What's a good mp3 player?

I'm looking for an mp3 player with the following criteria...

- must be an mp3 player (duh)
- should be able to play videos/movies, as well as photos
- fm tuner
- should have a metal back (or aluminum as Ipods do) to prevent scratching and breaking
- 8GB - 16GB or over
- should be small, compact, and aesthetically appealing

What would be a good option? Price doesn't really .. concern me. Of course, I'd like something reliable...

 

Check out the Sandisk Sansa line.

 

^^ I second that recommendation.

 

Check out the Cowon D2. It fits all your criteria except for being metal, but I've dropped mine several times with no damage at all.

My favorite things about it:
SDHC slot, so that means you have unlimited storage potential.
Touchscreen, the ladies love it.
Many formats supported
Awesome audio quality
Great community over at iAudiophile.net

 

sandisk sansas are great and a lot cheaper than the cowons but both are great options. i suggest you go somewhere where they have both and compare them. the cowon of course has a bigger screen but not sure about videos. although i have to say the sansa dont exactly play videos very well.

 

Zune lol.

Oh and maybe iPod.

Also, check woot.com regularly - they have deals on Sansa every once in a while.

 

I keep recommending the Samsung P2. No one knows what it is, but I'll keep recommending it.

 

I would recommend the Ipod, but you have to buy the FM tuner separate. That said, I don't miss that feature at all on my Ipod.

 

another ipod vote, maybe even a zune.

 

I know what it is

 

I know what it is, but isn't it kind of overpriced for what it is?

 

Its one of those "mp3 players", isn't it?

 

The Samsung P2 is good. As is Cowon D2.

 

I third the COWON D2. Great soudn quality.

Although, if you don't mind the size and price, the COWON Q5W is one heck of an MP3 player (well, PMP). I have one and I love it (though mine was factory defective, but it's on the way to being repaired, and service was relatively fast). 5" screen, WiFi, Bluetooth. It's just very big, and very heavy. I personally can still fit it in my pocket though. I'd say it's a bit bigger than a Nintendo DS. But there's so much metal on there, that it weighs nearly 1 pound. And it costs $500. But it's like, close to a UMPC, but not quite. It does run Windows CE 5.0 though, and uses an RMI Alchemy Processor at 600MHz.

 

Well, I got mine for $18 (don't ask, completely legit, no you can't get one for $18), so not for me.

 

Right now I'd go with the Cowon D2, or the Samsung P2. Although the new iRiver W7 looks nice too, along with MPIO's new player, but I'm not sure if it will be making it to the usa.

Considering what you want, I'd go with the Cowon D2, get it from www.jetmall.net with the leather case and you shouldn't have to worry about it getting hurt from dropping it. Cowon has much better sound quality than most other mp3 players. Its also got the best battery life out of all the players in its class, with the correct firmware you can do flash UI's, a dictionary, and scientific calculator. It can also view .txt files, which is useful IMO. It also has SDHC as mentioned in a previous post.

Sansa doesn't have good sound quality except for the Clip, which doesn't do video. At the same time their players that do have video.. they don't do it nearly as good as the Cowon D2 or the new Zen from Creative.

The new Zen would be a nice player, if only the SDHC was integrated properly, as of now though, I'd avoid it(I already have one and I'm not impressed with it). The only thing that the zen has above the other players in its class is its screen, which is actually really impressive.

The Zen and D2 can only support video res of 320x240, But I think the P2 can support slightly larger than that(Not sure, I don't own one of them).

 

Samsung P2? I try to avoid Samsungs because for some reason I never got a good Samsung product lol. But I'd rather go for the Sony NWZ-A820 - I like the interface better. Dragon Drop™ (I mean, drag and drop) ftw. .

 

I was gonna recommend that... But it's only gonna be avilable in 8GB and smaller, at least when released.

There's also Toshiba Gigabeat T400, but they are smaller than that (4GB).

 

I third the recommendation of the SanDisk Sansa line. The sansa e280 with 8 gbs is currently available for about 80 bucks on Amazon (for a new unit). Moreover, this mp3 player features an expandable memory card socket, so you can plug in a microsdhc card and get another 4gb added on (or more, as prices become cheaper)

 

Theres so much choice these days. Everytime I've thought about buying one, i've given up due to not having a clue!

I do like the look of the Sony's though. And I refuse to buy an Ipod as I will not use itunes.

 

I recomend a Cowon, especially if you're into sound quality. Cowons have neat stuff like JetBass, BBE, and play FLAC and OGG

 

There are alternatives to iTunes these days . Like Anapod Explorer .

 

i also recommend sandisk sansa. the e280 will be great . ive had one for a few months.

 

Ipod touch,doesnt have FM,but does have internet and downloads songs through wifi

 

Cowon has the best sound quality if that's what you looking for, plus its touch screen and high power output.
I am currently using iphone tho

 

Zen Vision W.

I still have the 30GB Zen Vision and it's awesome.

 

Zune. I went from Zen Vision:M to Zune. Very sleek look... good sound. VERY nice large 3.5" widescreen (not the tiny little Ipod screen). However, the Zune software is TERRIBLE. You think iTunes is bad? Zune software is atrocious. Unfortunately, it's a monopoly... you are forced to use it for transfers, etc.

My girlfriend has the Sony NWZ-A### 8GB model... it's awesome. Totally blows away the "nano". Sound quality is superb (best I've heard in an mp3 player), and tons of useful features. Very small, and very sleek. I'd recommend either the Zune (for large storage), or the Sony (for less).

 

Sony's usually do really well with sound quality, just as long as it doesn't have sonic stage, because thats the most worthless peice of software on earth(Ok, maybe its on par with itunes). Don't let the touch screen on the Cowon D2 scare you, I pulled mine out of the box and was VERY VERY impressed with how well it worked. It also seemed like I had been using it for days the first time I ever touched it, it just flowed for me, very easy to use.

 

Sony's don't use sonic stage anymore. Now they're drag and drop-

 

Yeah, but they haven't released any MP3 only players, at least not in the USA. And I haven't been able to get ahold of one of their current players. I just know that their old ones that used sonic stage sounded really good.

 

Sony S610, S700, S710, A720, A810, A820 all use MTP.

 

I found its not that bad on my laptop, om my age old desktop though....it's a different story.
I get faster transfers on my Zune then on my iPod, plus if you do some googling, you'd find this..
Yes, the zunes are great now. I recomend staying on top of the firmware version though if you go the Zune route.

 

Be careful though! Zunes will NOT work with the older XP MCE without MAJOR work. My friend found out the hard way.

 

I'm a Mac whore and love my iPod Video.