Good Ipod Replacement?

Ok guys... Im dying here, I want an MP3 player, but I dont see anything special about the ipod seeing as there is much better on the market for a cheaper price... Ive been looking at the following MP3 Players

Samsung YP-910GS[=http//reviews.cnet.com/Samsung_Napster_YP_910GS_20GB/4505-6490_7-30571545.html?tag=pdtl-list]Samsung YP-910GS
SoniqCast Aireo[=http//reviews.cnet.com/SoniqCast_Element_Aireo_1_5GB/4505-6490_7-30790880.html?tag=pdtl-list]SoniqCast Aireo
Cowon iAudio M3[=http//reviews.cnet.com/Cowon_iAudio_M3_Silver_20GB_with_cradle/4505-6490_7-30842848.html?tag=pdtl-list]Cowon iAudio M3

The key features that I'm looking at are the FM Transmittor, FM Radio, Recording abilities, and just other general stuff.... Truth is I'm not sure really what I want...

From what I have read the Samsung has lots of features such as a radio, line in, mp3 encoding for ripping directly from the line in port, microphone... Problem is the Transmitter supposedly sucks ass, and thats an important thing to me since I dont have a car with a direct line in, and I dont want to use a tape...

The thing I like about the Aireo is that its wifi... It has a good transmitter according to reviews... It has the radio, recording ablities, blah blah... Problem is 1.5 gigs... Might as well stick with my MP3 CD Player...

Last on the list the iAudio, I like it cuz its small offers the radio, line in... such and such... No transmitter though... I can buy one but then I have to plug it into the remote and it just comes out to be a mess of wires... and besides that I like to keep it all down to one piece....

So I guess Im asking for someone that is more familiar with MP3 players then I to help me out... If you know of an MP3 player thats better then the ones listed and offers all or most of the features above list it here... Any thoughts, opinions or suggestions are appreciated.

-Neversky

Wait... so you couldn't get a free ipod...?

Personally I think all of them look awful. But that's just me. Being able to transfer wifi is neat but not a big selling point in my eyes. The difference between taking 2 seconds to hook up a cable or not isn't a huge deal.

Design wise none of them match up to the Ipod's straight forward and clean look. I doubt their interface and firmware can match up to the Ipod as well since I've yet to see any mp3 device with as intuitive of a user interface.

I think that the best alternative to the iPod is the iRiver iHP-140. It has 40 gigs, plays WMA, MP3, and ogg vorbis. It has voice recording, and comes with a lapel mike. you can encode MP3s directly from the built in FM receiver (no transmitter though). And finally, the interface is awesome, almost better than the iPods. Take a look at it for yourself, and read some reviews. The only thing that I hear a few people complaining about is that the joystick protrudes too much off the surface of the unit. Appearantly it can catch on your pocket if you take it out carelessly. No complaints of breakage on the joystick, but I can see how that would be a slight annoyance for some.

Pic

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It is also available in a 20 gig version. I haven't decided for sure yet, but I may be selling my free iPod and getting one of these instead.

Oh yeah by the way, I recently completed my requirements and my order is now processing. I can't wait!
[img="3a65193247]http//www.importfurnituredirect.com/images/Pending.jpg[" alt=""/img3a65193247]

AWWWWWW YEEEEAAAAAAHHH!!

If any of those other players were better than iPod, they'd be kicking the crap out of Apple since they're cheaper. Yet, iPod continues to be the number one. There's no cheap ripoff better... just my 2 cents.

I have to agree with Mr.Sofa, the ipod isnt actually all that great. Heck, I almost sold my free ipod I just got to get one of those iRiver models (the 20 gig one though) but didnt because I'm too lazy. I kind of wish I did though, because my iPod is kind of cruddy, the battery only lasts for about 4 hours, and I have no clue why. And yes, I DID let it charge for the recommended time before using it. I'm thinking about sending it into HP to switch it for a new one, but they'd probably just blame the problem on me..... And tyketto, the iPod is only number one because its so small, and alot of teens who know squat about the technical world think its the only hard drive player on the market, most people are totally clueless about the other options out there. Yet according to alot of review sites, the iPod in no way ranks #1.

I would bet the iRiver isn't that bad at all. In fact it might be better for some people then an Ipod. But I think most people will agree the Ipod is still the benchmark for hard drive players right now.

Your battery issue isn't the norm and could just be a bad battery (pretty likely) or a faulty Ipod (much less likely). Otherwise you didn't really give any real reason why you wanted to trade your Ipod for an iRiver. If I get my Ipod I'll but happy with it. I might trade it up for a 40 gig model at Costco or Best Buy but otherwise I think the interface and design is awesome.

Well one of the main reasons I would trade for an iRiver is because its so easy to put music on it, you just transfer it onto the player when its in a removable hard drive state, aka no software to deal with. It also has the line-in recording which I would use alot because I used to record streaming audio via my minidisc player, and now with my iPod its harder to do so. I was also thinking about the Creative Zen Touch because I've had nothing but good luck with Creative and the battery life on that player is 24 hours. And yeah, I'm thinkin my battery is faulty, because I followed the instructions perfectly before using it. But I'm not complaining, heck it was free.

If your iPod battery is below 50 percent charge and still under warranty, Apple will replace it.

When you say "50 percent charge", you mean that if it lasts half of what they claim it holds right? Should I do a full charge of it and test exactly how long it lasts on like 3/4 volume or so? (I think thats how reviewers test battery life). Also, would it be returned with Apple, or Hp? (its an iPod+Hp)

"for a cheaper price?" cheaper than free?

