Need recommendation for good MP3 player for working out, Not Apple or Sansa

[gotsmack]

I need a recommendation for a good MP3 player that I'm going to attach to my shirt or put in my pocket when I exercise. I don't want anything that needs special software to load the MP3s, so iPods are out since I refuse to install itunes. The Sansa gets mixed reviews about battery life and inaccurate battery readings.

 

[Daxwax]

I have an iPod and don't use iTunes. Most good music players will have portable integration (I use musicbee, MediaMonkey is another one).

 

[Zaap]

Just curious, what Sansa model(s) are you referring to that have terrible battery life?

I've had nothing but great performance from a pair of Sansa Clips my wife and I use for workouts. Battery life hasn't been an issue in two years using them.

Frankly if you can find a better rated player that's more reliable than the Sansas (besides an iPod) I say go for it.

I think there are other ways to get files on an iPod other than iTunes as well, but I don't know specifics. We have 4 iPods in my household that I haven't bothered to refill with music since the day they were bought.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I have a Sansa Clip that sat in a gym bag for about three years and when I found it last week, it still powered up and the battery icon indicated that it still had about half battery left.

If that's not great battery life I don't know what is. It also has a built in FM radio.

 

[Rayb]

I've a sansa (8gb + sd + FM) that is 5 y/o and still holds up for a 2 or 3 of days of music play on one charge.

I bought it as a refurbished unit and not expecting much from it, everything still works.

 

[gorcorps]

Sansas are fine. Your options suck if you take away Sansa

Cowon used to make good mp3 players but their last couple small devices haven't been as good. You can check them out if you want, but they don't have anything close to the sansa clip size.

edit: actually this new one by Cowon could work: http://www.amazon.com/Cowon-iAUDIO-...=UTF8&qid=1401884235&sr=8-1&keywords=cowon+e3

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Sansa Clip+ with SD card.

 

[Oyeve]

If you have an old smartphone use that as an mp3/media device. I have a few old iPhone and Android scattered about for that.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Get a Clip+ or Clip Zip. Both are solid devices with great battery life. Unless you're planning on working out for over 15 hours straight, I wouldn't worry about the battery too much.

 

[DefDC]

I bought a few Kyocera Hydros when they went on sale for $10. While you won't find those at that price right now, resellers were grabbing them up. But they should be very reasonable on ebay. (Or wait for the next $10 prepaid phone to go on sale).

The Hydros are waterproof and have a wide selection of inexpensive cases available. Batteries are replaceable and very cheap. Not much memory on board, but it has an SD slot. Battery life isn't the best but replaceable batteries and portable chargers should take of that. You should easily get through a workout. Having access to wifi will give you cloud storage and online services also.

Best Buy had the 8GB MotoG on sale for $50. (Prepaid only version) If you can get by with only a few gig available, it'd be a very nice 4.7 inch player. Maybe too big?

I'm happy using old/cheap phones. I also had a Sansa clip that used for years. It's currently in use as my kids bedtime music player.

 

[smitbret]

I heard that you have heard bad information about the Sansa mp3 players.

I have 2 Clip Zips and my GF has 1. Nothing wrong with the battery life or indicators on these. Not too mention the original Clip that I had for about 5 years and the E250 I bought in 2005 that my daughter now uses instead of her iPod.

 

[nOOky]

Her and I both have the Sansa clip with an extra 8 gig card in each. Battery life gets me through a super long bike ride or marathon, and so far the sweat hasn't fazed it. I usually wear mine on the waistband of my shorts with my sweaty shirt over it.

I can't say what will happen if it gets completely soaked through from rain though.

 

[Imp]

I was originally going to get a Sansa but cheaped out -- thank goodness.

I then got an iPod Shuffle, got tired of the no screen, didn't want to convert all my files to iTunes format, so I went with Sony.

Have had the Sony Walkman NWZ-Exxx for a few months and been pretty happy with it. It supposedly lets me drag and drop, but I use Windows Media Player to sync just so the album art and stuff goes smoothly -- never tried drag and drop. Price isn't bad under $100.

