Learn me: Non-iPod music players

My new job is rocking, except for the silence in my cube. Everybody else has music, so I want it, too. I have a ~7 year old Zune, but it holds like 200 songs. I want a new digital music player that will hold my entire library, and not be the DRM hell that is iTunes. (I own all my music on CD's already so I don't have to deal with DRM crap or E36 M3ty quality).

I appreciate any and all suggestions!

Smart phone? I have more music on mine than I can listen to in a couple days at work. Plus, if you have smart phone and WiFi access, there are a few streaming radio options.

In reply to RealMiniDriver:

Have that, but no phones out at work. Dedicated music players are fine.

DRM only comes into play when you purchase music, and IIRC the music you do buy via iTunes is DRM free.

No issue with ripping your own music, either.

There isn't that much choice of decent music only players available these days. You're either looking at a phone or are stuck with an iPod. I'd look at a used disk based iPod or if you want a phone, maybe a Windows Phone?

In reply to Javelin:

Damn.

Javelin wrote: In reply to RealMiniDriver: Have that, but no phones out at work. Dedicated music players are fine.

If you want something with decent aftermarket support, I'm afraid you're most likely looking at an iPod then, sorry.

Wow, that sucks. :(

So how hard is it to import all of my music onto the iPod? Mrs. Jav has iTunes and I can never figure out how to get it to work.

no Sansa? They're still out there and sturdy. cheaper than an iplod, too.

Looks like the Sansa units are still out and nice (and really what I'm after, just music - No wifi/camera/dumb smartphone thing). Zune and Sony Walkman, too. Hmm, I have some options to consider now.

I have 3 or 4 various Sansas and highly recommend them. Add a decent set of speakers or headphones to any of them and they even sound better than most.

Some models have micro-SD slots too, so even without a lot of built in memory you can just add a $25 card to boost capacity up to decent levels. Bonus too for them acting like thumb drives when you plug in to a computer or car stereo with a USB port; it makes adding music a simple drag and drop and lets even my $60 WalMart head unit access the music while charging the unit. Double bonus for the fm radio and great playback of audio books.

The iPod is probably the simplest to use of all the options. Hook iPod up to PC, launch iTunes. If you have it set to auto-sync, just wait and let it do all the work - if not, just take songs and drag from the right side onto the iPod icon on the left side, and off you go.

Depending on the size of your music collection, I'd probably go looking for one of the iPod Classics - 320GB for music is nice.

Samsung makes a "Galaxy Player"

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/1013220037731981680?safe=off&es_sm=122&biw=1920&bih=978&sclient=psy-ab&q=galaxy+player&oq=galaxy+player&pbx=1&ei=sfDLUvHUDMahrgGb0YG4Aw&ved=0CKcEEKYrMAE

Sony Walkman?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-nwz-e380-series-walkman-16gb-video-mp3-player-black/1695481.p?id=1219060667469&skuId=1695481

Now here is a different approach? How filtered is your internet access? Google allows you to store music in the cloud and play it from there. https://play.google.com/music/listen

http://www.amazon.com/Fiio-X3-Mastering-Quality-Wolfson/dp/B00E9O6C96

Fiio X3 is also out there. I think it might be targeting "audiophiles" though. Also the iPod Classic is 160gb max unless you replace the internal drive.

Sansa Sandisk. Cheap, small, does everything it should, nothing it doesn't.

Can't you just pick up an old android phone with no cell service and get by the 'no cell phones out' rule?

I have my phone plugged into my Fender Greta (tube amp ) sitting on my desk. It uses the cord for the radio antenna and I can stream off the cell towers or just listen to my mp3s that are on it.

What about mp3s on your computer and using Winamp? I did that for years.

I'm a state employee, we can't have personal items in government computers.

I'm really liking the Sans a line. That's exactly what I'm looking for.

You said you like the Zune, what about getting one of the HDD based ones used? Like this one here?

http://www.amazon.com/Zune-Digital-Media-Player-Black/dp/B000WG6XW6/ref=pd_ts_zgc_e_283469011_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&pf_rd_p=366215801&pf_rd_s=right-4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=283468011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0AX6MS7RWBNJVMXPYDX3

From my own experience your media player can never have enough storage. I usually find flash based players a little too small if I don't want to resample the music.

The Sansa Zip Clip 8GB seems to be the leader for me. 2000 songs plus a memory slot ought to keep me going, about $55 shipped.

What about something like this: http://www.parts-express.com/lepai-digital-2x15w-mini-amplifier-with-remote-usb-mp3-media-card-fm--310-302

or this:

http://www.parts-express.com/lepai-4x25w-desktop-mini-amplifier-with-remote-usb-mp3-media-card-fm--310-306

or this:

http://www.parts-express.com/lepai-4x45w-mini-amplifier-with-remote-usb-mp3-media-card-fm--310-304

Javelin wrote: The Sansa Zip Clip 8GB seems to be the leader for me. 2000 songs plus a memory slot ought to keep me going, about $55 shipped.

THat is exactly what I would choose, but those things RossD posted that I had not even seen before in my life are intriguing as well.

Got my wife a Sansa Fuze a while back. I think she still uses it. Much cheaper than ipod and pretty easy to work with. I can even load songs on it using Ubuntu Linux! Oh, and iTunes sucks!

I have an old Sansa that I have had for ~4 years. Not sure of the model, but it does everything I want. Can download to it easily from the computer, use it with a headset when I go to the gym or anywhere, and it will plug into the Alpine head unit in the truck or into my wife's Subaru. It has a slot for a memory card but, I have never gotten one since the internal memory holds ~10 CD's.

I hate iTunes with the force of a million suns but iPods are about the best option for portable music players. If the Sansa doesn't check out, you can use Floola to manage the music on an iPod without using iTunes.

http://lifehacker.com/237986/hack-attack-add-music-and-movies-to-your-ipod-from-any-computer-without-itunes

Winamp works well with the iPod I had.

Other than 'looking pretty' and storage space, what category does the ipod beat the sansa clip in?