Comment: Time for a new MP3 player...

I realize this isn't a post about freeware, but it involves something that is very near and dear to many-a-geek's heart: personal media players.

A little bit of a backstory...

About a year ago, I purchased a 30Gb Microsoft Zune to play my MP3's and other media. Since all I was really doing was playing music and downloading the occasional Youtube video, the player proved to be a perfect gadget to achieve my needs. Not too long after this, I purchased an Archos 604 for my wife to watch videos and play music while she was at home taking care of our daughter.

Once I discovered how awesome the 604 was (primarily because it would play a wide variety of video files, and I was getting more into video), I promptly Ebay'ed the Zune, and purchased an Archos 404 (the little brother to the 604)...and all was good. I LOVED the Archos, aside from the navigation controls, it was the perfect player for me.

...until last week, that is...

Your player asplode!

I had an old Hayes modem nylon baggie/case lying around from years ago and finally found a good use for it - it was a perfect fit for my 404. But, one day last week I wasn't careful while packing the player and earbuds into the case...typically, I'll pack the player in first, then put the earbuds in behind it, since the back of the player is a nice solid aluminum piece. However, this time, I accidentally placed them in front of the player, against the LCD. Well, it doesn't take long to figure out what happened next. At some point during my journey home from work, some pressure was applied to the case...and *snap* - busted LCD! I didn't discover it until I plugged it in to sync with my PC later that night.

Grrr.

Calling Archos confirmed my suspicion that the screen would cost nearly as much as the player itself ($100 for a screen replacement, since breakage isn't under warranty - I got it for $140 in July of last year)...So now, I've had to shop for a new-ish player...I say "new-ish" since I can't afford a brand new player with the specs that I need.

I had a set of requirements that I wanted to follow:

Needed:

• Less fragile screen (duh)
• Ability to play DivX, WMV, MPG video
• Ability to play MP3, WMA audio
• Function as an external Hard Drive
• At least 30Gb storage
  

Wanted:

• FM Tuner
• Voice recorder
• Relatively portable - not necessarily slim, but "pocketable" without looking obscene
• Easy "blind" navigation
  

Niceties:

• Availability of accessories
• PNG support for pics
  

After some serious searching on Ebay and comparing reviews on www.cnet.com, I finally decided on a Creative Zen Vision:M since it seemed to fit all of the above criteria (with exception to PNG support).

Video:

Divx was very important to me since I have a license for the DivX Pro bundle which allows me to encode my DVD's and other videos if necessary. I really don't want to encode if I don't have to, so the ability to play the most varieties of videos was also important.

Screen size wasn't a big issue with me, as long as it is vivid enough in ambient indoor scenarios to dim sunlight. I think I was spoiled on the 404's 3.5" display, though - so we'll see how I feel about my new 2.5" screen.

Durability:

Also, with the recent incident so fresh in my mind, I needed something that could withstand a modicum of unintended pressure on the display. I LOVED my 404, but I can't deal with another broken LCD. Also, I never really dropped my players from any substantial height, so I'm thinking that I'll be OK with the Zen here.

I am concerned however, with the ease of which black plastics will show scratches, (the one that I have ordered through Ebay is black) so we'll see how that goes.

Audio:

Not terribly picky here, but I have all of my CDs converted to MP3's, and I have a few WMA files (remember the Best Buy freebie holiday cards from 2006 and the Rhapsody deal? I had a BUNCH of free licensed songs), so as long as they will play, I'm happy. The Zen will play up to a 360khz encoded MP3.

Also - the ability to tune to FM radio is pretty cool, although I'm guessing probably not utilized a lot by some people. But here's what I like to do: Hook up one of those $11.99 radio transmitter thingies to my TV in the bedroom so I can watch thriller movies while my wife sleeps. I then just tune my player to the appropriate radio station and there we go - Silent Silence of the Lambs!

Sometimes I feel the need to record audio, whether this be for a meeting, a class, or if my daughter is babbling something cute - - it is nice to have this feature. The 404 was great with this, Zune - - not at all.

Navigation/Buttons:

I have to say, the thing that I disliked THE most with the 404 was the vertical layout of the navigation buttons. Hardly intuitive, they were difficult to get used to, especially when trying to navigate the menus in the dark. Some sort of backlit layout would have been nice at the very least. The Zune excelled when compared to the Archos in this regard. Fortunately, the Zen has a backlit set of nav-buttons, in addition to a vertical slider for volume and scrolling capabilities. This looks much more promising than the Archos' offering.

Synchronization:

You'll probably make fun of me here, but I actually like Windows Media Player for synchronizing my media to my players. Mostly it is because of the ability to synchronize photos and the ease with which to create playlists.

I didn't mind the Zune software - mostly because I don't use the marketplace...and probably wouldn't mind iTunes if I ever had to use it. However, if my player is supported by Media Player (astonishingly enough, the Zune wasn't - wha?), then it can be supported by a huge variety of other sync apps. Mostly, this is thanks to having the next ability...

External storage:

I like the ability to use my player as an external storage device (i.e. attached hard drive) so I can store files in addition to music, pictures and videos.

Hardware history:

If anyone is interested, here's my history of MP3/Portable Media Players:

• Rio volt CD/MP3 player (plays MP3s from CDs)

• Olympus M:Robe m100 5Gb

• Microsoft Zune 30Gb

• Archos 404 30Gb
  

Notice that video has become more important as I've gone from one player to the next. Since the birth of my child, (and my sister got us a video camera before Kathryn was born) I've wanted to take the cute-daughter clips wherever I go.

So, there's my story - I've already ordered and paid for the Zen and hopefully it should be at my door in a week. I'll let you all know what I think!