MP3 Player that doesn't suck? Drag and drop...

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Wildfire788

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 2, 2008
Messages
93
Hey all, I want to get a new MP3 player. I have a first-generation Halo edition Zune, I have also used a video iPod in the past. They are fine, but the Zune is a bit too bulky and they both made me install their retarded software on my computer to use them.

Here's what I'm looking for in an MP3 player:
-Drag and drop MP3's from my harddrive straight to the player. No itunes bs
-Ability to create playlists on-the-fly. "Quick-list" for when I want to mix certain songs from certain bands only
-Easy to navigate interface. It shouldn't play the songs as I scroll through them, only when I click the song I want
-Not bulky. I want to carry it in my pocket and not be annoyed by it
-Decent storage capacity. More than 1gb preferred
-Decent battery life. Rechargable preferred


It does not need to play videos but I won't mind if it can. Any suggestions?
 
I just bought my girlfriend a sony walkman, she loves it.... and i'm jealous now lol
 
Sony walkman comes to mind.. NWZ-A818, A816... or the newer ones, that's slimmer, wider with a bigger screen.. NWZ-A726, 728, 928, etc..(xx6 = 4gb, xx8 = 8gb.. 9xx series has built-in bluetooth.. 7xx does not)
Haven't used it myself, but it's pretty popular on audiophile forums, for being a no-bs DAP with one of the best sound qualities offered in a portable mp3 player. Drag and drop ... easy to navigate interface.. slim, good battery life, storage available from 2gb-16gb.. I'm not sure about playlist on-the-fly.
 
JamesL said:
Sony walkman comes to mind.. NWZ-A818, A816... or the newer ones, that's slimmer, wider with a bigger screen.. NWZ-A726, 728, 928, etc..(xx6 = 4gb, xx8 = 8gb.. 9xx series has built-in bluetooth.. 7xx does not)
Haven't used it myself, but it's pretty popular on audiophile forums, for being a no-bs DAP with one of the best sound qualities offered in a portable mp3 player. Drag and drop ... easy to navigate interface.. slim, good battery life, storage available from 2gb-16gb.. I'm not sure about playlist on-the-fly.
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About the battery life, (my g/f has a 4gb one forgot the model but its a slim one from last year) Its rediculous how long it lasts! You charge it from a dead no charge for 5mins and it lasts 2 hours, full charge and your lookin at 18+ hours easily of constant music. I forgot what the manual says it lasts but it lasts way longer than it stated. Also i must say that the sound quality is top notch deffinitally better than an ipod and the headplugs that come with it are very great quality as well no need to be replaced like ipod ones.
 
I'd look at Meizu mate, I have the M6 SL and its been brilliant, drag and drop, battery life etc all great
 
Every mp3 player I've ever used has been drag and drop, even though people online said they weren't :rolleyes:. For example, a ton of people in forums said the iRiver Clix wasn't drag and drop and you had to hack it blah blah blah... anyways, I bought it and drag and drop worked without a hitch and without even changing any settings lol. I find that people generally just don't know wtf they're doing.
 
COWON IAUDIO7 4-16gb

COWON D2 if you want bigger screen for video 2gb-8gb with expandable SD/SDHC cards to boot

I just grabbed a IAUDIO7 and its everythign i could ask for and superior sound quality to boot.
 
I love my Creative Zen 8gb. It's drag and drop and it does all the things you listed plus videos. If 1gb is good enough for you then you can get the cheapest model which is the 4gb at only $89. Whoa, while typing this I just found a 2gb model at $69. In my opinion I don't think that's enough.

My first one died on me because of static. I had it in my pocket and it turns off by itself. It did that alot and then it finally wouldn't turn back on. It would usually turn back on. I bought another only because I liked it so much. But I got the rubber skins with the clip on it so now that it is clipped on outside my pocket.

Because of the name you could confuse it with other Zen's.
This is it.
creative-zen_1.jpg
 
Sandisk sansio or whatever they are called. Cheap, good quality (I know) and drag n drop, no software.
 
PSP for the win...I traded out my Zune for a PSP and it was the best gadget upgrade I've possibly ever done.

Does everything the best MP3 players do + huge screen + drag n' drop + video whatever + games!
 
