Other jukeboxes with FOLDERS?

[starmanj]

I love my Archos, but fear it's on its last legs.  I have searched, but can't find another jukebox that simply lets you COPY YOUR MUSIC FOLDERS INTO IT and plays like the Archos!

The Ipod is the worst example-- it must "import" all your music into its proprietary database.  I just want to plug the USB in, drag and drop my music folders, delete the folders I don't want, etc.

What other jukeboxes work like the Archos?

Thanks!
Starmanj

[Xetrov]

pretty much any other moden mp3 player except the ipod, my friend just got an iaudio x5 and is very happy with it.

[nobby]

the iriver does.

[wrecker]

nobby, like your style. Simple, concise, to the point.

Buy iriver. Enjoy life. Never look back.

[starmanj]

Actually most other players don't behave as mass storage devices.  IPOD doesn't, Creative players don't-- but yes, it looks like Iriver does.

I think most don't because it prevents people from uploading and downloading to different computers.

Is Iriver the only other player that is a general-purpose XP recognized mass storage device?

[Xetrov]

thats not true, im pretty sure creative zen has a mass storage mode, i dont know any other big brand names other than iriver zen and iaudio that have it, except ofcourse, the archos

[nobby]

Iaudio X5 does too, as Xetrov said. Mass storage compatibility is quite sought after, so its likely to be mentioned in a review of the hardware, so check google for one before you commit.

the zen does not, i know that for a fact, having used one.

[kenshin]

The ability to act as a simple hdd was why I bought an iRiver. I only run Linux and have no intentions of running special software just to maintain my player. Nooooooo.

[starmanj]

I downloaded the Creative manuals, and no, they don't act as mass storage-- you have to partition a segment and use their software to backup data.

will check out the Iaudio though.

[rasher]

Actually most other players don't behave as mass storage devices.  IPOD doesn't

I'm quite sure that iPods are simply UMS devices. They just expect a different filesystem layout. Sure you can't just "drag & drop" like the OP said, but there is no driver-problem on other operating systems (again, I'm not 100%, but pretty sure).

[nobby]

they use fat32 when used with a windows pc, but you HAVE to use itunes to import music or the ipod won't know its there.

[kenshin]

they use fat32 when used with a windows pc, but you HAVE to use itunes to import music or the ipod won't know its there.

Not exactly. Yes, you do have to use iTunes (or gtkpod) but the filesystem is not necessarily FAT32. The older ones came in two flavors: one for use with Mac (HFS+) and one for use with Windows (FAT32). Newer ones come only as HFS+ with an HFS+ -> FAT32 translation layer built-in so Windows users never notice the difference. The problem with drag & drop is that the iPod firmware expects (and requires I believe) Apple's database or the player can't see anything.

[nobby]

you can still choose to reformat a 3g or 4g ipod to fat32 instead of using the translation layer.

[rasher]

they use fat32 when used with a windows pc, but you HAVE to use itunes to import music or the ipod won't know its there.

Yes, well, what I was responding to was someone saying that the ipods aren't UMS devices, which they are.

[nobby]

yeah, but the UMS is pointless except for storing backups, since the firmware can't play any music added using UMS.