Learn me: Non-iPod music players

tuna55 wrote: Other than 'looking pretty' and storage space, what category does the ipod beat the sansa clip in?

The Sansa is nice for the price but it's built to that price and feels it. I've had a Sansa before and it was amazing - again for the price. They feel cheap and the menus are clunky. Whether that's important to you or not is a personal judgement call.

The Sansa takes memory cards so beats the crap out of the iPod in that front. I hate the lack of memory card slots - both in Apple products and now in some Nexus droid phones, ugh.

If you end up with a Sansa check this out: http://www.rockbox.org/

It is a replacement firmware that I think works better. On the plus side if you find out you don't like it it is very easy to revert back to what came on the device. They also have builds for Apple devices, that may be a way to get around iTunes.

Get a refurbished higher-capacity Zune.

I've got a 30-GB Zune that I got in '06 when they first came out. I still use it to this day.

Sky_Render wrote: Get a refurbished higher-capacity Zune. I've got a 30-GB Zune that I got in '06 when they first came out. I still use it to this day.

How do you add new music? I thought Zune software was dead.

You can still get the software from Microsoft AFAIK.

Another vote for a Sansa. I think amazon still has a deal on the 4GB Clip Zip for $20. Otherwise sniff around for reman deals.

dculberson wrote: I hate iTunes with the force of a million suns but iPods are about the best option for portable music players. If the Sansa doesn't check out, you can use Floola to manage the music on an iPod without using iTunes. http://lifehacker.com/237986/hack-attack-add-music-and-movies-to-your-ipod-from-any-computer-without-itunes

I bit the bullet and bought an iPod a few months ago. I was using Foobar to manage it until a few weeks ago I updated the iPod's software (it was acting flaky after being off a few days also) & Foobar decided to be FUBAR. I gave up on Foobar since it felt un-updated/maintained & grudgingly went to iTunes. I HATE IT...

Is Floola still viable? I noticed the page is 7 years old which is like 100 human years.

Argh, I forgot to check the date on that page. there are other ipod management tools but I'm behind the times on them.

I hate saying this but I have an ipod. Bought my wife one for xmas a couple years ago she got a better one from the parents so I said screw it and tried it out. It does what it's supposed to, great for running, car, etc. Can't use it at work. I am not a fan of apple or itunes but I've never had any DRM issues. Still nothing is easier than plugging in an android device and performing ye olde drag n' drop. No middleware to get in the way of select, copy, and paste.

My android phone is also just as great but without it being in airplane mode the battery drains faster than the gas tank on a Veyron in VTEC.

Javelin wrote: The Sansa Zip Clip 8GB seems to be the leader for me. 2000 songs plus a memory slot ought to keep me going, about $55 shipped.

I thought in your first post you said you didn't want E36 M3ty quality?

What about a cheap Android tablet? No phone to worry about, and you can get them that take SD cards and the easy drag and drop would work. They're not much more than the Sansa thing and they work to store your service manual PDFs as well. Example that gets good reviews:

http://www.microcenter.com/product/423584/GC10X_Tablet

About iTunes and existing music - I started ripping MP3s off my CDs back in the mid-90's. Every one of those tracks imported just fine into my iTunes library years ago. I buy DRM-free music from eMusic, and it automatically loads into my iTunes. I never buy anything from iTunes directly, not out of some sort of tinfoil hat outrage, but because I have an eMusic subscription.

So, don't let iTunes stop you from using an iPod. If you're mostly interested in just music, music, music, get a Classic. The click wheel can easily be operated without looking at it (useful when driving/running/riding), they store a ridiculous amount of music and they'll interface with a while pile of stuff like my Dodge truck. I just move my Classic around from vehicle to vehicle, and I can use the steering wheel controls to run it in a couple of them. The lack of removable media isn't a big deal when there's 320 GB on board.

I grew to like the whole "build your playlist" on the computer, then dump that playlist onto the ipood. Then again, I still rock a 512mb shuffle.

I'm assuming the non-ipods are loadable like a thumb drive?

yamaha wrote: I'm assuming the non-ipods are loadable like a thumb drive?

My Sansa is. And then I plug it into the Alpine headunit I have in the truck and it acts as a thumb drive there.

I guess an online streaming service like Spotify won't work?