Looking for an MP3 player without internal memory that takes SDHC.

[matt.choules]

Hi everyone,

I owned a few diffferent mp3 players (never an ipod, don't like itunes), and after having most of them fail or become too small for my needs (i only listen to 320kbps mp3's) I thought it would be a nice idea to get one that accepts SDHC and just get a couple of 8gb-16gb SDHC cards to inter-change.

Looking across the net I found a few PDAs, a few phones and the Zen take SDHC, but the Zen has internal memory which i'd like to avoid if possible.

I bought off eBay a cheap mp3 player that boasted the ability to support SDHC with no internal memory, but after just 2 days it no longer works. (plus the fact that the sound quality wasnt great).

Can anyone suggest something?

Preferably with a decent amount of battery life and EQ options??

Cheers in advance.

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

I don't think you'll ever find a decent MP3 player without any internal memory.

It's really only the cheap crap that has an SD slot. To be brutally honest.

[furby]

I feel like Sandisk might do something like that, but ye, surprised if you can find one without internal memory

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

My Daughter has an Insignia Pilot Mp3 player with 4GB of memory and an it includes video and a radio. Works great and was inexpensive.

[XIII]

Cowon D2

[matt.choules]

The Cowon D2 is still a bit surplus to my needs.

Don't need video/MP4 support, radio and all that stuff TBH, but am willing to get something that includes it if it will support SDHC, is as cheap as possible and has a decent battery life.

I don't even care if it has a screen! As this will increase the battery life.

So, to rephrase:

Can anyone think of an MP3 player that supports SDHC that has minimal internal memory (256mb-2gb)?

Cheers.

[matt.choules]

A-ha!

http://www.audiocubes.com/product/GreenHou...MP3_Player.html

Trust the japanese to have the sort of thing I am looking for!

[Si Veteran]

Moved here

[matt.choules]

Moved here

Thank you Si, hopefully more people will reply!

^_^

[XIII]

A-ha!

http://www.audiocubes.com/product/GreenHou...MP3_Player.html

Trust the japanese to have the sort of thing I am looking for!

But that player only has a pathetic 5 hour battery life. Cowon D2 has 52 hour battery life. I normally get around 45 hours under normal usage.

D2 unarguably also has better sound quality.

[matt.choules]

But that player only has a pathetic 5 hour battery life. Cowon D2 has 52 hour battery life. I normally get around 45 hours under normal usage.

D2 unarguably also has better sound quality.

Very good points, cheers.

I simply cannot afford the Cowon D2 though...

The cheap I could find it here in the UK is ?100 (4gb white), I was hoping to spend a maximum of ?40.

I know you get what you pay for these days (unless you buy ipod or sony IMO), but I figured a large part of the cost involved in these player must be the flash drives, colour screen etc.

Hence wanting something simpler.

45 hours is a great achievement, and the Cowon D2 looks nice and all, but out of the question in terms of price.

Anyone got any more suggestions?

[funciona]

Sansa Connect

[matt.choules]

Sansa Connect

Now we're getting closer!

Still a little expensive, but not bad at all.

Shame its MicroSD (slow write speeds).

[brad72]

I know you are looking just for an mp3 player but I have to tell you I have a LG Env9900 phone that can hold the micro SD cards and I can take it out put it into the adapter and plug it into my computer and drag and drop all my songs onto the card and then back into the phone can also convert videos to the phone as well as make my own ringtones from my favorite songs without having to pay for the ring tones and the battery life is pretty darn good for a phone had this phone now for about 1.5 years original battery still and on a full charge get about 7 hours of pure play time of music on above normal volume...and the speakers on the phone are in stereo as well you can buy special earphones for the phone that sound better than a $150 set I have....

My phone carrier is Verizon but it might be something else to think about when looking into a new phone as to see what mp3 player phones they have...

Forgot to mention it has a standalone mode that won't allow incoming or outgoing calls so you can listen strictly to your music....GREAT IF YOU TRAVEL on PLANES....

[Titanium_NX]

While you have it above in your post, I have to highly recommend the ZEN. I have a 4 gig model with 2 8Gig HC cards. It works great, video play back is very good and audio quality is top notch. Just look into a low end model like 2Gigs and get yourself some cards. Their really cheap, I got my 4 gig for 99$ the 2 gig models are as low as 60$

[matt.choules]

While you have it above in your post, I have to highly recommend the ZEN. I have a 4 gig model with 2 8Gig HC cards. It works great, video play back is very good and audio quality is top notch. Just look into a low end model like 2Gigs and get yourself some cards. Their really cheap, I got my 4 gig for 99$ the 2 gig models are as low as 60$

I didn't realise how small this player is!

