new player

[poingjam]

I've been using Rockbox on an iPod nano for about half a year.  It's great, but of course it's not completely stable.  I'm thinking of getting myself a second player.  I know there's a stable build released for the Archos players, but is that really any more stable than the CVS builds for the iPod?  And how's the quality of the various players Rockbox supports?

[saratoga]

The iRiver and iAudio players have very well developed ports.  The Ipod port is still in it's infancy.  

[Llorean]

By 'iRiver and iAudio' players he means iAudio X5/X5L/X5V, and the iRiver H110/H115/H120/H140/H320/H340, this list does NOT include the iRiver H10, in any of its varieties, because these are actually more or less an iPod Mini.

[poingjam]

Thanks.  Which players are good hardware-wise, and are they at all durable?

[Sherv]

I'm still in the honeymoon period with my x5 and I'm loving it. It's far more durable than the flimsy Archos JB, JBR, and FMR units I've had over the past 6 years, but its longevity has yet to be seen.

[jewman]

It depends what you're into.  

I own an h320, and it's great.
It has 2 headphone jacks (one is an actual jack and the other one's line-out)
It doesn't require a proprietary accessory to record line-in and to transfer through usb (iAudio x5 does)
This player's bomb-proof, although it was recently discontinued, however all things considered, I would probably get an h3xx.
WARNING: If you're looking for a small hd player, the h3xx is not the series for you.

[Davide-NYC]

My vote is the iRiver H1x0, especially the thinner H120. They are lighter, smaller, sturdier, and in my opinion are better in all respects except the display than the H3x0.

Truly a timeless, elegant design. Albeit grayscale.

[ThurstonX]

I've had an iRiver iHP-140 (H1x0 series) for a few years now and love it (love it even more with Rockbox; wish I'd discovered it earlier).  If you want a color display and whatever else the H3x0 series offers, then this won't suit you.  If you want a great sounding unit with a lot of storage, recording, etc., built in (unlike the very promising jetAudio iAudio X5), this will provide it.  The iAudio X5 looks a lot like the H140 (to me, at least), is a current product and comes with a bigger hdd (60 GB, if you want it).  Popular, too, since Amazon is now out of them (could buy from jetAudio thru Amazon).

While the H140 is long out of production, it is well supported at
http://www.misticriver.net/
and is self-serviceable for the mildly competent (e.g., replacing battery or hdd).  Maybe eBay can hook you up.

It's even survived a few falls from clumsy hands  ;-)

Oh, and did I mention it works *really* well with Rockbox.... 

cheers.

[Hweb21]

why not get both
i have an iaudioX5 and iriverH120

[bigtrouble77]

I've got an iAudio X5l, Ipod Nano, iRiver h120 and ipod Video 30gb- all running rockbox.  The worst, by far, is the nano simply because it's not stable.  I think most of my problems are with the boot loader, which I haven't updated yet.

I don't like the iaudo.  It's really heavy and it's tuned for too much bass.  I have REALLY high end headphones and they produce too much bass.  The screen is also terrible, I'd rather a monochrome one.  Pretty stable, but I haven't upgraded in a while.

The h120 is phenominal.  Great performance and great battery life even after 3 years of using it.  Screen in monochrome, but easy to see in all conditions.   It's bulky, but relatively light.  Quite stable too.

iPod 5g is by far the best.  VERY stable, beautiful screen, love that usb charges really quickly, no crappy attachments... Things that suck are that battery life is not great and scrolling is too slow.  Other than that, this is the best player, imo.

[scorche]

The Nano is just as stable as the 5g is...