“Sort of”, perhaps. “Entirely”, not at all. “Irrational hatred”? More like irrational hyperbole from someone all upset that someone got a precious Apple Fact wrong rather than just calmly correcting their error. Which almost sounds… irrational?
Alright, maybe hatred is a bit strong, could have phrased that differently. However, if I may quote:
That just ain’t true. Anyway, let’s put this hijack to rest, I didn’t mean to step on anyone’s toes.
Yeah, I’ve been happy with my Sansas (older models than the Clip, though). I installed the Rockbox firmware on one, and it starts right up and doesn’t have to sort through anything when you turn it on. And you can just copy over files like a standard flash drive—no software required.
I don’t know how I would stay sane without it! My 30 GB iPod is almost filled to capacity with most of my music collection and a wide selection of podcasts; I pick what I want to hear based on my mood at the moment. One day I forgot to charge it, and I had to listen to a CD instead. I was not happy.
I had a 3rd generation iPod, and I still never once dealt with DRM on it. (I did buy an ebook from iTunes once. Man did the quality suck–and I paid almost as much as I would for a CD just because I wanted it right away.)
Yeah I have a Sansa Sandisk Clip, and I love it to pieces.
I can just plug it into anyone’s computer and copy over a single song they want me to hear easy peasy. No synching, no complications, nothing. Works exactly like a flashdrive, and is particularly good at handling podcasts/audiobooks.
I miss my MuVo[sup]2[/sup] FM.
Partly because of all the music that’s stuck on it, that I can’t access any more.
I have a Sansa Clip. For the most part, I love it. Very good audio quality, functional display, good battery life, and no propriety software. As to your last comment, it’s true. Whenever you add or remove songs, it has to refresh before you can use it, and that can take a while and can be annoying. But I can live with it.