http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 25th 2010 11:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
Worse than saying "first" by a long shot. ]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
I'm an iMac owner. Quit making me look ugly too "Son."

Now on to the suggestions. I'm in the market as well. Can we make this informative before Engadget schools us again?]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 25th 2010 11:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 26th 2010 12:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/I was just kidding guys.
=P]]>Feb 26th 2010 12:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 26th 2010 1:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Isn't it confetti and pizzazzonia that convince people to play rigged games and buy useless product at carnivals and fairs? I've certainly never associated them with good craftsmanship.]]>Feb 27th 2010 6:50AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 26th 2010 3:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
Zune HD is great but unfortunately it doesn't support flac]]>Feb 26th 2010 6:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec]]>Feb 26th 2010 7:12AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
Or something by iAudio/Cowon. ]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 25th 2010 11:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/+1 for sansa clip+
I also suggest Sansa Fuze, which has a better battery life.]]>Feb 26th 2010 12:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
sansa clip+ for no frills
sansa fuze if you want a better display and battery
anything from cowon if you want that plus unsurpassed audio quality

my gf has a fuze, im using a cowon s9.]]>Feb 26th 2010 6:26AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
BRILLIANT.]]>Feb 26th 2010 10:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
A Sansa Clip+, not a Clip, genius.]]>Mar 22nd 2010 6:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 25th 2010 11:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
True story:

I purchased a iAudio 7 8GB Red in 2007, its battery died in 2009 and also the screen had a slight dent on it.

I sent it to Cowon for repairs. It came to about $57 USD, which was a good deal to me because it originally cost $144 CAD. So I paid less than half for it to be repaired and it only took 2 weeks.

It's got amazing battery life 30-40 hours w/ JetEffect and Equalizer playing flac music, very small, excellent for working out with, and it can even be used as a radio.

It's availability is scarce. Hopefully you can find one.

]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/If you look at the design of their products (which, I must say, are extremely good for whatever price range you're looking at), and you look at the amazing battery life each and every one of them has, and you look at the sheer number of formats they support (FLAC obviously includud), and you look at the rate at which they spew firmware updates (ones that actually improve stuff based on community feedback), and you listen to the sound quality (which is undeniably the most revered sound quality in the business)...
And you look at all that and you say... Nah. Then:
1) You're not looking for a good PMP, or
2) You're missing something else, like say ZunePass.
Now I have a Zune, but I never used ZunePass. Nevertheless, ZunePass is supposedly a great experience, and very much worth your money. The cool thing about Zune is that they're upgrading their devices (and ZunePass comes along with you), and integrating it into other parts of their huge ecosystem (XBox, Desktop, WinPho7?). i.e. when you have a Zune, you know you have a Microsoft product backed and supported by the largest tech company in the world.

Bottom line:
No frills: any Cowon / iAudio
Missing the experience around your PMP: any Zune

Both of these options are available at all price ranges too. Good luck with your new PMP!]]>Feb 26th 2010 7:10AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
It supposedly has unbelievable SQ, supports SD, and plays FLAC. The only real issue is that the battery life is not that great with lossless audio. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a PMP that you are okay with not having a ton of battery life and are expecting nothing more than a simplistic audio-centric user experience check it out. ]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:18PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
For an american player I would suggest spending a bit more and checking out the lower end Zune HD. You will enjoy the features and the sound quality. :D]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/One of the requirements was support for FLAC. Zunes don't support FLAC. And all of the Zune devices are missing some features that are available on the Sansa Clip... such as a sleep timer.]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
But if he/she has a library of lossless codec files (FLAC) any other lossless format (like WMA lossless) can be converted to without a loss of quality. I recently did something like this so I could buy a device that was actually supported here in America (though this individual may not be from the US...).

I digress. The Zune IS an option for this guy. Though admittedly it would require some additional effort on his end to make it work. ]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
No, the Zune isn't an option. It doesn't fulfill the basic and short list of requirements. FLAC is better. Why convert it to something that isn't better? In 20 years, his FLAC will be good to go and lossless.

And how much is the cheapest Zune? More than the cheapest devices that fulfills the reqs. Why pay more for less and justify it by saying 'do some work!'?]]>Feb 26th 2010 1:35AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 25th 2010 11:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Oh, and it supports FLAC.]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
I have to personally thank you for reminding me of, "Bobby's World".

