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What would you buy?

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JimZipCode:
Bump.  It's been almost a year.  What would you get, if you were buying a player now?


* At least 16Gb capacity, preferably double that, or more
* Good sound qualtiy
* Rockbox support
I don't care about video, or games, or internet.  Just want to listen to my tunes.

Thanks,

Jim

TexasRockbox:
I'd find a good condition, used iPod Video 5.5g, 80GB, upgrade the drive to 240GB, upgrade the battery to 850mah.  Parts are plentiful so if the scroll wheel is worn, back panel scratched, etc., the iPod Video can be made to look like new.  It runs Rockbox very well.

It might not sound as good as the Cowon X5L but the iPod has worked for more than three years.  Or, see what happens with the developing iPod Classic port.

JimZipCode:

--- Quote from: TexasRockbox on January 26, 2011, 11:54:56 AM ---I'd find a good condition, used iPod Video 5.5g, 80GB, and...

--- End quote ---

Man, those things are going like hotcakes on eBay.  Seems to be a couple of auctions closing every day, used ones going for prices in the $100-105 neighborhood.  Plus refurbished "Buy it now" for $140.

TexasRockbox:
Yep, some people still prefer the 5.5g to the more recent iPod Classic:

Better sound, better scrollwheel sensitivity, able to use a full skin that covers the scroll wheel.  It's easily Rockbox-able and repair parts are plentiful.  Can be upgraded to 240GB easily (even the 30gb version with a new larger back).  Also, it's much easier to disassemble and repair while the Classic is closed up like a bank vault.

Check local pawn shops, I do see iPod 5.5g there fairly often amongst battle-worn Classics.  The sound is not as good (IMHO) as the Cowon X5.

For HDD, other popular vintage players would be the iRiver H1x0, H3x0 series and the previously mentioned Toshiba Gigabeats.

Don't have a Sansa Fuze or Clip but their owners seem to love them and no HDD to go bad.

JimZipCode:
Wow, the Sansa Clip+ is very impressive!

I normally wouldn't pay any attention to a "small" capacity flash player.  For me the point of a DAP is to be able to carry around a lot of music in a tidy package.  But my local Costco has a display of Clip+'s for $45.  I came home and checked it was a stable Rockbox target, and upgradeable with additional memory.  A couple days ago I was back in the store, and a Clip+ leaped into my cart.

This thing is unbelievable.  Teeny tiny little gizmo, about as big as 1-1/2 of my thumbs; super light-weight, it will easily clip to your shirt pocket or lapel.  The "clip" part of it feels very strong & sturdy: feels like there's a very high ratio of "grip power" to the weight of the player, so if you clipped it onto something it would stay very secure.  Easily Rockboxable with the Windows Installer: that would have gone even faster if I'd taken a few minutes to read the player's instructions first, and learned how to put it in MSC mode.

Tiny screen, of course.  The theme "H12" does a nice job of presenting the most relevant info, in a clean readable way.  Need to squint a little when scrolling thru menus – I'm 45, I guess that's a problem that's not going to get better. 

The sound quality seems excellent!  Shockingly good for such a little postage stamp.  At first listen, I'd say it's noticeably better than the 80GB iPod Video 5.5.  Haven't tried it with my Grado headphones yet, so maybe it will sound "small".  But have played it in the car, where it sounds pretty good.  And the earbuds that come with it seem pretty good too.

Controls are extremely intuitive, well-placed, easy to use.  I haven't found a one-click method of returning to the WPS from database browsing: that is the closest thing I have to a complaint.

8Gb on board.  Turns out that's a pretty sizable chunk of music: enough for everything that's in heavy rotation this week.  At that storage capacity, this would be a great player for taking to the gym, or wearing while commuting on the subway, or going on a ski trip.

But then you can drop ~$80 to add a 32Gb microSD card to it!  I will probably do that in a week or 3 – next paycheck, or the one after.  At 32-40Gb of music storage space, this suddenly becomes a very, very serious audio player.  This little thing that is only 2 or 3 times the size of the "power" button on my stereo receiver.

I am amazed.  Simply amazed.

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