Hard drive based MP3 players-Which one's the best?

[SpoDaddy]

The IriverH340 looks pretty awesome, it's 40 gigs and it has an fm receiver, line in recording, can record in both wav and mp3 format at bitrates up to 320. I think this might be the one I get, anyone have any other hard drive based mp3 player that they like a lot?

[MarkRyan]

I got an open box 30GB iPod Photo for $300 at Best Buy ($350 with the three year warranty that includes coverage for the battery). I don't really use the photo feature at all--I just stocked it with some video game art--but I really love it as an MP3 player. I still haven't seen a player with an interface I like as much as iPod's, but I've never seen the one you're looking at.

I'd recommend checking out the interface of any player before buying it, as that's really the most important and defining feature.

[Tracer]

Ipod has an interface that defines portable music interfaces, as such, I doubt anyone is bound to like any other interface over it, unless it copies the Ipod. If something does copy it, it's accused of being a second-rate Ipod.

[Diff-chan]

iPod. For me its all about ease of use and interface and iPod kills everything else. Its just the best shit out there... unless you really need inline recording. Then go with that iRiver crap but dont complain in 3 months when it breaks.

[Grave]

I'll back up everybody that said iPod, I have two Apple players and they've never let me down in terms of reliability and ease of use. I got a new extended life battery for my 20GB iPod and it's ridiculous. I had it unplugged for over a month and it still has 3/4 battery life. Insane.

If you want to avoid iPods, though, I've had a lot of friends tell me they were satisfied with their Nomad Xtra, and though the interface/player design is ass, the audio playback is pretty damn nice.

You can't go wrong with the iPod, though.

[GohanX]

Best player depends on what you're looking for...

Personally, sound quality is more important than anything. I ended up with a Nomad Zen 30 gig player, and it is great. Some people don't like the interface, but I personally like it. I also like that it has user replaceable batteries, and should the hard drive fail it can be replaced with off the shelf laptop hard drives. Only down side is that my particular player is larger than most, but since I only use it in the car that is no problem.

[Rhydant]

I'll back up everybody that said iPod, I have two Apple players and they've never let me down in terms of reliability and ease of use. I got a new extended life battery for my 20GB iPod and it's ridiculous. I had it unplugged for over a month and it still has 3/4 battery life. Insane.

Then you must not use it at all. Even when its off, the iPod drains battery life.

...or at least mine does.

I hate this thing. But I guess you get what you pay for...

[Calliander]

They all use a little battery life over time, no matter which player it is. I'm sure SpoDaddy wants to avoid the iPod since he probably suffers from the "I don't know what this thing is, I don't know how to use it or what it's for, but I absolutely must have one, give it to me now!" syndrome affecting another buddy of mine.

The iPod is still the best, though, as far as quality. The iRiver has more features but from what I've heard the sound quality even at 320 just isn't as good as other players like the Rio or the Archos.

[Grave]

Then you must not use it at all. Even when its off, the iPod drains battery life.

...or at least mine does.

I hate this thing. But I guess you get what you pay for...

Yeah, it's been off for that amount of time, but it still impressed me that the drain was that minimal. I've been using my free iPod shuffle in that time. It's so small it's like it's never even there. I love it.

[JefmcC]

I just got a 40 GB Creative Zen Touch.

Why did I choose this one? Battery life is good for at LEAST 24 hours on a full charge.

Most people on the Creative forums complain about the bundled software, but I don't think it's that bad. Not the most intuitive program out there, but it only took about 30 min to really figure it out. It's not great, but it gets the job done, and that's all I can ask of any program.

No, it doesn't do line in recording, have an FM receiver, nor does it display pictures. It does, however, play back my music with ease. Which is what I want. And according to several online reviews (cNet) the sound quality is one of the best.

It's too bad that the Creative forums are filled with people just bitching about faulty products, as I think this is going to turn a lot of people away from some great MP3 players.

Yeah, so fuck iPod.