so im looking to buy an mp3 player. i have the lingering feeling that apple ipods probably aren't the best route to go and i'm looking for an alternative. sure, the apples are sleek and sexy, but their cheapest model, the ipod shuffle, is at 140ish and i want to be able to pick which song i listen to, play albums, etc. plus i'm only looking to spend 100 dollars at most. dont need anything too sexy, and will just be using it to listen to mp3's (no videos or anything) when i'm exercising. a jog/click wheel would be nice, as i imagine it could be tedious clicking thru 8-16GB of music (i could be wrong!), but thats just preference, not at all necessary. i'm basically just looking for a decent priced, reliable, easy to use mp3 player with good quality sound.

which mp3 player do you use or recommend?

thanks a lot y'all!

id say craigslist an ipod. they're pretty cheap and you can go through albums, artist or individual tracks. It also has a function to make playlists on the fly.

I've been using one for years. Holds 8gb and it only cost me 50 bucks.

also, it can be used as a portable hard drive.

was considering it, but i've owned an ipod 8b nano before and had to return two different models cos the damn thing would crash. i dont know if i wanna take that chance with someone elses, but hey i guess it's worth considering.

most of the time you can reset them yourself by holding down the circle in the middle and like the down button. i bought a warranty with mine and returned it about once every year or two and got an upgraded model.

My iphone is my mp3 player. It's pretty freaking ill to be able to plug it into my car stereo to jam Rhapsody or Pandora.

If you think you'll use all the apps, wifi, games, and other shit - get a touch on CL like Plus 2 mentioned.

If you just want something with lots of storage, strictly for playing music, I've been seeing lots of classic and older gen ipods for pretty cheap. There's definitely no reason you should pay $140 for a shuffle.

Without a lot of looking, here's a post on Amazon for 60gb Classic models. Used starting at $135.

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Video-Black ... 458&sr=8-1

I gotta agree with everyone else. I have used other mp3 players in the past,and an Ipod & Itunes integration is far superior compared to most if not all.
I had to get a new classic, because the one day my dumbazz went with w/o the protective case. I went and jumped over a puddle & forgot it was in my shirt pocket, and out came my ipod flying inthe air about 6 feet hahaha, and well youi know the rest.
I have repaired them also, and parts are very easy to come across for cheap on Ebay, and other websites, if need be. I went & copped a new classic (160gb), lets just say this one isn't coming out of the proctective case.
Nanos are cool because there are no moving parts. So usually the only thing to get broken if anything is the screen. (Im not a fanboy of any particlular brand just at what is efficent, and Itunes is very easy to use whether it be on a Mac or Pc (which I use a Pc). Plus all the aftermarket components that are availible for them.

look into a microsoft ZUNE

theyre pretty good, and cheaper and more funcitonal than the ipod.

The Zunes have some cool features, but the software was absolutely a pain to use. For me it was just as bad as using Windows Media Player to keep track of your music. Plus some of the players have known issues of freezing/ crashing, and you pretty much screwed from there. This is just my personal experience with them. The one thing I really liked was the radio feature, and that was it.

Archos players are bad ass!

Quoted for Truth. I've had 2 Archos mp3 players in thepast and both of which i was all about.

I currently have an ipod touch. I really dig its design and portability, but i absolutely despise having to use itunes.

I came from the 2 Archos which were soooo much doper for putting music/video on. Just plug it in and load anything on like a harddrive. No need to run some additional shitty program/app in order to load things up. I miss those days.

I also miss Winamp...just sayin...come on someone mac a mac version of it for me!

winamp FTW!

stay away from Zune, shithole software imo.

If you live in a city I would say go with the i-touch

For sure, winamp was definitely the best program for ipods. I'm lucky I still have a PC to plug into.

I want an archos real bad, but I wish they played more formats (still more than the stupid ipod though). Also like the fact that you can replace the battery easily. My 30gb ipod's battery took a shit and apple doesnt replace batteries, they just told me to buy a new mp3 player. well fuck you apple I will, it just aint going to be an ipod you shady fucks.

also, drag n drop ftw. i hate using software to load up my mp3 player with music. I should just be able to drag files/folders over any way I want and be done with it

oh yeah and the ability to expand the memory with SD cards is also fucking win. shit i may just buy one

yeah ive been eyeing those archos for a bit now, looks like a pretty damn good mp3 and isn't at all expensive! thanks for the recommendations guys

damn the new archos doesnt have an expandable sd card slot and the previous version doesnt support ogg files. anybody have any other recommendations? I was looking at the irvier p7 and some cowon models but not really sold on any of them yet