My NJB3 is dead...what to get now?

[Rukes]

Well, after buying a Nomad Jukebox 3 way back when it came out in 2002, upgrading it to a 40 GIG since then (with 28MB left)...it's finally toast. The LCD screen inside the unit itself broke, so now its all "smeared". No outside damage...but all the buttons are worn down to no labels

So now, I am not sure what to get:

60 GIG iPod
60 GIG iAudio X5
60 GIG Toshiba Gigabeat F60S

What I will use it for:
Music only, no video. A-PS LAME MP3s. High-resolution photographs to show people (so the better quality the photos on the player AND the easier to browse through them, the better). Hooking up the player through a custom car stereo setup via RCA plugs (used an RCA -> stereo plug -> NJB3 line out)

Pros/Cons I can see:
iPod: The all-around average player. The Sik Imp looks good for my car situation.
iAudio X5: Great sound, but only through the headphone out. Can connect to my Canon 20D camera too.
Gigabeat: Great screen and supposedly great sound with the new 3.0 firmware. However the Gigabeat S series looks good, but it is not out until next month.

So what is everyone's opinion on what I should get, based on what I will use it for?

 

[aaroncort]

Personally I think you're going to be disipointed with those players after the nomade jukebox 3. My NJB3 broke a couple of years ago in the same way yours did no less. I bought a 3G Ipod with a pocket dock and was a little disipointed with the sound quality for a player that cost at the time twice as much as a new NJB3. I sold it and bought a new njb3 off of ebay. You can't get them new anymore but there are plenty of used ones that go for about $120. You could of course buy one for much less with a broken harddrive and swap it for your 40GB one. you'd also have 2 batteries going in it like i do which is nice. Sorry to skirt your question.

 

[Rukes]

Yeah, I was thinking about doing that, but being a photographer now, I would like to keep a little portfolio around with me to show people, which makes photos push down the necessity of sound quality a tad...

 

[scorpian007]

Does the Zen Vision:M come in 60GB? If so, get that. I hear it has very very good sound quality

 

[pmoney]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scorpian007 Does the Zen Vision:M come in 60GB? If so, get that. I hear it has very very good sound quality

No it only comes in 30gb. I too would love to see a higher capacity ZVM.

 

[Luke]

I've got a JB3 which I bought in June 2002, and fortunately it's still working fine. I really don't know what I'd replace it with, besides another JB3. The other problem though, is the batteries are no longer manufactured anywhere. So the end is coming, whether I like it or not. I like the dedicated line outs and I like the infra red remote. I don't know of any other player that has both those things.