[Lobstertorch]

I'm looking at getting a new music player, i'm coming from an old 30gb iPod that I got for $20 from a friend(broken now), Frankly I have no idea what to get. I'd like to keep the price PRETTY low, preferablly under $200. I was looking at the sansa Clip+ but it's battery life reviews look terrible which is pretty important and I'd have to buy some really expensive SD cards to get the space I need. Really when it comes to space to cost Apple (unfortunately) has everything beat, http://www.amazon.com/Apple-classic-Black-Generation-NEWEST/dp/B001F7AHOG/ref=sr_1_70?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1277392406&sr=1-70. So that's what I'm looking at. But if I can find something that is above 30gbs or so I'll buy it, I don't need any fancy features just being able to play music.

 

[4DThinker]

JR.com is discounting the 30gb Haier WiFi player. I picked one up and so far am finding it a competent player.

 

[Lobstertorch]

Havn't even heard of it 0_o. I mean I don't need the wifi and radio and all that but it's interesting... Doesn't play very many formats though, whats the battery life like?

 

[4DThinker]

I wasn't impressed with it at it's MSRP.  For under $100 though you can ignore all the other features and just use the 30gb in it for music. Bluetooth is a nice bonus. I haven't been able to get the Wifi to connect to my router.  I'm not going to bother with the Rhapsody aspect.

 

[tds101]

Personally I'd go w/the iPod classic 160gb, as the capacity is excellent, the sq is better than the Haier dap, the battery life is quite good, and you'll still have TONS of accessories that it'll be compatible with. Plus, if your the amp type, there's quite a few great expensive/in-epensive options also available to you.
 
In this instance the classic wins, hand down!!!

 

[129207]

Cowon Iaudio X5L with hard drive and battery mod? You can get a secondhand X5L 30gb for less than $100 and the Toshiba 1.8" HD's are pretty easy to get. I think you can go all the way to 120gb this way. The battery is also easily obtainable and easy to built in. The X5L is a very nice player, it's Rockbox-able and has a dedicated line-out, remote control, great microphone for field recording, OTG and it's allround better sounding than an Ipod. 

 

[casioa5302ca]

sorry for empty post:
 
 
http://www.pcworld.com/article/126718/top_5_mp3_players_hard_drivebased.html
 
http://www.testfreaks.com/mediaplayers/
 
--------you could check this links above...I am still running through them, maybe you´ll find useful them----
 
Me - I am going through same looking, for me seems the answer be something like Sansa Clip+ or Fuze plus mm card of course...for now. But we will see...

 

[tds101]

The Test Freaks link is good, but the pc world link is a waste. pcworld is like having a 1st grade class give an evaluation of a macbook pro - fun to hear, but totally useless.

 

[Hero Kid]

Alright coming from an iPod I can understand how you would think the battery life of the Clip+ is "terrible", hell I was the same when I bought a player after my iPod. However, think about it seriously. How often will you need it to play for more then 12 hours without once going near a wal charger/usb plug? If If you can't think of many situations when this would ever happen I think you should reconsider your "terrible" statement in relation to the battery.
Also you can not tell me a 16gb class 2 microSD card is expensive? Those things are as cheap as chips to use a cliche. For me I got my black 8gb Clip+ with a 16gb microSD card for ~$100 AU, it's pretty good really.
Also you have to give merit to the player for it's tiny size, weight, native FLAC support, radio and lastly the ability to Rockbox the player which offers better battery life, gapless playback, a kick-ass EQ, etc etc.

Now I'm done raving about the Clip+ how much capacity do you think you would need?

These are the players I'd reccomend you look at; Cowon J3, Sansa Clip+, possibly the s:flo2 but I doubt you'll think much of it, iPod Video 5.5g or the humble iPod Classic.

 

[slaters70]

Refurbed ipod classic 160GB for $179, in case anyone is interested.
 
http://www.1saleaday.com/