[jonathanjong]

A friend's looking for a decent budget ~16GB mp3 player, and I didn't know what to recommend. She's thinking cheaper than an iPod Nano. What are the options? Cowon? Sansa? iRiver?

 

[Aevum]

the 8GB clip plus with a 8GB MicroSDHC,
the Cowon i7 is on its way out, so its nice and cheap, also the I9 is still cheaper then the nano,
also the new sony E and S series players,

 

[bba1973]

Clip+ and micro SD card would be good. 8GB cards are fairly cheap, and IIRC, the 8GB Clip+ was $60 on newegg recently. My 4GB Clip+ and 16GB micro SD card works nicely.

 

[nyjets28]

yea either the fuze/clip+ and a microSD will probably do

 

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Fuze.

 

[bba1973]

Wow, I forgot about the Fuze. The Fuze would be good if your friend needs photos and videos. The micro SD slot will come in handy as cards get more storage for lower prices. Sony might have a suitable player too. Trying these out in person would be a good idea if at all possible. The Fuze and Clip+ are much smaller in real life than I expected.

Does your friend have any iTunes purchased music? If so, it might not be compatible with a non-iPod due to DRM.

 

[nylan8301]

I say go Clip+ 8 gb with an 8 gb micro SDHC card. Should be able to throw that together for less than 70 bucks on amazon.

Personally, I would go balls-to-the-wall and get a 16 gb card with the clip+. That should only run about 100 USD total on amazon

Good luck,

-Nylan