That is all. ]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Mar 2nd 2010 12:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
But Cowon and Archos has higher-end small players with good feature sets. ]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/It is the best Non-video Mp3 player on the market.]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 25th 2010 11:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 25th 2010 11:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/1. It's cheap
2. It's really fast and responsive
3. It's got AMAZING battery life
4. Zunepass. need i say more?
5. The Zune desktop software
6. All the awesome artist info crap it downloads
7. Bright OLED Screen
8. Light, Awesome, Great quality sound
9. Zune Social]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Uhh...what part of $180 is cheap?
Btw...Zune HD is the polar opposite of "no frills"
Sansa clip+ = $45]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
This comment has been up for 4 minutes now, I'm really surprised it hasn't been downvoted into oblivion yet. ]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Zune HD is NOT cheap. How can you compare a $50 Clip to a $200 HD? Zune Social? useless gimmick. Zune Pass? ok, if you like to rent your music. The OLED screen is indeed nice. The Zune desktop software is a pig that makes iTunes look slim and trim.

The Zune HD does not support FLAC which was a requirement.]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
The Zune supports lossless audio (as I explained earlier you can make it work if you want it to...). Another BIG reason to like the zune HD is that its battery life is SO MUCH BETTER. The clip, for all of its merits, just does not have adequate battery life.

Let's not be 'PMP Nazis' here. The Zune HD is an option. ]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
As for "no frills", the device with the least amount of frills (read: none) would probably be the iPod Shuffle. The best MP3 player for the least amount of money, however, may just be your cell phone (depending on the phone you have). My RAZR2 V9x works very well as an MP3 player. It doesn't support FLAC, but I honestly think that's a pretty odd requirement since most people aren't even be able to distinguish a standard quality (128-192 Kbps) M4A from lossless audio files. Even so, most devices I've come across that support WMA files also support WMA lossless files. But you won't be able to fit very many lossless audio files on 4GB.]]>Feb 26th 2010 12:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/I came here expecting fanboys to suggest an iPod Touch, instead it was a fanboy suggesting a Zune HD.
the guy wants a "no frills" player. The Zune HD is definitely not "no frills".

But I've got to call you out on saying the Zune software makes iTunes look slim and trim. Even with all the highest settings and running as much stuff as I could through Zune I could never get it anywhere near the memory usage of a fresh install of iTunes...God forbid you want to try out Coverflow. Just admit you've never used the Zune software and nobody will care.]]>Feb 26th 2010 12:44AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 26th 2010 1:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
The Zune Player is incredible. It blows the iTunes player away in presentation and of course especially in ease of transferring files.

No, it's not the cheapest PMP out there and definitely not of the "no frills" variety - if you wanted to trade up from your current media player, you definitely want to check one of them out. Here is a review:

http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/zune-hd-16gb-black/4505-6490_7-33750785.html?tag=mncolBtm;rnav
]]>Feb 26th 2010 2:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
my nexus > any zune hd/iphone/cowon

it's a machine by itself, it doesn't even need to sync to a puter... but it can be synced by many media players or old fashion drag n drop works too! plus with tons of third party media players on the app market, u can pretty much play any kind of file u can find. hell, u can even unzip/unrar downloaded files on a nexus.

i use stereo bluetooth headphones from sony called drbt50 with playback buttons right on the headphones themselves. does iphone 3gs/zune hd even support stereo a2dp bluetooth?]]>Mar 29th 2010 3:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/I will not part with my .ogg collection. Thank you Sandisk, now I don't have to.]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 25th 2010 11:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/+1 on the Cowon D2! It was the first thing I thought of.
Not only does it have native FLAC support and exceptional sound quality, but expandable memory AND a ~52 hour battery life]]>Feb 26th 2010 2:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
I'd also agree with the D2.
The UI isn't as pleasent as it could be but it excels almost everywhere else.

Huge Battery life, can't even remember the last time I charged mine properly.
Plus it has that SD card slot. I got the 16GB model and keep that for my music and drop in a SD card loaded with Vids for whenever I travel.]]>Feb 26th 2010 1:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/Feb 27th 2010 2:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/25/ask-engadget-best-no-frills-portable-media-player/
4Gb = 4096MB
Let's assume a FLAC file is at least 20MB
Total songs = 4096/20 = 204 songs.
If you convert to 256 VBR with avg of 8MB/song
Total songs = 4096/8 = 512 songs.

You're getting almost twice the amount of songs at the same music quality with minimal effort. I'm a FLAC guy myself but I only play it through an Auzentech Forte with Z5500's if i'm looking to play music on the go I suggest putting your money towards a nicer cell phone with a 3.5mm jack and just upgrade the SD card. FLAC has it's places and PMPs does not seem to be one in my opinion.]]>Feb 25th 2010 11:34PM