I've got an ipod but although its got a good user interface I hate the fact its so locked down and gash with the fact you have to use iTunes to put stuff on its and you can't pull it back off cos of the DRM etc. Its a real corporate arse kiss device.

I don't know what decent alternatives are out there at the moment though. Years and years ago I had a USB stick with a headphone jack (way before ipods) but clearly things have moved on since then and I've not had the time to keep up.

Ideally I want something fairly small, with a display I can navigate between albums and tracks etc, decent battery life and possibly takes removable media so it can be expanded (SDHC, microSD etc?). Oh and I definitely don't want any DRM arse, I want it to pop up as a proper drive so I can copy tracks to AND from it directly.

Any recommendations? I know there are a lot of people on here who have their finger on the pulse of this kind of toys...

[Edited on 3/10/08 by hobbsy]

Im going to recomend a Sandisk sansa fuze.
I bought one couple months back and i love it. Reason why i chose it was it was a good competitor to the ipod nano but a hell of a lot cheaper. And as far as i can see just as good if not better!

Plus unlike any ipod it has an FM tuner, and also has a slot for a memory card to increase the capacity. Puttin music onto it couldnt be simpler, just drag and drop.

Ok mabye the UI inst quite as good, and it has no games, but if you just want it for listening to music (or watchin videos infact) its great. Sound quality, i think anyway, is excellent.

plus looks decent to



Hope this helps,

Mikkel

Is it all DRM'ed up, i.e. can you copy the mp3's back off it (e.g. on someone elses computer who wants your tunes) after you've copied them on?

pretty sure u can, u can just open it up like its any other folder in ur computer, much like a usb stick

The only problem with the ipod is the software that they try to force you to use , to get round this use media monkey

linky

try it for free, it has full ipod sync and no drm issues either plus with the pro version it manages the music library with out changing anything. Unlike i tunes.

Roger

I'd get anything by Cowon

http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk /shop/index.php?manufacturers_id=15&sort=4a&list=1&filter_id=1

I've had an iAudio for years now. Insane battery life, plug it in to any pc and it acts like a harddrive (just drag and drop folders) Huge file support (e.g. OGG and FLAC), equalizer, awesome sound

Also I have a certificate of higher education in digital music creation so I'm awesome

[Edited on 4/10/08 by Benzine]

I had the same problem as you. I bought a Sony walkman NWZ-A818 and I love it. The ear buds are super comfy, sound quality is superb, Drag and drop files and folders - easy peasy, it's as easy to use as the ipod, better looking interface and battery life is very good.

I'm a fussy bugger when it comes to stuff like this and i can honestly say it's the best i have had.

[Edited on 4/10/08 by donut]

quote:

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Originally posted by donut
I had the same problem as you. I bought a Sony walkman NWZ-A818 and I love it. The ear buds are super comfy, sound quality is superb, Drag and drop files and folders - easy peasy, it's as easy to use as the ipod, better looking interface and battery life is very good.

I'm a fussy bugger when it comes to stuff like this and i can honestly say it's the best i have had.

[Edited on 4/10/08 by donut]

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The Microsoft Zune is supposed to be pretty good. Was gonna get one myself but couldn't justify it to the wife

quote:

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Originally posted by Humbug

quote:

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Originally posted by donut
I had the same problem as you. I bought a Sony walkman NWZ-A818 and I love it. The ear buds are super comfy, sound quality is superb, Drag and drop files and folders - easy peasy, it's as easy to use as the ipod, better looking interface and battery life is very good.

I'm a fussy bugger when it comes to stuff like this and i can honestly say it's the best i have had.

[Edited on 4/10/08 by donut]

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Aren't Sony devices locked into their proprietary format?

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If you've already got an iPod, you could try different software?

I use Winamp, which I only recently learned has iPod support! Which means you can pull music back off, while also using Winamp to manage all your tunes.

http://www.winamp.com/

I use Anapod Explorer with my iPod. The latest iTunes is even more gash than ever