What *Non iPod* Portable Player Do You Own? Better than the iPod? Which do you Recommend?

The best Mp3 player i've had is by far the I-River 40G H140, it is:

Easy to use
Just copy and paste
Plays Mp3, Wma, Ogg and Wav
Has a build in mic (record from line in also, good for recording off radio)
Can be used as an external harddrive
Firmware Upgradable
Can read text
...and loads of other features!

IMO the I-Pod sux BIG TIME...i've never had one but my sister has and it is pretty awkward to use compared to the I-River and the m4a file format is just a scam to get ppl to buy off itunes. Its pretty expensive too and most of the accessories are just a waste of time and money...they arent needed.

With the I-River you dont need to go through any programs, just copy and paste as if its another drive on your comp.

Anyway...Alios!

 

Iriver H10. Best portable music player that I've had. At the time I thought 5 gig was more than I would need but now I'm thinking about getting the 20 gig version (for my ever expanding music collection). I'm not really into i-pods myself although I'm jealous of the accessories that i-pod users enjoy.

 

PSP baby!

 

I almost bought the I-River. I posted another thread, but I bought the Dell www.ditty-o.com. Again, I really liked the FM tuner feature and the guy is pretty funny on the site. He had me rollin'. I didn't buy the Dell Ditty, but he is funny anyway.
I wouldn't mind having a smaller one for running, biking things like that. They should all go down in price over this next year.

 

I use a 40GB Creative Zen Xtra. I love this thing. I have used Ipod and Iriver in the past, and I like mine much better. It takes a little getting used to the controls, but once you got it down, it's easier and faster to use than the navigation of both the others. Creative has a impressive lineup of other players. Plus the best part is that it uses a relatively common Fujitsu style laptop harddrive that can be fairly easily replaced to hold up to 100GB! Online reviews say "best bang for your buck."

The only downsides I can see in comparison is that it does not have a mic recorder and plays only wma or mp3. But the fact that it hold so much more than the others...I think is a plus that more than balances those little downsides.

If you're interested, or don't believe me, check this site out:

www.nomadness.net

 

I've chosen the sleek and compact RIO Carbon. It comes with a 5 gig hard disk, it's very small and easy to carry. The ear pods that come with it aren't that good so I invested in decent pair of Sennheiser's and all is well in music land.

 

im using a panasonic mp3 discman.i do still have my old sanyo walkman.i might upgrade to an ipod next year or if i can get one thats fallen off the back of a truck.as for the discman it plays cd/cdr/cdrw/mp3cdr/mp3cdrw/ and it has double and triple base settings and a handy adaptor so i can save money on batteries.i also got an old cd/tape/radio but it takes like 6batteries or something and i think the lasers going in it.it use to be good at the SAFM skyshow to listen to the radio and wait for the countdown for the fireworks.

 

Some great players out there now. But do the have Mitch Ferrence dancing fool. Of course not. HA! I love the fact everyone responded with what they had and it wasn't an IPOD!!! That is great. The more that are out there the more affordable they become. Before you know it you will be buying MP3 players on an end display at the cash register of a grocery store for $20. Thats great.

 

Got an Archos Gmini220. It's a great little jukebox - a little light on styling (brown with a blue-lit LCD screen), but it can be used as a portable hard drive, you can view jpgs on it. It plays wma and mp3, no other formats unfortunately, but does include an inbuilt mic and a line out to play it through your stereo. You can also record from a line source so you can record radio sources, CDs/Vinyl, you name it - direct onto the unit as 192Kb/s CBR MP3 files.

The firmware is updateable, but Archos are starting to discontinue any new kit for the GMini220 in favour of their other players (video/photo/games etc.) Has crashed once or twice, but otherwise solid with about 5 hours real battery life (advertised as 10 hours, but NEVER had that.) Really interested now in the iRiver having read about it on here - can you record direct onto the iRiver from a line source?

 

the first 1 i had was a 512mb sumvision(terrable). now i have the lovely creative zen touch 20gb,

PROS

24 hour battery
plenty of space
external volume control
easy controls
elagent look
pocket size
good weight
best resistance to big shocks from the floor ¦-D
music stays on when reset

CONS

not the best "name"
daft sticker on the back
crappy earphones (not any more, got the philips he260)
realy hard to think if crappy things about it.

!!thecraigc!!

 

Hey Lethal_B, does that archos player work on mac? So it plays any .avi, Thats SICK! how much did it cost you?

 

Actually, I bought a H10 less than a month ago (5GB), and it was one of the best I have owned. But the 5GB is too much for me so I decided to sell it. Oh well.

 

iPod Video 30Gb White
The best out there for 300