I have a Sansa Express, and if not for the dirt cheap price I got it for, I would've never picked it up in the first place. Far too much bullshit that the average user would probably never want to deal with, and it seems these issues happen across nearly all models (the Sansa Clip maybe being the only exception?)

-occasionally just bugs out and stops playing for 3 seconds or so
-sometimes hitting volume increase jacks it up to max and can't turn it back down for like 30 seconds
-has played a song other than the one requested, and attempts to return to the song list result in the unit shutting itself off
-major issues keeping its drivers working under Windows XP, have to reinstall practically weekly

Most of these can be fixed with a bit of work but it's far too much of a hassle IMO, especially when you want a no BS player. I haven't owned any of the Sony Walkmans, but they seem like a good choice; too bad I can't afford one right now :(
 
bigdogchris said:
Sandisk sansio or whatever they are called. Cheap, good quality (I know) and drag n drop, no software.
Click to expand...

I have a Sandisk Sansa e130 ... it's 512mb internal, but it has a slot for a 1G card. Uses 2 AAA batteries, has FM tuning. Nothing fancy, not podcasts, etc. But it is true drag and drop, no fancy software, accepts wma and mp3 - not sure what other formats. It's not large. Got this thing dead cheap on evilbay, says it's refurbished but it's been working like a champ for over a year - and I use it outside in all sorts of weather while gardening. Of course I did spring for a leather cover for it.
 
I'm still a fan of the ancient Creative Zen Touch (with the old firmware, touch for sure fucked my old one up and made it aggravating to use).

My ideal MP3 player is 20GB minimum, gets well over 20 hours of battery life (like my zen touch, I listened to it on the bus from berlin to London... 22 hours... get some sound-proof earbuds and turn the volume down, under 15 and the battery life skyrockets).

I had fumbling with batteries like AAs and stuff. I hate having to install bloatware to make it work, luckily I installed only Nomad Explorer for my Zen and I#m off to the races (again, screw plays for sure).

Anyone have any further reccomendations for newer MP3 players? I might want to upgrade the size sometime soon. Again, preferably a nice GREYSCALE bland interface that works well... either sorted by tags or by a directory structure (all my music is SORTED and TAGGED).
 
How about the Sandisk Sansa e250 (2GB) or e260 (4GB). We have 3 of them in our household and I've been pretty impressed with them. Easy to use menu, drag and drop, good battery life (rechargable) and inexpensive. If you don't mind buying recertified items, buy.com has the Sandisk Sansa e250 for $34.99. Use google checkout and you get $10 off, making it $24.99. The e260 is $56.99, use the google checkout for this too and make it $46.99.
 
Another vote for the Creative Zen.

I have the Vision:M now and am waiting until something larger than 32gb is offered before I upgrade.
 
ZENs have been around as long as iPods, or even longer, this is a very good brand for mp3 players. Rio was good, too but they went bust, RIP..
 
ShepsCrook said:
How about the Sandisk Sansa e250 (2GB) or e260 (4GB). We have 3 of them in our household and I've been pretty impressed with them. Easy to use menu, drag and drop, good battery life (rechargable) and inexpensive. If you don't mind buying recertified items, buy.com has the Sandisk Sansa e250 for $34.99. Use google checkout and you get $10 off, making it $24.99. The e260 is $56.99, use the google checkout for this too and make it $46.99.
Click to expand...

I've got one of these. My only complaint is that it takes a long time to start up.
 
iRiver-ihp-120 FTW! You won't find a finer sounding and easy to use mp3 player than this. Only trouble is, they haven't been made in a few years but you might be able to score on on the used market. It is true drag and drop, has about 16+ hrs of battery life and can direct encode mp3's on the fly from an analog or optical source. I've seen a few for sale at various places for around $200 or less so look around.
 
SanDisk Sansa Fuze!

It can sync with some media apps (Win Media, WinAmp, etc.), but you can also drag-and-drop MP3/WMA/WAV into the music folder (similar for video, too) and it'll be recognized properly as long as the ID3 tags are done well. FM radio is built-in, too.

