Need a new MP3 player

Alright guys it is that time again I need a new MP3 player, I have destroyed my last two. Crushed one in the truck door and the other drowned.

What are the best options without going into the land of iPods? Something that has memory expansion through a micro SD would be nice but not required. Something that can handle a bit of rough use is a must considering I normally am not the most gentle with these things it seems. I use them most when I am working around the house, doing yard work, exercising and working in the shop.

How much space do you need? Zunes are fairly cheap on Amazon and mine held up well until I left in in a truck cab on a 110 degree day.

I have used an iPod classic for at least five years and have not had any problems. I don't treat it gentle at all and it just keeps working.

8 Gig would be the minimum more than likely my last one was a 16 and I had another 8 gig on a micro SD in it as well.

All I know of non-iPod players is a 'droid powered touch type device, and cheap E36 M3 that you buy for your kid because you don't want to spend iPod money on them.

My nano(4th gen) has thrived under 4 years of use and abuse, including the last almost 2 years living in my car, with temps from sub zero to 100+

Alright for you iPod guys convince me that an iPod is the way to go. I am not looking to spend more than $150 at the moment so it would take some convincing to get me to jump on the band wagon for one of the bigger ipods.

One I forgot about, Sony makes a 16 gig that normally sells for about 100 bucks, I had one of the older ones and it held up fantastically, my mom is using it now quite a few years later. My cousin has one of the new ones and he hasn't managed to break it yet, and he's cracked the screen on every phone he's gotten within a week of getting it and broken about 4 ipods.

rebelgtp wrote: Alright for you iPod guys convince me that an iPod is the way to go. I am not looking to spend more than $150 at the moment so it would take some convincing to get me to jump on the band wagon for one of the bigger ipods.

Buy used.

An "iPod Video 30GB" is worth about 50 bucks.

Maroon92 wrote:

rebelgtp wrote: Alright for you iPod guys convince me that an iPod is the way to go. I am not looking to spend more than $150 at the moment so it would take some convincing to get me to jump on the band wagon for one of the bigger ipods.

Buy used. An "iPod Video 30GB" is worth about 50 bucks.

I loved my 80GB ipod video back in the day (traded an original Xbox to get it and sold it at a nice profit... still loved the layout of the thing

that being said... you might look around for an android phone that someone upgraded from... I just got my bro-in-laws, runs android 2.3 (gingerbread)... the speaker went out on it and he was due for an upgrade... so free to me.

remove the sim card, toss a bigger microSD card in and you are good to go... for around the house you can also run pandora, also if you upload your music to google play you can have up to 20,000 of your own songs to stream...

Sansa? My daughter has one she hasn't destroyed yet.

In reply to DoctorBlade:

That is what I just killed.

I've just been using my phone since the early/mid 2000s...

Another vote for a Sandisk Sansa.

Look for a reman Clip or Fuze. I don't believe the first-gen Clip had a microSD slot.

Maroon92 wrote:

rebelgtp wrote: Alright for you iPod guys convince me that an iPod is the way to go. I am not looking to spend more than $150 at the moment so it would take some convincing to get me to jump on the band wagon for one of the bigger ipods.

Buy used. An "iPod Video 30GB" is worth about 50 bucks.

That would be my recommendation, too. There are plenty out there and the HDD-based ones are pretty cheap, plus they store a lot more music than the flash based ones. IMHO the big advantage of iPods is that there is a thriving aftermarket so it's more or less the easiest device to hook up to car radios, boom boxes in the garage etc. Yes, I know, you can do the same with a line-out on another device but that's not what I'd call "integration".

Another vote for Sansa. They work great and are cheap enough that when it breaks you just get a new one. But mine has rattled areound in the glove box of the truck for 3 years now with no problems.

I sold a 160 or 180 gb ipod on craigslist several years ago for $100 (thats cheap though) . I would just search for a used ipod, maybe a friend has an extra one lying around or that they don't use much. When I posted mine it was sold in less than an hour, so if you don't want to troll craigslist constantly I would ask around. Especially since people keep going to iphones, their ipod is redundant.

I got a reconditioned Creative Labs 8gig Zen Mosaic for $40 off of Amazon over the summer. I've been using their stuff for years now and it's all VERY rugged and simple to use.

I just drag and drop music into it as if it were a thumb drive.

If you go iPod, do yourself a favor and use some other software than iTunes to manage your music. I know some people have no issues with it, but it has repeatedly berkeleyed with the sorting of my music library, even though I set the program to manual updates only. Basically I could spend a couple hours fixing errors in tags or changing the genre's of artists so they would sort how I like, only to have iTunes completely undo everything I did the next time I plugged in the iPod. And its done this over and over.

Since I switched to winamp, zero problems.

You can find Zunes cheaper than iPods if we are talking used, maybe. When I was looking earlier this year, the higher capacity zunes were way more expensive than a comparable iPod classic, which is what I ended up getting (I had a zune 30, loved it, stopped communicating with my computer though and I had run out of space for more music). I prefer having actual buttons over a touchscreen for my music player. IMO, touchscreens are a pain in the ass in the car, having to look down to see what button you press. Actual buttons you can feel without looking.

I've been very happy with my Zune. Keep an eye out for a used one and you can grab them for very little money.

You want a 5th Gen iPod Classic. They are still supported, and you can get 30GB for under $50. The reverse of the case is metal and they are really tough. They are about the last gen before the touch, so they are not real popular, and therefore are pretty cheap. I have had mine since new, and it now lives in the garage in a boombox. Weld splatter, temperature extremes, grinding dust...nothing seems to phase it.

didnt read the thread...but my vote: A decent Android Smartphone with an otterbox...You typically dont abuse your phone, its more "important" than an MP3 entertainment device. That subconscious importance you put on the phone that leads to a more protective attitude towards its treatment will go far towards keeping out from under a truck wheel or whatever...

In reply to 4cylndrfury:

You obviously never saw the phone I shot with a 30-06 cause I got mad at it. I also don't really like the idea of using my phone for a media device cause it just flat kills the damn battery it seems.

Powar wrote: I've been very happy with my Zune. Keep an eye out for a used one and you can grab them for very little money.

This. I got a 30GB one for $25 and it just works.

It would take a lot to get me back into carrying around a hard drive based player. Flash based players are better in almost every way, especially durability. I have two hard drive based iPods that still work but they feel like ancient technology at this point. I love my iPod Nano but hate iTunes so I can understand why RebelGTP might not want to go the iWay.

My desktop computer system plays .mp3's. With the output from the sound card plugged into an old Sony integrated and playing through some 48" tall tower speakers with 12" woofers, the sound is pretty decent.

Oh, you want something portable?