality!
Cory, I have the perfect suggestion for you. Seriously. Try out the 4GB S Series Sony Walkman that is on sale from the Sony store for $100 right now.
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665524093
Not only does it have all the features you want (except the last, BUT see below), it also has built in noise cancelling and fantastic earbuds included for this. Also, there's no proprietary software required, it's all drag and drop straight from Windows.
So, of course it's not compatible with the Apple lanyard. BUT, the earphones with which it's bundled have a fantastic design in which the right ear cord is much longer than the left ear cord, so that it can be draped around the back of your neck, achieving the same effect (stability around the neck, making it easy to remove both earbuds), and with less cord involved. Plus, the earbuds have built in noise canceling through the player.
I bought one a few months ago and love it immensely, otherwise I wouldn't be devoting such a long post to the recommendation. And they're on sale! Wonderful.
These comments are one reason I keep putting off and putting off replacing the slowly failing Sony car stereo. All I want is one that will play mp3 AND OGG. Faced with the hell of trying to find what I want, I reluctantly return to the devil I know. Ejecting the CD and reinserting it every time I start the car is a small price to pay to avoid the horrorshow that is contemporary consumer electronics.
These are to the benefit of Apple, and some of its suppliers (though not all, see Audible, above). They are not to your benefit.
-- Sez Cory
You're borderline delusional, my old friend. YOU SERIOUSLY THINK THAT ANY MEDIA PLAYER COMPANIES HAVE YOUR BEST INTERESTS IN MIND? Get the Sansa, Sandisk gives them away for free and plants a tree every time someone simply says the word 'Sansa!'. NO! THAT'S RIDICULOUS. THESE ARE COMPANIES THAT AIM TO GET YOUR MONEY, AS MUCH AS YOU'RE WILLING TO PAY THEM.
Sansa clip plus (clip+) ( has micro sd expansion) or just the Sansa Clip. Plays ogg and audible!
I'd get out of any ipod hardware anytime. What I love about all those other mp3 players is a) they sound a lot better b) they just pop up a folder where you throw in your mp3s like any USB stick. No iTunes, no DRM, pure functionality
bizarre, there is no DRM on an iPod, only on movie or music video files. Everything else is totally DRM free! and of course the iPod will play all DRM free files!
I'm gonna have to speak against the Sansa Clip. or, at least, only buy it if you can test it in advance. My Sansa Clip had problems with plug and play - some computers would recognize it as a USB drive, others wouldn't. My windows OS did recognize it but my Ubuntu OS on the same computer didn't - while a friend's Sansa Clip worked just fine. I tried to upgrade the firmware on my device, after which something changed and it could only be updated through Windows Media Player, and the files were invisible if you just used explorer to navigate the folder hierarchy.
So, if you can return the device, by all means try it, but be prepared for possible surprises.
I'm with those who're pushing the Sansa e2x0 series. I have a pair of e250 v1 units, equipped with MicroSD cards, and both Rockboxed. Solid units.
I would recommend checking out Zen products from Creative. I had one for a while which was a bit more than you're looking for but I was really impressed with it. I never once had the problems I have had with iPods (songs skipped when uploading, needing to be reset, etc.) and it was able to handle far more file types without needing to convert. It was also pretty rugged and wasn't made out of the standard aluminum. It was customizable in many ways as well if that is something you are interested in. They have smaller ones (Zen Mosaic) which sound along your lines but I've never tried them. Unfortunately, my harddrive randomly quit one day and I ended up with an iPod replacement.
Samsung seems to be the clear favorite here, though...
The Creative Zen was a great player, with video. But I've used an iPhone now for 2 years and don't have one byte of DRM...I've never bought a single song from iTunes (though I have some from Amazon), and do download lots of great podcasts.
If you use a Mac, I have not found an alternative to iTunes to sort/organise the files properly.
Michael, you most likely have the 'USB Mode' on your Clip set to "Auto Detect".
Switch it to MSC. It will always present itself to a PC or Mac as Mass Storage Device. Bonus: you can use it as a thumb drive!
