Another seeking purchase advice! My criteria...

[CJ2150]

So I had a 32GB zen which a month out of warranty suffered from the infamous WSOD (White Screen Of Death). I contacted creative for repair and was told it would be 'more economical' to purchase a new unit. A bit disappointing to say the least. I was relatively happy with the zen and considered the zen x-fi as a replacement but feel i should move away from creative products out of principle after my experience...

My criteria:

- at least 32GB. (I have noticed 32gb sdhc cards lately so would consider an 4 or 8gb player that accepts one of these cards if they can work well with the player (if any such player exists?!)) (or an 8gb player plus 16gb card would be ample space for my collection)

- smallish. Not crucial but I am more music focused than video so would prefer a smaller unit. I liked the zen for its size. ipod touch size would not be ideal.

- ability to make playlists on the player. the zen could do this albeit in a slightly clumsy fashion. it would be ideal that when a song plays there is an 'add to playlist...' option that doesn't interupt the song. (i considered the sony walkman 32gb x-series for a while until i was told you have to create the playlists on your pc!)

- drag and drop capability. at the moment i am travelling all over the place without my own machine so will be plugging the unit into random computers and using windows explorer to deal with my music. i could do this with the zen.

- real buttons for skip/back, pause/play, volume. i think a 100% touch screen player would drive me crazy if i'm tryin to skip track with the player in my pocket etc.

- decent sound quality (will be using my existng earphones so not worried about the ones that are shipped with the unit)

Budget: I would pay up to about 250 pounds (about US$400) but that would have to tick all the above boxes if possible...!

Any help would be much appreciated!

[Tommifier]

How about a 32GB Cowon S9?

[gebal]

cowon S9=touch size. so I'm guessing that would be a no from him
If you're looking for playlists, the samsung players let you make 5. So The R1 might be what your looking for (when it finally comes out), as its 2.8" screen means that it is tiny compared to all the other touch screens, it should be fairly cheap and the microSD card slot would allow you to expand the 16GB version with an 8GB card. The 16GB is on play.com for preorder atm for £130 i think, and then another tenner or so for the card. I know you want tactile controls, but its pretty much impossible to get a player bigger than 16GB that isn't a touch screen, other than the zen/xfi

[CJ2150]

thanks for the suggestions. yes the cowon has size and touch screen going against it so thats a no but I guess i might have to accept no player ticks all those boxes.

looked at the R1 but couldn't find it on play.com. when you say samsung players let you make 5 playlists do you mean you can only have a total of 5 playlists on the player or just 5 that you can update as and when you listening to the rest of your collection? 5 in total would be inadequate... although i doubt that is the case? do you know if samsung players tend to be drag and drop by any chance?

what i did find on play.com is the 32gb P3 for 150 quid, seems like very good value to me. if only it was a bit smaller.

maybe touch screens aren't actually that annoying to use? i've never actually had any experience of them but in my mind i can see them being a pain when quickly skipping a few tracks etc

to be honest i would probably just concede and buy the xfi if it was cheaper but ~220 quid on amazon and play seems steep for something thats been around for a while and especially when you consider its about 220 bucks on the US amazon. if i found it for 140-150 pounds i would buy.

also if sony made any of its other players (i.e. not x-series) from its current range with 32gb, that would possibly do the job.

ohwell, thanks for the ideas, i shall continue looking/deciding...

[Tommifier]

The S9 isn't that big...here's a comparison with some major MP3 players today, including the Zen X-Fi.

[CJ2150]

I agree its not massive but i'm just used to that zen size.

Have found the R1 on play now. Shame they don't have the 32GB one yet. Pixmania.co.uk do however... may wait for that.

[dgb52]

Maybe you should check out the Sansa Fuze , it sounds great and you could get a 8gb

and put a micro 16gb card in it

[Dreamnine]

5 playlists that you can add to and delete from on-the-go. But you can organise your music as you like using folders. All Samsungs support drag and drop.

[The DarkSide]

Personally I'd go w/the R1 - it's got Sammy's great SQ, and a nice small form factor. I love it!!!! I can't wait to get the 32gb model, or any model of it, released in the US.

[ivocado]

Cowon D2+

- expandable with SD card slot
- not sure if small enough for you?
- 1 on-the-go playlist
- drag and drop support
- hardware buttons for volume, pause/play, next track
- great sound quality
- well withing your budget