[kyuuketsuki]

I'm new to the forums... But I am in desperate need of advise...

Here's the situation:
My ipod is pretty much dead, and the warranty has unfortunately expired. Its an easy problem to fix, but I'd rather not spend the time or money on my Ipod, since I have decided its time for an upgrade.

Ok so here is my criteria:

1) it has to have audiophile sound quality (otherwise my audio-technica headphones will cry)

2) a minimum of 30gb of storage (the more the better)

3) CANNOT be a Zune or Ipod (I just can't stand them)

4) The better quality the better, but I prefer to keep it under $400 if possible (if impossible I suppose I can continue using my mother's nano until a few more pay checks come in and can drop a bit more cash on it...)

Thank you all for your time

I am already considering the Cowon A3... Seems good, and within my price range, any other suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Solan]

external HD + cowon iaudio 7

Any MP3 player over 6GB is just an overpriced portable hard drive.

 

[woopididi]

Creative Zen Vision M?

 

[Aevum]

well, since the ipod automatically disqualifies the imod,
jetmall just put the 16gb D2 on sale for 240 dollars, add a 16gb Patriot or Adata SDHC, you have 32gb, the D2 has full SD database integration, so once the card is inside the player, unless you' re loading music on to it, the difference between both storage units is transparent, the whole deal should be around 300-310 + shipping, so you might have a bit leftover to start saving for a headsix,

the A3 is a great player, but cowon based it on WinCE insted of linux like the old A2, so add the 800x480 screen and a really unoptimized firmware and you get a disapointing battery life on the device, plus, its a video optimized device, and you seem to be more centered on a audio device,

 

[kyuuketsuki]

Ok I realized something... I won't find what I want using the given criteria.

So let me ask this now...

Is there anyway to manage high quality music on a normal mp3 player? (say the Iaudio 7?) Because the amount of music I have is enormous. And though I don't want all of it I want to have a good amount of it. (like I know ogg is small but how does its quality stack up?)