Portable MP3 & Multimedia Players

[Imagist]

So my iAudio X5L fell four feet to concrete and now plays scratches and static rather than music. I'm looking into getting it repaired (it seems the hard drive is intact, just the output that's messed up), but I may rather just buck up and shell out for a new player.

I could just purchase a new 30GB X5L for about $250 right now on Amazon, but the model was old when I bought it a year ago and I'm wondering if there aren't newer, better options out there. That said, I'm looking for recommendations and advice. Yes, it's another one of these threads.

As far as what I'm looking for, the big pluses about the X5L for me were the superb battery life (it was advertised for 35 hours, but I never really saw more than 30, probably because it was a refurbished rather than new unit; regardless, 20+ is still fine by me), the broad range file format compatibility (.ogg and .flac in particular, although certain files of the latter were buggy), the recording options (both built-in microphone and line-in), and the really excellent sound quality with plenty of equalizing and balancing options (which is kind of a given when you've got something made by audiophile Koreans). So something with most or all of those is what I'm aiming for.

Other features, like the file tree system where music is sorted by directories rather than artist>album>song given in ID3 tags (which is moot for me because I have all my files sorted into directories with that exact structure anyway), the FM tuner (which I used once, just because I could, but might use when I'm off to college where I hear the radio stations play much better songs), and the customizable wallpaper from stored pictures, were also handy but not necessary. The file tree system, however, was good because I only had to open the player from My Computer and copy/paste My Music to the player's own music directory, without any cumbersome syncing software.

As far as size, I have a 20GB unit and find it to be plenty of space. The most I ever used was 16GB, and that was when I was converting Red vs. Blue videos to test video playback, which would have been much nicer if I had anything worthwhile to play. However, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be spending much of my summer expanding my music collection, so something more like 30GB (which seems to be more standard in large HDD players now anyway) would be good.

I was looking into an iPod, partially because of the sheer amount of accessories and support out there, and partially because as much as I hate iTunes, I could see myself downloading a decent amount of videos from the iTunes store to help fill up a 30GB iPod if I had one. I'm just not sure I want to go down that route, because it seems to really lack a lot of versatility and functionality, and if I didn't do that then I probably wouldn't have much need for video playback because I don't have any videos right now that I could see myself watching on the go.

Well, I appreciate any helpful suggestions, but I also figure I'd open this thread up to any discussion of music and media players in general--what's good, what's not so good, bad experiences, etc. If this thread finds a life of its own, so be it.

[EdgeCrusher]

I've had my 80 gig ipod 5.5 for months now and haven't had any problems other than it freezing up twice.

[Effector]

I got a Creative Zen Touch, hell, three, maybe four Christmases ago and it really changed my perspective. I live by that MP3 player still, despite it being features) they put out now, but I love Creative's reliability and interface, which is thousands of times better than the scrollwheel on the ipod.

I don't know much about the iAudios, but I can't root for Creative enough. Solid products, all the way around.

[Imagist]

With the iPod--when it freezes, it's easy to reset, right? It's usually just a temporary nuisance?

As far as Creative, I've always thought the players were high-quality but in the past they've always been more expensive than competing players (iPod in particular). It's definitely something to look at, though, as the Vision:M is only $220 at Amazon right now. The only really negative thing I've heard about it is the sound quality--supposedly the bass defaults to something awfully low, even though everything else is loud and clear.

Has anyone heard of a trade-in option at Best Buy? I've heard of friends trading in their old players for credit toward new/upgraded units, but I don't know if this requires a purchase receipt or warranty from Best Buy, or if damaged units are accepted, or what. I know someone who turned in an old Rio player and covered the difference for a newer model a couple years ago, but I'll have to ask him one of the upcoming days what the details of that were. Anyone know anything about this?

[Mouser X]

Personally, I would strongly suggest you check out http://www.rockbox.org, and buy a player that Rockbox will run on. Rockbox will run on the iPod 5.5G (but not the 80 GB model), but the run-time is nearly halved. Of the players that Rockbox will run on, I'd suggest the Gigabeat. As of yet, I've *never* used any software that the Gigabeat came with, and I've never even used the original operating system... Also, battery life on the Gigabeat, running Rockbox, is at least 15 hours, usually more (though, 20 hours is not common, but not unheard of either).