Upgrades to the firmware are usually performed via the Sansa utility software available below, not via MPlayer:
http://www.sandisk.com/sandisk-support/driver-download-wizard
Once installed, it'll phone home when you plug your Clip in, and check for software updates.
Why bother with a separate MP3 player?
I use my G1 with noise-cancelling audio-technica earbuds which more than make up for the deficiencies of the G1's audio hardware and audio processing capabiliteis.
Cowon iAudio T2 or the possible replacement E2; both pendant mp3 players - the former has a screen the latter doesn't. Very stylish and the T2 is easy enough to use.
There was no mp3 support in car stereos until some sort of critical mass of mp3 files was out there on millions of systems.
Until there is some sort of similar breakthrough for ogg (ogg files sold on Amazon, iTunes, etc) I don't see that happening.
My portables and my PC's play ogg files but my stereo and my car player do not, so I regretfully abandon my OSS preference and encode my disks as mp3/320.
"The missing piece of the puzzle is for rockbox to provide support for keeping track which podcasts have been listened to and current location within."
Not sure I understand what is missing here. If I download five podcasts to my player and put them in separate folders, Rockbox will create separate, easily accessible bookmarks for each of the five, even if I listen to some of each before finishing any single podcast.
And if I put all five in one folder, as long as I finish each podcast before going to the next, it will still keep track of where I am.
So I'm not exactly sure of what you want the Rockbox team to do.
n-th in support the Sansa Clip+.
Paul, believe me, changing that setting was the first thing I tried, but it REALLY was some problem with my unit's hardware. My Sansa Clip worked well on my Windows at home but not on my station at work and had trouble with my Linux system. On Ubuntu, once you plugged it in, you'd see it popping up for a second (on Rhythmbos) and then it disappeared again - Ubuntu was unable to mount the file system properly.
My own player was lifted from me a year ago and I switched to just using my cell phone as an MP3 player (works great). My friend also lost her Sansa Clip and replaced it with another one (albeit with a larger memory), which I tried on my system - that one worked perfectly well on both Windows and Linux.
Mr. Doctorow,
Do what Anonymous #43 and many others (including myself) are arguing for you: use your cell phone that you already own or get one that can do the job. Getting a player just for music is such a 1999-2009 concept! Multi-purpose is the way to go; especially as your favorite shows evolve onto the web. Save some space at the landfill and from the kids that have to disassembly your old electronic junk (which you, yourself have covered here @ BB before).
If you get an especially cool phone, you can learn to program it, this would bring extra fun and joy to you and your family! Also, nearly ANY phone is going to be able to connect to a regular headphone jack w/an adapter. Finally, the big benefit from a phone is it's ability to stay current; I often download the latest podcasts while on the go.
HTH!
Which part of "I don't want to buy another iPod" is unclear?
Can you connect a newer IPod to Linux?
Nope.
Why?
Because Apple are assholes when it comes to you using your devices any way you want, changing firmware in purpose to cripple software that is bypassing whatever they deem you should be using.
That may not be DRM itself, but please don't tell me it does not matter.
I can understand your objection to DRM, even if the player works without it too. I feel the same way. I'm also quite annoyed that most players do play WMA (even with DRM), but virtually none do OGG, which is technically better than MP3 (either better quality at the same bitrate, or the same quality at lower bitrate), and totally unencumbered by any form of licensing.
I totally refuse to use iTunes too, which behaves too much like a rootkit to me... If a vendor wants to plant a specific application on my computer just to purchase (and manage) music, and this he doesn't want me to *really* know what the computer is doing... I don't like it. And I'll get my music elsewhere: either CDs (I'm a hoarder of physical copies of stuff that I like), or unencumbered mp3 shops.
THE SAMSUNG YP-Q1 hands down!!!! big screen, put text into it to learn a language, or read a story, record instantly from FM radio, play movies and your own audio files, record voice and conversations, pictures of course and even subway maps of the world built in. This is the best and I have bought and returned almost all of them including iTouch 2nd gen. 8gb about $120.
SANDISC SANSA has an extremely long battery life and does almost everything the SAMSUNG does but is smaller screen.
