If and when I get an mp3 player I am going to steer clear from the ipod…i dont want to have to go through itunes.
I’ve got an iRiver H10 6GB. Sounds better than my daughters iPod mini, has a removable battery pack and has more features too. Used it a couple times to record meetings, nice to be able to send an MP3 of a meeting to someone who wasnt there. Picked it up at Best Buy as an open box, but in perfect/new condition, $121 
I’ve always avoided iTunes myself… but allowing Apple to know how many thousands of dollars of illegal music, movies, software and whatnot I’ve stolen over the years is a fair sacrifice for the iPod. I love mine…
The only ripoff is accessories… unless I want to buy from some crazy nut in Hong Kong and probably never get my merch.
30g ipod vidy
Here’s a photo of mine (actually mine, not a company photo):
How would anybody know where your music came from, unless it had some kind of indication inside the files? Can Apple actually see what’s in your iTunes library, beyond what you purchased from their store?
128M of musical goodness, all for $37 at Walmart. That’s less than my last mp3 cdplayer and this doesn’t skip 
Also works with Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux (running with a 2.6.x kernel). Plus, it has an FM transmitter builtin… which I haven’t tried, as the fm reciever in my car is fuxored (bt it’s cool, I have an auxiliary jack for my mp3 player that plugs into the stereo :)) Best of all, if it gets stolen or breaks in a muni incident, I’m not out $200
Some iPods have been known to skip when there has been excessive shaking, like when worn on the arm while joggin, but that may only affect 1st and maybe 2nd generation iPods…
But what I really want is an iSophagus
I am a bit hung-up on the gapless playback problems but that’s only because it is preventing me from buying a fancy MP3 jukebox multi-gigabyte thingymabob player.
My other hang-up is non-standard batteries that cannot be replaced. But things are improving in that area and more players are using standard batteries (at least for the flash players).
I’ve been hearing that one, too. Filed it away along with nonreplaceable batteries and the one about how Ipods only accept stuff downloaded from the Itunes store.
Hey, you know why my Ipod is beteter than all the other ipods and mp3 players out there?
Because I have Defect and Universe2 on mine… AHA!
That’s not exactly an easy battery replacement procedure. Did you see the instruction video? It requires special tools and due care with plenty of cautions. If it was easy they wouldn’t need to offer a $39 service where they’ll replace the battery for you.
A better designed MP3 player would have an easier battery replacement procedure and a more standard battery type, like for example battery replacement instructions for this Archos. Wow, that looks easy. Even a blond could handle that.
The VR3 uses a single AAA… As for movies, it doesn’t play those… I use my Palm TungstenE for that
I have a packard bell funkey
I finally got my iPod nano (black 2GB) on sat. and received this nice clear case from contour today! (http://www.contourcase.com/ the Isee) It is so much better than my shuffle (obviously) since you can do a lot much more. I’m going on a ski retreat this next weekend so I’m going to be using it a lot. I’ll post a picture or two tomorrow.
Any one want to buy an iPod shuffle now?
what, in everyones opinion, is the best non apple brand mp3 player?
I have/had a 4GB iPod mini, and it was really nice and all, but then it decided to break itself. first the battery pooped out, and I found out that it costs $50 to get Apple to replace it, so I bought a new battery and took it apart and replaced it myself. it worked. now it doesn’t work again, it simply doesn’t turn on. I voided the warranty when I took it apart, but thats fine with me, because I would never, ever, ever give any money to Apple ever again, they’re the worst company I have ever done business with.
anyhoo…I’ve heard the iRiver is good. anything else?
the dell might be good but i dont know it seems quite a few people have it
The SanDisk MP3 players look good. Especially the two new models that are due around the end of March. I’ve only briefly dabbled with them at the store so I don’t really know if the interface is good. The two new models have a new interface anyways so won’t really be comparable with the old ones.
Most of the SanDisk players use AAA batteries and you can use rechargeables. Easy user battery replacement and you can always carry spare batteries with you. The others use Lithium Ion batteries that are user replaceable.
I’m going to have to have a look at the SanDisk e200 when it is available. I very much doubt it will do gapless playback, but being a flash based device it would be good for taking music with me when I go out and am active.
Dah 1500i This thing rules. I have one
dude…its cube shaped?
thats cool, but doesn’t seem like it’d be very practical…
it doesn’t seem so, but it works great