Hey neowin, ive been looking for a good portable media player for under 400 bucks to give as a gift to my nephew for xmas. So far ive found the RCA RD2780 and the ARCHOS AV320. Both have 20gb storage and are under $400.

Are there any more you guys know of that can beat these, and if not, which one is a better value?

Thanks in advance.

Your gonna spend 400$ on a nephew for xmas?? Holy crap, my parents don't even spend that much on me ever!

Anyways, personally I'd go with an iPod but some will say the iRiver.

iPod? The iPod's an MP3 Jukebox, or a HDD DAP.

A PMP USUALLY involves video playback of some sort, and of course picture viewing etc...

I'm not sure as to whether the Archos is a good choice as I've heard the other models have rubbish firmware (hence http://www.rockbox.org) but I've heard lots of good things about the PMP-120 from iRiver, but thats because I frequent MisticRiver.net an excellent iRiver resource. Have a poke around, the PMP is quite a popular range amongst those who can afford it.

Here's a picture:



I can recommend iRiver products because I'm the extremely pleased owner of a iHP-140

I agree, get the iRiver if you want to play video also. If you just want music then grab an iPod.

I like Creative Zen PMC more, but it's $499 as iRiver's

Zen = windows CE Media Center
Iriver = Linux

FYI

Ive tried out the creative, but its way too bulky IMO, id like to get him something portable.

Ive seen the PMP-120 for almost 200$ more than the other two, it looks like a great PMP, but is it worth the price increase? I cant see anything that really stands out from the RCA and ARCHOS.

I'm a bit of an Archos advocate...I've owned several Archos devices and loved them all. a little browsing around on www.shopping.com and you can find an Archos AV420 for about $430. it's a little more, but from what I've heard the device is worth it.


or, you could get an iRiver

The PMP-120, AV420, and ZEN video are just too much for my budget, so that leaves me between AV320 ($330) and RD2780 ($300).

Im leaning towards the RCA as of now, only bad thing ive read is battery life, but i wouldnt expect more than a few hours from these little buggers. Any personal experiences with either of these would be greatly appreciated.