what mp3 player for me?

im having a rough time picking an mp3 player suited for my needs

1) i use linux
2) it needs to be able to be used as a portable hard drive to store any type of file (it doesnt need to be able to access them though)
3) needs to have 25GB or more storage
4) it will be used in my car primarily so looks and appearance are completely unimportant
5) having rockbox support is a plus
6) the OS installed on it needs to be speedy and well organized (i cant drive and stare at a screen )

any suggestions are welcome

 

Do you want a really small kind of MP3 player or a full-sized one with a screen that's good for video?

 

it just needs to play music, so video and size are unimportant

 

Take a look at the new Zunes.

 

I have the Zune 80GB 2nd Generation and I love it. Interface is great, sound quality is great, and screen is nice and large. Half the time I use it it's plugged in to my car and the other half is at work.

EDIT: I'm actually not sure if the Zune software will run on Linux or not. Since it does not explicitly say so on the Zune Website ( http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/zunesoftware/minsystemreqs.htm) and Zune is made by Microsoft, I doubt it works on Linux...

 

yah, i have been taking a look at the zune but there are two main features i need that have been keeping me from buying it.

1) ive heard it cant be used as a portable hard drive (this is a necessity)
2) linux support is poor (i think i could work around this if i have to)

(and i guess rockbox isnt ported to it yet, but thats not a big deal)

 

1) In no way without hard modding, I believe...
2) There IS NO Linux suppot..lol

 

well i dont want to have to hard mod anything

but, this option looks quite promising for getting linux support (well, kinda)

 

1) Not true. There is a quick reg hack that is packaged in the form of a patch that is maintained by members on the zuneboards forum: http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/ztools/10521-zunehdpatch-4-0-a.html

If you have questions about the HD Hack see this: http://www.zuneboards.com/forums/game-hack-support/10749-official-hd-hack-support-thread.html

The patch has to be done on every computer you wish to access your Zune as an external HDD. I've stored many files on mine without a problem.

 

Sounds like nothing will work as well as the Cowon D2 for you. Its a 2.5 inch touch screen, Its very easy to use while driving, the easiest IMO. It now supports rockbox, has very good sound quality and the most powerful amp on the market. Its a VERY durable player, plays alot of different music codecs, and video codecs. Comes in 4, 8, and 16GB flash, with SDHC expandability. It also has FM tuner, alarm clock, reads txt files, plays flash stuff, can use flash interfaces. Over all its my favorite player on the market, and with good reason. I've tried many players from many companies, so I try not to be to biased.

 

i got it!

the creative zen 32GB

http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/zen/?nav=demo

 

In my opinion the D2 is better than the Creative Zen in every way except the screen. And the Zen screen doesn't have much on the D2 screen. I own both the D2 and the Zen, I was very disappointed with the zen, SQ wasn't that good, SD wasn't integrated into the main library, didn't have nearly as many features as the D2, battery life isn't as good, they both play the same video size but the D2 does higher bitrates. As some one that owns both, and has tested both of them in alot of different areas, I'd say go with the D2, even it its only 16GB, just get an SD card and expand it.

 

i suppose i could do that, maybe i need to do a bit more research into this (i kinda just looked the other way when i saw it was 16gb )

how well does the D2 handle large music collections?

but... now another problem... where do you buy mp3 players in Canada? Most of the stores are from America and i dont want to ship over the border..

 

Yeah, Cowon is kinda hard to get, I usually get mine from jetaudio.net, they seem to have the best deals, but you can also get them from amazon.com or newegg.com or buy.com or ecost.com. Just use google products and see what it comes up with. Yeah, most people over look cowon products, but I've tested every brand of player that I could, and even multiple models and I'll buy a Cowon before any other, I just recently ran one of my old Cowon U3's through the washer and it still works perfectly fine. The D2 handles 5000 files and folders on the internal memory, and 5000 on the SD card. Some have had a problem with it, because thats not enough files, but you can use FLAC, OGG, wMA, MP3 or whatever file types you prefer. If you have any more questions about it please ask, I'm very willing to answer any questions about any player, if I don't already know it then I'll research it, I'm big into portable music players.

 

turns out ncix.com actually carries the cowon D2, quite surprizing :|

is $240 a good price for it?

 

For the 16GB? Yes, thats the cheapest I have found it, they just released the 16GB like a month and a half ago, and 240 is the lowest I've seen it yet. You can get a 16GB SDHC card for 60USD about anywhere, then you'll have a total of 32GB.

 

so it sounds like im guna get the cowon D2, now i just have to make sure it will work with the deck in my car.

made a new thread here to find out if it is compatible.

 

ok, so it seems that there is virtually no place to get the cowon d2 16gb in canada without waiting an undefined time (which im not willing to do). Are there any drawbacks from ordering from across the border? Such as voiding a warranty or anything like that?

if not, ill probably get it here

edit: just checked with cowon tech support and they said i should be ok. the only problem i can think of would be the customer support from the company itself, but that is expected. I was just worried about warranty mainly

edit2: turns out shipping to canada and after the duties and all those hidden fees it will probably come to around $290, which is too much for what i will be getting (i think)... i think im going to have to find an mp3 player from within canada

 

agree

 

I hate to say it like this but I've tried alot of players on the market right now, and have read up on the rest that I haven't tried. And there isn't anything like the D2, nothing that nice with all those features, Its just to bad that you can't get it there. One that I haven't tried but would like to is the new Sony walkman. The only issue I have with it is that its some what expensive. Maybe if you can't get the 16GB then just go with the 8GB? or is that to small? they can both be expanded with with the 16 or 32 GB SDHC cards.

 

i've been looking at the Iriver Spinn. it looks good, but isn't out in the U.S. yet.i also want to see how well the interface is.

 

i put myself on the list to be notified when ncix.com got some cowon d2 16gb versions in stock, and last friday they finally got some in. Just got my 16gb cowon D2 yesterday night. I havent really played around with it too much yet, but so far i can say that it has amazing sound quality and power. I hooked my big set of headphones into it when i got it and that little thing can really output some good sound! so far, im happy with it

 

I'm glad you got it, and I'm more glad that your happy with it so far. Its a good player, its very durable too, but I'd suggest getting a screen protector, it just makes those touch screens last longer.

 

You run Linux. There's one problem right there. Support for Linux in any DAP is extremely poor unless it is a flash based one.