Read Before Asking for Mp3 Player Recommendations

[musichound]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

I understand that I did write "let’s please keep apple products to a minimum” and although I did include it in the large capacity category I’d rather not keep including it. If you think about it, it can actually fall into almost all categories one way or another and we are "anythingbutipod" so let’s look at alternative choices. I know that some of you guys have ipods and I don't have any problems with that, but there is another site for ipods and we're not it. BTW the day there’s more availability in large size players it’s coming off the list

Edit: BTW I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers, hope you understand my position ...

Understood WG. I only read your first post, not your second one where you suggested to keep Apple products to minimum.

[CrowdAds]

[The DarkSide]

Ok. Then please put the Zune in the "Podcast" category - it's one of it's best features.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by The DarkSide

Ok. Then please put the Zune in the "Podcast" category - it's one of it's best features.

Done, just for you

[sideways]

Best convergence device (smartphone if you must): Samsung Galaxy S and maybe the Samsung Wave & Wave 2
Best video device: Let's face it... you are no longer in the realm of mp3 players but have entered the tablet and convergence device (smartphone) realm. Archos 42?, Galaxy S, Galaxy S player?

[WalkGood]

I hear you sideways but unless there's an overwhelming demand to add smartphones, tablets and convergence device, I'd rather leave them for abipad and anythingbutiphone. If things change we could always add them ...

[D-X69]

How about adding best players with wifi capability? Cause well, we're mainly comparing with the ipods here.. ipod touch has wifi..

[WalkGood]

No problem, now all we need is some recommendations from peeps that have them but I honestly believe we’re then getting to the arena that sideways suggested of smartphones, tablets and convergence device.

[arj446]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

Rather than starting a new sticky I thought unlocking this one and making regular updates as new players or recommendations change or come up might be a good idea.

Great idea, but the selection is from February : would you mind posting an update ?

[skip252]

Welcome to ABi.

Please read post #2 in this thread. This is mainly a "what the members suggest" list. Members haven't posted anything that they would care to see added so it hasn't updated. So if you have suggestions other than the ones that are here please post them for consideration.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by arj446

Great idea, but the selection is from February : would you mind posting an update ?

Did you read post #27? I have no problem updating the first post, I’m waiting for owners to post here as these recommendations are a consensus from abi members ….

Edit: BTW mods/admins feel free to edit the first post if you have any additional DAPs that you would like to include ...

[arj446]

I actually skipped post #27.

Thanks for the welcome : must say I was pretty happy last night when I discovered ABi and the forum. Glad to see that things haven't changed much since February : all I gotta do is find a Clip Zip now !

[sideways]

Things have not changed a lot on the dedicated media player market. Smartphones continue eating into the high end market share. The line between high end phone (mid range these days) and high end PMP is becoming increasingly blurred. Software like poweramp is bridging the SQ/EQ gap For video and internet consumption high end smartphones have surpassed dedicated devices because of their high end specifications and economies of scale.

If your music collection is huge, you might want to consider any android device with a decent screen and Google Music's beta app. So long as you are connected to the network all your music is available, even if it is far larger than the local storage space you have on the device. I can play anything from my collection using the cheap Archos 32 or 43, the Creative Touch-2, the Cowon D3, or any of my larger tablets. I've copied none of my music to any of those, but all of my music can be accessed using the Google Music app.

^Quoting Olley

Cowon j3 is still the king of the hill.

Android 2.3 update to the cowon d3 made it suck less.

Sony did a small refresh of their line up.

Sandisk did a small refresh of their clip line.

Cowon released their c2 player which offers impressive battery life and Cowon sound enhancements at a reasonable price.

Samsung released two sans 2g/3g versions of their galaxy s phone to compete with the ipod touch. Availability is bad.

The best convergence device out there is now the Samsung Galaxy s2. It was probably a good call by Walkgood all those months ago that we don't get into that since the market has exploded with more models out there than one can count. Going into the value of smartphones over different regional pricing schemes and looking at last gen stuff adds more layers of complexity best left for others.

Something along the lines of

• Large capacity: Cowon X7, Archos, 32gb Cowon J3 + 32gb card and iPod classic. Nokia n8 and external hard drive or another USB on the go enabled device. Conncted device and music streaming.
• Best bang for your buck: Clip series, Fuze and Sony E series
• Best sound quality: Clip series, Fuze v2, Cowon J3, X7, ZuneHD (irrelevant)?
• Best battery life: the Cowon X7 103 hours, Cowon J3, Cowon i7, Cowon c2
• Best for video: Samsung Galaxy players, archos 43 --> Look to the smartphone and tablet market.
• Best for podcasts: No clue
• Easy-to-use players: They are all pretty simple. Clip series.

[WalkGood]

Added Clip Zip in post #1 to “Member recommendations,” as this is a work in progress don’t forget to recommend players to add to appropriate category and I’ll edit the list, tks

[IDvsEGO]

you have clip zip 2 times in "easy to use"

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by IDvsEGO

you have clip zip 2 times in "easy to use"

Thanks for the heads up, looks like skip fixed it.

[desperate]

nice....had a lot of doubts cleared from this site unlike the other site[headfi] where people jus seem to defend their babies with all kinds of artillery possible.........newayz some remain unanswered so............when so many people like, recommend and also write positive reviews and feedback about the cowon D2 D2+,the creative zen vision m and the zune[older] why arent they listed in the best sounding players........agreed that the last two are out of production.....................or did i come to a wrong conclusion...........pls enlighten

[skip252]

Welcome to ABi

This is a listing of member recommended players. This isn't meant to be a listing of what people consider the best ever. The recommendations here are meant to help someone that are currently looking for a player. The players you mention are no longer widely available so it wouldn't make sense to recommend a player someone that's looking for one now couldn't get.

Considering that most quality players made now sound just about the same there's really no need for a best sounding player category in my opinion but it's what members wanted so it's there. An example would be the Zen Vision M. When it was first introduced it was extraordinary in the quality of signal it produced. Now that level of quality is the standard so it wouldn't really stand out in that category.

[desperate]

guess that explains everything........so why not start a thread titled best ever players?

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by desperate

... so why not start a thread titled best ever players?

Why ask us, this is within your own power

[HybridCore]

You might want to change the "ABI's Best Players 2009" to the 2010 list.