Rockbox Player For Daughter - "Zune-Like"

[piscator]

Which Rockbox player (that can use FLAC files) is ergonomcally most "Zune-like"? 

I gave my daughters "Zunes" before learning about Rockbox.  Now that I've ripped all our music to FLAC, I'd like to get the whole family using one file format.

I read through the manuals and the Ipod targets appear to run FLAC and have the advantage of being 'hip' with 9 year olds. :-)  The H10 and Sansa also seem viable.

Any "Zune-like" Rockbox player (around 20gig) that can use FLAC would be an easy transition for my girls. 

I'm thrilled with my H340, but I'm 'brand new' to all this and don't know much about various DAPs.  Any suggestions for "Zune-like" targets would be appreciated.

As ever, my thanks the Rockbox developers -- I love the program!

Piscator

[isanggon]

How about refurbshied Gigabeat F ? I's more slim, faster, cheap than h300. And sound quality is great. If you don't use fm radio and recording, gigabeat f can be the best solution to you.

[Chronon]

The Gigabeat S was the starting point for the Zune, as I recall.  So far, the Gigabeat F40 has been one of my favorite DAPs and I can easily recommend it, provided you don't have a need for recording capabilities or an FM radio.

[piscator]

Isangon & Chonon,

Thanks for the suggestion!  By all accounts, the Gigabeat is a great player, but I think it's larger than my daughters' Zunes.  Recording and FM are not important, but the 'form factor' size might be.

My daughters' Zunes are flash drive models, which I should have remembered when I posted.  The girls are pretty careful but they're still young, so maybe staying with a flashdrive player should be a priority.

I'll have to figure out which of the Rockbox targets are flashdrives.  If anyone has a favorite flashdrive Ipod target, I'd appreciate knowing what that is.

Thanks again!  Piscator

[LambdaCalculus]

For a flash-based target, the Sansa e200 makes a nice choice.

This online store currently has some Sansas in stock for very cheap, which are Rockbox-ready:

http://www.froobi.com/SanDisk-Sansa-e270-6GB-MP3-Media-Player-w-FMVoice-Recorder-Factory-Recertified-Rockbox-Ready_p_0-32282.html

As a nice bonus, the Sansa's storage capacity can be expanded with microSD and microSDHC cards, giving you up to a (theoretical) 32GB extra of storage space.

[isanggon]

Than, I think, Refubished Sansa e200 v1 will be the best choice, too.

It's size is a little bigger than 2nd ipod nano, and very cheap. Rockbox runtime was 12~15 hour when I enabled all sound option with 10band EQ.
Sound quality is not bad except it's noise.

[Chronon]

Isangon & Chonon,
My daughters' Zunes are flash drive models, which I should have remembered when I posted.  The girls are pretty careful but they're still young, so maybe staying with a flashdrive player should be a priority.

I'll have to figure out which of the Rockbox targets are flashdrives.  If anyone has a favorite flashdrive Ipod target, I'd appreciate knowing what that is.

Thanks again!  Piscator

Ah. . .  I just assumed the HD version since I haven't really kept up with the Zune product line.  I bought a Sansa e250 for pretty cheap for my daughter a while back.  I agree that flash players for kids is a much better idea.  The Sansas or the iPod Nano are the supported flash-based Rockbox players at the moment.

[piscator]

Lambda, Isangnon, Chronon

Excellent!  I'll check the online store for a Sansa e250.  My daughters' Zunes are only 4gig so the opportunity for greater capacity is a big plus.  Since their musical taste is more Hannah Montana than Thelonius Monk, the larger drive will give Dad a chance to sneak in a few tunes ;-)

Thanks for the help!!

Piscator

[Llorean]

And the fact that they have a MicroSD slot means Dad can put all his music in a MicroSD card and just use it in whichever player is free.

[piscator]

Thanks Llorean!

The option to plug in additional memory is a great feature, 'for Dad's music' !

As I learn more about the various players, it gets ever more interesting!

For my own h340, I ordered a 120gig Samsung drive and adaptor.  That's plenty of memory for the CD collection I've ripped.  But then I got ambitious and started ripping my cassettes using 'Audacity' -- no way that's all going to fit!

I don't know the maximum capacity for MicroSD cards, but a Rockbox player with memory cards for different music genres, would be a 'neat' setup.

Thanks again for your advice!

Piscator

[GodEater]

I don't know the maximum capacity for MicroSD cards, but a Rockbox player with memory cards for different music genres, would be a 'neat' setup.

Currently the largest you can *buy* that Rockbox supports is a 16GB MicroSDHC card. In theory though, Rockbox will support up to 32GB cards - it's just that there are none available at the moment.

[LambdaCalculus]

I think we should mention one more thing: the Sansas have a transfer mode called MSC, which basically allows them to appear to your computer as a regular storage device. This makes it very easy to use the Sansa on any computer or operating system you wish.

(EDIT: Removed a blurb about MTP; turns out Rockbox doesn't see any songs transferred via MTP!)

[piscator]

Thanks Lambda and Gdigester!

16 gig is a whole lot more memory than my daughters have on their Zunes currently.  We'd probably all like to have 'terrabyte' flash drives, but I  think even smaller 'plug-in' cards are a nice feature. 

I'm going to buy a Sansa and try it out.  They're so reasonably priced compared to Ipods at my local store, that it's really a 'no lose' proposition.  I didn't know their were any player under $100 US. 

You folks made this real easy and 'saved me some change' as well!  Thanks much!

Piscator

[gevaerts]

Make sure you get a v1

[LambdaCalculus]

Which is why I mentioned Froobi, as they sell "Rockbox-ready" Sansas (i.e. v1's).