 

[AFurryReptile]

I had a Sansa Clip that I used for probably a year or two, and it worked well enough. I seem to recall ~8 hours of battery life.

I recently purchased a new Sansa Clip that I was going to use as a Music-on-Hold player for the phone system in my office. 24 hours of straight usage killed it outright in just one day.

 

[shortylickens]

A small android phone without service.

 

[Seven]

Sansa or Sony Walkman.

But I would still recommend the ipod shuffle for working out. Its so small, you can attach it everywhere you want. Been using it for years.

 

[Doomer]

To my not so good ears, Sansa sounds like poop.

Cowon sounds incredible but the user interface is garbage.

iPod/iPhone sound OK and the interface is as good as it gets unless you're running os7.

 

[Commodus]

I was originally going to get a Sansa but cheaped out -- thank goodness.

I then got an iPod Shuffle, got tired of the no screen, didn't want to convert all my files to iTunes format, so I went with Sony.

Have had the Sony Walkman NWZ-Exxx for a few months and been pretty happy with it. It supposedly lets me drag and drop, but I use Windows Media Player to sync just so the album art and stuff goes smoothly -- never tried drag and drop. Price isn't bad under $100.

iTunes format? It plays common unprotected audio formats like AAC and MP3. With that said, the Sony Walkman series is fine.

 

[Carson Dyle]

The Sansa Clip Zip is a no-brainer for the gym. It's so inexpensive compared to most players that you can consider it a throwaway, so don't worry about losing it or trashing it. Get one with 4GB capacity, which is cheaper and add an inexpensive SD card. I wouldn't worry at all about battery life. It's perfectly in line with a player of its size.

I prefer to run Rockbox on it instead of the original Sansa software. I like both the the ability to install a more readable skin and also just the way it operates. Many people like the added EQ capabilities of Rockbox. If you do install Rockbox, though, you'll still have the option of using the Sansa software.

 

[gmaster456]

An old/prepaid android phone would work just fine. Finding one with an SD card slot would be even better but there are lots of options.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

cowon e3?

 

[gotsmack]

Just curious, what Sansa model(s) are you referring to that have terrible battery life?

I've had nothing but great performance from a pair of Sansa Clips my wife and I use for workouts. Battery life hasn't been an issue in two years using them.

Frankly if you can find a better rated player that's more reliable than the Sansas (besides an iPod) I say go for it.

I think there are other ways to get files on an iPod other than iTunes as well, but I don't know specifics. We have 4 iPods in my household that I haven't bothered to refill with music since the day they were bought.

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-...owViewpoints=1

Good reviews overall, but the bad ones are scary.

 

[DegavolTr]

I have a Sony Walkman (NWZ-E465, 16GB Flash player) that works well with MediaMonkey (MM). MM has many features that allow it to work well with my player including:
- Automatic file conversion during syncing: Walkman players have a few requirements when it comes to file formats. As an example, it supports a minimum bitrate of 32kbps with MP3s so I have it automatically increase the bitrate when necessary (such as some podcasts) when syncing the files to my player.
- Improved podcast support
- Video support

 

[Zaap]

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Sansa-...owViewpoints=1

Good reviews overall, but the bad ones are scary.

Same can be said for almost every product on Amazon.

I'm not saying there may not be some people that have had legit problems with the Sansa Clip, but in general if you go by the worst horror-story one star reviews on Amazon, there's almost nothing made you can't convince yourself is absolute crap.

 

[lakedude]

If you don't have an old Android phone PM me, I can come up with one. They are basically just little computers that work great on WiFi even with no cell service. You can play MP3s, surf the web, play movies, use the camera, use as a flashlight or nightlight, use as a white noise generator, use as a programmable alarm clock, and many other things I haven't thought of yet. I love having old phones around for these things. 2 phones ago is my alarm clock and my last phone is a nightlight and sleep noise generator. Got another one in the kitchen to look things up on the internet.