Anyway, if you get something that Rockbox runs on, it would add video support, a directory tree file structure, and the ability to play more audio formats than you're likely to use (excluding WMV. Essentially, WMV support isn't implemented, because it requires someone with the know-how to do it. And, those with the know-how are smart enough to not use WMV...). MP3, OGG, FLAC, MPC, ADX (a video game format), SPC (SNES audio), SID (Commadore 64 audio), NSF (Nintendo audio), and more is natively supported in Rockbox.

If that's not enough, you can play DOOM and Gameboy games as well. Please note that I only bring that up to show the functionality of Rockbox. I don't play DOOM (I don't like FPS games) and I rarely play Gameboy games, because I'm usually listening to my music. However, the option is there, if you want it.

At the very least, you should check Rockbox out. I can't say for sure what player I'd recommend, but if it can run Rockbox, then I'd say you're good to go. Hopefully, you find this helpful in some way. Mouser X out.

[atmuh]

The big problem I have with rockbox is that it eats battery life BAD (I have a 30 gig ipod video thingy) and it freezes and is generally slower than apple's default firmware. Basically now I just boot into it if I feel like playing some nsfs, the games are boring and spcs freeze it. ipods are really easy to reset when they freeze in apple's firmware (hold menu and ok for a few seconds) and I generally love the ipod and all of its features.

I also have a 30 gig zune (shut up I got it for free) and it SUCKS. The synchronization software always freezes midway forcing you to synchronize two or maybe three times to get everything you want on there. The lack of a scroll wheel may not sound like much but it is a BIG difference (scroll wheels are just so nice). So I'd advise to STAY AWAY from the zune, and because of personal happiness with ipods I'd say go with it.

Oh and my friend has done Best Buy's thing and he traded in his 3rd gen ipod for the 30 gig video. Basically you pay $30 and if a new one comes out or it breaks you get yourself a new one.

[Mouser X]

The big problem I have with rockbox is that it eats battery life BAD (I have a 30 gig ipod video thingy) and it freezes and is generally slower than apple's default firmware.

I did mention that it nearly cuts the battery life in half, on iPods. This is because they're working on the iPod, without proper documentation. In other words, to some degree, it's a guess and check deal. "Let's see how this turns out. Hmmm. Nope, that's not it..." As they experiment more, and learn more about the hardware, the battery life, and stability will increase.

As for the freezing, that shouldn't be happening, from what I've heard in #rockbox (on freenode). You should probably bring up these issues on their forums. HCS (the guy who made 64th Note [it plays N64 rips], if you didn't know) ported the SPC portion of Blargg's Game Music Emu to Rockbox, and tested it on his iPod to ensure that it was stable, and ran full speed. If you're experiencing freezes on SPCs, then I'd definitely suggest you mention the problem. You can contact HCS on his forums, or on #usf (which is also on freenode).

I can understand your issue with battery life. It's why I went with the Gigabeat over the iPod (well, one of the big ones anyway). Excluding that one, Rockbox should be just fine on the iPod. Hopefully you can let them know, and the issue can be resolved. It might be as simple as updating your Rockbox bootloader.

Anyway, sorry to hear the issues you've been having. If you're willing, I'm sure they can be fixed. Even so, Rockbox is amazing, at least for the Gigabeat. Back to the topic, I don't know how good other players are though. You can always check #rockbox, or the rockbox site, or their forums, to find out what player they suggest, and what might be right for you, Imagery. Mouser X out.

[Imagist]

Well, hell, if I had known Rockbox ran on the iAudio X5 series I'd have been running it with this X5L all along. If I can't fix it maybe I ought to consider just going for a new 30GB X5L... We'll see. My dad claims that as long as the hard drive is still good and the actual sound chip isn't broken then he should be able to repair the output mechanism.

[Black Mage]

Hey Mouser! There's a name I haven't seen in a while!

[DrumUltimA]

i got a nifty hard case for my ipod this christmas, which was nice when it feel out of my pocket down 3 stories of spiral staircase. It still works fine

[Imagist]

Oh and my friend has done Best Buy's thing and he traded in his 3rd gen ipod for the 30 gig video. Basically you pay $30 and if a new one comes out or it breaks you get yourself a new one.

So you do have to purchase it from Best Buy with a warranty? Rats.