Insignia Pilot Officially Discontinued

[SaruNinja]

I know we've had several threads saying "I hope it doesn't die" and "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's dead" and whatnot, but I just went to Insignia's website (with a nice new look and interface, I might add), and they now have all of their MP3 Players under the "Discontinued" section.
http://insigniaproducts.com/products...3&active=false

So...does anyone have a list of MP3 players with features like the Pilot? I've had my Pilot for about 14 months now, and I'd like to start looking for prospective replacement MP3 players for when my Pilot inevitably kicks the bucket. The Insignia NS-DV and the Pilot were my first MP3 players (I first got the NS-DV, then I exchanged it for a Pilot a few months later), so naturally, I've been comparing every MP3 player I come across to the Pilot. It really is special, as far as features are concerned.

[CrowdAds]

[electron]

why would they do something like that? they seems to be selling OK..

[Olley]

It certainly looks like Insignia is abandoning the MP3 player market. There is a small chance we'll see an overhaul and brand new products at each price/feature point, but most companies leak info on those before discontinuing their entire "old" line.

I guess they keep selling that bluetooth speaker brick. It's the only thing not discontinued on that linked page.

[TSTS77]

the mp3 market is a crowded place, if you take a look at wal-marts website, they have quite a few relativly cheap 8gb mp3 players, they even have a 3" touch screen selling for $80 bucks.

I personally like scroll wheels and have my eye on the fuze, it looks like a decent player and from the different users reviews i've found around everybody seems to really like it.

[jamccart]

It depends on what features are important to you -- no MP3 player has all the features the Pilot had.

Samsung players have the Bluetooth capability. I tried the P2 touch screen but was not thrilled by it (and it maxed out at 8GB). The new Sony players will also have Bluetooth.

I ended up dropping Bluetooth as a criteria. Without that, I ended up in the Zune camp. I do like the radio capability and ability to play Windows Media Center TV recordings. I also preferred the interface of the Zune over the iPod. I do wish more MP3 players were compatible and controllable through stock car radios (although Ford's Sync system totally rocks in that regard).

[covertrussian]

This is sad, but can't say I didn't see it coming

As it has been said, no other MP3 player has nearly as many features as the Pilot did. I personally lowered my criteria way down.

I ended up with a Cowon D2, it's a great player, but I miss the Auto-Start and play when the player received power via USB.

I looked for a Player with SDHC slot, but it looks like a player with 16GB+ is just as good. I ended up using my 16GB card in my digital camera .

[SaruNinja]

Features I'm looking for:
Video-Out (like onto TV screens)
SDHC slot (but not a necessity if internal memory is 8+ GB)
Video and Picture capabilities (of course)
Custom Equalizer settings
USB interface and MSC mode
A player interface like the Pilot's "Add to Now Playing" system

Features that I'd like, but aren't necessary:
Multiple headphone jacks (I have a headphone splitter, so it doesn't really matter...I guess I just grew fond of the multiple jacks on the Insignia players)
Radio
Alarm
Folder Browser
Text File Support/Lyrics Display

[dhartsoc]

And how about the overlooked USB interface rather than a proprietary connector e.g. Sansa and others

Originally Posted by SaruNinja

Features I'm looking for:
Video-Out (like onto TV screens)
SDHC slot (but not a necessity if internal memory is 8+ GB)
Video and Picture capabilities (of course)
Custom Equalizer settings

Features that I'd like, but aren't necessary:
Multiple headphone jacks (I have a headphone splitter, so it doesn't really matter...I guess I just grew fond of the multiple jacks on the Insignia players)
Radio
Alarm
Folder Browser
Text File Support/Lyrics Display

[SaruNinja]

Wow, I forgot about that! That was a really important feature for me x_x
Yeah, I liked being able to use the standard USB Mini B cable. And being able to put files on the player in organized folders instead of having to use some sort of Media Player to synchronize files was verrrry convenient (MSC mode).
Thanks for mentioning that. I just edited my list

[dhartsoc]

It is funny, the Pilot has so many features that I invariably forget one or two when describing its capabilities to someone. One I like is the RDS for FM. Most of FM music stations in my area use it. It is nice to see the title and / or artist appear on the display while listening.

