[Orestes]

pick the karma. but get a warranty to go along with it just in case. i got one for myself. i have a muvo2 and 3g ipod, i'd say it's the best mp3 player out there.

 

[Sczervok]

I chose Karma... but then, after reviewing your needs again, I realized I made a little mistake... =\
I figure an iRiver player would be the best at the moment.
iPods work just as well.

 

[neversummer]

Honestly, I'm not sure this is a great time to get a DAP. There's not one player that I can recommend without hesitation. Each seems to have shortcomings.
IHP - no OTF playlists, no gapless, database stinks
IPod - apple bs
Karma - hard drive failures
Zen - bulky, head phone jack issues
M3 - screen on remote

If you have to get one now I would suggest picking up a used Zen for really cheap. You could get a used IHP-120 and use it to record lectures. You could even go with an Ipod because those seem to hold resale value really well.
These can tide you over until Rio releases the Chroma(Karma 2) which I expect to be pretty close to what anyone would want in an MP3 player. Then sell the old player.

I personally own the IHP-120. It's nice and sturdy but I wish it had the playlist and DJ features of the Karma or Ipod. I'd only recommend it as a temporary solution.

 

[hugz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neversummer Honestly, I'm not sure this is a great time to get a DAP. There's not one player that I can recommend without hesitation. Each seems to have shortcomings. Karma - hard drive failures

Thanks to the karma's low price, a 2 year extended warranty is easy to pick up to overcome this worry

 

[FreeOfDistortion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neversummer I personally own the IHP-120. It's nice and sturdy but I wish it had the playlist and DJ features of the Karma or Ipod. I'd only recommend it as a temporary solution.

I could live without the playlist feature I guess. I'm fine with just making them on my pc. But what is the DJ feature? Does that mean that with the IHP you wouldn't be able to plug it into stereo and play whatever songs you wanted off it?

 

[hugz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreeOfDistortion I could live without the playlist feature I guess. I'm fine with just making them on my pc. But what is the DJ feature? Does that mean that with the IHP you wouldn't be able to plug it into stereo and play whatever songs you wanted off it?

The rio karma DJ has options like...
- play a random selection of my most played music for x minutes
- play the x most played tracks
- play tracks that are x days old
- play tracks that have not been played in the last x days
- play tracks from x decade
- play old favorites that have not been played in x days
- play random mix for x minutes

 

[gsferrari]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hugz Thanks to the karma's low price, a 2 year extended warranty is easy to pick up to overcome this worry

I hve the karma with the extended policy. when the chroma comes out and when karma is phased out - I will magically kill my karma (or pray that it dies) and go in for a replacement chroma.

 

[Achtunghoy]

I bought a broken karma on eBay for $20. I'm going to take it to Best Buy, along with the warranty I bought for my working karma, and buy a Carbon w/ extended warranty. So, I'll have a working Karma (no longer with an extended warranty, but I've never had problems or lockups with this one), and a Carbon w/extended warranty.

 

[austonia]

the last two guys -- your little schemes, that's called FRAUD. sh_tty ethics.

 

[Morphling]

austin ethics? noone has those anymore

 

[rauer]

A local Hifi mag recently tested several MP3 HD players: Creative Nomad Muvo2, Ipod 40G (not sure which G), Philips HDD-120, Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen NX, iRiver iHP-120, Archos Gmini 220.

In brief, the iRiver was the clear winner. It was the winner in nearly all areas, including measured and listened audio quality.