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[mberan42]

I'm in the market for a new mp3 player, but I'd like some advice. Currently, I have a Creative Zen Vision:M 30 gig mp3 player. I've had it for almost 2 years now, and I've been very happy with it. It has survived in near-perfection with rigorous use: it's on every weekday for no less than 8 hours while I'm at work, I listen to it on the bus and the eL, it has a great battery life, and it's pretty damn durable. The things I don't like about it, though - the media software for transferring songs and everything sucks. It's essentially a less-functional version of Windows Explorer.

My player still works now, but it's on its last legs. It no longer synchs to my computer and it goes through a rebuild process every time I turn it on after it's been off for longer than an hour. Also, I have less than a gig left in space on it, but lots more stuff I want to put on there. So the next player I buy needs to be larger than 30 gigs.

Advice? I probably should have prefaced this post with no Apple products. Should I just buy a 60 gig version of the Creative? Does anyone own a Zune? How do you like it? What's the software like? I was considering an 80 gig Zune, if other people enjoy them. (Although I could care less about the wireless functionality and am a bit disappointed that they don't have any EQ settings.) Is there another brand I should consider?

Things I don't use my mp3 player for: data storage, video watching and picture viewing. It's purely a music player for me. Again, I will not buy an iPod.

[yelley]

matt, you should just get an ipod.

no, i don't mean that. i've never used the zune, but i've had a couple of iriver mp3 players and they were nice. i have an H320 that i still use when i need 20gb of music with me... which admittedly isn't often anymore. i think that their players only go up to 40gb though, so that might not be enough for you if you're outgrowing the 30 that you have now.

[azgarth]

i'd go for an iriver, or, if you can afford it, cowon, cowon is known for their good sound, iriver is great as well.
naturally, read up about some pmp's on http://anythingbutipod.com/
anything you use gets a boost from rockbox, if it supports it. http://www.rockbox.org/, even the ipod becomes decent with it.

[redgiemental]

I use a pair of bose in-ear headphones (their fancy and rather nice  ) with my Ipod and I have to say I don't notice much wrong with the sound output from it. In fact I think its rather good. I usually use pretty high bitrate mp3s with it (may as well with the 80 gig of space) 320 kps. Would Rockbox actually improve the sound output of my Ipod??

[KvP]

I'll urge you not to reconsider on your Apple position (I have good grammer?) I got an 80 gig ipod and it lasted all of 13 days.

I'm not sure if they even have Vision Ms anymore. When the ipod went kaput I got a 30 gig Vision W in return. It's a lot bulkier than a Vision M, but it has a huge ass screen. I put Arrested Development on it and I don't strain my eyes when I watch it! They have a more expensive 60 gig version, which I would get if I was in the market for a new player.

[morca007]

I don't know about the Zune 2's, but i am very happy with my Zune 30. A slightly smaller one of these (aka, the zune 2) would be just about perfect.

[Unosuke]

I used to have an iPod, it lasted me a good couple of years, then I got a Zen Vision M, it is quite nice. I hear good things about the new Zunes, I played with the new Zune software and its A LOT nicer than the old software which was basically a hacked up Windows Media Player 11.

[Ozzman]

Uh yeah...but when you think about it...they're from the SAME PEOPLE.

Argh

And...the editing of metadata (for those that don't know..the music info..artist etc) for the NEW Zune software...blows.

1 song at a time?
I edit entire artists and genres
soooo yeah

I use WMP11 to edit the metadata still...so the "hacked up" version that was the original Zune software...worked.
(off topic..I know..but I had to say it)


Anyway, Idrk what you should do...I guess a Zune80
I love my original Zune30
=D

[imapiratearg]

80 GB Zune 2.  I have one and I love it like I love breathing.  It's so easy to use.  Marketplace is a bit of pain, but the player itself functions spectacularly.

[Statik]

I enjoy how this, and essentially the EXACT SAME POST in the music thread had text basically saying: "What MP3 player should I get that isnt Apple, because I hate Apple for no adequately explained and/or logical reason."

Its like some weird thing (I lost my train of thought on the analogy) against a company that, ZOMG, makes EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR.

Things I don't use my mp3 player for: data storage, video watching and picture viewing. It's purely a music player for me.

Does the iPod do video, pictures, and can be a HDD?  Sure.  Is it the best at it?  Debatable, others can do video better, personal preference, etc.
Its a music player with some other features thrown in.

I have an 80gig iPod Classic; it runs forever, has decent (not great compared to others) sound, and has, IMO, the best interface that allows you to actually get to the music easily.  I don't however like iTunes all that much (but then, I havent actually found a media player that I do like), and the new delays in switching screens from my previous gen ipod is kind of annoying.

That all being said; everyone on here has a different opinion, if you are in any sort of semi-major urban area, I would recommend you go down to a local electronics store and physically handle / use different players.  What I enjoy about the iPod and its interface, you may not, you may prefer the Zune, or the Zen, or whatever else.  But actually going down and interacting with them will give you a far better "feel" for what you want.  If you find one or two you do like, go home and read some reviews on it (battery life, durability, etc)  Amazon, Circuit City, Newegg, all have user reviews of products, if 50 people all write about how it died in 24 hours, well you probably dont want that one.  You get the idea.

[Spinless]

That last point you made about user reviews, that's what made me settle on an iPod. Sure, you hear about them breaking all the time. But when you read user reviews and compare the positive to negative noise ratio, 50 bad reviews isn't really a bad number out of say, 500 reviews posted. When you compare that to products like the creative Zen where the percentage of negative feedback is MUCH higher.

[DavidGrohl]

 I would have chosen anything over an iPod.  Gah, another one bites the dust. 

[Intense Fuzziocity]

Most people like their iPods, so if you really have no clue what you want then it's usually a safe -- albeit expensive -- choice. (If lyou're an xkcd type of guy, it will also give you at least 20 hours of fun if you attempt to install linux on it).

I don't have any real fresh personal experience with mp3 players, but from the experience I do have I would have to say that it's not important to get a new mp3 player. The old iAudio players have great sound quality, especially with an amp, perhaps better than most more recent players. The audio player arena has not been advancing toward better sound quality and broader file type support; the only fields where definite progress has been made has been storage affordability, GUIs, and physical size.

Of the modern audio players, however, my recommendation is one of the SanDisk Sansa players. Less expensive than iPods, more standardized computer interfacing, expandable with most SanDisk memory cards (gotta love those 8GB fingernails), and support a fair number of file types.

Whichever player you get, though, and the sound quality isn't perfect, it might be worth investing in an amp and good earphones or plugs.

If you're in the market for a mobile phone at the same time, you could also keep an eye out for one with a standard audio jack and good expandability. It could very well save you quite a bit of money.

[Teh Geek Lord]

I have an older 30Gb ipod, its beat to hell, but it still plays my music just fine, and before that I got (and still have) a sony walkman memory stick (USB) mg3 player, it holds 2 gb of music but that one never let me down, until I found torrents and got music crazy fast...then the 2gb barrier came into play...not I've got to find a replacement for the 30gb ipod, and never will I own a Zune...