The main limits I see to the Fuze are its format support and some parts of the UI. There's no AAC or H.264 support, so if you've been ripping CDs and DVDs using Apple-focused software (or simply like AAC more), you're out of luck. The UI issues are mainly the front screen -- why do I have to see three huge icons at a time instead of a comprehensive list? -- and the relative "ugliness" of the presentation. It's fast, but others know how to do this more effectively.
 
derek533 said:
iRiver-ihp-120 FTW! You won't find a finer sounding and easy to use mp3 player than this. Only trouble is, they haven't been made in a few years but you might be able to score on on the used market. It is true drag and drop, has about 16+ hrs of battery life and can direct encode mp3's on the fly from an analog or optical source. I've seen a few for sale at various places for around $200 or less so look around.
Click to expand...

TechHead said:
^I have an h140. Love it to pieces.
Best of luck finding one today though :(
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X3 - I have the ihp-120 and it is excellent. Add Rockbox firmware on top and you get the ability to create playlists on the fly and more advanced features on top of the default firmware.

But I bought mine when I was still in college, about 3-4 years back, and iRiver has moved on since then to making newer players, so it's ebay/used if you want one.
 
Excepting for the i-tunes part, which I dont have anoy me all that much, I would recomend the i-pod touch. I really like mine.
 
Instead of creating a new thread I'll just kick this one up...

I just picked up a Sansa Clip 2GB and love it. The audio was way better than I thought it would be even on the crappy stock earbuds (which I immediately pitched after testing the player). Its not 'incredible' but it certainly great for its price, imo. Synced up with WMP out of the box, also is explorer accessible for no software drag and drop. The gui is sorta no nonsense, its got basic play list features (I personally load all my songs and just let it go on shuffle, so I don't use the playlist features much). The clip is replaceable if you break it off. The only thing I wish it had was support for Vorbis.
 
Aurelius said:
SanDisk Sansa Fuze!

It can sync with some media apps (Win Media, WinAmp, etc.), but you can also drag-and-drop MP3/WMA/WAV into the music folder (similar for video, too) and it'll be recognized properly as long as the ID3 tags are done well. FM radio is built-in, too.

The main limits I see to the Fuze are its format support and some parts of the UI. There's no AAC or H.264 support, so if you've been ripping CDs and DVDs using Apple-focused software (or simply like AAC more), you're out of luck. The UI issues are mainly the front screen -- why do I have to see three huge icons at a time instead of a comprehensive list? -- and the relative "ugliness" of the presentation. It's fast, but others know how to do this more effectively.
Click to expand...

+1

I have the 8gb blue Sansa Fuze, bought a bundle pack for it on ebay for only $25, shipping is about $5. I then bought a 8gb MicroSDHC for it. I love this mp3, I use the Sansa Media converter. Takes a long time to convert movies but its okay since I do it overnight. I put all my songs on the sansa's memory while all of the movies go on the micro SDHC. Invest about ~~$75 on add ons and it rocks. For about $200 you can have a 16gb mp3, with an accessory bundle pack and it has a better feeling than an ipod.


Accesory pack from ebay, it rocks trust me.
http://cgi.ebay.com/All-Accessory-Bundle-for-Sandisk-Sansa-Fuze-2GB-4GB-8GB_W0QQitemZ110267184842QQihZ001QQcategoryZ86531QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


the 8gb Microsdhc i purchased:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211270&Tpk=A-data%2b8gb%2bmicrosdhc

and the mp3:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8753725&st=sansa+fuze&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1202649765447


All that for about $200, Great deal, also you can keep the mp3 and just keep expanding the microsd card because I am sure they will release a 16gb model soon maybe 32gb!
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I stand corrected, btw. The Sansa Clip does support Vorbis after a firmware update.
 
devman said:
Instead of creating a new thread I'll just kick this one up...

I just picked up a Sansa Clip 2GB and love it. The audio was way better than I thought it would be even on the crappy stock earbuds (which I immediately pitched after testing the player). Its not 'incredible' but it certainly great for its price, imo. Synced up with WMP out of the box, also is explorer accessible for no software drag and drop. The gui is sorta no nonsense, its got basic play list features (I personally load all my songs and just let it go on shuffle, so I don't use the playlist features much). The clip is replaceable if you break it off. The only thing I wish it had was support for Vorbis.
Click to expand...

+1 for this player. My Sansa and I just got back from a 6 mile run. The clip is great, the 2 GB storage is plenty, and it's easy to use. Sound quality is also good, although that's not a primary concern when I'm running. I got it for $42 from Amazon, so I'm certainly not going to complain.
 
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