Ipod looks the best by far, you will be cool if you get an ipod, only cool kids have ipods. Every other player in existence looks horrible, they all try too hard, ipod looks very simple.

Apple patented the clickwheel so no other player has that, OBVIOUSLY the only reason we are all here getting ipods is to play around with the clickwheel!

If you want the other stuff you might be able to get addons (like iTalk for recording) but IMO ipod is the best for mp3s, the only downside is it doesn't play OGG files.. maybe some alternate firmware exists that lets you do that, I don't know.

edit
Oh and since I think my post didn't help you at all.. I think a good alternative is the iRiver like stated above. My friend has one. He had the 40GB and he got it for $100! (Christmas sale or something).

Me personally do not want any radio feature or recording. I like all my devices to do one thing only. I think if a company works on a product that just does one thing, they will have a very good product that does that one thing. I hate "all in one" combinations.. I just need something to play MP3 files, OGG would of been nicer but it's not a big deal right now.

If I had something against the iPod then I would eith buy an iRiver or this mp3 player.

http//us.creative.com/products/product.asp?product=9288&campid=20445

It has 60GB!!!!!

And it looks nice.


Cheers!

Well thanks guys for all your input... Just to slam the ipod a lil bit... The only reason the ipod does so well is becuase it is "user friendly" Im not worried about "user friendly" I, on the other handm am more worried about functionality. The reason I chose the models above is because they all have features that no one else has, and I dont have to use any software to transfer to them at all... I dont want Itunes on my computer. I will look into the iRiver though... I have read lots of good reviews on that model but nothing extremely eye catching, and I did hear a few complaints on the joystick... It does miss one of the things that important though... The ability to listen to the radio... Im sure many of you think "why does he care about the radio" well I listen to the radio... sometimes I just want someone else to choose my music for me... lol.

Edit IpodFace... Technically it would be cheaper then free cuz if I sold my ipod for 300 and purchased one of those models, I would have extra cash lleft over...

creatives break. my friend had one and the headphone input came loose, the screen came off and it used batteries horribly. get an archos. half movies, half music. 8)

Yeah, the older creative players stunk because the button layout was wrong for a player that could hold so much (ex. the 60gb one with the buttons on the side) but I've heard the Zen Touch is pretty good because it has a long touchpad on the front of the unit. And yeah, the scrollwheel definately is the best feature of the iPod. The touch pad on the Zen and the scroll wheel on the iPod are actually made by the same company, there was an article on mp3.com talking about it the other day. http//www.mp3.com/story/feature_ipod_wheel.html

http//www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=acc_PCAccessories_VaioPocket&Dept=cpu_accessories&CP=newsonycom_senmod_shop_phopro check this thing out, it just came out a week ago or so, and its hella sick, but the only probelm is its 499$

"Stores up to 26,000 tracks2 at 48kbps"

Who the hell would want songs on such a low ass quality?

[quote42ddd4b4a5="DisastirousMurmur"]http//www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=acc_PCAccessories_VaioPocket&Dept=cpu_accessories&CP=newsonycom_senmod_shop_phopro check this thing out, it just came out a week ago or so, and its hella sick, but the only probelm is its 499$[/quote42ddd4b4a5]

Wow, pretty...

But oh so pricey ?

That looks awesome, i wisf they would make a free site w/ one of those as the gift

[quoteb135151cd6="ldsguy"]When you say "50 percent charge", you mean that if it lasts half of what they claim it holds right? Should I do a full charge of it and test exactly how long it lasts on like 3/4 volume or so? (I think thats how reviewers test battery life). Also, would it be returned with Apple, or Hp? (its an iPod+Hp)[/quoteb135151cd6]

If it's an HP iPod (hPod), then warranty is provided by HP and therefore an RMA would be through HP as well. If it's that new and the battery is shit, you should exchange it. There is zero reason why HP wouldn't do that.

The iPod is popular because it's pretty and easy to use and trendy. If you're that concerned with functionality, you can use an application like Ephod or Anapod to drag-and-drop instead of importing with iTunes (I refuse to ever touch iTunes again). If you want something prettier, there's not much that beats the iPod. My vote is for the iPod because it was free and I never had to actually leave my house to get it.

I'm glad u told us what iTunes did to you shifu...i'm not letting it near my 40 gb of mp3's!!!!

That sony is nice... Too much thoughj, Im looking to save money on the deal... Im thinking I might just sell the ipod and use the money towards something else altogether... Im beggining to think that I dont really need an MP3 Player... I have an MP3 CD Player and havent used it in months...

lol, yea i got a hela sick mp3 cd player, and i havent used it in like a year, maybe more, but my headphones broke so thats one of the reasons im not using it, but im hoping the ipod is smaller and stuff and i dont have to burn CDs or anything so that might get me to listen to it more.

I think iTunes is either a love or hate affair for most users. The people who hate it do so because they either had their mp3's renamed (didn't happen to me because I followed and read the directions) or they say it's a memory hog (which is true). But besides that, I can't think of any other player that beats out iTunes in functionality and simplicity. It became pretty popular in the dorms I stayed in last year because everybody could see each other's music and such. iTunes won't rename your files if you read the directions, it's that simple.

[quote70ec8a7f0f="DisastirousMurmur"]http//www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start?CategoryName=acc_PCAccessories_VaioPocket&Dept=cpu_accessories&CP=newsonycom_senmod_shop_phopro check this thing out, it just came out a week ago or so, and its hella sick, but the only probelm is its 499$[/quote70ec8a7f0f]
This is clearly not an alternative to the iPod as it doesn't play MP3s.

Sony has only just announced planned native support for MP3s; in future players of course.