Enraged! I beg you, help me find an MP3 player

[Axonn]

Disclaimer: I am not angry at you. I like you! I need your help AND PATIENCE. Understand that my rage has been caused by using an EXCELLENT battery life Sony Walkman but whose DISGUSTING proprietary software completely destroyed my experience, and then a Creative Zen Xi-Fi with TERRIBLE battery life *AND* DISGUSTING software (no folders support, have to use pukey Media Player to transfer stuff on it).

So. What happens is:

I'm sick and enraged on all the BULLSHIT hardware out there!!! Apple with its stupid software and locked down hardware, Creative with its HORRIBLE SOFTWARE - both of these guys use PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE to destroy our money: I don't want to buy something I'll have to throw away when the accumulator grows old (and no, I don't want to use a screwdriver, take it to a shop or anything like that). And no, I am not flexible about this.

I want to buy an MP3 Player which satisfies all these conditions:

- No touchscreen.
- Preferably, a maximum 100 x 20 pixels screen: that is: just a song display. As small as possible.
- Changeable battery/accumulator (AAA or AA I don't care - but I never, EVER, want to see proprietary battery formats in my life). I used nice AAA Ni-Mh accus for my Sony.
- At least 8 GB capacity.
- No proprietary software! It needs to be seen as a generic storage device and I need to put files on it via Explorer, Total Commander or any other dumb file manager.

I searched on websites for iRiver but all their products now are iPod clones which I hate. Not because they're copying but because they (probably) use proprietary software and (almost definitely) don't have changeable batteries.

 

[dougp]

What about ...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16855125130

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16855125154

 

[JimKiler]

Disclaimer: I am not angry at you. I like you! I need your help AND PATIENCE. Understand that my rage has been caused by using an EXCELLENT battery life Sony Walkman but whose DISGUSTING proprietary software completely destroyed my experience, and then a Creative Zen Xi-Fi with TERRIBLE battery life *AND* DISGUSTING software (no folders support, have to use pukey Media Player to transfer stuff on it).

So. What happens is:

I'm sick and enraged on all the BULLSHIT hardware out there!!! Apple with its stupid software and locked down hardware, Creative with its HORRIBLE SOFTWARE - both of these guys use PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE to destroy our money: I don't want to buy something I'll have to throw away when the accumulator grows old (and no, I don't want to use a screwdriver, take it to a shop or anything like that). And no, I am not flexible about this.

I want to buy an MP3 Player which satisfies all these conditions:

- No touchscreen.
- Preferably, a maximum 100 x 20 pixels screen: that is: just a song display. As small as possible.
- Changeable battery (AAA or AA I don't care - but I never, EVER, want to see proprietary battery formats in my life).
- At least 8 GB capacity.
- No proprietary software! It needs to be seen as a generic storage device and I need to put files on it via Explorer, Total Commander or any other dumb file manager.

I searched on websites for iRiver but all their products now are iPod clones which I hate. Not because they're copying but because they (probably) use proprietary software and (almost definitely) don't have changeable batteries.

It is too bad personal music players are a dying product, replaced with phones which do it all. I would not recommend the Zune, while I like it, the software I am forced to use is horrible. But it was the better option over the iPod nano which no longer have the wheel but instead have the bad touchscreen which is smaller than small.

 

[Axonn]

Hi. Thank you dougp! The Sansa Clip is nice, has extra SD slot too! But the battery is single use ::- (.

JimKiler: + I bet they don't have a switchable battery.

I am aware that indeed, personal music players are dying. But maybe this thread will see some links of still living ones, which satisfy all the conditions I listed for what I consider a TRUE and independent and FUTURE-proof MP3 player. I don't want their stupid movies, photos or books. I just want my music! For the rest, I got other devices (eReader, PC).

 

[AstroManLuca]

- Changeable battery (AAA or AA I don't care - but I never, EVER, want to see proprietary battery formats in my life).

LOL, good luck with this. I don't even think they're made anymore. It's like asking for a new rotary phone.

But if you're really serious, look for a Sansa M260. Takes a single AAA battery, smallish (probably as small as you can get given the size of a AAA battery), screen. Only 4 GB capacity but that was about the best you could hope for back in 2006 when it was still being made. The battery life is not great. I usually got something like 8 hours from it. By comparison, the Sansa Clip I got a couple years later would last days, despite having a smaller battery.

AA/AAA cells are old, inefficient technology. It really does make more sense to just get one with a built-in battery. Most of them use standardized USB chargers and will get hours and hours of charge, during which you will have plenty of occasions to plug in. Unless you're out hiking in the mountains for a week, in which case you'd have to carry a backpack full of replacement batteries to keep an M260 powered the whole time.

EDIT: The other thing is that back when user-replaceable batteries were actually a concern, MP3 players cost a lot more. No one wants to drop $300 on an iPod and have the battery stop holding a charge after a couple years. But these days it's so cheap to buy a new one that it probably costs less to do that than to feed batteries to an MP3 player.

 

[nace186]

http://www.amazon.com/Creative-MuVo-...7735452&sr=8-5

Although it maxed out at 2gig.
Use AAA batttery.