The Creative site says the battery life is 25 hours... Thats better than I hoped for.

8gb max for SDHC seems reasonable.

Do you have to have any third party programs to transfer the files, or is it drag and drop?

I see that it charges directly for the USB port, and does not come with a wall socket adapter...

I'm hoping to use this in my van alot, so I guess I could find a cigarette lighter USB adapter.

I've read a few reviews and noticed this remark:

"SD card contents not included in player's main menu"

Can anyone throw some light on this?

There are 8 preset EQ settings, but can you change them or make your own?

[M4nB3arP1g]

I have a zen and "SD card contents not included in player's main menu" means when you scroll down the menu there is a option for music on the internal memory but if you scroll down further there is a memory card option you select that and you browse the contents of the SD card. Basically the music on the internal memory is separate from the music on the SD cards. :)

[matt.choules]

Yeah, I managed to find some video reviews that depicted this...

But when you access the SD section of the menu, do you still have the option to search for Artist/Album/Genre and all that, or does it just display the files by filename?

[M4nB3arP1g]

I don't think there is a search option but I used winamp to put my music on it and when I browse the card all my music is in the order Artist/Album/Songs. I think it uses folders to do that.

[matt.choules]

I don't think there is a search option but I used winamp to put my music on it and when I browse the card all my music is in the order Artist/Album/Songs. I think it uses folders to do that.

Interesting...

Although I use old skool 5.35 winamp (was using 2.95 till recently, but needs 5.35+ for audioscrobbler), so I doubt I can use that function.

I am pretty anal, so my already foldered music shouldn't really cause too many issues.

Just trying to find a 2gb one now!

I have a ?10 eBay voucher to use so hoping one pops up there (preferably in the UK or Europe) for a decent price.

Otherwise I might amazon it.

[M4nB3arP1g]

Well I am using winamp 5.531 and it came with the plugin to manage the zen. Are you using 5.35? If you are it should work too. Also when you enter the memory card menu you set it to removable disk mode and you can manage it from windows explorer you can just drag and drop your folders onto the SD card. I have a 8GB one myself, picked it up for $33 CAD awhile back.

Edit: You can see what type of SD cards it supports here: http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/zen/?nav=sdcard so it does support 16GB cards. It supports others then the ones listed though mine is a Patriot Class 6.

Edited May 24, 2008 by KillerZ123

[matt.choules]

Yeah, i'm on 5.35 so it should work as there weren't many differences between to interval releases...

When you say you had a plugin for winamp, how exactly does it work?

Does it organise all track in the current playlist into folders (Artist/Album etc) onto the drive? Or just transfer the files for you?

I usually just choose players that will allow for drag and drop options, but if it has the capabitilty of allowing Winamp to organise it properly for me, i'm all for that!

I have had a look into the Winamp Prefs and found under Portable Device Plugins the "Nullsosft Creative NJB Plug-in v0.52" [pmp_njb.dll], is this the driver you are using?

[M4nB3arP1g]

Yes that is the plugin I am using. When you connect your zen in removable disk mode and winamp is running it should ask you if you want it to manage it and if you click yes it shows up under portables as a usb drive (this is the SD card) or if you just connect the zen normally not in removable disk mode it shows up as the zens name (this is the internal memory).

Pics:

The internal memory ( I have a 8GB zen that's why my internal memory is 8GB):

The SD card:

[MysteryGoat]

I'm looking for a product similar to this guy. An MP3 player that at least supports a 4gb SDHC card but I also want it to work as a thumb drive. I have this one but SDHC is new to me so when I went to buy a 4gb card I quickly learned they won't work together. Any help is appreciated.

[Guest]

How about some DS homebrew? If you already have a DS, that is. I wouldn't reccomend getting a DS just for turning it into an mp3 player.

You can get ones where you put the microSD card into the game cart to act as storage, and I'm pretty sure that most take SDHC. Not sure what the limit is though.

However, I'm sure sure that the DS can actually keep up with high bitrate files etc... just thought I'd throw that in ;).