[Scuddie]

Do they exist?  I'm tired of having the only two choices for an MP3 player being between two unhappy options.  I can choose either an overly expensive, power hungry, extremely delicate HD based MP3 player, or a feature lacking, poor audio quality, minimally functioning solid state based MP3 player.  Neither of these options look appealing to me, so I must ask if anybody knows of a player that supports the following, or atleast close to it.

SD/MMC storage method; HDs are bad
Thorough menu system; Quite a bit more than only Play, Stop, Next, Shuffle
Decent audio quality output; 115dB is maybe overkill, but 90dB is not acceptable
Relatively cheap; I'm not aiming to spend more than $120 for this
High capacity battery and efficient power needs; 80 hours is much better than 8
Something that doesnt look like a toy; If the mechanics are good quality, I expect the frame to be as well.

I've searched far and wide for something like this, but have come out empty handed.  Does ANYBODY know if something REMOTELY like this exists, or am I gonna have to spend $40 for a crap 256MB player, or $300 for a functional but delicate MP3 player?

[Prophet]

You're not askin for much are you?
Maybe you should lower your standards, or go buy a portable stero system. Because a quest for small, cheap and good is like searching the
Grail. I am sure that players like what you want exist, but I doubt they are in the price range you wanted.

And I take this as an opportunity to remind you that everyone who comes here to advertize Ipod gets on my black list. And trust me, that list is very black.

[pecenipicek]

any sony's mp3 player, however, there is no interchangeable memory.

and the software is horrible, but apart from that, its the best you'r gonna get.

and for $120 you cant get anything even remotely like your asking for.


also, sony's mp3 are the only ones that i know of that even remotely near the 80 hour battery life. mine has declared 70 hours, but with a rechargable battery, it lasts more often than not up to 90-120 hours.

[Scuddie]

Well, considering 2 years ago I was able to get a Creative Zen for $200, a similar product with much less delicate parts should in theory be much less expensive now.  Also, considering the single AAA type flash players get a good 35-40 hours, I would imagine a dedicated Li-Ion battery would have WAY higher life.  Why I would have to pay more to get less seems kind of odd.  It's not like I'm looking to buy a product with double the quality of an iRiver, while being more efficient than Sony.  I just want a MMC based player that doesnt totally suck ass.

[IceFire]

These are supposed to be really good...everyone is giving them five stars on the consumer ratings.

http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Catalog(1166)-SanDisk_Sansa_e200_Series_MP3_Players.aspx
http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Catalog(1165)-SanDisk_Sansa_c100_Series_MP3_Players.aspx

Have a look...

[Scuddie]

Icefire, you win a cookie.  Thanks man .  Although aren't MicroSD cards rather expensive?

[IceFire]

Icefire, you win a cookie.  Thanks man .  Although aren't MicroSD cards rather expensive?

Not sure on that...but I figure thats an extra little bonus.  The thing to do, in my mind, is to get the size that you'll want/need.  To be honest 2GB or 4GB is more than enough for most people.  My 5GB Zen Micro which I bought a year ago is rock solid and I still haven't filled it up yet.  If I were buying now.... a 4GB Sandisk would be perfect for my collection.  I'd prefer solid state over the hard drive in my Zen...but its ok for now I think.  If you REALLY needed to addon after...then you can.

Nonetheles...I've heard good things about this MP3 player. As I said, customer reviews seem to be consistently 5 stars.  I haven't heard much bad about it at all.  I hope it lives upto the hype. Thing is that iPods control the market so much its hard to hear about anything else.