2gb about $60.
Yeah, use your phone to listen to music, empty the battery, and miss all those important calls.
Great concept....
I need to give a shout out for Cowon iaudio mp3 players. I've had an iaudio 7 for 2 years and here's why it's awesome:
* flash-based storage (no hard drive failures like with my previous ipod)
* easy to use/no programs to install
* no restrictions on # of computers--works like a flash drive
* good sound quality
* I can't count the number of times, I've dropped it on pavement or left it for hours in a hot car (I live in Texas) and it still works great!
The only problem is that the UI is really terrible. But you can change the settings somewhat. I've set mine to pause/play, go forward, and go back using three conveniently placed buttons and that's good enough for me.
I don't get the number of people suggesting the iPod. Have they even tried a different type of mp3 player?
Cowon iAudio 9.
Sorry, but the newest iPod nano is outstanding. After playing with a number of MP3 players at BestBuy, nano stands out. I believe you will become a closet 3rd gen nano user after you try and use, with some frustration, the Sansa and the Cowan.
iAudio makes the best ones. Most even play oggs and give you the feeling you own the device and not the other way around. With the cowon you can replace the firmware so you can play doom on it. Everything is as simple as possibel yet high quality.
seriously consider a real headphone and a good portable CD player. The earbud and MP3 player combo sacrifices so much sound quality that you will soon forget what real music sounds like!
Yeah, I'd go along the sansa line that a few others have suggested. An 8gb Fuze runs about $120, but you can find them on sale most of the time. I started using one of those after my own 2nd-gen ipod died. It's about the size of a 3rd gen nano, it has a pretty nice user interface. It also has a MicroSD slot for the inevitable need for more space.
The only issue for you, though, is that I think it uses proprietary cables. I may be wrong, and the cable may be the same as what Apple uses, but I don't know the various cables well-enough to say for sure without comparing them directly.
Wikipedia has an article comparing various PMPs, though. That might be worth a look.
If you want to go really free, as in open source free, you could look at the rockbox list of supported players. (yes, ipod is on there)
Cory -- I recommend you write a short post explaining again to all your readers what DRM is. Many of the commenters here seem to think DRM ends where media itself ends. Hence, all the comments like, "I don't have any DRMed media on my iPod so I don't have to worry about DRM."
Although you explained in your comments how Apple deliberately cripples the iPod so it can't be easily used as a basic USB device, with simple drag and drop on and off, some of your readers still don't get that THAT is DRM, too.
Many here also don't seem to understand why this issue matters, why DRM is not an arcane technical issue but a major threat to free speech and the free exchange of information. It seems your work here is not yet done...
I love my SanDisk Sansa Clip. Lightweight, long battery life thanks to the simple OLED screen, no DRM whatsoever. I do own a larger player to watch video on long trips, but for walking around campus, my Sansa is perfect.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16855125068&cm_re=sansa_clip-_-55-125-068-_-Product
- Mr. Bluesky
Well, any cheap Chinese rip-off ipod could give you most of those features, definitely with no DRM. I've got a 4GB which cost about $120 New Zealand. Works fine.
To be honest, stay away from the Apple products when it comes to any form of portable music. They generally have lesser battery life and sound quality than competitors.
If you're just looking for a chunk of space that will play back sound files and connect to a head phone look at small offerings by iRiver, Sansa or Creative.
Personally, I've used a MuVo Stone for 2 years with no problems and can get well over 18hrs of straight play time beyond charges. This wouldn't work for you as it is the very simple player with no LCD or podcast ability but the same companies make good offerings with what you're looking for.
Try this one ...
http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=18965&nav=1
It uses USB for connectivity.
COBY 4 gig unit. $30 at any discount or grocery store in the US. Fits all your described needs except for the lanyard. At the price, make your own lanyard, or put it in a shirt pocket. Or, drop it and see if it breaks. It usually doesn't. It's cheap, but good. I've used one for a year. No bad tech issues.
another vote for the sansa clip.
works great with ubuntu too.
