back to article What's the best non-iPod music player?

I want an 8GB MP3 player - just not an iPod. I don't want a touchscreen, either - too easily broken. Video I don’t care about - I'm not going to use it, so the player doesn't need to have it. What I do want is a great battery life, an even better sound quality and the ability to shuffle tracks within a given genre. Any ideas …

COMMENTS

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  1. Shy Talk

    Sandisk Sansa Fuze 8GB

    Does the lot, plus comes with a micro sdhc card slot so you can expand the memory if required. Mechanical click-wheel is much nicer to use than the current iPod effort and is faster to navigate with than 'button-only' solutions.

  2. SminkyBazzA
    Thumb Up

    Sansa Fuze

    Hello, my requirements were very similar to yours. I've been using a Sandisk Sansa Fuze since christmas and it's pretty amazing. It does video but it's easily ignored if you want :)

    8GB with a microSD slot in case you want to upgrade it with a larger card in future (it transparently merges with the onboard memory).

    Battery life is amazing, I can go for weeks on light usage between charges (they state 24hrs I believe, but ymmv).

    I listen through a pair of £15 Sennheiser CX300 and the sound is great, but then I'm no audiophile.

    No fancy software required, you can drag and drop as a standard USB device in Windows.

    It does a few other things, but you don't mention a preference so neither shall I.

    * http://www.sansa.com/players/sansa_fuze

    * http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/06/16/review_sansa_fuze/

    Enjoy

  3. Bassey

    title required

    Sounds like you want the Sandisk Fuze (about £60-70 at the moment). Not sure about shuffling within a genre though. Never tried it and not got mine with me. Fantastic battery life and brilliant sound quality though - once you ditch the headphones and use decent ones of your own.

  4. Tim in Japan
    Happy

    Sony NW-728 (or A828)

    I looked into buying a Cowon, Samsung, Apple and Sony. I like you am only concerned about music. And if i could show pictures to friends that would be cool too...

    * Samsung Dont really offer any cool non touch MP3 players.

    * Cowon make nice players, but the D2 is expensive and the bundled headphones arnt nice. Also they are all a little bulky.

    * Iriver is nice - find a Clix 2 8gb - nice sound, but then again you have the crappy bundled headphones.

    So I checked out Amazon and managed to find a NW-728 (8gb) with 2.4" screen.

    Comes bundled with some pretty decent phones and only set me back $130 including shipping. Pretty happy!

    It arrived yesterday - Put together very nice - Not a creak in the chasis, buttons are excellent, and its hugely responsive. Plus sony has ditched the sonic stage so you can just use your your preferred media player.

    You could also try the series down. NW-628? And dont worry about the noice cancelling cans. The EX cans cancel enough sound with their semi-canal style...

    Hope it helped

  5. naeem
    Jobs Horns

    Creative or Sandisk have the best alternatives

    I would reccomend the Creative Mozaic ZEN 8GB MP3 player - less than 50 squids bulletproof reliability and excellent sound quality.

  6. Punt Road

    Best Non iPod

    Try a Creative Zen 8 gig that comes in around £65 ~ 70 from Amazon.

    They are the size of a credit card, durable, have all the toys, good player, video, radio, photos, clock, recorder, very light and has around 30 hours plus use between charges. Dead easy to use on all functions so even though it has more than you need don't worry.

    Used with Creative 630 phones the performance is outstanding. Knocks iPod, Sony Sansa etc dead on performance and reliability. I reckon it is agood looking player even though it has black polycarbonate casing.

    Very durable and reliable. Used mine round the world and it has been abused big time but never missed a beat in 12 months mis-handling

    Creative software that comes with it very user friendly but you make need to update the player using creative support if the player is old stock.

  7. Mark 9

    Walkman on Samsung P2

    Walkman NWZ-A72x or NWZ-A82x (the 82x are the ones with Bluetooth).

    Sound 100x time better than anything Apple can produce, does not need any specia software (you can use WMP, Windows Explorer in "MTP mode", or use MacOS and Linux as a plain USB device to load music) .

    UI is very quick and intiuitive. In short, it's not got a whole load of bells and whistles, but what it does do, play music, it does VERY well indeed. The headphones are also extremely high quality too.

    16GB for £78 new.

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-walkman-digital-player-NWZ-A729/dp/B0026M7U7G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1245228345&sr=8-1

    Now the X is out, and grabbing the attention, you can get it's younger touchscreenless brother for a bargain. It shares the equally as good sound quality, and the UI is very similar.

  8. tuBBymAN
    Thumb Up

    Sony Walkman only way to go!

    I bought a Sony Walkman S series mp3 player for my girlfriend for Xmas and it is truely impressive! She is really happy with the UI and the bright colourful display. Plus it has the usual compatability with Windows and the means you don't have to use itunes which has to be a bonus! Check out the review below

    http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/12/01/review_mp3_player_sony_walkman_nwz_s639/

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