# Good iPod alternatives? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 5, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-ipod-alternatives/347159 "2006-03-05T18:31:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-ipod-alternatives/347159/21 "2006-03-07T05:57:38Z")
> [@Suburban Plankton](#): > > I bought a Rio Forge for **Rhiannon8404** > > It’s flash based, so no hard drive to wear out. > It runs on AAA batteries, so no costly rechargeable to wear out. (It gets many, many hours off a single AAA.) > It only has 512 MB internal storage, so that might be an issue, but it has a slot for an SD memory card. I bought a 1 GB card to go with it, and it stores more music than she can listen to. Hey, I have the same Rio Forge. I have a large number of MP3 players, including an iPod Video, and this one is the best so far, for my purposes at least. But I mostly listen to audiobooks, so my purposes may not be the same as those of most people… Anyway: it has an SD slot, so I basically have unlimited storage, and being flash-based, its battery life is pretty darn good. It plays Audible files for listening to Audible audiobooks. It plays protected WMA files so you can listen to NetLibrary audiobooks and the like (which the iPod won’t do). And best of all, it has bookmarks: you can save up to ten bookmarks anywhere you want in any of your files, so you can immediately go back to any of ten different locations. It’s such a useful feature that, since I’ve had this one, I haven’t been satisfied with any MP3 player that lacks it, and very few of them do. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-ipod-alternatives/347159/22 "2006-03-07T05:58:39Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > It’s such a useful feature that, since I’ve had this one, I haven’t been satisfied with any MP3 player that lacks it, and very few of them do. Er, that should be “and most of them do.” You know what I mean … very few MP3 players have a bookmark feature. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-ipod-alternatives/347159/23 "2006-03-07T14:19:24Z")
I have the Cowon iAudio X5 as well. I’m pretty pleased with it: it plays MP3, OGG, and FLAC, plays/records FM radio, etc. And I’m with Smeghead on the “just copy it on” functionality. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-ipod-alternatives/347159/24 "2006-03-07T16:13:43Z")
Craigslist provided me with a Rio Forge Sport yesterday, for $20.00. It’s my first mp3 player and I haven’t really messed with it too much. I like that it’s got a slot for memory cards so I have unlimited storage; but, the player itself holds only 128 mB. If I’m going to be away longer than the time those songs are going to play, I’ll have to carry the memory with me. I can probably make a little pocket in the armband. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-ipod-alternatives/347159.md?page=1)