I actually highly recommend the Sony Walkman 8GB Walkman Video MP3 Player(model #NWZA818BLK, ASIN # B000VAKI60). I have used this player for a year and a half now and have had no problems. It has great sound quality, long battery life, and easy menu navigation. Now, one of the best qualities of this player for me, is the file transfer capabilities.
This player allows you the option of simply dragging files from your computer onto the Walkman - with no software middleman. Being able to simply drag and drop is amazing, and makes loading music way easier when you are in a hurry. While there are benefits to various music/player platforms (ie. itunes) - and while I also own a Ipod, I feel the simplicity and quality of this MP3 player wins out. Either way goodluck in your hunt!
I'm very pleased with the Sony Walkman I purchased recently. Easy interface, plenty of storage.
Depending on your exact needs, what about an Android phone on some sort of neck holder? If you run the right one (HTC Dream or Magic based), you can run a mostly open source OS even.
I use a G1, and that means one fewer things to carry, and I don't miss calls because I have my headphones on.
I personally do not get the dislike of the iPod. It is easy enough to put DRM free content on the iPod, including from the iTunes Store. As far as Apple locking the iPod to iTunes, why wouldn't it? Why would it want to support other software? Further, Apple can't willingly allow you to move music from computer to computer using it's software. That arguablly would get it into copyright trouble. It isn't that hard to do though. Just because Apple isn't helping you, doesn't mean it is hard to do.
I personally couldn't live without my iPod Touch with Motorola's fourty dollar blue tooth headphones. I can be listening to music or a pod cast on my iPod Touch, and my blue tooth equipped phone will interface with the headphones. Way cool. Further, with the iPod Touch I can generally get by without my laptop.
If I were going to use something non Apple though, I could go with Creative.
my two cents worth....
iRiver T6
- connects using MTP _or_ UMS
- lists files by file/directory _or_ using ID3 tags
- great for podcasts, stops and starts in the same place
- has a voice/radio recording function
- standard mini-USB port for recharging/data transfer
its cheap, $79 AUD
- downside, only 4GB
- not pretty
I'm awaiting delivery of my first-ever COWON - the less-than-the-latest IAudio7. I'm tired of converting all my FLACs into something an Apple portable can handle. But I don't kid myself that I'll use my Cowon for podcasts - I understand going in that the Cowon UI is a hot mess.
But staying on topic, I couldn't bring myself to buy another piece of Apple hardware myself, even though I mightily enjoy all four I do use. I use 3rd-party SW to manage my four Ipods (a photo, a 2nd gen nano, and 2 minis), but my choice among the latest offerings of Nanos and Touches would force me off the SW tool I like to use to manage my portables (specifically, Winamp. So sue me.) and onto yet another godforsaken itunes upgrade.
Bleah, enough. You don't have to be a DRM warrior-purist to just be tired.
I second the motion to procure older apple-brand stuff that's been refurb'ed or offered on ebay. The latest gen nanos, as well as all models of Iphones and Touches, have introduced a new database obfuscation which prevents use of 3rd-party software for something as simple as getting music on and off your portable player.
Like I said - ENOUGH, already.
When I was a kid, I was only allowed to read books by Christian authors, even if they weren't about Jesus or whatever. They weren't usually as good as the books most people were reading, but it was important that we remained true to cherished ideology.
Sansa Clip. Best sound, price,features. Sansa Clip+ for expandability.
uh, that's not drag and drop. That's using itunes, which is the think a lot of us don't want to do, or can't do, I use my archos with whatever ancient computer my classrooms have at school. I love a lot of things about ipods, but their refusal to work as a drive still is a deal breaker for me.
Sony PSP
great mp3 player + does other stuff.
or, for absolute best MP3 player
Creative ZEN X-Fi
Yup, at the risk of sounding like a pre-digital broken record try any Sansa with Rockbox).
Happily listening to Little Brother (from the library through Overdrive) on an e200 series with speed/pitch change (for quickness and so the voice sounds the right age) while reading the .txt file (from manybooks.net) at the same time just to be peverse.
