So many people think of expensive ipods when they hear the term mp3 player. There are some great players made by other companies that are priced lower and perform better than ipods.
My favorite low priced player is the Sandisk Sansa Fuze. It is somewhat similar in size to the ipod Nano, however the Fuze has a micro SDHC memory expansion slot, FM radio, a built in voice recorder, better sound quality than the ipod Nano, and is around half the price of the Nano. It is listed as having 24 hour battery life(the same as the Nano), but in real world usage gets around 20 hours. A 4 GB Fuze sells for around $57 on Amazon, while an 8 GB one is around $69. One can buy an 8 GB micro SDHC memory card for it on Amazon for as little as $11. So for around $80, one could have a Fuze with 16 GB of storage.

Like the ipods, it comes with a low quality earphone. One can buy a decent earphone or headphone to use with it for as little as around $20. Some good $20 choices are the Koss Sportapro headphone, or the Sennheiser CX300 earphone.

Sony and Samsung also make some nice players, however those are more expensive and none of them have memory expansion slots.

Cowon(a young Korean company) makes the D2+, a high quality player with a full sized SDHC memory card slot. The D2+ has battery life listed as 52 hours. It is one of the most powerful mp3 players in terms of power output, and will even do a good job of powering most full sized not so efficient headphones. An 8 GB D2+ is around $125, while a 16 GB one is around $150. One could buy a 16 GB SDHC card for around $32, and together with an 8 GB D2+, have a great 24 GB player for around $160, or they could but a 16 GB D2+ and a 32 GB card for around $240 total, and have a great player with 48 GB of storage. You can also find the D2+ on Amazon.

One major downside of these other brands of mp3 players. They will not play protected music purchased through itunes. They will play protected music purchased from other online music stores or music from your CDs(made into mp3 or WMA files).

No comments or questions?

Sandisk just released a new tiny mp3 player with a card slot and built in clip called the Clip+. The 4 GB one is $50. It received excellent reviews. It has excellent sound quality, a display, FM eadio, and a built in voice recorder

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2352184,00.asp

I bought a Clip+ this week, and have had a Fuze for over a year. One thing about the PC Magazine review I mentioned in the previous post.

" as well as a better-than-average pair of earbuds that manage to stay in place with the help of some foam coverings. But you shouldn't expect top-notch audio quality or bass response. "

They mean that that you shouldn't expect great sound from the included earphones. With good quality 16 to 32 ohm earphones that are efficient(at least 104 db/mw) the sound quality of the Clip+ is great, and is basically the same as the Fuze. At
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/ (I am also JK98 there)
the Clip(predecessor to the Clip+ and almost the same but without the card slot and folder navigation) has been one of the favorite players, with many there commenting that the sound quality of the Clip and Fuze(and now the Clip+) is much better than many much more costly players(when used with a decent quality headphone or earphone).

An even better review of the Clip+.

http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/sandisk-sansa-clip-4gb/4505-6490_7-33770002.html?tag=mncol;txt

Which do I like better, the Clip+ or the Fuze? The Clip+ is best when someone is very active and tends to let albums play through. The Fuze with its longer battery life, scroll wheel, and larger display is better when one likes to hunt for individual songs often, or they want more battery life.

On a few occasions I was almost tempted to buy a Cowon D2 or D2+ but resisted the temptation. Aside from the very long battery life of the D2+(listed as 52 hours),and the full sized SDHC card slot(on the Clip+ and Fuze the card slot is micro SDHC) the D2+ is much better than the Fuze at playing video( video playback on the Fuze basically sucks, also photo viewing on the Fuze is useful). The D2 or D2+ is twice as thick as the Fuze, and 50% heavier.

The new Sony S545 16 GB mp3 player looks very interesting! Long battery life(listed as 42 hours) a 2.4" screen, and great sound quality. No card slot though, and no separate area for podcasts or audiobooks. $120 at Walmart.

The Samsung Q2 has battery life listed as 50 hours. It has a touchpad for control. It has a 2.4" screen. No card slot though. In terms of output power, it probably puts out much more power than the Sony S545. An 8 GB Q2 is around $79, while a 16 GB one is around $119.

Both seem to be generating plenty of positive comments on

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/

There is an interesting thread on the anythingbutipod website about portable battery packs to recharge mp3 players and cell phones while you are away from AC power.

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51563

The Sony NWZ E345 Walkman 16 GB mp3 player is just $69 now on Amazon.com with free shipping within the US. Grab one quickly before the price goes up. This is a great mp3 player for just $69. It has excellent sound quality, with an equilizer that works much better than the equilizer on the sandisk Fuze or Clip+. The battery life is listed at 30 hours(figure around 25 hours of play in real world It has FM radio. It has a standard mini USB connector. The downside? No card slot, or separate area on the player for podcasts like the Fuze and Clip+ have. The player is MTP only, unlike the Sandisk Fuze or Clip+ which are MSC or MTP user selectable. With 16 GB of storage built in though, the lack of a card slot isn't so bad. The Sandisk Fuze and Clip+ only come with up to 8 GB of storage, but both have a micro SDHC card slot.

It would be nice if some people would respond to this thread and we could start a dialog here. It looks like this thread has been viewed 255 times so far, yet no one has responded. I wonder if people here bought one of the players I recommended and if they like it, or if everyone here has an ipod.

The Sony E345 16 GB player for $69 looks like an amazing deal. Too bad I don't need a player now. Many other retailers are selling this player for between $85 and $100. Even at $100 this player still looks like a much better deal than an ipod.

Very good info. Thanks for taking the time to post it. As for me, I don't use MP3 player because I work too much

I'm sure people will eventually join in the conversation.

Thanks.

The new Sony NWZ-E354 (8 GB) and NWZ-E355 (16 GB) players look very nice. Battery life is listed as being 50 hours(perhaps real usage battery life might be closer to 40 hours though?) They have a separate area for podcasts, and variable speed playback with automatic pitch correction from half to double speed(just in certain increments though, not continuously adjustable). The player has a standard mini usb connector. The E354 is easy to find now, but the 16 GB E355 is much newer and much harder to find. The E354 is around $70-80, while I guess the E355 might be around $100-110. Since this player doesn't have a card slot, paying up to $30 more for the 16 GB rather than the 8 Gb one seems well worth it. I may get one of these since the long battery life and variable speed playback with automatic pitch correction really excites me. I listen to many podcasts, and when the speaker is speaking slowly, these are best listened to at 1.5x normal speed.

The Sandisk Sansa Clip+ at $60(8 GB) beat the $149(8 GB) ipod Nano in CNET's latest prize fight! One can get a 4 GB Clip+ for just $40, then add a 16 GB micro SDHC card($30) to it to have a very nice cheap 20 GB player.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20018767-1.html

http://anythingbutipod.com/2009/08/sandisk-sansa-clip-plus-review/