best mp3 player under $100?

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SamuraiInBlack

Supreme [H]ardness
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going on a trip and i'd like an mp3 player that will survive a 4-5 hour car ride. however now is not the time to splurge or else this thread would be titled differently.

must haves:
not an ipod (dont try to convince me on one. if I wanted one, this thread wouldnt exist)
backlit screen (dont care how as long as I can see it in the dark)
8gb minimum capacity or expansion slot
minimum 4-5 hour battery life during use

optional:
playlist/album support/ability to make playlists

DO NOT WANT:
painful to use proprietary software (i don't mind it if it works and isn't hell to work with)
an ipod (sometimes it needs to be worded differently)

this will be hooked up via cassette adapter as the cd player in my headunit is dead, but I need an mp3 player for the gym and yardwork anyay.

suggest away!
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
I suggest you check on anythingbutipod.com, has a good sorting thing. Here is what it dragged up:

Samsung YP-Q2:
Cost: $100 Screen Size: 2.4"
Capacities: 8GB Resolution: 320x240
Memory: Flash Battery: 50.0 hrs / 4.0 hrs
Colors: Black, White Audio: MP3, WMA, FLAC, OGG

Archos 2 Vision:
Cost: $79 Screen Size: 2"
Capacities: 8GB Resolution: 176x200
Memory: Flash Battery: 10.0 hrs / 4.0 hrs
Colors: Grey Audio: MP3, WMA, FLAC, WAV, APE

Archos 3 Vision:
Cost: $100 Screen Size: 3"
Capacities: 8GB Resolution: 400x240
Memory: Flash Battery: 14.0 hrs / 4.0 hrs
Colors: Brown, Red Audio: MP3, WMA, FLAC, OGG, WAV

Phillips GoGear ViBE:
Cost: $90 Screen Size: 1.5"
Capacities: 8GB Resolution: 128x128
Memory: Flash Battery: 25.0 hrs / 4.0 hrs
Colors: Black, Red, Blue, Pink Audio: MP3, WMA

SanDisk Sansa Clip+:
Cost: $70 / $70 Screen Size: 1"
Capacities: 8GB / 8GB Resolution: N/A
Memory: Flash Battery: 15.0 hrs / N/A
Colors: Black, Maroon, Blue Audio: MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WAV, Audible, WMA Lossless

Sony Walkman E340:
Cost: $80 Screen Size: 2"
Capacities: 8GB Resolution: 240x320
Memory: Flash Battery: 30.0 hrs / 4.0 hrs
Colors: Black Audio: MP3, WMA, AAC
*warning: transfer protocol is mtp only, shouldn't matter to much if you are using windows though

SanDisk Sansa Fuze:
Cost: $100 Screen Size: 1.9"
Capacities: 8GB Resolution: 220x176
Memory: Flash Battery: 24.0 hrs / 5.0 hrs
Colors: Black, Red, Silver, Blue, Pink Audio: MP3, WMA, FLAC, OGG, WAV, Audible

SanDisk Sansa Clip:
Cost: $100 Screen Size: 1"
Capacities: 8GB Resolution: 128x64
Memory: Flash Battery: 15.0 hrs / N/A
Colors: Black, Pink, Blue, Red, Silver Audio: MP3, WMA, FLAC, OGG, WAV, Audible

Everything but the walkman e340 is using mtp or msc(based on OS or your choice), or just msc.
 
I was sold on the Sandisk Sansa Fuze.

Picked up a refurb 16 gig at Micro Center for $69.99, about 75 after tax. (YMMV, for those interested.) Felt I'd only be shooting myself in the foot to get a brand new 8 gig for 60 bucks when I could have double the capacity for only ten bucks more.

So far I'm loving it. Easy to use interface, sound quality is fairly good, and it fits in the pocket pretty well.

Gotta do some last minute errands for said trip so I will try it out in the car when I do so.

Down the road I know what budget be damned mp3 player I want, so when the time comes, that thing is mine. Till then, I shall use this!
 
SamuraiInBlack said:
I was sold on the Sandisk Sansa Fuze.

Picked up a refurb 16 gig at Micro Center for $69.99, about 75 after tax. (YMMV, for those interested.) Felt I'd only be shooting myself in the foot to get a brand new 8 gig for 60 bucks when I could have double the capacity for only ten bucks more.

So far I'm loving it. Easy to use interface, sound quality is fairly good, and it fits in the pocket pretty well.

Gotta do some last minute errands for said trip so I will try it out in the car when I do so.

Down the road I know what budget be damned mp3 player I want, so when the time comes, that thing is mine. Till then, I shall use this!
Click to expand...
Let us know how it holds up, I was thinking about getting one but I have heard they don't last long, there are tons of refurbs all over the net.
 
well it survived a 4 hour ride, including getting thrown out of the cupholder. lol
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
I use the Creative Zen X-Fi 8 GB, Creative Zen X-Fi Style 16 GB, and Creative Zen X-Fi 2 32 GB. I love all 3 of them.