I flick back to the Sansa firmware whenever I need to listen to DRM'ed audiobooks (grrrr) but funnily enough the DRM to expire the files... doesn't :D The e200 Sansas have a proprietary cable but I always have a Tiny microSD converter on my key ring so I just eject the microSD card and use that when away from home.
That all means I can have several bookmarked audiobooks and ebooks (close any txt file in Rockbox and it auto saves your place) going at the same time over two firmwares. Customise the screen to black and orange text and it reads better than a similarly sized cellphone.
Otherwise I'd say a Zen stone may have the form factor advantage - if it only it was a bit closer to your stated 8GB - it's just 2GB (and I'm not too sure of the bookmarking functionality). But you could easily jury-rig a lanyard as they are so small & light. Mini USB connection for charging/transferring and drag and drop.
Keep it simple - that's how I'd go until something better comes along...
Would anybody be able to definitively state whether or not the Sansa View can play audio files encoded in flac format? The Internet isn't too clear on this point...
I recommend the Sony Walkman, I love mine to bits. It was specifically designed against DRM. Drag and drop is real, the sound quality is great. My only problem with it is the inability to delete tracks directly on the device, which I really hope Sony will resolve on the newest versions.
A couple of people have mentioned Cowon products and they're definitely the way to go. I have an iAudio 7 (16GB but it comes in 8 as well) and it's by far the best mp3 player I've ever used/seen. It's flash-based, li-ion, mini-USB (B), has a small LCD, has auto-resume and as has been mentioned it plays AAC, WMA, MP3, OGG and FLAC. There are also a number of 3.5mm jack lanyard-style headphones available.
3rding using your existing G1. You are still using the G1, right? Google's Listen app is free (I haven't tried it) but use Doggcatcher, which works great for me.
I agree with all Sansa recommendations. I would buy an iPod in a flat second if they dropped the iTunes requirement, and if I could simply plug it into my computer and drag/drop files to it (as well as be able to freely use it on multiple computers since between work/home desktop/home laptop I can use three different machines in one day).
I used the e200 Sansa for a while, now use the clip. Have loved all of them. Only replaced the ones I did because of my own accidental destruction of them (water). They are inexpensive compared to iPods too.
I highly recommend the Sansa Clip. Easy to use, great features, and amazing sound, in a small, durable package.
I'd go with an 8gb Sansa Clip. It's tiny, good sound quality, low-cost, and does everything you need.
Sansa Clip. Dirt Cheap, reliable, readable, great for podcasts and audiobooks and even has a feature where you can rewind a little or a lot (if someone starts talking to you before you can hit the pause button.) Has an FM radio too!
Another vote for Sansa e200 series (refurb rev 1 ONLY): you can get them cheap from Woot! periodically, and run Rockbox on them. They use microSD cards, which is where I put my podcasts. You can get two (they really are cheap), and swap the card you are listening to into another one when it's time to recharge the battery. This is what I've been doing for years.
I have generally preferred the sansa e200 series, mainly for the ability to add up to 8G additional (with rockbox, via microSD), but after my third one dying a premature death, I am giving up. The player is just badly made. this sansa is also useless for anything but podcasts; there's a distracting amount of background static noise that makes listening to music painful
Given how really trivial this blog post is, there have been a ton of comments.
I'm curious as to how many more comments will appear, especially considering that Cory's already announced that he's made a decision...
(Yes, I'm not helping, am I...)
Cory, I second Apoxia's recommendation; hie thee down to the local flea market or farmers market and buy a dirt cheap chinese MP3 player. Put nice lanyarded Sennheiser aural interfaces on them (ear buds if you like; I prefer earphones). Even I can tell the difference between Sennheisers and other earphones, despite scars on my eardrums, but MP3 players all sound the same.
My old 512 Mb chinese player has outlasted my nephew's 3 iPods. My daughter is currently using it. It runs on a single AAA battery, replaceably literally anywhere (I use rechargeable niMh in it). The pure drag-n-drop, completely OS-independent interface is fantastically more useable than any commercial crap, absolutely elegant.
I have always hated the iTunes interface, as well as being completely unwilling to buy "soft" music. I buy CDs (directly from artists, for the most part) and rip them myself. Ripped music is files, I have a file manager, so I easily manage my music library as files.
