looking for a rockbox able mp3 player recommendation. h320/ipod video/or or ?

[bobhope]

I have read the supported players on the rockbox website.  I am having a hard time deciding if i should go with the IRIVER h320 or a simple 30gb ipod video, or if perhaps, for the same money, i might get an even better one on ebay ?

the IRIVER h320 from what i remember reading has a battery lifespan of 2 years.  I also dont know how long the hard drive in it will last.  battery life being so short is of concern to me.  i thought that if i perhaps got a 30gb ipod video that at the very least there would be more in terms of long term support of failed components.  i worry that in 2 years i wont be able to get a battery or hard drive for the h320.  

if anyone can recommend an even better rockbox player for the same price with simliar specs i would be glad to hear them too.  $170 is the amount of money i was hoping to spend.  amount of storage that would be ideal would be 20gb or more.  looking for a good rockbox player with a long life.  

someone mentioned the gigabeat f40 which is being sold as reburbished on ebay though i am unsure whether it would be better than either the h320 or the ipod video for what i'm looking for.  

thank you

[Chronon]

It depends on what you want out of your player.  If you don't care about recording then I think the Gigabeat Fx0 is a nice target.  It has the fastest core of any currently supported target.  It has enough buttons to play games, if that's your thing.  And it has USB support and pretty good battery life.

If you want to do recording then I would suggest the H3x0 or H1x0.  

Have you checked out these wiki pages?

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/BuyersGuide
http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/DeviceChart

[petur]

the IRIVER h320 from what i remember reading has a battery lifespan of 2 years.  I also dont know how long the hard drive in it will last.  battery life being so short is of concern to me.  i thought that if i perhaps got a 30gb ipod video that at the very least there would be more in terms of long term support of failed components.  i worry that in 2 years i wont be able to get a battery or hard drive for the h320.

All LiIon batteries have such a lifespan, so that does not influence which player to buy. But the fact that the h3x0 is already some time out of production probably is. For now, battery supply is still plenty.
On the HDD side, there is the possibility to mod it to use a CF card. It will prevent you from using the original firmware, but gives a unique upgrade path (just wait for those huge CF cards to come )

[Mad Cow]

If you don't care about recording or radio, the gigabeat is your best bet. It's really well supported and they go for really cheap on ebay these days.

[zajacattack]

From what I've heard and from my experience, the Gigabeat F/X and iRiver H10 are the best players out there now.

[Llorean]

There's three different supported iRiver players (technically one could say four, since there's the big and the small H10). Please, make some attempt to be more specific when giving advice.

[Davide-NYC]

Not to be too repetitive, but I would also vote Gigabeat-F if not recording and iriver-H1x0 if recording.  I see some *BRAND NEW* h1x0 players on eBay currently.

[AlexP]

Gigabeat F for just playback, H1x0 for all round packed full of features (especially recording, what with optical in/out, line in/out etc...)