[AudiophileJesse]

Some of you might laugh when I say that I'm still using the Zune 120 for portable music. However, I have had to replace my original Zune several times over with used and refurbished players as the hard drive fails over time, and Microsoft no longer makes the player. The things I really like about Zune is the simplicity, and I find the software user friendly despite the fact that some thought it was a pain.

That being said, I am looking for recommendations on other MP3 player brands I could try in the future, I would prefer to stay away from iPod. Also, it would be cool if there was a player out there with the same 120GB hard drive and around $300.

 

[Renato Fury]

Some of you might laugh when I say that I'm still using the Zune 120 for portable music. However, I have had to replace my original Zune several times over with used and refurbished players as the hard drive fails over time, and Microsoft no longer makes the player. The things I really like about Zune is the simplicity, and I find the software user friendly despite the fact that some thought it was a pain.

That being said, I am looking for recommendations on other MP3 player brands I could try in the future, I would prefer to stay away from iPod. Also, it would be cool if there was a player out there with the same 120GB hard drive and around $300.

120gb for 300 dollars is complicated, but what about the Sony NWA27HNSM, it has 64GB but it is possible to add a memory card, not to mention that it is in its price range.

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

Shanling M2s with a 128GB MicroSD will cost under $300

 

[cossix]

FiiO X3 2nd gen with 128GB card will cost much less than $300 and you can play lossless

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Some of you might laugh when I say that I'm still using the Zune 120 for portable music. However, I have had to replace my original Zune several times over with used and refurbished players as the hard drive fails over time, and Microsoft no longer makes the player. The things I really like about Zune is the simplicity, and I find the software user friendly despite the fact that some thought it was a pain.

That being said, I am looking for recommendations on other MP3 player brands I could try in the future, I would prefer to stay away from iPod. Also, it would be cool if there was a player out there with the same 120GB hard drive and around $300.

You're not gonna find anything nowadays that runs off a battery-sucking, more failure prone mechanical bits HDD (you know, just like the iPods...and your Zune).

Check out the Fiio X1 2nd Gen for $99 then spend around $50 or so on a 128gb microSDXC card for it. That's cheaper than a 2.5in let alone 1.8in SSD of the same capacity.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Some of you might laugh when I say that I'm still using the Zune 120 for portable music. However, I have had to replace my original Zune several times over with used and refurbished players as the hard drive fails over time, and Microsoft no longer makes the player. The things I really like about Zune is the simplicity, and I find the software user friendly despite the fact that some thought it was a pain.

That being said, I am looking for recommendations on other MP3 player brands I could try in the future, I would prefer to stay away from iPod. Also, it would be cool if there was a player out there with the same 120GB hard drive and around $300.

You're not gonna find anything nowadays that runs off a battery-sucking, more failure prone mechanical bits HDD (you know, just like the iPods...and your Zune).

Check out the Fiio X1 2nd Gen for $99 then spend around $50 or so on a 128gb microSDXC card for it. That's cheaper than a 2.5in let alone 1.8in SSD of the same capacity.

 

[AudiophileJesse]

Do the Fiio MP3 players have their own software to manage content?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Do the Fiio MP3 players have their own software to manage content?

No and that's exactly what people asked from them from the start. When the first X3 was being designed everybody, myself included, just wanted simple drag and drop, because Apple and Sony were just horrible compared to slot in microSD card, drag from one folder to that, put in player, start it up/scan. Done. No figuring out how to get tracks out if a new album comes out and you want to have all the other artist folders in another microSD card.

If you don't like how that works you can always get an iPhone. Bonus is, it's also a phone. Bad news though - carriers don't want to subsidize phones anymore.

 

[Raketen]

I'm very partial to the Sony Walkman UI but I am not familiar with Zune enough to say if it would be an easy transition. You can manage files either through file explorer drag & drop or through the Sony Media Go software (actually thye just changed the name of this program I can't remember what to). Their current versions are A30 and next month A40 series, which have touchscreen navigation but if you prefer buttons the more expensive previous generation A10 and A20 series have them . The cheapest models only have 16GB onboard but also have a microSD slot.