I've never owned an mp3 player before. But I do have a few thousand songs that would be cool to take along with me, especially now that cars commonly have mp3 player hookups.

I'm really just after freedom, maximum control over files and organization, and something that does as LITTLE for me as possible. Maybe something that will allow me to specify a certain folder or groups of files that I CREATE (ie, classic rock) and shuffle all the songs in that folder.

Try SanDisk's line of MP3 players. They have very nice UIs as good as Apple's, but they get in your way less.

+1 on sandisk

get the fuze and install rockbox

Whoa, does rockbox allow you to put videos on the fuze w/out using the "sansa media converter" thing that sucks ballz? How do you know if you have a fuze 1 or 2?

Sandisk's are good.

I personally would recommend getting a Zune HD, but it does do some things for you. Frankly though, I don't know why you're so afraid of that. If anything, playlists would give you the same degree of control, and you would have the added benefits of a properly organized library, up-to-date metadata, super-quick syncing, and stuff that Zune offers like mixs and autoplaylists.

copy/pasted from somewhere else



also the rockbox video player is pretty limited (mpeg1/2 only IIRC) but i've never cared because these players have such tiny screens on them

I've had 2 creative's, a nomad 3 (which was huge) and a Zen Vision M. My mum also has a 30gb zen touch, all 3 still work flawlessly despite the zen touch and nomad 3 being about 5 years old.

I don't know how good the newer ones are though but I doubt i'll replace my vision m any time soon.

The big plus for me is that you don't have to use their software, you can just browse the it as a drive and copy/paste mp3 files, which is good when you use it at work and home and you dont want it to sync all the time.

Whatever you do, don't get a zune. I have one, and its been a pain in the ass from day 1. The iPod is not much better, and iTunes itself is a whole other **** in the butt we do not want to talk about.

I wouldn't recommend Rockbox if you care about usability. The navigation between menus is pretty confusing. It isn't always the simple forward/back/return like on the SanDisk or iPod OS. It does let you dual boot however. You can boot into the regular OS by holding a certain key when you turn it on. This is what I do for my Fuze.

Brian, you can check what version Fuze you have by the firmware version.


Get out.

I can't believe anyone recommends the sansa fuze, at least if you are interested in all in playing videos. Their software is the worst pile of crap I've ever used.

I can't believe Dash didn't mention videos, and asked specifically about playing mp3s.

Who would want to watch a video on 1" x 1" screen anyway?

Exactly how could a zune possibly be a pain in the ass?

confusing? maybe if you are mentally challenged



Brian... and maybe 2 other people on earth would love to watch 220x176 videos on a 1.9" screen

smallest screen i can stand watching videos on is the one on my PSP

I have to say I actually love watching videos on my girlfriend's (Creative) Zen Vision M when I'm on a train/bus or on vacation.

*shrug*

My friend's got an iPod and all sorts of problems with iTunes. I hear a lot of complaining about that, but I haven't used them myself.

Creative is great though.

Maybe you're a neckbeard that gets butthurt any time someone points out a flaw in his favorite open source software

But hey, let's not ignore the other issues, like it hard locking if you scroll too quickly after a file listing comes up

or maybe you're just mentally challenged... takes maybe a whole 3 seconds to figure out how to navigate between rockbox's menus

and that hard locking while scrolling thing is something i've never run into

i never said rockbox was perfect but it was easy enough for me to figure out while i was drunk and the few bugs i've run into (occasionally it will not display next track info properly, i've had the playback freeze on me a few times that made me have to reboot the player (wow a whole 10 seconds of my day gone), and the doom port freezes when i use a certain setting) are minor inconveniences

It's not hard to figure it out. It's annoying because keys have different behaviors depending on the context, like the home key, at least on the Fuze. It means every time I press the button, I have to think about where I am and what it should do.

OSS usability!

So basically that's your "I am just too stupid to figure out how to press play".

Dash:
Given that you've never owned an MP3 player before, you probably don't care too much about all of the stupid nerd features everyone else in this thread is arguing about. I would recommend the San Disk Fuze - I have one. I use it purely for listening to audio while I ride my motorcycle. It does just that, and it does it just fine. No need for iTunes or WMP, just drag and drop your files onto the player. Hooked up via USB, it works just like a thumb drive. I like mine, and they're inexpensive. I've also dropped it many times, sat on it, and even stepped on it once without any problems.

I don't use it for video or try to change the firmware. I use it for what I want it to do: play music. It's a daisy and works great.

Also, the built-in FM tuner and voice recorder are nice to have. There's also a MicroSD slot so you can add more memory.

^-- Yeah that

Dash:
Given that you've never owned an MP3 player before, you probably don't care too much about all of the stupid nerd features everyone else in this thread is arguing about. I would recommend an iPod, because basically any other player is going to make you look like a quibbling dork.

Ipod classic.

160 gigs of yes.

ITunes isn't as hard as everyone makes it out to be. It will do all of the things you are looking for. Menus are easy, and the 160 gigs also makes a great portable harddrive. As a bonus - Pair it up with an ipod compatible deck like the pioneer p3200 and youll be in heaven.

Jon, he specifically said he doesn't want it to do too much. That probably includes iTunes sync.

If there's one conclusion we can draw from this thread it's that Emon is clearly mentally challenged. Good job, team!

:downs:

I'm mentally challenged, but you know what? I like a mental challenge.