MP3 player suggestions?

[Mintmaster]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a flash based MP3 Player that can serve as a USB drive, but can't find what I'm looking for, and it's rather frustrating.

Here's what I want for sure:

1. Good capacity, at least 1GB
2. Supports drag and drop, and can function as a USB drive
3. Has a built-in USB connector. I don't want to carry around a cable to transfer music/data files.
4. Allows you to browse and select a song while the current one is playing. This is pissing me off the most. I had a crappy old 32MB iRiver I got as a gift, and it offered this feature. Why the hell isn't this more common among small players? How hard is it to hire a half decent coder for a product that you're going to mass produce? Ugh.


Here's what I'd also like, but am willing to settle without:

5. USB 2.0 and decent transfer speed. This probably should be in the above list, but I'm patient.
6. SD memory expandability. Wouldn't mind adding a fat, fast 2GB SD cards that can also be used for a camera/PDA.
7. Good navigation controls.
8. Inexpensive (preferably <$100).
9. Small size (a given nowadays).


The iRiver players are nice, but don't have #3, and maybe not even #2. I thought the Creative MuVo was the one, then I read this, and found it lacked #4. The Ultra ULT31756 was close, had #6 and #8 as well, but again no #4. The Sandisk Sansa e100 does have #4 as well as SD expandability, but unfortunately it has no built in USB port.

Am I asking for too much? I mean seriously, if you have 200-500 songs, you don't want to scroll through them one by one to find a song you want. And having a USB port is very useful. I don't know one MP3 player of the hundreds on the market with those two features that I put in bold.

Please help! Thanks in advance.


(PS - should this have been in the hardware forums? I've seen similar threads here.)

 

[Deepak]

If you search around on general discussion forum you'll find several mp3 threads. BTW, you won't find a 1 GB flash mp3 player for < $100, maybe 512 MB. iAudio is another excellent option for you. You can also look at cnet's mp3 review page. They also have a list of top ten flash mp3 players apart from top ten budget mp3 players.

 

[L233]

#4 is rare in smaller capacity flash players. There is the iPod Nano but it doesn't have 2 and 3.

I got a MuVo a few months ago. Seemed like the best compromise, especially compared to the shitty iPod Shuffle.

For me the most important things are
1. Drag and Drop with support for at least one subdirectory level - no iTunes crap
2. external battery
3. USB connector, no cable

 

[Guden Oden]

I would have said Sony's new players with the OLED display, but as they only have a minijack and not a full USB plug I guess that's out of the picture...

Why do you want a full plug anyway? You're not fucking every PC you come across with your MP3 player, are you? You could just store the cable at your home PC, perhaps have it hanging permanently from a USB plug at the back. It's not THAT big a deal... Also, a full plug is going to make the unit bigger and uglier; the plug has to be covered by a plastic cap that will have the tendency to fall off after a while, etc.

 

[Squeak]

...Plus it's sometimes hard to get space for the player because of cables or the way the case is shaped.
The iAudio playes comes with a small USB - USB 2.0 mini, male to male dongle, that can easily be attached to the neck wire that also comes with the player, plus of course a normal cable.

 

[Mintmaster]

Why do you want a full plug anyway? You're not fucking every PC you come across with your MP3 player, are you? You could just store the cable at your home PC, perhaps have it hanging permanently from a USB plug at the back. It's not THAT big a deal... Also, a full plug is going to make the unit bigger and uglier; the plug has to be covered by a plastic cap that will have the tendency to fall off after a while, etc.

I want to use it as a USB drive, remember? There are many, many MP3 players with USB jacks on them - they just don't have a good UI. There was one that I got from Best Buy with a retractable jack, but then returned it after discovering its deficiencies (i.e. #4). I don't want to buy or carry different pieces of equipment that I use daily. I want to put this on my key chain, ideally.

Suppose I go a friend's house, and want to transfer a big file or copy a CD's contents. I recently went to a party where the DJ was playing some wicked drum and bass music (my fav) which is hard to come by. I could have sampled new artists if I had a USB jack MP3 player on me.

...Plus it's sometimes hard to get space for the player because of cables or the way the case is shaped.
The iAudio playes comes with a small USB - USB 2.0 mini, male to male dongle, that can easily be attached to the neck wire that also comes with the player, plus of course a normal cable.

That could work, I suppose, if the dongle is small.
Is this what you're talking about? That could fit onto a key ring quite nicely, actually, though strangely the player itself doesn't have a key ring hole.

As for price, it's easy to get a 1GB SD card for <$50, so a $100 player is not out of the question by any means. I saw the Rio Chiba (SD expandable) for around $20 once.

Anyway, so of the maybe 100 different USB drive/MP3 player combos out there, no one knows of one that can browse through the song list while another is playing?

Let me widen my horizons just a bit: Are there any MP3 players at all, regardless of cost, size, HDD or flash, whatever, that have a built in USB plug and also allow song browsing without stopping the currently playing song?

 

[Squeak]

Anyway, so of the maybe 100 different USB drive/MP3 player combos out there, no one knows of one that can browse through the song list while another is playing?

The iAudio players can do that and yes, the picture you linked to is the dongle I talked about.

though strangely the player itself doesn't have a key ring hole.

But it has the protective holster the has a keyring strap.

 

[London Geezer]

Anyway, so of the maybe 100 different USB drive/MP3 player combos out there, no one knows of one that can browse through the song list while another is playing?

Let me widen my horizons just a bit: Are there any MP3 players at all, regardless of cost, size, HDD or flash, whatever, that have a built in USB plug and also allow song browsing without stopping the currently playing song?

Don't know about the USB thing, but i thought all MP3 players let you browse while playing!
iPods and my Sony HD5 surely can.
It's silly to force the user to stop listening before being able to browse for songs...

 

[rabidrabbit]

Hell, even the PSP lets you browse the song lists without stopping playing.

 

[Mintmaster]

Don't know about the USB thing, but i thought all MP3 players let you browse while playing!
iPods and my Sony HD5 surely can.
It's silly to force the user to stop listening before being able to browse for songs...

Yes, my point exactly. I mean how could Creative make the MuVo TX without this capability? They've been making MP3 players for a long time. What's even worse is that the media (e.g. CNET, PCWorld, etc.) never comment on this, so there's no incentive for change.

I recall you embarked upon a MP3 search before, but given your reaction I assume you don't have any suggestion for me (one with a USB plug).

Squeak, by USB drive I mean with a USB plug on it. However, your suggestion of the iAudio is currently my best bet. It's a bit expensive though, especially since 4-6GB HDD based players are only about $40 more, or sometimes only ~$100 when there's a deal.

Well, thanks guys. I suppose I've got some thinking to do.