X-Fi - goes up to 32 GB in size. SD slot. Drag/drop capable. Some models have wireless. Has internal speaker. Non-touch backlit screen. Supports playlists and create playlist on the player. EQ functions, Loud Boost (aka bass boost), and the X-Fi crystalliser (mimics surround and like a treble boost).

X-Fi Style - same as X-Fi, but no SD slot, no wireless. A little bit smaller.

X-Fi 2 - goes up to 64 GB in size. Micro SD slot. Drag/Drop capable. Has internal speaker. Backlit touchscreen. Supports playlists and create playlists on the player. EQ functions, Loud Boost (aka bass boost), and the X-Fi crystalliser (mimics surround and like a treble boost).

The X-Fi and X-Fi Style can be had for $100 or less for the 16 GB models. Cheaper if you go with the 8 GB models. The X-Fi 2 is under $120 for the 8 GB model.

I wanted something that sounded better than an iPod or Zune. Needless to say, the X-Fi/X-Fi 2 have fit the bill. The X-Fi 2 does sound better than the X-Fi though.
 
sansa clip+ without a doubt.
small, extremely portable, has a clip!
so it's perfect for the gym or yardwork
get the 8gb version, it's the largest they make, and it have a microsd card so you can expand it by 16gb or even 32gb.
i take mine running all the time, it's great.
 
+ for sansa
my fiance loves the sansa clip, works just like a usb drive, no dumbass software, OMG drag and drop!
i used to use a clip also b/c well imo the clip is the best workout mp3 player.
1. when you work out you want a solid player
2. when you work out you usually wear shorts so you can have anything big jostling around hitting stuff!
3. sometimes shorts don't even have pockets! (at least for the ladies i know this is true cuz everytime we goto the gym she's like here, take my keys! i have no pockets)
4. you can clip this thing on anything!
5. i think it sounds better than ipod/iphone

but i'm too lazy to charge so many devices so i just put my music on my big heavy droid w/ an uncomfortable armband.
 
cowon iaudio 7.. if i remember is rated one of the best sound for mp3.
you should check around the headfi
people post a lot of these
 
Just got a sansa clip+ that I use when going to the gym. I had the normal sansa clip in the past and loved it. The size and ease of use is the major selling points for me, doesn't get in the way and easy to navigate through songs. Only thing that i noticed sucked about the clip+ was the battery life was very short but even so its a great bargain.
 
I love the Cowon D2 (now D2+) but I think it's over $100. I've used mine basically every workday for hours (commute) and it's still going strong on the original battery after three years on the road. I've been thinking about picking another up just in case they're not produced any more, to have as a backup for when mine eventually dies :-o

I have an iphone too, sounds like absolute SHIT in comparison. Not to mention featureslessness....
 
I'm necro'ing this thread to bring up an issue I'm having:

It supports playlists synced via Windows Media Player, but its very sketchy. Sometimes they load, sometimes they don't, when music is already present on the player. This is very annoying. I've tried removing the playlists and reloading them via WMP, but this doesn't always work. the only thing that seems to work is formatting the whole thing and then starting over.

A bit of googling shows that this mp3 player supposedly wasn't supposed to be able to do playlists, and there's some kind of text file hack posted on their support page to make it work.

Nuts to that. I'm just going to deal with it as is. It seems to work so I'll keep running with it till it doesn't.
 
The Sansa Clip+ I think 4gb is the smallest and you can ugprade it by adding up to a 32gb mini sd ? its niceeeeee ~ can do everything you said and it has 2-3x more battery life then your minimum. I dunno I charge it once every.. 2-3 weeks?

When my 3rd ipod shuffle died, I went to research the new shuffle and I was horrified by the built in controls to their headphones. I went further into research and the Sansa Clip+ fulfilled all my requirements and more. I don't think I can ever go back.

Some Sansa owners use : winamp, others use mediamonkey, and others use wmp to handle their lists.

There are 2 ways to add songs to your sansa, I'll let you look it up. ;)

Sansa Clip+ ftw.

SamuraiInBlack said:
going on a trip and i'd like an mp3 player that will survive a 4-5 hour car ride. however now is not the time to splurge or else this thread would be titled differently.

must haves:
not an ipod (dont try to convince me on one. if I wanted one, this thread wouldnt exist)
backlit screen (dont care how as long as I can see it in the dark)
8gb minimum capacity or expansion slot
minimum 4-5 hour battery life during use

optional:
playlist/album support/ability to make playlists

DO NOT WANT:
painful to use proprietary software (i don't mind it if it works and isn't hell to work with)
an ipod (sometimes it needs to be worded differently)

this will be hooked up via cassette adapter as the cd player in my headunit is dead, but I need an mp3 player for the gym and yardwork anyay.

suggest away!
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
Click to expand...
 
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