What's the best non-iPod music player?
Not video, music
I want an 8GB MP3 player - just not an iPod. I don't want a touchscreen, either - too easily broken. Video I don’t care about - I'm not going to use it, so the player doesn't need to have it.
What I do want is a great battery life, an even better sound quality and the ability to shuffle tracks within a given genre.
Any ideas, folks?
COMMENTS
Sony Walkman only way to go!
I bought a Sony Walkman S series mp3 player for my girlfriend for Xmas and it is truely impressive! She is really happy with the UI and the bright colourful display. Plus it has the usual compatability with Windows and the means you don't have to use itunes which has to be a bonus! Check out the review below
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/12/01/review_mp3_player_sony_walkman_nwz_s639/
Walkman on Samsung P2
Walkman NWZ-A72x or NWZ-A82x (the 82x are the ones with Bluetooth).
Sound 100x time better than anything Apple can produce, does not need any specia software (you can use WMP, Windows Explorer in "MTP mode", or use MacOS and Linux as a plain USB device to load music) .
UI is very quick and intiuitive. In short, it's not got a whole load of bells and whistles, but what it does do, play music, it does VERY well indeed. The headphones are also extremely high quality too.
16GB for £78 new.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-walkman-digital-player-NWZ-A729/dp/B0026M7U7G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1245228345&sr=8-1
Now the X is out, and grabbing the attention, you can get it's younger touchscreenless brother for a bargain. It shares the equally as good sound quality, and the UI is very similar.
Best Non iPod
Try a Creative Zen 8 gig that comes in around £65 ~ 70 from Amazon.
They are the size of a credit card, durable, have all the toys, good player, video, radio, photos, clock, recorder, very light and has around 30 hours plus use between charges. Dead easy to use on all functions so even though it has more than you need don't worry.
Used with Creative 630 phones the performance is outstanding. Knocks iPod, Sony Sansa etc dead on performance and reliability. I reckon it is agood looking player even though it has black polycarbonate casing.
Very durable and reliable. Used mine round the world and it has been abused big time but never missed a beat in 12 months mis-handling
Creative software that comes with it very user friendly but you make need to update the player using creative support if the player is old stock.
Sandisk Sansa Fuze 8GB
Does the lot, plus comes with a micro sdhc card slot so you can expand the memory if required. Mechanical click-wheel is much nicer to use than the current iPod effort and is faster to navigate with than 'button-only' solutions.
Sansa Fuze
Hello, my requirements were very similar to yours. I've been using a Sandisk Sansa Fuze since christmas and it's pretty amazing. It does video but it's easily ignored if you want :)
8GB with a microSD slot in case you want to upgrade it with a larger card in future (it transparently merges with the onboard memory).
Battery life is amazing, I can go for weeks on light usage between charges (they state 24hrs I believe, but ymmv).
I listen through a pair of £15 Sennheiser CX300 and the sound is great, but then I'm no audiophile.
No fancy software required, you can drag and drop as a standard USB device in Windows.
It does a few other things, but you don't mention a preference so neither shall I.
* http://www.sansa.com/players/sansa_fuze
* http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/06/16/review_sansa_fuze/
Enjoy