I love mine also , listing to podcast is fast and easy to do . bob wheaton il
Didn't read everything, but I second urbster1's choice. I have a Sansa e260 running Rockbox, and it is perfect. Even plays FLAC. Connects as a USB drive, can navigate the file system or a database (which you index locally, so you don't have to "sync.") Also comes with a MicroSD slot, so the initial 6 gigs is augmented to 22 with a 16 gig card.
Regarding the lanyard headphones, I made my own. I took the necklace off of a conference ID badge (basically just a shoestring), wrapped it around my choice of ear buds (in my case, a pair of sound-isolating Sonys), sewed it up, then attached the quick-release to the Sansa. Now I can wear it around my neck and snap it off to plug in if I want to download new tunes. I'll send pics if you are interested - let me know.
get a portable cassette player with a 120min tape. that should do the trick.
I've sworn off devices with non-replaceable batteries. I can't stand the waste involved with trashing a device when the batteries inevitably stop holding a charge, what with the availability of high performing rechargeable AA, AAA, etc.
So I just bought a crapware Centon MP3 player--2 GB, built in USB connector, voice recorder, FM tuner for $18 from Amazon. Done.
your second-gen iPod Nano is "finally" dead?
poor baby
by a cowen and it will never die...
it will also be a lot better to begin with!
I've owned a few: Toshiba built a piece of crap (lasted mere 2 weeks!). I've been VERY satisfied with Creative's Mp3 players*, but had to get a new one when the Zen player I stowed on checked luggage never made it back with me. TSA-thiefs!
*Best I've owned, a little 2gig 'Pebble Stone,' I take with me everywhere. It has a speaker, with impressive enough power for it's size. This allows for music to be shared! Plus, much smaller storage capacity than 30gigers I've had, it encourages a frequent data changes. Easy software, too.
I have a Sansa Clip and have been very happy with it. EAsy to use, hardly weighs a lick and I can fit the whole package, earbuds included, into an Altoids tin I did some altered art on.
Actually, this looks like exactly what you're looking for: http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/2009/11/crystalstudded-hello-kitty-mp3-player.html
The point you seem to be missing is that DRM literally never works to the benefit of any end user. Ever. DRM also works against the interests of competition and technological development. There are numerous reasons to dislike DRM, and most of them are also good reasons to avoid using DRM laden products.
Your argument that opening up their product to third parties would lead to "suddenly the machines start turning into bricks, which potential customers see, and which dilute a brand image" is just silly. This whole devices turning into bricks because companies "start opening up the insides to whoever wants to play around" idea just isn't born out by the evidence. There is no way that ditching the DRM in iPods would have any negative effect on the functionality of the iPod.
hah. right. because g1's and such aren't specifically designed for just that purpose.
I love my aged but mint condition Cowon iAudio 5 and I can only add in on what have been said earlier: fantastic sound, Ogg support, USB drive interface. Runs on AAA. I've listened to many audio books in it. If I needed a new one I'd probably look into their current products first.
I'd like to add another vote for the Cowon iAudio 5. In the last few years, I've had devices from Apple, iRiver, Sansa, Creative and iAudio and I have no hesitation about recommending the latter.
- It's so small and light that I usually forget which pocket it's in.
- It has nearly double the battery life of any other equivalent player I'm aware of.
- It has the multiple bookmarking and playlist features you're looking for.
- It comes with software you can install on your computer but doesn't require it. You can choose (on the go) whether it utilises those programs or plugs in as a generic USB device (which it does flawlessly).
- It is extremely customisable; nearly every feature you take for granted on other players can be modified, disabled or reassigned to other keys here (which is an option I didn't realise I loved until I had it!)
- Firmware upgrades after I purchased it have improved data transfer speed and supported a wider rabge of file types, among other things.
- The only downside is that it's quite expensive for such a small storage device.
But when I purchased one, I was looking for the very best player that didn't hamper me with DRM, minimum specs, OS compatibility or anything not directly related to playing music and storing a small number of files. I had to order mine from the US but I've been extremely happy with it.