What could be better than an iPod?

I'm looking for a compact portable mp3 player with plenty of storage and decent organizing.  Something to use with a whole MP3 library.  Something with good battery life that isn't too bulky.  Any suggestions?

Why not just get an iPod? It's currently the standard to judge by, and for good reason.

I don't know much about them, but I hear good things about the iRiver series, enough to combat the iPod.

What's better than an iPod?  An iPod Photo!

I own an iPod but right now I'd probably want an iRiver if I was going to get an mp3 player.

im probably going to get an iRiver, because ive heard that it works well as a portable HDD on both macs and PC's (i need one that works with both), whereas iPods are a little less user friendly when it comes to PC's.

plus i like the nice big remote supplied with all iRiver products, and you have control over ALL player options (screen contrast, backlight timer, backlight brightness, startup screen) and firmware updates are a plus (think support for new formats)

not quite as sexy as an iPod, but im sold.

japanese only

Ipods fail at battery life and music formats

I have a rio karma 20gb which is the same price as an ipod 20gb.  It hsa like 3x the battery life, is smaller, has support for mp3, ogg, and a buncha other random wierd formats, and its docking thing even has an ethernet thing so you can hook it up to your computer network to transfer files and stuff.  Works great so far, no problems

>>6

Firm note.
It's the Wintel that's the problem not the iPod.
>>8
"iPods fail at battery life".  Yeah, that's happened.  Apple doesn't make batteries they buy them, so that will change.

"and music formats".  Formats you say?  VHS is inferior to Beta but who won that one?

But if what you've got works for you. Cool.

CD/MP3 player with remote:  $60

Formats supported:  CDA, MP3.  Some players support OGG, mine doesn't.  But it supports CDA so if I want to bring along anything non-MP3 (FLAC / APE / MPC / OGG) I just burn an audiocd and go.  At 700mb a pop, even a small CD wallet gives you an iPod's worth of storage.

If you don't mind carrying around a CD player and a couple of CDs I'd recommend it.

Other suggestion--MP3 players with SD/CF/MMC card support.  Same concept as the CD player except without the extra bulk.  Added bonus--no moving parts.  Flash cards are tiny and quite expandable, so you don't have to worry about running out of space.

>>9
well as in the rio karma supports more types of formats, if you have a music collection with multiple file formats besides just mp3 files so you don't hafta convert them

>>10
mp3 cd players are great but they tend to skip unless you get a really good one and they are bulky

I want the one which can make gapless playback. (Rio Karma does IIRC)

I bring my laptop everywhere and run up Winamp playlists.

I have an inverter/transformar-thing that takes DC and turns it into AC. I just use headphoones and I can store as much music in any format as I'll ever need to have.

Anyone responding with the answer iPod just stfu: you're not answering the question.

Creative Series:
Zen Micro(5gb): $225*
Nomad Media Jukebox(20gb/40gb): $225 - online(due to sellouts in stores)

'nuff said

I'm found of the Archos brand. Mine is an old Archos Jukebox Studio 10, which originaly holds 10GB, but I just installed a new 60GB drive in it. Now I can actually fit all my MP3s on it, with a good 15gigs to spare.

I have an iRiver H120. It's a nice 20 gig player with a full LCD remote. Meaning the entire interface is accessible via the remote, not just the current playlist like the ipod and most other players. Has audio and digital in/out, a built-in microphone (great to use for class, etc), and probably the best feature: file tree browsing. You can forgo the whole music database thing and simply copy over your music directory structure, then browse that way. It's GREAT if you have way too many file with bad/missing ID3 tags and you don't want to go through fixing them all. (I pulled out many a hair getting downloaded songs with perfect ID3 info for my old iPod.) The line's been upgraded to the new color screen H320 and H340. So you could either go for one of those (Still just as nice) or find H120/140 on clearance.

iRiver wins all.

Archos is TERRIBLE. I had one and it fell apart after 6 months.

Get yourself an iRiver. It's the haps, paps.