 

[Axonn]

AstroManLuca: I am not using batteries. I'm using AAA Ni-Mh accumulators. They are not as effective as Li-Ion but they are effective enough. So no, it will NOT be cheaper to buy a new mp3 player. I recharge the AAAs in batches of 4, so overall, I can get 40 hours from a single little pocket of accus and then I recharge and that's it.

I see your point. But I hope you are not right and some product exists out there.

This is exactly what enrages me: the companies have drugged society to accept this ridiculous planned obsolescence to the point where we just throw away more and more electronics. I'm not going to go ballistic on you with the "Green Peace" theory, but you can admit that what they're doing is robing us.

nace186: damn, 2 GB ::- (. Also, Creative... does it even work without proprietary software?

 

[WelshBloke]

What crappy software is your sony Walkman making you use?

Mine works fine with every media player i've used (apart from itunes obviously), and no other software needed.

 

[AstroManLuca]

It is not a global conspiracy. It's companies giving people what they want. Built in Li-ion batteries are simpler and easier for consumers and provide better battery life than AAA cells. Just plug it in and you're set for the next week or two (depending on how much you use it). No shuffling batteries around in a charger. You might be more on top of this than the average person, but the point is companies have absolutely no reason to design and sell products that appeal to fewer people.

 

[gorcorps]

Good luck.

I think the iriver T30 was the last mp3 player I remember that would fit your needs. It never was offered with much storage.

 

[Anubis]

your post basically sume up my feelings on the mp3 player market (it sucks)

i want one with 200 gigs of storage massive battery life and just a txt display for what is playing

 

[alent1234]

www.anythingbutipod.com

if you hate apple then get one of the t-mo/walmart phones with unlimited data and no voice minutes or one of the prepaid android phones. put the largest sd card in there it can hold. get spotify and sync your music to it. no need to buy CD's ever again

or use pandora or slacker if you just shuffle your music

 

[Anubis]

www.anythingbutipod.com

TBH the ipod classic wouldent be so bad if it would just mount as a USB storage device that i could just copy folders to. itunes is such a POS that i wont use it

also the wheel is an inferior method of navigation IMO

 

[mnewsham]

Why do you hate progress?

 

[Anubis]

progress would be more storage at a cheaper price, not less storage with a touch screen at a higher price that does nothing to benefit the main point of a MP3 player (listning to music)

 

[mnewsham]

So we should limit ourselves to many devices that all do one thing really well instead of 1 device that does 10 things pretty well? (really well is 95-100 pretty well is 75-90 on a scale of 100)

 

[darkewaffle]

TBH the ipod classic wouldent be so bad if it would just mount as a USB storage device that i could just copy folders to. itunes is such a POS that i wont use it

also the wheel is an inferior method of navigation IMO

You can manage iPods through Winamp at least, which is what I've always used since ephPod was discontinued long ago. It's really a saving grace since iTunes is that godawful.

 

[Anubis]

So we should limit ourselves to many devices that all do one thing really well instead of 1 device that does 10 things pretty well? (really well is 95-100 pretty well is 75-90 on a scale of 100)

limit no
but we should have options

 

[alent1234]

TBH the ipod classic wouldent be so bad if it would just mount as a USB storage device that i could just copy folders to. itunes is such a POS that i wont use it

also the wheel is an inferior method of navigation IMO

haven't used it as much since i got spotify, but except for stability issues with large libraries it was great

after i learned to use smart playlists i never saw the need to even try to copy music manually

 

[mnewsham]

limit no
but we should have options

you do have options, it also comes with a 5" screen...

 

[vshah]

your post basically sume up my feelings on the mp3 player market (it sucks)

i want one with 200 gigs of storage massive battery life and just a txt display for what is playing

how the hell are you gonna browse 200gb of music on a 2 line text display?!

 

[mnewsham]

how the hell are you gonna browse 200gb of music on a 2 line text display?!

Voice commands

 

[Oyeve]

also the wheel is an inferior method of navigation IMO

When it is 0f outside and you want to change music the wheel is most effective. I too hate touch-screens for music management. If I had my way I would have supported minidisc more! Anyway, yea, decent mp3 non touchscreen players are a thing of the past. I have a few sandisc models including the 16gb sansa view, which was, imo, their best.

 

[gorcorps]

So we should limit ourselves to many devices that all do one thing really well instead of 1 device that does 10 things pretty well? (really well is 95-100 pretty well is 75-90 on a scale of 100)

That's what I do. Cowon J3 for mp3 player, phone for phone, seperate camera for the few times I need a camera. The only thing extra I use my phone for is GPS, but even my car has its own system so I don't use the phone for that much anyway.

Some of us aren't content with how poorly these all-in-ones do at certain things. Music is a big one for me and not a single phone out there does it any justice. Cameras are still pretty poor unless in blinding daylight.

 

[Anubis]

you do have options, it also comes with a 5" screen...

i DO NOT WANT A LARGE SCREEN

all i really care about is what is playing and track time.

a 4 line txt display could do that, but yes that is a bit silly a screen a 2 inch one would be fine. similar to what the Cowon iAudio X5 had, it doesnt even need to be color

you dont need anything larger then that. now ill agree my habits are strange i put all my music in 1 playlist and just have it play on random. if i want something specific i can go and find it but generally random is fine

as per the wheel, yea it may be better then a touch screen when its cold, however i dont want a screen i want a joystick i can operate without looking at

TBH what i really need is a 200GB ipod shuffle