MetaChat - I need a new MP3 player

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23 October 2006

I need a new MP3 player and I'd appreciate any suggestions→[More:]

The requirements:

* 80+ GB
* Durable
* Works with Linux
* Isn't made by Apple
* Isn't a 'Portable Media Player'

Any help? The Cowon X5 comes close, but it only has a 60GB drive, and I hate having to resync things.

post by: cmonkey at: 12:47 | 10 comments

Awww, what happened to your old workhorse?

posted by matildaben 23 October | 13:13

Can you transplant a larger disk into the cowon? Does it use that 1.5" submicro size they use in ultralight laptops?

posted by Triode 23 October | 13:13

I ditched Windows for good, and unfortunately, my Neuros doesn't cleanly dismount in Linux, so I risk file corruption :-(

That's an interesting idea, Triode. Their specifications don't say, but I'll see if I can find better information.

posted by cmonkey 23 October | 13:35

*puts iPod in pocket and slinks away from thread*

posted by LunaticFringe 23 October | 13:43

Oh, the X5 has a 10,000 song limit regardless of hard drive size, so I'd need to use Rockbox on it. And Rockbox doesn't appear to have a stable release yet.

Damn.

posted by cmonkey 23 October | 13:50

iRiver H-140. Take out the original drive and put in an 80-gig Toshiba one. Then install Rockbox.

'Durable' and '80 gb+' are kinda mutually exclusive, but you already know that.

(I'm not sure about the Cowon builds, but I've used quite a few prerelease Rockbox versions that were plenty stable.)

posted by box 23 October | 13:58

When you say "cleanly dismount", do you mean that after you unmount the drive, the sync animation is still running on the neuros? Whenever this happens to me I rmmod usb_storage and a few seconds later my neuros is happy again.

posted by paulus andronicus 23 October | 14:27

Whenever this happens to me I rmmod usb_storage and a few seconds later my neuros is happy again.

Oh yeah, sure, sure. That's... what I always... do.

posted by Specklet 23 October | 14:30

That worked, thanks. I should see if the open source firmware works any better.

posted by cmonkey 23 October | 15:02

I cannot not, in good conscience, recommend anything made by iriver. They have among the worst customer service in history.

But then, I love my iPods. I want to upgrade my 3G though. Need a color screen to play add-on games. And for the pron, of course.

posted by fenriq 23 October | 22:38

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