The older Archos designs were nice (I had a JBR 20), very sturdy and stable (with a good battery life), unfortunately mine got stolen... I picked up an Archos JB Multimedia 20 and was like "OMGZ video" (this was waaay before iPod Photo, which I don't believe supports actual video, just images, hence the name), it worked just as well, but due to poor design, the headphone jack would get destroyed if you carried in in your pocket... the newer Archos designs seem to have fixed that (they completely changes all thier designs) but now they're freaking huge (the Audio only ones are twice as thick as an iPod and 1.5x the height and width, the video one isn't meant for everyday use, its more of a storage device for DVD rips so you don't get bored on a plane)

Thanks to CompUSA's service plan (2 years, swap out for something equivalent in stock if it breaks), I got an iPod, its like a smaller Archos JBR 20 with a slightly better browse interface, and yeah, it wasn't a nice new click-wheel one so the battery died, but Apple is insanely fast about swapping yours out if its under warrantly (Archos took ~3 times as long)

Also, the iPod remote is really nice if you can find ashort-cord set of headphones (I had some nice ones that had a 12 inch cord with a 2.5 foot extension... but of course they died), having a full 4+ foot cord coming off of a remote thats clipped a foot from your ear is annoying.  Oh yeah... iTrip = pwn

My advice, it doesn't matter what you get as long as you like it, it will die sooner than later, so pick up an extended (preferably replacement) warranty, it'll save you a lot down the line

I'm using one of the Archos video players right now. AV420 to be exact.  It's actually an ounce or two lighter than my old JBR20, and as a plus, if you do a lot of recording using the onboard mic, you'll quickly learn that they fixed the "records the HD noise" issues.  In addition, it doesn't accidentally turn on nearly as often as my JBR20 did.

The UI has also been greatly improved from the old JBM and Studio models.

Haven't dropped it yet, but it has recieved more than it's fair share of hip banging, and after 2 months of daily usage, I can say I'm confindent in it's build quality so far.  Ask me again in a year, and we'll see!

I do miss being able to use AA batts, and I ended up changing hip cases, but all in all, the AV420 has been a huge improvement.

(As a side note, I should point out that I initially picked up the AV420 as a digital photography aide.  It's large LCD mkes for better previews than the little one on my DSLR, and it's integrated CF slot keeps me in the field longer, without having to lug around my notebook.)

i use a Rio Volt mp3/wma/cd(/+FM) cd player. it has an inline remote and expandable to a inline remote w/ lcd screen.
as >>10 said, but mine was $120, of course worth less after 3 years.

>What could be better than an iPod?

ur mothar

I think his grandma is better personally.

>>23 is pretty much right.
iPod = Overpriced, and average quality.

BUT MACS MAKE YOU COOL. ITS TRUE.

I've used an iPod and an iRiver. The analogue iPod interface was better than the 'river for scrolling through huge lists of albums, but the sound quality on the iRiver blew the iPod out of the water. Having listened to both, I would never consider buying an iPod. The iRiver is better quality at a cheaper price, and it has a ton of other features, too.

I've used an iPod and an iRiver. The analogue iPod interface was better than the 'river for scrolling through huge lists of albums, but the sound quality on the iRiver blew the iPod out of the water. Having listened to both, I would never consider buying an iPod. The iRiver is better quality at a cheaper price, and it has a ton of other features, too.

ive bought 3 iRiver products.. all are awesome

HIMD is teh futar!

>>25

theyr playing bas-ket-ball..... bas-ket-ball

>>8
Not big on the Rio products though they may have gone a long way. Used to have a RIO 128 flash player. It was great until for some quacked out reason the battery stopped charging. I wanted to get maybe a 256 but found out the battery and the memory unit are the same unit. And once it got phased out... there went my 170 dollars.

Well the only other factor I'd think is that when you start to go past 200 dollars, you not only want good portability but sound fidelity. I hear the iPod has the best sound fidelity of all mp3 players.

Also, does the iRiver have an attachment where you can channel your mp3 player to a radio?

ipods are for faggots and poseurs just like all apple products, just look at the dumbfuck ads they use to sell them. walk around with white earbuds in in my neighborhood and prepare to get ass raped by puerto rican applefan faggots fresh outta jail.

iriver's urban hip*style marketing pisses me off too, fucking koreans and their shiny advertising company full of trendy gay homos.

I don't want to buy electronics from any company that uses this style of faggot marketing. bland ads that list all tech spechs and I may be interested.

>just look at the dumbfuck ads they use to sell them. walk around with white earbuds in in my neighborhood and prepare to get ass raped by puerto rican

lol and the peurto ricans know applefags are all pussies so itll be real easy to just take things from them

lol 2 apple

>>32
"I hear the iPod has the best sound fidelity of all mp3 players."

Run through good speakers/headphones I'd agree.  The shipped earbuds, like all earbuds IMHO are junk

>>33
hahahhahah

Creative Zen Xtra for the same price range you can get 5X more for your money. 4Gig iPod Mini is for sale at $199 while for the same price you can get a used 60 Gig Zen Xtra..

>>37
How does the battery life compare? UI? Most importantly, size?

>>37
60gigs? i'd put dvds on that shit

harddrive vs solidstate is the real question

ebay is a best way to get it for less, but here is the equiv. in price for a new one.
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4078572?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG