Best MP3/video player

Doc

I'm looking for a video/MP3 player under $200. I like the feature list of the Zune, but it's all crippled by the same horrible bullshit that I have issues with regarding my dying iPod - you can't just put files into it, they have to be "synched" via their piece of shit software that always screws up my tags.

Have the issues that make you go "WTF" on the Zune been fixed? That is, can I now use it as a portable hard drive? Is their software less shitty than the last time I installed it back when I was trying to get my 360 to read my PC shares?

--Or--

Suggest to me a sub-$200 MP3/Video player that isn't the Zune or an iPod.


Edit: I may have found exactly what I'm looking for in an MP3 player with the new Creative Zen. Based on their previous MP3 players, I think you can just plug it in, drop in files through explorer, and they will work. Is this correct?

Echo

I hear iRiver makes good stuff that you can just copy files to.

oldsak

As to the Zen, you have to install the drivers I believe, but once that's done it works as you've described. You can sync it if you want to, but I haven't tried. Also, it comes with it's Creative Zen media explorer software, but you can just use windows explorer.

Keep in mind, it doesn't play all video formats. It comes with conversion software to convert any video format to the appropriate kind. If you use the creative media explorer (don't know if this happens with windows explorer) it will give you an alert when you try to paste a video of the wrong format and ask you if you want to open the video converter.

truck-a-sauras

also keep in mind while the Zen does have an expansion slot for SD cards it is severely crippled. Don't think you can just put some music on it and pop it in the slot and everything is OK. The SD slot memory does not integrate with on board memory such as other players do. Unless there has been some firmware update to fix this that I haven't seen yet.

Erandus

truck-a-sauras wrote: »

Don't think you can just put some music on it and pop it in the slot and everything is OK.

I'm nearly positive you can browse into a Zen's file structure without any extra software programs. You may need to install their "sync" agent to get all the needed drivers to make your PC recognize it, but I'm almost positive it's not required for adding/removing files.

I bought my wife a Zen Vision M:

Interface takes a little getting used to as it's not an iPod, but any reasonably intelligent mammal can figure it out quickly. The screen looks fantastic, the sound is very good quality. It has an FM reciever and you can record radio onto it's internal storage. I am jealous of it, and would purchase again.

Only major drawback is there isn't a plethora of iShit attachments for your toilet and blender and lawnchair and all that like there is for the iPod.

EDIT: Just IM'd my wife to confirm, the sync software that comes with it is totally unrequired. You can just plug the thing in out of the box and browse into it's folder structure through windows explorer.

Steev

Yeah, I got a Zen Vision M last year. It's the first MP3 player I've ever owned, and I'm quite happy with it. The only thing I dislike is podcast management, and my problem is pretty specific: the Creative-supplied Zencast reader program doesn't like Insomniac Games' podcast.

truck-a-sauras

Erandus, I think you missed my point. I know there is no extra software required for sync and browse.

On the flash based models just named the Creative Zen 4/8/16/32GB there is an SD card expansion slot. Load up the SD card with music and pop it into the unit. Now boot up the Zen and go to play your music. Everything on the SD card will not display in the music library as the SD data does not integrate with the main memory of the unit.

You can of course still use the SD card and play music off there, but you must browse to the SD and once there you can only play the SD content and not mix it with the main playlist. Also when using data on the SD card many features are disabled during playback.

and yes, they are great players, but if the OP is looking at those particular units I'd say it is something worth knowing. I was on the Creative forums a while back and they had many people clamoring to fix this feature as some other players such as the Cowon D2 can take all the SD content and integrate. People were thinking that these flash based players could replace their hard drive models by getting the 16GB player and then get a 8 or 16GB SD card. That would beef it up to be quite a great player and a potential alternative to HDD models. But with the problems listed above that never panned out.

Erandus

You are correct, I misunderstood your statement.

I guess SD cards havn't been an issue for me, since the one I got is 30 gig and I don't think we even have that much music.

falsedef

iRiver Clix Gen2

My 1st gen is nice, but the second gen has even better video and is silmmer. It's both UMS and MTP now, so dragging and dropping like a thumb drive or album management, plus subscription service.

It's better rated than comparable compact mp3 players

poshniallo

I have a Zen 8GB. You can drag-and-drop in windows, or just click 'add media' from their explorer software, select the folders/files and press 'Next'. Their own software is fine - you don't really sync it, it's just like a slightly jazzed-up version of windows explorer.

It's incredibly easy.

Rotting Meat

On the subject of Creative, I have the Vision:M, and while it doesn't require anything installed to work, it ONLY works on XP/Vista systems. Nothing prior, and definitely no mac. Just in case it matters to you. To alleviate this for file purposes you can set up part of the HDD as a universal USB device, but any music/video on this partition is not accessible to the Vision:M itself.

Doc

I recently realized that I don't listen to that huge of a variety of music while I'm on the go, so a 16gig limit didn't bother me too much.

DrFrylock

You may be able to give your iPod some more useful life by running Rockbox on it, if it's one of the supported players. Rockbox replaces (well, shoves aside) the original Apple firmware and lets you just browse the player as a directory tree. Plays MP3, Ogg, FLAC, and many other formats. Even WMA but the support is a little gimpy. Totally skinnable, plus you can play Tetris and DOOM on your iPod as well.

I have had it on my 80GB 5.5G iPod video since day 1. It is pretty awesome for me. I sync my iPod with rsync, xcopy, or just dragging and dropping files.

Downsides: depending on the model of iPod you have, it may not be supported, or some things might not work so well (e.g., if you have some kind of remote control). You also can't play DRMed AAC or WMA files, but some of us view that as an advantage.

Doc

The reason I'm replacing it is that:
A) I lost the charger.
The battery only lasts an hour these days anyway. It's an early-run 4th gen ipod, which means it's lasted 4 years. Not bad, I guess.

heretoinform

Actually, you don't need to convert any video on the Vision M... it plays pretty much all formats (mp4, xvid, avi, the works).

I've had the Creative Vision M for about a year now and I couldn't be happier. Simple interface, drag and drop uploading, and excellent screen/audio quality make it a must buy in my book.

PS I bought the 30 gig version for about 250 dollars. Since then, the price dropped to either 200 or 150 dollars (pretty sure its 150).

Willeth

DrFrylock wrote: »

You may be able to give your iPod some more useful life by running Rockbox on it, if it's one of the supported players. Rockbox replaces (well, shoves aside) the original Apple firmware and lets you just browse the player as a directory tree. Plays MP3, Ogg, FLAC, and many other formats. Even WMA but the support is a little gimpy. Totally skinnable, plus you can play Tetris and DOOM on your iPod as well.

I have had it on my 80GB 5.5G iPod video since day 1. It is pretty awesome for me. I sync my iPod with rsync, xcopy, or just dragging and dropping files.

Downsides: depending on the model of iPod you have, it may not be supported, or some things might not work so well (e.g., if you have some kind of remote control). You also can't play DRMed AAC or WMA files, but some of us view that as an advantage.

This.

Buy whatever player you want based on hardware and price, not the software it runs.
Then install Rockbox on it.
Profit, I guess.

I use it on my Gigabeat and it works a charm.