[Theseus]

...with similar features to the Insignia Pilot. They're multimedia cell phones.

Take this one, for example:

http://europe.nokia.com/n868mp/specifications

It's the specs for the Nokia N86, releasing in Europe, but coming to the U.S. unlocked, off-contract sometime this Summer.

To summarize, it has:
-great sounding audio (comparable to past Nokia multi media phones)
-folder browsing
-micro SDHC expandable
-stereo bluetooth pairing
-micro USB connector
-TV out from device
-supports multiple audio and video formats including H.264
-has a built in FM transmitter to connect to your car or home stereo
-wifi
-3G
-the newly opened Ovi (Nokia sponsored) app store with hundreds of mobile applications.

plus an 8 megapixel camera and ability to shoot video in SD 640x480.

[covertrussian]

Wow that's very impressive for a cell phone. I bet the price tag will get you 2-3 mp3 players though

[PatViN]

I have had my Pilot for a little over a year and really like it. Never had a problem and found it quite easy to use. Does anyone know about where to buy a battery should mine fail? Thanks for any info.

[Tubasparky]

Ebay: http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trk...All-Categories

[Prophecy99]

It certainly looks like Insignia is abandoning the MP3 player market. There is a small chance we'll see an overhaul and brand new products at each price/feature point, but most companies leak info on those before discontinuing their entire "old" line.

I guess they keep selling that bluetooth speaker brick. It's the only thing not discontinued on that linked page

its sad to see such an amazing player be discontinued. I mean, literally it had every possible pro the bandwangon cons of ipods had and more.

Normal USB, Upgradeable Memory, Replaceable Battery, no Itunes, FM, Recording, all at a very reasonable price....

Dang.
They had me for life too.

[sandcrest]

While my Pilot has been going strong for the past year or so, the fact that they discontinued it made me start looking for the eventual replacement. The Samsung YP-P3 has a lot of what I'm looking for (decent text reader, widescreen video player, bluetooth, games) and Walmart now has the 8GB version for $118. But it doesn't have an expandable memory slot. Sure, it also comes in 16GB and 32GB sizes, but that's when you really start paying. So I'm torn. Damn, Insignia, we all know the next generation of the Pilot would have/could have been perfect.

[DaveIN]

Anyone seen Digitaldel posts? I'm wondering if he has any insight on a replacement model, maybe not for Best Buy, but some other company.

Anyone know about this one: GPX ML759B? It looks like the Pilot.
http://www.abcwarehouse.com/product_...~prod_ID~43818

[AiXeLsyD13]

I have an Insignia Pilot and love it, my wife likes it too. She has a SanDisk Sansa player that has 5H1+ the proverbial bed. It keeps scrolling and scrolling and scrolling... I took it apart to see if it was a problem with the navigation wheel to no avail. We bought it re-furbed a long time ago, but it's time for a replacement. Naturally, she wanted one like mine because it's awesome. Ha ha ha.

My #1 favorite feature is the SDHC slot... My car stereo, cameras, damn near every electronic device I own uses them, and I plug a reader into my PC at work to listen to tunes. No wasting the player battery if I don't have to, right?

Her favorite features are the radio & the ease of navigation through the menus.

Is there anything left out there that meets these criteria?

One feature that I would like to see is for something to play whatever kind of video I put on it... without any kind of conversion.

[bascom]

I had a Pilot but sold it after 3 months because I didn't like it that much. It has lots of features but sound was mediocre, the scroll wheel and menu system were not easy to use. Surely newer players are better like Cowon D2, S9, Zune, etc.

[Conchchowder]

Happy that my Pilot is still going strong after all these years.