As detailed in this thread I started back in April, I’m a big fan of the Rio Forge 512 MP3 player. It has the following features that I like (further details available in the other thread, if anybody cares):
[ol]
[li]Plays Audible audiobooks[/li][li]Runs on one AAA battery[/li][li]Indexes songs[/li][li]Flash-memory based[/li][li]Has an SD slot that works with my 4GB SD card[/li][li]Plays WMA files, even DRM-protected ones[/li][li]Bookmarks (can save your place in up to 10 files, or 10 different places in one file)[/li][/ol]
But now my player is broken AGAIN, and I need a new one. I’m just wondering if anybody knows of any new MP3 players that have come out that would make a suitable replacement. Most important to me are the Audible support, the flash memory/SD slot, and the bookmarks. The Sandisk players would be perfect if they just had bookmarks. Unfortunately, when you’re listening to 12-hour audiobooks, they’re a convenience you quickly grow dependent on.
I don’t know nothin’ bout MP3 players, but your thread is showing up sequentially on the New Post search with MP3 Player Opinions. Which is making me giggle a bit, but not enough for the Sequential Thread Title thread. More importantly, you might find some useful information in there.
I have a Sansa and have never lost my place in an audible audiobook. You can’t bookmark music (and therefore any audiobooks you burn to your player from CDs) but it keeps your place in audible audiobooks.
I went from the Rio Forge to the Sandisk and couldn’t have been happier.
Oh, and Rios just break, all the time, and the company does nothing, and no longer makes MP3 players. Sigh.
Yeah, they do at least recognize the built-in Audible bookmark, so your current place in an Audible book is at least kept. But I have a lot of books in MP3 and WMA format as well – MP3 from my extensive collection of actual audio CDs and WMA from NetLibrary and Overdrive, since my local library uses them for digital libraryhood. Both use DMA-protected WMA files, and the audiobook comes as a single file, usually 8-12 hours long. Starting over at the beginning of one of those every time is what makes the Sandisk player not-quite-perfect for me.
Yeah – having opened each of my three[sup]1[/sup] Rio Forges up repeatedly to fix problems, particularly with the play/pause button, I’m well aware of how their players are somewhat … um … prone to trouble, shall we say.
I’ve been looking at open source MP3 players, which are pretty interesting in their own right. I wonder if anybody’s working on one that would play WMA or Ogg Vorbis files too … I wonder if you have to pay Microsoft for the right to play DRM’d WMA files.
It doesn’t run on one AAA battery, though. It comes with a battery that you charge up every so often. (I find myself charging quite a lot but then my life requires a constant soundtrack.)
I have one too, and while it plays well enough, I HATE HATE HATE the software that comes with it. For example, there’s one app for creating playlist files, and another for editing them, but none for deleting them… (I delete them manually in Explorer.) The Zen software is the epitome of user hostile. My next player will be from anyone but Creative.
Yeah, I find that using it isn’t as easy as the iPod was. It doesn’t automatically hook up all your songs and add/delete when you connect…but at the same time it’s hard to know what you do and don’t have on your player. It doesn’t make a big difference to me because I don’t add a lot of songs to my player and I’m not much of one for playlists. I can see why it might annoy others, though. I’m just glad it doesn’t always break.
I have a Creative Zen V Plus. (I don’t know how it differs from a plain creative zen.) The thing I’ve noticed the most is that it seems very sturdy. I’ve dropped that sucker while riding my bike several times and it works perfectly well, if a little scratched. But the battery charge doesn’t seem to last as long as an iPod and it takes 3-4 hours to charge. :mad:
I have a Rio Forge right now and it’s been giving me trouble. It’s one of the Silver 1 gig ones, with a 2 gig SD card (and a 1 gig card in my dresser in case I feel the need for more).
The problem seems to be with the power up process. If I totally run down a battery and replace it, I have a devil of a time getting it to turn on. It’s been a while, so I’m not sure what I did last time (it’s sitting dead right now), but I think involved multiple battery swaps, connecting and reconnecting the USB, and sacrifices of kittens.
I have noticed that making sure that I swap AAAs with charge left on the original doesn’t send my player to MP3 heaven until its next reincarnation, I just need to plug it in to resync the time and date.
It comes with a battery that you charge up every so often. (I find myself charging quite a lot but then my life requires a constant soundtrack.)