ClipZip alternative

[Octopuss]

I RMA'ed my ClipZip and was refunded the money. I was thinking, since this player is still not fully supported, how about getting something else?
Can you recommend me a good alternative to ClipZip then? Preferrably something of similar size (but can be slightly bigger) with non-idiotic control (I don't mean ClipZip's controls are bad, but not every player is good enough).

[phr]

It would help if you said what you don't like about the Clip Zip.

How about the Clip Plus?  Similar physical buttons to the Zip, but has a simpler display and is fully supported.

You might also be able to find a Fuze.  That's bigger than a Clip but still pretty small, and is a bit nicer due to being less cramped.  It has a scroll wheel, bigger screen, bigger battery (more runtime), etc.  Minus side is its nonstandard cable but they are not too hard to find.

Even older, the C200 and E200 series fully support Rockbox.

[[Saint]]

...Minus side is its nonstandard cable but they are not too hard to find...

No, certainly not hard to find. I wouldn't call the connector nonstandard, it is simply an everyday Ridax connector (you can buy them for about $0.50~$4.00 depending on the quantity) which a number of products (most notably, the iPod line {until very recently}). The pinout, however, is SanDisk specific...so *please* don't plug in an iPod cable into a SanDisk (or vice versa) and expect it to "just work"*.

You can, however, make your own cable for about $3.00-$10.00 if you have a halfway decently stocked electronics store in your locality. A ridax connector, some cable with at least the amount of cores as there are pins required for the connection, and a USB male connector are pretty easy to find. And the pinout is readily available on the interwebs.

Edited to add: With this DIY method, you can also wire up a Line-Out cable (direct from the dock connector, as opposed to using the 3.5mm out) as well. Or a dual-purpose dock/line-out cable with a switch to change functions, etc.


[Saint]

*This will kill the player, so...don't get curious.

[Octopuss]

Well, I don't exactly dislike anything about ClipZip  I was jsut being curious whether there is something equally good or better out there. I bought it in the first place based on some random recommendation.
Another reason is occasional unstability, lockups and USB problems. I hope this will be solved in reasonable amount of time though.

[geoffm]

I've owned several Sansa Fuze before. I've been very satisfied with it, it's small, lightweight, it has a decent interface, decent battery life and does what I want it to do (mp3, podcast, FM, recording).
However just FYI (and my personnal venting), I recently thought I'd give the Fuze+ , a try. I could never guess that the company that made such a nice MP3 player as the original Fuze could also create this übercrap the FuzePlus. It's cumbersome, way too big for nothing, heavy, its controls are terrible, battery life is bad, the interface is ugly, slow, impractical and nonintuitive. And now after just a few months of having this piece of s**t (and I've barely used it because it's just such a pain in the ass) now it stopped working and it doesn't even turn on anymore. I'm so pissed off after Sansa for marketing such a terrible product, I don't want to give them more of my money. However when I look at the other companies' products they're very expensive, except a bunch of sorry excuses for a portable player such as COBY or Sylvania players, which I've tried and are terrible, I'm considering forgiving Sansa and getting one of their good products. Is the clipzip good? is it better or worse than the Clip+? Is it worth the 70 bucks? I'm also interested in knowing which are the alternative players.

So, to answer your question, if you can get a Fuze (NOT FUZE PLUS) it's a pretty good player.

[Octopuss]

I guess I will just buy another one when the port in Rockbox is marked as stable (I hope it won't take a year...).

[Paul_Bags]

...Minus side is its nonstandard cable but they are not too hard to find...

The pinout, however, is SanDisk specific

Wait, what? Why would they give a micro usb cable a non-standard pinout, eps. on a cable that doesn't have any brand specific markings? Is there a source or more information on this??

[saratoga]

...Minus side is its nonstandard cable but they are not too hard to find...

The pinout, however, is SanDisk specific

Wait, what? Why would they give a micro usb cable a non-standard pinout, eps. on a cable that doesn't have any brand specific markings? Is there a source or more information on this??

The fuze doesn't use a micro USB cable. It uses a sans a dock connector.